Say sorry to children for Covid errors, ex-children's commissioner tells ministers

Children should be given a formal apology by the prime minister after the Covid inquiry ends for the "avoidable mistakes" made by the government at the time, the former children's commissioner for England has said.

Adults were prioritised over children throughout the pandemic as pubs, shops and theme parks opened before schools, Baroness Anne Longfield told the UK Covid Inquiry.

She also described the run-up to the closure of schools as being "quite chaotic", adding that "it wasn't clear who had responsibility for planning for children".

The inquiry is due to hear evidence from those who were in government at the time, while the current government has said lessons have already been learned.

This part of the inquiry is looking at the impact of the pandemic on children and young people, and whether they were considered in key decisions made by government.

Schools were closed in March 2020 and again in January 2021.

Baroness Longfield said whoever is prime minister at the time of the inquiry's final report should say sorry to children because of the damage done to their education and wellbeing at the time of the pandemic.

Giving evidence to the inquiry on Thursday, she described an "impasse" over the issue of schools reopening during Covid.

She told the inquiry the Department for Education (DfE) had said they weren't allowed to reopen schools because Public Health England (PHE) wouldn't let them.

The inquiry heard she had then spoken to the chief executive of PHE, who was "aghast" that this might be the case and described a set of guidelines which provided a framework for schools reopening.

"I ended up with a brokerage role to bring [DfE and PHE] together," she said.

"I think it's very clear that throughout the process, mistakes were made, children were overlooked and there were mistakes and decisions that went against children's best interests."

In the coming weeks, the inquiry is due to hear about the difference in opinion between the former education secretary Gavin Williamson and Boris Johnson about the closing of schools in January 2021.

Baroness Longfield said the 2021 closure would have been avoidable with better planning, but says the government did not use the time over the previous summer to prepare for a future lockdown.

On Monday, Galina Ward KC, for the DfE, said there was "a really difficult balance to be struck between trying to keep [schools] open at all costs, or having targeted early closures to avoid longer ones later, but then potentially closing schools at a time when it may become apparent with hindsight that it wasn't in fact necessary".

"There simply are no easy answers and we look forward to all of the complexities being fully ventilated in this module," she said.

Although vulnerable children were allowed to attend schools in the first lockdown, only 5% attended in the first few weeks, the inquiry was told.

Baroness Longfield said the "stay at home" message from government seemed to show that ministers hadn't understood the complexity of life for a lot of children and families, with the message being that it was "unsafe to leave your house".

"It meant that those families with vulnerable children who might have attended wondered why their children might take the risk to attend school when everyone else wouldn't," she said.

The policy was a good decision and well-intentioned, she told the inquiry, but because of how it was communicated, it was almost seen as a punishment, rather than an offer from government to help families.

Also on Thursday, the inquiry heard there had been a "systemic shock" to children's mental health during the pandemic, according to Tamsin Newlove-Delgado, an expert in children and young people's mental health.

Research showed the number of children and young people with mental health conditions had increased from one in nine in 2017, to one in six in 2020, the inquiry heard.

The "sharp jump" has remained at an elevated level over recent years, Professor Newlove-Delgado said.

She said there had also been a rise in eating disorders, which could be partly explained as an attempt to exert control or because of the increased time spent online.

This part of the inquiry looking at the experiences of children and young people is expected to last four weeks.