Today was the final day of evidence in the Covid Inquiry’s investigation into the impact of the pandemic on children and young people. The Inquiry has heard strong evidence that the interests of children have not been given the weight they deserve.
The Coram Group was a key participant in the investigation, and Coram CLC has been supporting the Inquiry by providing detailed written evidence of the experience of those children and young people who use the services of the Coram Group both during and after the pandemic, and through the oral evidence of our CEO.
Dr Carol Homden CBE, CEO of the Coram Group, said in her oral evidence that, pandemic or not:
“it is a key moral duty of society to prepare for the next generation of citizens. And of course, unless we do so, we will reap the consequences”
We have called on the government to put in place a number of measures to better prepare for a future emergency, and to ensure children are explicitly accounted for in all pandemic preparedness planning and decision making. These include:
- better partnering between government and those in the third sector with deep expertise in the experiences of children and young people
- the creation of a dedicated Minister for Children, and
- incorporation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) into domestic law to ensure children can enforce their rights and encourage a change in culture and practice within government
Coram CLC has been supported pro bono by a fantastic legal team; the public law practice at Jenner and Block and barrister Sam King KC. We are immensely grateful to them for months of hard work, without which our involvement would not have been possible.
In her closing statement today on behalf of Coram, Ms King said:
“Coram is confident that this Inquiry will not shy away from identifying the real harms which were engendered by the inadequacy of the government response, so that they may be mitigated or avoided in the future.”
The Inquiry has now heard a huge range of evidence. Given the Inquiry is currently finalising its report for Module 2 of the Inquiry (on core decision making and political governance), and our evidence on children and young people is part of Module 8, we expect they will publish their final report within the next 18 months.
You can read the transcript of Dr Homden’s oral evidence here, and Coram’s full statement of evidence here.
