Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, who the members of the Steering Group were which was to oversee the overall strategic direction of the 2016 Exercise Cygnus.

Exercise Cygnus was a national-level pandemic influenza exercise, which took place from 18 to 20 October 2016. Due to the size and complexity of the exercise, a number of groups were established to assist with its planning.

The Exercise Cygnus Steering Group was accountable for the overall strategic direction of the exercise and included representation from Cabinet Office, the Department of Health, the Department of Communities and Local Government, as well as Public Health England and NHS England.

The National Planning Team had responsibility for managing the development and delivery of the exercise and consisted of representation from some of those who took part in the exercise, including from the Department of Health and 12 other Government departments; the devolved administrations; NHS England, Public Health England, and eight Local Resilience Forums.