The government should apologise to children for the damaging mistakes and policy errors it committed during the pandemic, the former children’s commissioner for England has told the Covid-19 inquiry.
Giving evidence to the inquiry’s public hearing on Thursday, Anne Longfield said a “doom loop” of fatalism among ministers meant the government failed to do more to help children. She argued that the prolonged lockdowns and school closures were responsible for the explosion in mental health, welfare and behaviour difficulties still being experienced by children and young people.
Lady Longfield, who was children’s commissioner at the peak of the pandemic, said the government should issue a formal apology for its “avoidable mistakes” to the children whose lives had been blighted by Covid and its after-effects.
“The children and young people who experienced the Covid pandemic – some of whom will now be adults and some of whom are just starting school – are owed a formal apology from the prime minister in parliament once the inquiry has published its final report,” Longfield said.
Anne Longfield. Photograph: Gary Calton/The Observer
“An apology would give the government an opportunity to formally acknowledge the avoidable mistakes and the damage that was done to many children’s wellbeing, education, health, development, and safety, following decisions that were made by the then government in 2020 and 2021.
“It would be a chance to say sorry, and to promise that lessons really will be learned, should there be another pandemic or national emergency in the future.”
The Covid-19 public inquiry this week started its investigation focusing on the treatment of children and young people during the pandemic, and will later hear evidence from policymakers and politicians, including Gavin Williamson, who was the education secretary during the period.
Longfield said her advice or views were rarely sought by the government during the pandemic, and told the inquiry that the interests of children often “came behind in the queue to pubs, shops, theme parks but also adults, throughout”.
Longfield was particularly critical of the government’s decision to drop many elements of social care provision during the pandemic, including diluting requirements for visits to at-risk children.
skip past newsletter promotion
Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters
Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
after newsletter promotion
The restrictions on visits and the increasing use of online interviews allowed some families to evade or conceal their living conditions, Longfield suggested.
“Families, if they wanted to, could quite quickly see how they could hold the interview in a tidy, very clean room, and the rest of the house might not be the same,” Longfield said.
The lower requirements meant social workers were unable to speak with vulnerable children without their parents present, or to speak with other family members who might have concerns.
Longfield said she was frustrated that the government failed to use any inventive thinking around schools and social work that other parts of government, such as the NHS, had employed to solve problems.
“There wasn’t the kind of Nightingale moment that hospitals got, in schools. So many things could have been done differently around keeping schools open but they weren’t.
“Similarly with social care, [the government] moved straight to an outcome around diluting responsibilities,” she said.
Longfield said the after-effects on children and young people were still being felt, citing the doubling in persistent absence from school, the 80% increase in education, health and care plans issued for children with special needs, and a 300% increase in autism among children since before the pandemic.
Longfield said the data “is completely conclusive on the increase in virtually every indicator of [increased] vulnerability, from pre-Covid to today”.
