Inquiry announces fifth report publication date ‘Procurement’ (Module 5)

The UK Covid-19 Inquiry will publish its fifth report, ‘Procurement’ (Module 5), on Tuesday 14 July 2026.

The report will be published on the Inquiry website at 12pm on Tuesday 14 July. The Chair of the Inquiry, Baroness Heather Hallett, will present her recommendations in a video statement on the Inquiry’s YouTube channel soon after.

Module 5 examined how the UK procured and distributed key healthcare equipment and supplies during the pandemic, including PPE, ventilators, oxygen and lateral flow and PCR tests. It covers all four nations of the United Kingdom and assesses the robustness of procurement processes, the quality and volume of items obtained and the systems for  distributing those items.

Public hearings for Module 5 took place from Monday 3 to Thursday 27 March 2025.

The Chair of the Inquiry, Baroness Heather Hallett, will set out her findings and recommendations in the report. The Inquiry expects all recommendations to be implemented without delay and governments across all four nations will be asked to publish their responses within six months of publication.

More details are included in the provisional scope for Module 5. The list of Core Participants can be found on our website.

The Module 5 report contains a chapter that sets out the Inquiry’s findings on the evidence related to PPE Medpro. This chapter cannot be published on 14 July 2026 as it is covered by a Restriction Order granted by the Chair to ensure that current or future criminal investigations are not undermined. This chapter will be published once the Order has been lifted after the conclusion of any criminal proceedings as detailed within it, unless it is varied or revoked.

The Inquiry has published reports for Modules 1, 2, 3 and 4. Baroness Hallett notes the action taken by the four governments of the UK to date – including the publication last month of the UK government’s new Pandemic Preparedness Strategy – and trusts that all recommendations from all published reports, will be implemented promptly and in full. Progress on the implementation of recommendations can be tracked on the Monitoring of Inquiry Recommendations page on the Inquiry’s website.

Reports will be published before the end of 2026 for Module 6, investigating the adult social care sector and Module 7, investigating the test, trace and isolate systems. The remaining three reports will be published in the first half of 2027.

These remaining reports will be published following thorough analysis of the evidence submitted to the Inquiry for each investigation. 

A full list of the Inquiry’s investigations can be found in the Terms of Reference.