THE Welsh Government has been accused of “locking the stable door after the horse has bolted” in its planning for a future health pandemic.

Welsh Government permanent secretary Andrew Goodall and Public Health Wales adviser Quentin Sandifer both gave evidence to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry on Tuesday morning.

There, it emerged the government had carried out a review earlier this year, finding there remained flaws in Wales’ civil contingencies system, including around leadership, training and learning lessons.

Dr Goodall said “work was under way” to ensure the identified issues in civil contingency planning were addressed.

But Hugo Keith KC, counsel to the inquiry, asked Dr Goodall if he would "agree that many of those issues have been raised consistently and continuously from 2012 onwards that is an egregious example of locking the stable door after the horse has bolted?"

Dr Goodall said the Welsh Government had "had to learn many lessons and adapt, and we need to ensure that we keep addressing the issues from our planning and also from our recent experiences as well".

The inquiry heard some civil contingency planning powers were transferred from Westminster to the devolved Welsh Government in 2018, but Dr Goodall said planning for a no-deal Brexit had diverted resources away from that focus.

Dr Goodall also told the inquiry he agreed a 2011 pandemic strategy had a "number of assumptions" and it resulted in the Welsh Government not planning for measures it might have needed to respond to a coronavirus outbreak.

Mr Keith had put it to him that the 2011 pandemic flu strategy had a “number of flaws”.

"The inability to carry out that review, of course, and inability which existed prior to Wales being struck by the pandemic has been described by one of your own ministers as 'extremely disappointing'", Mr Keith said.

Dr Sandifer, consultant adviser on pandemics and international health at Public Health Wales (PHW), said the agency had provided advice "throughout its existence" to the government, including "specific" advice on "pandemic planning arrangements".

But the inquiry heard PHW had "no representation" on a UK Government-led advisory group for new virus threats (NERVTAG) and had no seat on the Sage group of scientific advisors "pre-pandemic".

Dr Sandifer said he thought it "would have been beneficial" for PHW to have been involved in NERVTAG and "we would always be happed to support the Welsh Government had we been asked [to join Sage]".

The inquiry continues.

Additional reporting by PA Media.