Covid-19 Inquiry Update

An Update on the Covid-19 Inquiry

Public Inquiries expert Iain Campbell provides an update on the Covid-19 Inquiry outlined by the Prime Minister in May 2021.

In May 2021, the prime minister announced that there would be an official inquiry into the Covid-19 pandemic. On 28 June 2022, he accepted the terms of reference for the Covid-19 inquiry. The Rt Hon Baroness Heather Hallett DBE has been appointed as the inquiry’s chair. The inquiry has two strands and will:

1. Examine the Covid-19 response and the impact of the pandemic in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and produce a factual narrative.
2. Identify the lessons to be learned from the above, to inform preparations for future pandemics across the UK.

A consultation process was carried out on the draft terms of reference which received over 20,000 responses from various groups of people and sectors throughout the UK and, as a result of the consultation, the terms of reference were amended to further include the additional issues of:

(i)    the impact the pandemic had on children and young people 
(ii)    the mental health and wellbeing of the UK population, along with the collaboration between regional, devolved, and national government, and the voluntary and community sector.

The final terms of reference can be accessed here Covid-19 Public Inquiry and Baroness Hallett, and her team of 12 QCs have already begun work under the terms of the Inquiries Act, which makes it an offence to destroy or tamper with evidence.

The remit of the inquiry is therefore very wide, while the first public hearings will take place next year, in three tranches:

• The first module of the inquiry – looking at how quickly the UK identified the risk of the pandemic and prepared for the impact – will be formally opened on 20 September 2022 with public hearings scheduled for late spring 2023.
• The second module will focus on how the government and civil service responded to the first wave of Covid-19, including lockdowns, public communication, and use of scientific data. These hearings are scheduled for next summer.
• The third module announced by Baroness Hallett will look at how the health services were impacted, as well as issues around PPE procurement, the vaccination programme, the Test and Trace system, the impact of long Covid, and how children and young people have been affected.

The inquiry will travel around the UK to take evidence, and Baroness Hallett has said that the inquiry would listen to people who had suffered during the pandemic and felt they had been ignored.
It is intended that a series of interim reports will be produced dealing with the various issues. Many organisations in the public and private sector are likely to be affected by the inquiry and Baroness Hallett has said: “Where I make recommendations and reports to people or organisations, I expect them to consider and respond to them quickly, to ensure the UK is as prepared as it can be to respond to the next pandemic and protect the lives of its people.” The inquiry is expected to be one of the largest public inquiries conducted in the UK and swift action may be required from those involved.

If you have any queries about the Covid-19 Inquiry or are otherwise potentially affected by it, please contact us.