Joint Biosecurity Centre - GOV.UK
Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/joint-biosecurity-centre
Archived: 2026-04-23 14:52
Joint Biosecurity Centre - GOV.UK
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Joint Biosecurity Centre
The Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC) provided evidence-based, objective analysis to inform local and national decision-making in response to COVID-19 outbreaks.
On 1 October 2021, the Joint Biosecurity Centre (
JBC
) became part of the
UK Health Security Agency
.
The
JBC
aimed to provide evidence-based, objective analysis, assessment and advice to inform local and national decision-making in response to coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreaks. This included:
helping to inform action on testing, contact tracing and local outbreak management in England
informing an assessment of the risks to UK public health from inbound international travel
advising on the COVID-19 alert level
The
JBC
was an integral part of the
NHS Test and Trace service
within the Department of Health and Social Care (
DHSC
). Working in partnership with Public Health England (
PHE
), it was an important element of an evolving and strengthening health protection ecosystem in the UK. In the immediate term, the
JBC
’s objectives were to break the chains of COVID-19 transmission to protect the public’s health.
The
JBC
was established in May 2020 to bring additional and complementary analytical capacity to build on that already in place at a local and regional level across the UK.
On 18 August 2020, the government announced that the UK Health Security Agency (
UKHSA
) would start work immediately, with a single command structure to advance the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It would bring together
PHE
and NHS Test and Trace, as well as the analytical capability of the
JBC
under a single leadership team.
This was the first step towards becoming a single organisation, focused on tackling COVID-19 and protecting the nation’s health. As
UKHSA
, the
JBC
and
PHE
came together to establish a single analytical function to ensure high-quality analysis and insight are available to make evidence-based decisions in the response to COVID-19.
1. About the
JBC
The
JBC
brought together data science, assessment and public health expertise to provide analysis and insight on the status of the COVID-19 epidemic in the UK and the drivers and risk factors of transmission. This insight supported decision-makers at a local and national level to take effective action to break the chains of transmission, and in turn, protect the public.
The
JBC
’s monitoring programmes were designed to understand the rate of COVID-19 infections and how the virus was spreading. They helped to assess the impact of measures taken to contain the virus, to inform current and future actions, and to develop new tests and treatments.
The data and insight generated from these individual studies also helped strengthen our scientific understanding of COVID-19, inform government policy decisions and work across the COVID-19 testing programme.
The
JBC
worked collaboratively with the devolved administrations as equal partners to help inform public health responses in respective jurisdictions, as although health is a devolved matter in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, we know that the virus does not respect borders. The
JBC
provided analysis and assessments to decision-makers and did not take or direct operational decisions on outbreak response in any nation. The
Agency Agreement
,
Agency Agreement extension
and the
Political Agreement
governing this relationship outlines the political agreement and governance arrangements underpinning the
JBC
’s commitment to a 4-nation approach.
Health ministers from all 4 nations attended the
JBC
ministerial board, and the devolved administrations were represented on the
JBC
steering board and the
JBC
technical board. The terms of reference for each board are below.
The
JBC
covered monitoring and immunity studies and worked closely with a wide range of partners, including:
Public Health England (
PHE
)
Office for National Statistics (
ONS
)
academic institutions such as Imperial College London, who lead the
Real-time Assessment of Community Transmission (REACT)
private industry
The
JBC
worked in partnership with
PHE
to strengthen knowledge and understanding of the evolving COVID-19 epidemic and provide insight to national and local decision-makers, local health protection teams and others.
External partnerships were crucial for innovation and the
JBC
was keen to build close partnerships with the academic and scientific community. The
JBC
complemented the work of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), supporting its scientific consensus with operational capability, including data analysis and epidemiological expertise.
2. Publications
The detailed data reports from the
JBC
were used to help inform action on testing, contact tracing and local outbreak management in England.
COVID-19 surveillance and immunity studies
Coronavirus data informing local and national decision-making
Coronavirus cases by local authority epidemiological data
The Rum Model - Assessing the impact of test, trace and isolate parameters on COVID-19 transmission
3. How the
JBC
supported evidence-based decision making
Working with partners, the
JBC
aimed to provide targeted, timely and actionable information to decision-makers at all levels to:
provide insights into the factors that affect the spread of COVID-19 and their potential consequences, including focused insight into the sectors and settings that are the most significant drivers of transmission of the virus
help local and national decision-makers understand:
how infection rates in local areas are changing relative to the UK-wide picture
what factors lie behind localised increases in infections rates
the potential consequences for the local health and care system
where action might best be prioritised to help contain the spread of the virus
help inform decisions on where and how to deploy testing capacity, improve the speed and coverage of contact tracing, identify and manage clusters, and improve understanding and awareness of risk for individuals, businesses and public services
advise the UK’s 4 chief medical officers (
CMOs
) on the COVID-19 alert level across all 4 nations of the UK
assess the public health risks arising from inbound international travel to inform decision-makers on international travel and self-isolation exemptions
Data relating to testing, positive cases and contact tracing was shared directly with directors of public health and local authorities in England by NHS Test and Trace,
PHE
and NHS Digital.
UKHSA
will continue to develop insight to complement and build on this provision of data to help ensure local and national decision-makers have timely access to the information they need to respond most effectively to outbreaks.
4. How the
JBC
helped fight the virus locally
Alongside colleagues from across NHS Test and Trace, the
JBC
worked in partnership with
PHE
, government departments, local responders and directors of public health across England to identify local outbreaks and agree on interventions. The process for doing this was set out in the
COVID-19 contain framework
.
As part of this overall effort, the
JBC
worked with partners across England to monitor the consistency, coherence and resilience of the UK’s response, adapting as we learned more about disease transmission and the most effective interventions, and building links to equivalent organisations overseas to share expertise.
The
JBC
also played an integral part of the 9 Test and Trace regional support and assurance teams that were established across England to provide support and assistance at a local level.
Through these teams, the
JBC
supported local areas and local decision-makers across England, as well as national ministers, to ensure a consistent operation of local powers appropriate to the response to COVID-19 in a given area. The
JBC
aimed to provide insights into the most effective local interventions to bring virus transmission back under control based on the specific characteristics of local outbreaks.
5. How the
JBC
used data
The
JBC
aimed to draw upon data, insight and predictive analytics from a range of health and non-health sources, as well as other information feeds and statistical modelling to build a picture of COVID-19 infection rates across the country.
As it continued to evolve and innovate, the
JBC
aimed to work in close collaboration with research groups across the academic community to help ensure that advanced mathematical and statistical models of the state of the epidemic in the UK could inform policy in an auditable and robust fashion. As well as data and models, the
JBC
also looked to enhance its assessments with qualitative information such as behavioural and social insights to investigate the drivers of transmission and impact of interventions.
The
JBC
ensured that appropriate privacy and compliance procedures were followed and that any use of personal data was handled in line with privacy notices and Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs). When access to personal data was required, the
JBC
ensured robust privacy and ethical standards were upheld.
The
JBC
aimed to follow a transparent approach to the assessments and analysis it undertook. It sought to ensure peer scrutiny and challenge of its analytical methods and to crowdsource new approaches to incorporate in its work.
6. The COVID-19 alert level
The
JBC
advised the UK’s
CMOs
on the COVID-19 alert level across all 4 nations of the UK. Any recommendation to change the alert level was reported to the
CMOs
, who made the final decision and advised ministers.
The
COVID-19 alert level
was informed by a range of indicators and a combination of public health data, statistical modelling and studies, and kept under constant review.
7. COVID-19 international travel
The UK government introduced a traffic light system to support the safe return of international travel. Decisions on red, amber and green list countries or territories were taken by ministers informed by risk assessments provided by the
JBC
, alongside wider public health factors. See the
methodology
and
data
that underpins these risk assessments.
8. Governance and leadership
The
JBC
was established as a new directorate within
DHSC
on 1 June 2020 and on 1 October 2021 became part of
UKHSA
.
The
JBC
was accountable to Parliament through the:
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Care
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Prevention, Public Health and Primary Care
The
JBC
ministerial board
Function: recognising the need to ensure ministers from all 4 nations can contribute to
JBC
oversight, the
JBC
ministerial board ensured the
JBC
was delivering its objectives as effectively as possible for all 4 nations of the UK.
There were new health ministers for Scotland and Wales following elections in May 2021.
Members were the UK’s 4 health ministers at the time:
The Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP – Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Robin Swann – Minister for Health, Northern Ireland Executive
Humza Yousaf, Member of the Scottish Parliament – Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
Eluned Morgan, Member of the Senedd – Minister for Health and Social Services
Meetings and minutes:
JBC
ministerial board: terms of reference
19 July 2021: minutes
22 March 2021: minutes
30 November 2020: minutes
The
JBC
steering board
Function: to set the organisation’s strategic direction, monitor performance and hold the
JBC
’s Director General to account.
Members: membership was subject to agreement by the ministerial board, and included senior officials from
DHSC
and the devolved administrations.
JBC
steering board terms of reference
The
JBC
technical board
Function: to ensure
JBC
products were of sufficient clinical and scientific rigour, for example agreeing the methodology used to arrive at recommendations on the COVID-19 alert level
Members:
Professor Sir Chris Whitty – Chief Medical Officer for England
Professor Sir Michael McBride – Chief Medical Officer for Northern Ireland
Professor Sir Gregor Smith – Chief Medical Officer for Scotland
Sir Frank Atherton – Chief Medical Officer for Wales
JBC
Director General
The 4 Chief Scientific Advisers (Health)
The Deputy Chief Medical Officers
Meetings and minutes:
JBC
technical board: terms of reference
13 May 2021: minutes
26 April 2021: minutes
12 March 2021: minutes
Data Science Advisory Board (DSAB)
Function: To ensure
JBC
can work to the highest standards of reliability and reproducibility, and to inform the
JBC
’s prioritisation for integration of new data science models and techniques.
Members:
Professor Daniela De Angelis, Professor of Statistical Science for Health at the University of Cambridge
Dr Ewan Birney, Deputy Director General of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Director of the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI)
Dr Zeynep Engin, Open Infrastructure Strategy Lead and AI for Science and Government Theme Lead for Tools, Practices and Systems, Alan Turing Institute
Dr Ben Goldacre, Director, DataLab, University of Oxford
Professor Dame Wendy Hall, Professor, Associate Vice President (International Engagement) and Executive Director (Web Science Institute), University of Southampton
Professor Alison Heppenstall, Professor of Geocomputational and ESRC-Turing Fellow, University of Leeds
Dr Johanna Hutchinson, Director of Analytics and Data Science, UK Health Security Agency
Professor Graham Medley, Professor of Infectious Disease Modelling, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Professor Andrew Morris, Director, Health Data Research UK
Professor Mark Parsons, EPSRC Director of Research, UK Research and Innovation
Professor Sylvia Richardson, Emeritus Director of the MRC Biostatistics Unit, University of Cambridge
Professor Simon Vosper, UK Meteorological Office
The DSAB met on a monthly basis.
Meetings and minutes:
DSAB terms of reference
DSAB minutes
Since inception, the
JBC
also sought and received regular guidance regarding work in mathematical modelling, statistical modelling and computer science from experts across the UK, including:
SPI-M
the MRC Biostatistics Unit
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)
the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
the Alan Turing Institute
Health Data Research UK
the Royal Society (RAMP and DELVE groups)
the European Molecular Biology Laboratory
several leading universities
Contents
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Joint Biosecurity Centre
The Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC) provided evidence-based, objective analysis to inform local and national decision-making in response to COVID-19 outbreaks.
On 1 October 2021, the Joint Biosecurity Centre (
JBC
) became part of the
UK Health Security Agency
.
The
JBC
aimed to provide evidence-based, objective analysis, assessment and advice to inform local and national decision-making in response to coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreaks. This included:
helping to inform action on testing, contact tracing and local outbreak management in England
informing an assessment of the risks to UK public health from inbound international travel
advising on the COVID-19 alert level
The
JBC
was an integral part of the
NHS Test and Trace service
within the Department of Health and Social Care (
DHSC
). Working in partnership with Public Health England (
PHE
), it was an important element of an evolving and strengthening health protection ecosystem in the UK. In the immediate term, the
JBC
’s objectives were to break the chains of COVID-19 transmission to protect the public’s health.
The
JBC
was established in May 2020 to bring additional and complementary analytical capacity to build on that already in place at a local and regional level across the UK.
On 18 August 2020, the government announced that the UK Health Security Agency (
UKHSA
) would start work immediately, with a single command structure to advance the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It would bring together
PHE
and NHS Test and Trace, as well as the analytical capability of the
JBC
under a single leadership team.
This was the first step towards becoming a single organisation, focused on tackling COVID-19 and protecting the nation’s health. As
UKHSA
, the
JBC
and
PHE
came together to establish a single analytical function to ensure high-quality analysis and insight are available to make evidence-based decisions in the response to COVID-19.
1. About the
JBC
The
JBC
brought together data science, assessment and public health expertise to provide analysis and insight on the status of the COVID-19 epidemic in the UK and the drivers and risk factors of transmission. This insight supported decision-makers at a local and national level to take effective action to break the chains of transmission, and in turn, protect the public.
The
JBC
’s monitoring programmes were designed to understand the rate of COVID-19 infections and how the virus was spreading. They helped to assess the impact of measures taken to contain the virus, to inform current and future actions, and to develop new tests and treatments.
The data and insight generated from these individual studies also helped strengthen our scientific understanding of COVID-19, inform government policy decisions and work across the COVID-19 testing programme.
The
JBC
worked collaboratively with the devolved administrations as equal partners to help inform public health responses in respective jurisdictions, as although health is a devolved matter in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, we know that the virus does not respect borders. The
JBC
provided analysis and assessments to decision-makers and did not take or direct operational decisions on outbreak response in any nation. The
Agency Agreement
,
Agency Agreement extension
and the
Political Agreement
governing this relationship outlines the political agreement and governance arrangements underpinning the
JBC
’s commitment to a 4-nation approach.
Health ministers from all 4 nations attended the
JBC
ministerial board, and the devolved administrations were represented on the
JBC
steering board and the
JBC
technical board. The terms of reference for each board are below.
The
JBC
covered monitoring and immunity studies and worked closely with a wide range of partners, including:
Public Health England (
PHE
)
Office for National Statistics (
ONS
)
academic institutions such as Imperial College London, who lead the
Real-time Assessment of Community Transmission (REACT)
private industry
The
JBC
worked in partnership with
PHE
to strengthen knowledge and understanding of the evolving COVID-19 epidemic and provide insight to national and local decision-makers, local health protection teams and others.
External partnerships were crucial for innovation and the
JBC
was keen to build close partnerships with the academic and scientific community. The
JBC
complemented the work of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), supporting its scientific consensus with operational capability, including data analysis and epidemiological expertise.
2. Publications
The detailed data reports from the
JBC
were used to help inform action on testing, contact tracing and local outbreak management in England.
COVID-19 surveillance and immunity studies
Coronavirus data informing local and national decision-making
Coronavirus cases by local authority epidemiological data
The Rum Model - Assessing the impact of test, trace and isolate parameters on COVID-19 transmission
3. How the
JBC
supported evidence-based decision making
Working with partners, the
JBC
aimed to provide targeted, timely and actionable information to decision-makers at all levels to:
provide insights into the factors that affect the spread of COVID-19 and their potential consequences, including focused insight into the sectors and settings that are the most significant drivers of transmission of the virus
help local and national decision-makers understand:
how infection rates in local areas are changing relative to the UK-wide picture
what factors lie behind localised increases in infections rates
the potential consequences for the local health and care system
where action might best be prioritised to help contain the spread of the virus
help inform decisions on where and how to deploy testing capacity, improve the speed and coverage of contact tracing, identify and manage clusters, and improve understanding and awareness of risk for individuals, businesses and public services
advise the UK’s 4 chief medical officers (
CMOs
) on the COVID-19 alert level across all 4 nations of the UK
assess the public health risks arising from inbound international travel to inform decision-makers on international travel and self-isolation exemptions
Data relating to testing, positive cases and contact tracing was shared directly with directors of public health and local authorities in England by NHS Test and Trace,
PHE
and NHS Digital.
UKHSA
will continue to develop insight to complement and build on this provision of data to help ensure local and national decision-makers have timely access to the information they need to respond most effectively to outbreaks.
4. How the
JBC
helped fight the virus locally
Alongside colleagues from across NHS Test and Trace, the
JBC
worked in partnership with
PHE
, government departments, local responders and directors of public health across England to identify local outbreaks and agree on interventions. The process for doing this was set out in the
COVID-19 contain framework
.
As part of this overall effort, the
JBC
worked with partners across England to monitor the consistency, coherence and resilience of the UK’s response, adapting as we learned more about disease transmission and the most effective interventions, and building links to equivalent organisations overseas to share expertise.
The
JBC
also played an integral part of the 9 Test and Trace regional support and assurance teams that were established across England to provide support and assistance at a local level.
Through these teams, the
JBC
supported local areas and local decision-makers across England, as well as national ministers, to ensure a consistent operation of local powers appropriate to the response to COVID-19 in a given area. The
JBC
aimed to provide insights into the most effective local interventions to bring virus transmission back under control based on the specific characteristics of local outbreaks.
5. How the
JBC
used data
The
JBC
aimed to draw upon data, insight and predictive analytics from a range of health and non-health sources, as well as other information feeds and statistical modelling to build a picture of COVID-19 infection rates across the country.
As it continued to evolve and innovate, the
JBC
aimed to work in close collaboration with research groups across the academic community to help ensure that advanced mathematical and statistical models of the state of the epidemic in the UK could inform policy in an auditable and robust fashion. As well as data and models, the
JBC
also looked to enhance its assessments with qualitative information such as behavioural and social insights to investigate the drivers of transmission and impact of interventions.
The
JBC
ensured that appropriate privacy and compliance procedures were followed and that any use of personal data was handled in line with privacy notices and Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs). When access to personal data was required, the
JBC
ensured robust privacy and ethical standards were upheld.
The
JBC
aimed to follow a transparent approach to the assessments and analysis it undertook. It sought to ensure peer scrutiny and challenge of its analytical methods and to crowdsource new approaches to incorporate in its work.
6. The COVID-19 alert level
The
JBC
advised the UK’s
CMOs
on the COVID-19 alert level across all 4 nations of the UK. Any recommendation to change the alert level was reported to the
CMOs
, who made the final decision and advised ministers.
The
COVID-19 alert level
was informed by a range of indicators and a combination of public health data, statistical modelling and studies, and kept under constant review.
7. COVID-19 international travel
The UK government introduced a traffic light system to support the safe return of international travel. Decisions on red, amber and green list countries or territories were taken by ministers informed by risk assessments provided by the
JBC
, alongside wider public health factors. See the
methodology
and
data
that underpins these risk assessments.
8. Governance and leadership
The
JBC
was established as a new directorate within
DHSC
on 1 June 2020 and on 1 October 2021 became part of
UKHSA
.
The
JBC
was accountable to Parliament through the:
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Care
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Prevention, Public Health and Primary Care
The
JBC
ministerial board
Function: recognising the need to ensure ministers from all 4 nations can contribute to
JBC
oversight, the
JBC
ministerial board ensured the
JBC
was delivering its objectives as effectively as possible for all 4 nations of the UK.
There were new health ministers for Scotland and Wales following elections in May 2021.
Members were the UK’s 4 health ministers at the time:
The Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP – Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Robin Swann – Minister for Health, Northern Ireland Executive
Humza Yousaf, Member of the Scottish Parliament – Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
Eluned Morgan, Member of the Senedd – Minister for Health and Social Services
Meetings and minutes:
JBC
ministerial board: terms of reference
19 July 2021: minutes
22 March 2021: minutes
30 November 2020: minutes
The
JBC
steering board
Function: to set the organisation’s strategic direction, monitor performance and hold the
JBC
’s Director General to account.
Members: membership was subject to agreement by the ministerial board, and included senior officials from
DHSC
and the devolved administrations.
JBC
steering board terms of reference
The
JBC
technical board
Function: to ensure
JBC
products were of sufficient clinical and scientific rigour, for example agreeing the methodology used to arrive at recommendations on the COVID-19 alert level
Members:
Professor Sir Chris Whitty – Chief Medical Officer for England
Professor Sir Michael McBride – Chief Medical Officer for Northern Ireland
Professor Sir Gregor Smith – Chief Medical Officer for Scotland
Sir Frank Atherton – Chief Medical Officer for Wales
JBC
Director General
The 4 Chief Scientific Advisers (Health)
The Deputy Chief Medical Officers
Meetings and minutes:
JBC
technical board: terms of reference
13 May 2021: minutes
26 April 2021: minutes
12 March 2021: minutes
Data Science Advisory Board (DSAB)
Function: To ensure
JBC
can work to the highest standards of reliability and reproducibility, and to inform the
JBC
’s prioritisation for integration of new data science models and techniques.
Members:
Professor Daniela De Angelis, Professor of Statistical Science for Health at the University of Cambridge
Dr Ewan Birney, Deputy Director General of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Director of the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI)
Dr Zeynep Engin, Open Infrastructure Strategy Lead and AI for Science and Government Theme Lead for Tools, Practices and Systems, Alan Turing Institute
Dr Ben Goldacre, Director, DataLab, University of Oxford
Professor Dame Wendy Hall, Professor, Associate Vice President (International Engagement) and Executive Director (Web Science Institute), University of Southampton
Professor Alison Heppenstall, Professor of Geocomputational and ESRC-Turing Fellow, University of Leeds
Dr Johanna Hutchinson, Director of Analytics and Data Science, UK Health Security Agency
Professor Graham Medley, Professor of Infectious Disease Modelling, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Professor Andrew Morris, Director, Health Data Research UK
Professor Mark Parsons, EPSRC Director of Research, UK Research and Innovation
Professor Sylvia Richardson, Emeritus Director of the MRC Biostatistics Unit, University of Cambridge
Professor Simon Vosper, UK Meteorological Office
The DSAB met on a monthly basis.
Meetings and minutes:
DSAB terms of reference
DSAB minutes
Since inception, the
JBC
also sought and received regular guidance regarding work in mathematical modelling, statistical modelling and computer science from experts across the UK, including:
SPI-M
the MRC Biostatistics Unit
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)
the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
the Alan Turing Institute
Health Data Research UK
the Royal Society (RAMP and DELVE groups)
the European Molecular Biology Laboratory
several leading universities
Contents
Is this page useful?
Maybe
Thank you for your feedback
Help us improve GOV.UK
To help us improve GOV.UK, we’d like to know more about your visit today.
Please fill in this survey (opens in a new tab
)
.