Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a long-term strategy on preparing the UK for future pandemics.

The Department continues to plan and prepare for a range of pandemic and emerging infectious disease scenarios, including those caused by respiratory, contact and vector-borne pathogens and informed by lessons learned from exercises and incidents, including the COVID-19 pandemic.

The health and social care sector has well-tested plans in place to respond to pandemics. Pandemic preparedness is kept under constant review and evolves in response to new scientific information, lessons learned from prior pandemics, responses to other infectious disease outbreaks and testing of response mechanisms.