UK Covid-19 Inquiry - Module 1 report: progress update - July 2025

5. Using Data and Research

Recommendation Five – Data and Research for future pandemics

Chair’s recommendation:

The UK Government, working with the devolved governments, should establish mechanisms for the timely collection, analysis, secure sharing and use of reliable data for informing emergency responses, in advance of future pandemics. Data systems should be tested in pandemic exercises.

The UK Government should also commission a wider range of research projects ready to commence in the event of a future pandemic. These could be ‘hibernated’ studies or existing studies that are designed to be rapidly adapted to a new outbreak. Better working with international partners should be encouraged. This should include projects to:

• Understand the prevalence of a new virus;
• Measure the effectiveness of a range of different public health measures; and
• Identify which groups of vulnerable people are hardest hit by the pandemic and why.

Implementation actions and timescales set out in our January 2025 response:

• The Scottish Government and partners will agree a framework setting out the processes for how analytical resource across the Scottish Government can be rapidly redeployed to respond to a future pandemic supporting the timely collection, analysis, sharing and use of required data and associated research and modelling by summer 2025

Progress update:

• A new Data Delivery Group has been set up to take forward the development of the Analytical Framework. The group brings together analysts from across the Scottish Government and key partners (such as Public Health Scotland, NHS National Services Scotland and National Records of Scotland). The Group has agreed the scope and outline content of the Framework and work is underway to develop the content throughout the summer.
• A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been agreed between UK Government Cabinet Office and the devolved administrations for the sharing of emergency preparedness and/or response data, and agreed by Scottish Government Ministers. This MoU forms part of the Analytical Framework outlining the mechanism to enable rapid sharing of data and analysis between the UK and Scottish Governments in a future crisis. The MoU will be signed by the Cabinet Office and the devolved administrations in the coming weeks.