The independent inquiry into the UK’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic stands out in British history due to its unprecedented scope. Led by Heather Hallett, this inquiry doesn’t just focus on a specific group but examines a virus that profoundly impacted every individual across the nation.

So far, two comprehensive reports have been released, with eight more anticipated. These documents are rich with insights, carefully derived conclusions, and strategic recommendations aimed at enhancing our future preparedness.

Starting in the summer of 2023, witness testimonies commenced in London. Since then, hearings have been conducted across all four UK nations, featuring around 380 witnesses sharing their experiences of that challenging period. Additionally, 58,000 people across the country contributed their personal pandemic stories online, and an extensive review of over 600,000 documents, totaling about 5 million pages, has been undertaken.

The inquiry is segmented into 10 distinct investigations, or “modules,” encompassing nearly all facets of the pandemic’s impact. These include political decision-making processes, the crisis’s effects on care homes, the lasting impact on youth, the adaptability and resilience of healthcare systems, economic repercussions, and the profound societal changes experienced.

The inquiry’s scope was defined by the government in 2022, focusing on assessing the UK’s readiness and response to the pandemic, with an aim to extract lessons for the future. The issues under scrutiny remain relevant to millions, as they continue to affect lives significantly.

While there have been calls for the inquiry to explore the origins of the virus, this aspect falls outside its designated remit, and thus, it has not been pursued despite occasional criticism from detractors.

It is easy to make the criticism that this inquiry has taken too long or been too costly. I refute this, and would invite anyone who questions the worth of this inquiry to examine the scope set by the government and the list of investigations we have held. Against the backdrop of the billions spent by government to combat the pandemic, the UK is now investing a fraction of that on a transparent, rigorous public inquiry that makes clear recommendations. It is the very least we owe to those who suffered, and to those who will come after us.

There are two uncomfortable truths about public inquiries. The first is that they take time and cost money. A meaningful investigation, in which Lady Hallett was determined to hear from those who were affected directly by Covid-19, should not have been rushed. Some nations’ governments have held swift internal reviews. Here, the government decided on a statutory inquiry with legal powers to compel witnesses to give evidence and hold people to account in public. Ours has been a full and thorough public investigation, working faster than any previous inquiry of comparable size.

The second truth about inquiries in the UK is that their recommendations have rarely been implemented in full. Governments often receive the findings and then the pressures of the day take over and implementation is deferred.

Hallett’s first report laid bare the lack of preparedness for a pandemic across the UK. Recommendations from successive exercises had been deprioritised because they were not seen as urgent. This cannot be allowed to happen again. None of the inquiry’s work – not the evidence reviewed, not the witnesses heard, not the reports published, not the time and money expended – means anything unless governments and other public bodies act on the inquiry’s findings, and act quickly.

The families who lost loved ones, the key workers who risked their lives, the people who shielded alone, the communities that sacrificed so much – they all deserve one thing above all else: meaningful change.

The time, the money spent and the emotional investment of all those who provided their stories will have been wasted if the inquiry’s recommendations are not implemented in full by the four governments of the UK. The first duty of any government is to protect its people. Hallett expects the full implementation of all the UK Covid-19 inquiry’s recommendations.

The question is not if the UK will face a pandemic again, but whether we will be ready and better prepared next time. Our work has made the cost of Covid-19 very clear. From 30 January 2020 to 28 June 2022, more than 200,000 people died in the UK, and hundreds of thousands more faced loss, isolation or harm. The total cost of UK government spending as a result of Covid-19 is estimated to exceed £375bn – a staggering sum that will be borne by us all and by future generations.

The hearings are over. The remaining reports are coming. Change must happen. The public, hit so hard by the pandemic, deserves nothing less.

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