All of England's Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) will take part in a simulation exercise designed to test the nation's response in the event of a pandemic, it has been confirmed.
Encompassing Government officials, emergency services and councils, Exercise Pegasus was announced after the Covid-19 Inquiry found local government was ‘not adequately considered' in previous exercises.
The Local Government Association (LGA) last month demanded recognition of the sector as an ‘equal and trusted partner in planning for, and responding to, emergencies' and ‘better involvement' in Exercise Pegasus.
Senior LGA figures previously highlighted that only eight out of 42 LRFs were involved in Exercise Cygnus, a three-day, cross-government exercise that was the UK's most notable pre-Covid pandemic simulation designed to test preparedness.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: ‘There has been extensive engagement with local partners across all four nations, and with LRFs in England, all of whom are participating in the exercise.'
Ministers have described Exercise Pegasus, which will take place from September to November, as ‘one of the most comprehensive ever undertaken in the UK'. The exercise will aim to test the country's ability to respond to a pandemic, including assessing both local and national response plans.
