Provision of temporary staff

The UK Government must protect the health and wellbeing of UK citizens. The COVID-19 outbreak is a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) as declared by the World Health Organisation on 30 January 2020. The WHO Director General characterised COVID-19 as a pandemic on 11 March 2020. PHE discharges its duties as a Category 1 Responder to emergencies on behalf of the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care within the scope of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (CCA 2004). This urgent requirement is in response to the recent COVID -19 outbreak. The negotiated procedure without a prior publication has been used due to extreme urgency as these additional staff were needed to assist in the response to the Covid-19 pandemic.