Parliament
279 mentions of the inquiry in Parliament: debates, written questions and statements, oral questions and early day motions, from Hansard.
Coronavirus: Vaccination
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if the Government will launch an inquiry into vaccine harms and excess deaths during Covid-19 lockdowns.
Our thoughts are with the families of those who lost loved ones and those who continue to suffer because of the pandemic.
The UK Covid-19 Inquiry was established in 2022 under the Inquiries Act. The Government is fully committed to supporting the work of the Inquiry and to learning lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic to ensure the UK is better prepared for a future pandemic.
Module 2 of the Inquiry investigated matters including decision-making relating to lockdowns. The Inquiry published its report in November last year - the Government will consider the Inquiry’s findings and recommendations carefully before responding in full. Module 4 of the Inquiry is investigating a range of issues relating to the development of Covid-19 vaccines and the implementation of the vaccine rollout programme - the Inquiry is expected to publish its report in April 2026.
Read full answer →Covid-19 Inquiry
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the cost to the public purse is of the covid-19 inquiry; if he will make an estimate of the anticipated total cost of the inquiry; and whether the inquiry is running to budget.
It is important that lessons are learnt from the Covid-19 pandemic and the response to it. The UK Covid-19 Inquiry is independent of government and it is right that we allow the Chair to continue her important work. The Chair is under a statutory obligation to avoid unnecessary costs in the Inquiry’s work, and she has been clear in her intention to complete her work as quickly and efficiently as possible. Quarterly financial reports are published every quarter on the official UK Covid-19 Inquiry website.
Read full answer →Covid-19 Inquiry: Costs
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to reduce the costs associated with the covid-19 inquiry.
It is important that lessons are learnt from the Covid-19 pandemic and the response to it. The UK Covid-19 Inquiry is independent of government and it is right that we allow the Chair to continue her important work. The Chair is under a statutory obligation to avoid unnecessary costs in the Inquiry’s work, and she has been clear in her intention to complete her work as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Read full answer →Coronavirus: Disease Control
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has made an assessment of the (a) costs and (b) merits of each of the restrictions during the covid-19 pandemic.
The previous Government spent up to £400 billion on pandemic related interventions and programmes including 11.7 million employees that were furloughed through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, at a cost of £70 billion. 2.9m people on the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme received grants at a cost of £28bn.
The Chancellor has announced that she will appoint a Covid Corruption Commissioner, fulfilling a manifesto commitment. The main focus of the Commissioner will be pandemic PPE contracts. They will make sure everything that can be done, has been done, to get the public purse what it is owed.
The UK Covid-19 Inquiry has now been established. As set out in its Terms of Reference, the Inquiry will examine, consider and report on preparations and the response to the pandemic. In doing so, the inquiry will help identify lessons learned. The Inquiry published its Module 1 report, focussing on resilience and preparedness in July 2024. The government will carefully consider the Inquiry’s findings and recommendations, and will respond within six months.
Read full answer →