UK Authorities Should Issue Children an Apology for Harmful Pandemic Errors, Inquiry Told

England's ex children’s commissioner has told the Covid-19 inquiry that the government must apologise to youngsters for the harmful errors and flawed decisions it made during the health crisis.

'Doom Loop' Among Officials Led to Inability to Assist Children

Presenting testimony to the inquiry’s public hearing, the former commissioner stated that a “doom loop” among ministers meant the administration did not manage to do enough to help children.

She argued that the prolonged lockdowns and education shutdowns were responsible for the explosion in mental health, wellbeing and behaviour difficulties still being experienced children and young people.

These young individuals who experienced the coronavirus crisis – many of them will now be adults and others are just starting school – are owed a formal apology from the prime minister in parliament once the investigation has published its concluding findings,” Longfield said.

Official Sorry Would Acknowledge Avoidable Mistakes and Damage Caused

A formal sorry would provide the government an chance to publicly recognise the preventable errors and the damage that was caused to numerous children’s welfare, schooling, health, growth, and safety, after choices that were taken by the then government in 2020 and 2021.

“It would be a opportunity to say sorry, and to assure that insights really will be learned, in case of another pandemic or national emergency in the future.”

Young People's Needs Were Secondary to Bars, Shops and Adults

The former commissioner stated her recommendations or views were rarely requested by the administration during the health crisis, and informed the inquiry that the interests of children often “were placed after in the line to bars, shops, amusement centres but also adults, the whole time”.

Welfare Services Support Reduced Throughout Pandemic

Longfield was especially critical of the government’s decision to drop several aspects of social care provision throughout the pandemic, such as diluting requirements for visits to vulnerable children.

The restrictions on home checks and the growing reliance of online interviews enabled certain families to evade or conceal their home situations, Longfield indicated.

“Households, if they chose to, could easily see how they could hold the interview in a tidy, very clean area, and the other parts of the home might not be the same,” she remarked.

Reduced standards meant welfare professionals were not able to speak with at-risk children without their parents present, or to speak with other family members who might have worries.

Absence of Creative Solutions in Education and Social Work

The former commissioner expressed she was disappointed that the administration did not manage to use any inventive thinking around schools and child protection that other parts of the public sector, like the NHS, had employed to solve problems.

“There was no the kind of emergency response that hospitals got, in schools. Numerous measures could have been done differently around keeping schools open but they were not.

“In the same way with child welfare, [the authorities] moved directly to an outcome involving diluting responsibilities,” she said.

Long-Term Impacts Continue to Affect Children

Longfield said the consequences on the youth were ongoing, referring to the doubling in persistent absence from education, the significant rise in support schemes issued for children with special needs, and a 300% increase in autism in youngsters since before the pandemic.

She said the evidence “clearly demonstrates on the increase in almost all measures of [increased] vulnerability, from pre-Covid to now”.