COVID-19 - new ministerial structures

The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson has set up four new ministerial structures to coordinate, prioritise and respond to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The new implementation committees will focus on health, public sector preparedness, economy and international response. This new structure is in addition to the regular UK COBR meetings to take strategic decisions and review overall progress in the campaign to contain, delay and mitigate Coronavirus. The new committees will feed into daily C-19 meetings chaired by the Prime Minister and refine the measures agreed by COBR.

The details of the four implementation committees are:

• Healthcare: chaired by the Health Secretary to focus on the preparedness of the NHS. Notably, ensuring capacity in the critical care system for those worst affected and the medical and social package of support for those to whom we will be providing the new shielding regime.
• General Public Sector: chaired by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster to look at preparedness across the rest of the public and critical national infrastructure, excluding the NHS.
• Economic and Business: chaired by the Chancellor, with the Business Secretary as deputy chair, to consider economic and business impact and response, including supply chain resilience. It will also coordinate roundtables with key sectors to be chaired by relevant Secretaries of State.
• International: chaired by the Foreign Secretary, to consider our international response to the crisis through the G7, G20 and other mechanisms, including like-minded groups, and the UK five-point plan.