Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on a coordinated approach to pandemic preparedness.

Whilst no specific discussions have taken place between the Secretary of State and Scottish Government on pandemic preparedness, there is well-established UK-wide working on health security, public health protection and pandemic preparedness across all four United Kingdom nations.

The UK’s approach to pandemic preparedness reflects the fact that health policy is devolved and that emergency response and recovery is founded on a principle of subsidiarity. However, various mechanisms are in place to ensure effective coordination across all four UK nations, including devolved Government representation on the cross-Government Pandemic Diseases Capabilities Board (PDCB). PDCB ensures that critical capabilities for pandemic preparedness and response are maintained and developed across all sectors.

In addition, the approach to taken to clinical countermeasures, which is a key plank of our preparedness and response capability for a future pandemic, is conducted on a UK-wide basis. Representatives from the Devolved Governments and their agencies sit on the Clinical Countermeasures Board to ensure alignment in our approach to the procurement and stockpiling of countermeasures such as vaccines, medicines, and consumables.

More generally, the Common Framework for Public Health Protection and Health Security was agreed by the Four Nations in October 2021 to strengthen strategic collaboration on health security, including communicable diseases. Delivery of the work programme under the Common Framework is overseen by the UK Health Protection Committee, which was established by legislation and is, in turn, supported by a Four Nations Health Protection Oversight Group.

The UK Chief Medical Officer (CMO) group acts as an additional senior level body to ensure alignment and coordination in our approach to health security, including pandemic preparedness, and is accountable to all four UK CMOs.