UK Covid-19 Inquiry - Module 1 report: Scottish Government response

6. Regular Response Exercises

Recommendation Six – A regular UK-wide pandemic response exercise

Chair’s recommendation:

The UK Government and devolved governments should together hold a UK-wide pandemic response exercise at least every three years.

The exercise should:

• Test the UK-wide, cross-government, national and local response to a pandemic at all stages, from the initial outbreak to multiple waves over a number of years;
• Include a broad range of those involved in pandemic preparedness and response; and
• Consider how a broad range of vulnerable people will be helped in the event of a pandemic.

Scottish Government response:

The Scottish Government accepts this recommendation in principle. We accept the need for participation in regular UK-wide exercises to test our preparedness and response to civil emergencies, with the aim of providing results applicable across a range of scenarios, including pandemics. We are committed to participating in the Tier 1 National Exercising Programme, which seeks to exercise responses to a range of risks.

Emergencies can take a variety of forms from pandemics to severe weather to national power outages. Emergencies can also be unpredictable; therefore, it is crucial to be prepared for a range of emergencies including those that are unlikely or have never occurred. By exercising for a wide range of emergencies, we gain a vast knowledge base of what works during an emergency and where the gaps are. Often the consequences of different emergencies can be similar and therefore, we can apply learning from exercises to a wide range of emergencies, not just the one being exercised. This allows us to gather evidence on the effects of a wide range of scenarios and the impacts that these can have on our country and people, particularly vulnerable people.

The Scottish Government is working with the UK Government and the other devolved governments on national exercising. Planning is progressing on a Tier 1 pandemic exercise and is likely to take place in autumn 2025. The aim of this exercise is to ‘assess significant elements of the UK’s preparedness, capabilities and response arrangements in the context of a pandemic arising from a novel infectious disease.’ We commit to providing a further update in July 2025 once further planning discussions have taken place.

The involvement of relevant voluntary and community sector organisations is important in this regard and helps towards ensuring that government is informed regarding the needs of individuals during emergencies and as a result, enables us to take mitigating actions prior to emergencies occurring.

The Scottish Government is committed to involving the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) in all aspects of resilience planning, including involvement in relevant exercising. We would therefore agree that any UK-wide pandemic response exercise, agreed upon, should involve a broad range of organisations including relevant VCS organisations in Scotland.

Accountable Officer:

The Director General for Strategy and External Affairs, working with the Civil Contingencies Division within the Scottish Government, will be accountable for the implementation of the Scottish elements of this recommendation.

Implementation timescales:

• We will participate in the UK-wide Tier 1 Pandemic Exercise during autumn 2025.