Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Prime Minister plans to appoint a Minister for pandemic and disaster preparedness.

My right Hon. friend the Deputy Prime Minister is responsible for the oversight of civil contingencies & resilience.

The government has a well-established method of planning for risks through the lead government department model, with the Cabinet Office supporting in its convening role. Risks such as pandemics, which have significant cross-cutting impacts, have cross-government governance - with Ministerial oversight through National Security Council (Resilience) where required. The government has set out its overarching approach to this through the Resilience Framework.