On 20 November the Covid-19 Inquiry Module 2 Report on decision-making and political governance during the Covid-19 pandemic set out the range of “obvious” risks to Disabled people, both from the virus itself and its countermeasures, that were known both before and during the pandemic [§10.30]. The report details Westminster and devolved governments’ “remarkable” failure to anticipate and plan an effective response to those obvious risks [§4.167], and the disproportionate number of Disabled people who died and whose lives were put at risk as a result [§§10.25-6]. For many Disabled people, “The clock was turned back. They lost their independence, some their human rights, and others their lives” [§10.79].
The egregious failure of government arose from, in the Inquiry’s words, doing “too little too late”. The report has found that it was not until 21 May 2020 that the position of Disabled people was first considered at a UK Ministerial level [§10.32]. It was only in September 2020 that a decision was taken to add people with Down’s syndrome to the Shielded Patient List for those who were considered ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’ and it then took over a month for shielding letters to be sent out [§10.36]. It was then not until 12 November 2020 that Public Health England published a report which considered the disproportionate number of people with learning disabilities that had died from Covid-19 [§10.28]. The Report makes it clear how easily Disabled people become an afterthought in government decision making even where lives were at stake.
The Module 2 report identified that Governmental attitudes reflected the “lack of diversity” [§10.113] amongst decision makers and at Westminster a “toxic and chaotic culture at the heart of government” encouraged by Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings [§11.167, 171].
In Northern Ireland, the Inquiry has found “dysfunction in decision making” that “should never be repeated” [§11.196] and that “at certain critical points in the pandemic, ministers (from the two main political parties) failed to put the common interest of all people in Northern Ireland above their party-political interests” [§11.186].
In Scotland, the Inquiry referred to Inclusion Scotland’s ‘Rights at Risk’ report, which stated that there was an “abyss between the rhetoric of national policies and what happens on the ground.” [§10.125]
Disabled People’s Organisations welcome the Inquiry’s recommendations, many of which reflect the arguments Disabled People’s Organisations have made throughout the Inquiry hearings. They include:
- Recommendation 3: There should be a register of experts to assist governments in future emergencies, “a more diverse range of backgrounds might have helped to challenge orthodox scientific thinking, and brought wider experience of public health conditions on the ground” [§9.90]. With regard to decision making that profoundly affects Disabled people, it is important that there is access to expert advice including advice informed by Disabled people themselves [§10.38].
- Recommendation 6: The UK Government should bring into force s.1 of the Equality Act, implementing the socio-economic duty and the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive should consider an equivalent provision within section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act. To assist governments to understand the lives of those who face disadvantage, including Disabled people and to address systematically the factors that contribute to direct, and indirect, harm in a pandemic.
- Recommendation 8: The UK Government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive should each agree a framework that identifies people – such as Disabled people – who would be most at risk of becoming infected and dying from a disease and those who are most likely to be negatively impacted by any steps taken to respond to a future pandemic.
- Recommendation 10: Decision making groups in a future pandemic in the governments of each UK nation should include a minister with responsibility for representing the interests of groups such as Disabled people.
- Recommendation 14: The UK Government and devolved administrations should each develop action plans for how government communications will be made more accessible during a pandemic. As a minimum, these should include making provision for the translation of government press conferences into British Sign Language (and Irish Sign Language in Northern Ireland) and the translation of key announcements in the most frequently spoken languages in the UK. It is emphasised in the Inquiry report that these are not “secondary considerations” because, “everyone should be able to understand the action that their government is asking them to take”[1] and some of the improvements made later in the pandemic highlighted the difference that proper and timely consideration of accessibility issues can make.
During Modules 2, 2A, B and C Disabled People’s Organisations (Disability Rights UK, Disability Action Northern Ireland, Disability Wales and Inclusion Scotland) were represented by Danny Friedman KC, Anita Davies, Robbie Stern and Danielle Manson instructed by Bhatt Murphy’s Shamik Dutta. Others who have acted on inquiry modules are Kate Beattie and Alice Irving of Doughty Street Chambers.
The Covid-19 Inquiry Module 2, 2A, 2B & 2C Report is publicly available (Volume I) (Volume II).
See also the Opening and Closing Submissions of the Disabled Peoples’ Organisation for Module 2.