Scope of the
Inquiry
The Home Affairs Committee is undertaking a short inquiry
into the Home Office’s preparations for and response to
Covid-19.
Launching the inquiry, Chair of the Home Affairs Committee,
MP said:
“It’s very important that all of our public
services are prepared for coronavirus. We need to know what
preparations the Home Office is and should be making and what
practical consequence there will be for police and border force
as coronavirus continues to
spread”.
Background
The management of Covid-19 poses a challenge for all parts
of Government. On 3 March, the UK Government, together with
devolved administrations, published the Coronavirus
action plan. It comprised four
phases:
-
Contain: detect
early cases, follow up close contacts, and prevent the disease
taking hold in this country for as long as is reasonably
possible
-
Delay: slow
the spread in the UK, and if it does take hold, lower the peak
impact and pushing it away from the winter season
-
Research: better
understand the virus and the actions that will lessen its
effect on the UK population; innovate responses including
diagnostics, drugs and vaccines; use the evidence to inform the
development of the most effective models of care
-
Mitigate: provide
the best care possible for people who become ill, support
hospitals to maintain essential services and ensure ongoing
support for people ill in the community to minimise the overall
impact of the disease on society, public services and on the
economy.
Covid-19 has already affected the work of the Home Office
and its associated bodies. As part of the ‘contain’ phase of the
plan, Border Force has assisted in the repatriation of British
nationals and their dependents from affected areas overseas,
while the Home Office has provided support to foreign nationals
in the UK who were unable to return home (Action plan para
4.7).
Impacts during the ‘mitigate’ phase will be more
significant. For example, the Government expects that police and
fire and rescue services will enact business continuity plans.
This would require the police to concentrate on responding to
serious crimes and maintaining public order (Action plan 4.48).
Privately-run Home Office functions will also require business
continuity plans to be in place to safeguard vulnerable
people.
Terms of reference
Written evidence is invited on the issues set out below –
but please note that submissions do not need to address all of
these issues.
-
How police and fire and rescue service business
continuity plans are being designed to best safeguard the
public and emergency service workers;
-
What trade-offs will have to be made by police if a
significant number of officers are unable to work at any given
time, and the potential impact of those decisions;
-
How the Home Office and its major contractors are working
together to ensure the safe and effective operation of
contracted services is maintained, particularly where these
services affect vulnerable people;
-
Whether Border Force is sufficiently equipped to deliver
any additional functions required of it during a period of
heightened vigilance, and with reduced staffing;
-
How Police forces will support each other if mobilisation
tactics, or other forms of mutual support, are compromised by
the imperative to limit the possible spread of the
virus;
-
The preparedness of forces to support Local Resilience
Forums during a possible civil contingencies emergency;
-
The effectiveness of Home Office communications to its
partners, responders and the wider public about its
preparations.
Submitting written
evidence
Written submissions for this inquiry should be submitted
online by 12 noon on Wednesday 25 March 2020.
