Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what analysis they have carried out of why people with learning disabilities were more likely to die of Covid-19 at younger ages and less likely to receive health treatment; and what lessons from that analysis they have built into NHS pandemic preparedness.

The Government is grateful to Baroness Hallett and her team for their thorough work on these serious issues. We will consider their findings and recommendations in detail and respond in due course, and they will inform the ongoing development of our Adult Social Care Pandemic Action Plan, as well as Baroness Casey’s commission on adult social care.

Public Health England published Deaths of people identified as having learning disabilities with COVID-19 in England in the spring of 2020 on 12 November 2020. A copy of the report is attached. The report found that deaths were spread more widely across the age spectrum among people with a learning disability, with far greater mortality rates in younger adults, compared to the general population.

On 25 March 2026, the Government published Pandemic Preparedness Strategy: building our capabilities. A copy of the strategy is attached. The strategy builds on the lessons identified from the COVID-19 pandemic and is shaped by the findings of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry and indicative findings from Exercise Pegasus. A core principle of the strategy is to protect those most at risk, and tailor capabilities to protect all communities.