Military were used to make up for ‘deficiencies’ exposed by pandemic, MPs say
The Defence Select Committee praised the change in ‘mindset’ the armed forces brought to the response but said pandemic plans had been found wanting.
The military must not become the “default first responder” to make up for the deficiencies of civilian authorities in a crisis like coronavirus, MPs have warned.
The Defence Select Committee praised the vital contribution made by the armed forces, which they said should be recognised by a formal award and with an increase in future pay settlements.
But they said contingency measures for a pandemic had been “found wanting” and defence personnel should not be used as a means of covering for inadequate preparation and resourcing by civilian bodies.
Committee chairman Tobias Ellwood also warned that plans to shrink the Army’s staffing target by 10,000 could leave the country less able to respond to a future crisis.
The list of tasks performed by military personnel during the pandemic has included increasing hospital capacity, procuring protective equipment and ventilators, developing and implementing mobile and mass testing programmes, repatriating UK citizens from abroad, providing evacuation aircraft to outlying regions and planning for vaccine distribution and administration.
“They contributed capacity and personnel but, most significantly, a different mindset which was more focused on objective rather than process,” the committee said.
The MPs suggested this, together with the success of the vaccine taskforce, should lead to a “fundamental rethink” about the operation of government.
But the committee found that some civil agencies did not understand what capabilities the Ministry of Defence and armed forces could offer, nor how to request them.
“Further, defence should not be used as a means of backfilling for inadequate preparation and resourcing by the civilian bodies which have a statutory responsibility to meet crises,” the MPs added.
They said the forces must not become “the default first responder to make good deficiencies exposed by a developing crisis”.
The committee said the military should now be used to distribute and administer Covid-19 vaccinations at home and abroad.
MPs were scathing in their assessment of the planning for a pandemic, something that was included in the UK National Risk Register, although the virus envisaged was influenza rather than the coronavirus that did hit the world.
The committee’s report said “the preparations which had ostensibly been made for the emergence of an infectious disease were found wanting”.
There was a “disconnect” between the assessment of the threat of an infectious disease pandemic and the preparations for such an event occurring.
The MPs said it was “inexplicable” that the Cobra emergency committee met only four times between January 24 and March 2.
“This disconnect and its causes should be addressed at any future public inquiry into the UK’s response to the pandemic,” the MPs said.
The committee’s Tory chairman Mr Ellwood said: “Despite the darkness of the past year, we have seen countless acts of heroism and resilience in the face of adversity. Our armed forces rose to the challenge of coronavirus, demonstrating outstanding strength and stoicism.
“The integral efforts of all key workers, including those of the armed forces, must be explicitly and materially recognised by the Government.”
But the armed forces “are no substitute for preparedness in other Government departments”, he said.
“They cannot be used as the sole contingency plan for times of acute crises.”
He called for the Government to carry out a “no-holds-barred self-examination” about what happened and extend the expertise within the forces to the civilian authorities.
“This year we’ve seen the importance of boots on the ground. The Government’s recent decision to reduce troop numbers should concern us all, potentially leaving us ill-prepared for the next major national security crisis.”
