The government only began planning school closures the day before the decision was made, a Covid-19 inquiry has heard.
According to evidence from former Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, until 16 March 2020 the focus was on keeping schools open and there were no contingency plans in place.
Sir Gavin described in his affidavit a “staggering 24-hour change”, said inquiry lawyer Clare Dobbin CC.
Her opening statement came on the first day of the eighth session of the Covid inquiry, which will look at the impact of the pandemic on children and young people across the UK.
The inquiry also heard that Sir Gavin believed the school closures in January 2021 were “not necessary” but were a “panic decision made without the best interests of children in mind”.
However, Boris Johnson rejected this description of the decision and both will be asked about it later in the meeting, Ms Dobbin told the inquiry.
“It is important that there is no debate about whether there was planning for such a seismic event,” she said.
The Welsh Government admitted there was “inadequate planning” for school closures, while the Scottish Government said there was also “limited preparedness”.
Inquiry chair Baroness Hallett opened the hearing by saying the impact of the pandemic on children had been “severe and for many long-lasting”.
Over the next four weeks the investigation will look at:
- Educational disorder
- Emotional well-being and social interactions of children in isolation
- How did this affect children's physical health and access to medical care?
- Experiences of people with illnesses such as long Covid
- How the role of professionals such as social workers has changed
Questions are also expected to be asked about whether there is a link between the pandemic and current high absenteeism rates in schoolsand why so few vulnerable children attended school during the first lockdown.
Decisions about which services to close or open “often prioritized adults or the economy over children's welfare” as “playgrounds closed in some areas while pubs remained open”, Steve Broach CC, who represented children's rights organisations, told the inquiry.
Schools were closed to all pupils except those of key workers and vulnerable children for two periods in 2020 and 2021.
The investigation collected the stories of 18,000 children and young people affected by the pandemic.
The hearing heard of children spending 19 hours a day playing video games and young offenders being given just 45 minutes out of their cells.
Mum Aisha told Every Story Counts that she believes her 17-year-old son's current lack of education, work or training has a lot to do with important years of schooling he missed during the pandemic.
“Usually you have work experience and you're thinking about what you're going to do in the future, and you have all these recommendations from school, and he doesn't,” she said.
“Now he’s just hanging around where he shouldn’t, he’s in trouble.”
The inquiry also heard about children who were most at risk and suffered “serious harm” at the hands of those who were supposed to care for them.
Social worker Imani said she found it incredibly difficult to assess families experiencing domestic violence and had to rely on virtual visits.
“It became very, very difficult,” she said.
“For example, if you say, 'Can I see the home environment?' you know someone will point the phone or camera where they want you to see, not angles they really don't want you to see. We couldn't see these children.”
The investigation found many children are still living with long Covid or the lifelong consequences of not having access to the right support.
Grace, from Wales, said she had struggled to get medical help for her newborn son for multiple ear infections during the pandemic.
It wasn't until several years later that he was able to meet with a hearing specialist, after which Grace was told that he was partially deaf as a result.
“He is now four and a half years old, and it was only a year ago that we were able to make an appointment for him,” she said.
“It could have been noticed a lot earlier if it was easier to see.”
The government said it intends to learn lessons from the investigation. The session, focusing on the impact on children and young people, is expected to last four weeks.
