The Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC) is a scientific body which seeks to advise United Kingdom government policy as part of the response to outbreaks of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

, such as on testing deployment, international travel, and the UK 'COVID-19 alert level'. Its existence was announced by Prime Minister

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

in May 2020.Dan Sabbagh and Ian Sample
Senior counter-terror official put in charge of new UK biosecurity centre
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 12 May 2020. Accessed 24 May 2020. The body has been part of the

UK Health Security Agency The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is a government agency in the United Kingdom, responsible since April 2021 for England-wide public health protection and infectious disease capability, and replacing Public Health England. It is an executiv ...

since the establishment of that agency on 1 April 2021. __TOC__

Accountability and personnel

The Minister of State for Social Care at the

Department of Health and Social Care The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for government policy on health and adult social care matters in England, along with a few elements of the same matters which are not otherw ...

Helen Whately Helen Olivia Bicknell Whately (''née'' Lightwood; born 23 June 1976) is a British politician serving as Minister of State for Social Care since October 2022, and previously from 2020 to 2021. She also served as Exchequer Secretary to the Treas ...

, has oversight of the JBC. Tom Hurd, a civil servant, held the chief position at the JBC from May 2020 to June 2020, when he was replaced by Dr Clare Gardiner, on secondment from her role as a director at the National Cyber Security Centre. However, the post is believed to have been vacant since June 2021. The epidemiologist Dr Thomas Waite, formerly a senior leader at

Public Health England Public Health England (PHE) was an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care in England which began operating on 1 April 2013 to protect and improve health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities. Its formation came as a ...

, took part in the creation of the JBC. In October 2020 he was described as its director of health protection, and was its director of health analysis until he took up a Deputy Chief Medical Officer post in July 2021. , Johanna Hutchinson is the head of data and data science.

History

In June 2020, the body was said to be part of the

NHS Test and Trace NHS Test and Trace is a government-funded service in England, established in 2020 to track and help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Despite its name, the programme was never in fact run by the NHS: the programme is part of the UK Health Secu ...

service, and it was reported that a small number of staff from

GCHQ Government Communications Headquarters, commonly known as GCHQ, is an intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance (IA) to the government and armed forces of the Uni ...

had been seconded to help the centre develop its data analytics capabilities. In October 2020, it came to light that one of the responsibilities of the JBC was "the local lockdowns enforced on millions of people across the country". The JBC made the news in October 2020 when it was the subject of discussion over the secrecy to which it was entitled. Certain MPs and scientists then demanded that the minutes and the membership of the JBC be published. In the same month, it came to light that the JBC was responsible for decisions to impose movement restrictions in London,

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

and other areas. Certain MPs were upset that the JBC failed to publish either its analysis or its argument(s). Even its premises were shielded from view by its Health Protection bureau chief. In July 2021, the JBC was rebuked by the Office for Statistics Regulation over lack of transparency regarding data to support a 16 July decision by the government to strengthen quarantine requirements for travellers arriving in England from France.

References

{{reflist 2020 establishments in the United Kingdom Scientific organisations based in the United Kingdom Emergency management in the United Kingdom Organizations established for the COVID-19 pandemic Public bodies and task forces of the United Kingdom government Biosecurity