COVID-19 Inquiry Faces Pressure to Accelerate Children’s Module

A child has his temperature checked by a teacher before entering Earlham Primary School, in London, on June 10, 2020. Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza has written to the chair of the COVID-19 inquiry on Monday as charities said the inquiry has “silenced” children.

Dame de Souza said she is calling on the inquiry to put children “at the heart and centre of everything they do.”

It comes 15 months after COVID-19 inquiry chair Baroness Hallett committed to investigate the impact of lockdowns on children but the module is yet to be scheduled.

In a statement emailed to The Epoch Times, Dame de Souza said: “As children’s commissioner, it is my job to ensure that children’s voices, views, and experiences are heard by policymakers, government, and the COVID Inquiry.

“During the pandemic children across the country sacrificed so much to keep us all safe. Children and young people have told me how lonely they felt, how much they missed school, seeing their friends, and socialising. Now, they continue to tell me about a long-term impact the pandemic has on their wellbeing and happiness.

“That’s why I have I have called on the chair of the COVID Inquiry to ensure that it has children and young people’s views and voices at the heart and centre of everything they do. I will continue to call for the inquiry to recognise the pandemic’s impact on children and make sure we are prioritising them in recovery.”

It comes as over 40 children’s charities and experts criticised Baroness Hallett for dragging her feet on starting a children’s module.

So far, the inquiry has announced six modules and held 23 hearings and 13 preliminary hearings. Baroness Hallett has said she will announce more modules early next year and aim to complete all hearings by 2026.

While some children’s charities are core participants in Module 2 of the inquiry, which looks into core UK decision-making and political governance, a dedicated module on children seems unlikely to begin until 2025.

Open Letter

In a joint open letter to Baroness Hallett, charity leaders and experts warned the chair of “unacceptable delays” to taking evidence from children on lockdowns, Save the Children, which is leading the campaign, said in a press release.

Dan Paskins, director of UK Impact at Save the Children said, “Children are being silenced by this inquiry.”

“Despite repeated promises from chair, the Rt Hon Baroness Heather Hallet [sic], she would urgently ensure children’s memories are captured and the issue matters to her, no measures are in place to make this happen,” he said.

“Children are not an afterthought or an inconvenience in this inquiry process. Their lives were turned upside down by government decisions and any barriers in the way of them having their say need to be removed immediately.”

The charities also hit out at the inquiry’s Every Story Matters (ESM) campaign for not accepting submissions from children.

The inquiry invited the British public to share their pandemic stories, but only adults are allowed use its online form. According to the website, the inquiry is designing “an effective way of engaging with children and young people” and will publish updates in due course.

“Every Story Matters has been launched without a plan for how to involve children,” the letter said, according to The Telegraph.

According to a financial report (pdf) published last month, as of June 30, the inquiry has spent over £38 million, including almost £21 million on legal costs and 3.5 million on ESM.

Giving evidence to the inquiry in June about the UK’s pandemic resilience and preparedness, England’s former Chief Medical Officer Dame Sally Davies, who is now the master of Trinity College, Cambridge, said “a generation” of pupils and students have been damaged and education “has a terrific amount of work to do” to mitigate the impact.

In a statement emailed to The Epoch Times, a spokesperson for the COVID-19 inquiry said, “Inquiry Chair Baroness Hallett is committed to investigating the impacts on children and young people—including health, well-being, and social care. It is one of a number of topics which the inquiry must investigate that are set out in our terms of reference.”