Covid inquiry: Families say Senedd committee not enough

Bereaved families say a Senedd committee "muddies the waters" amid renewed calls for a Wales-specific Covid inquiry.

Anna-Louise Marsh-Rees, leader of Covid-19 Bereaved Families Cymru, said a committee run by politicians could not be a substitute.

"It cannot possibly cover the range of issues and get to the level of granularity that we need," she said.

The committee said people would have chances to "have their say".

Ms Marsh-Rees said the committee, which meets for the first time next week, was "not the same as a Wales inquiry".

"It is 100% not. It's not independent. We want it to be taken out of the political arena," she said.

The Wales Covid-19 Inquiry Special Purpose Committee was set up as part of a deal between Welsh Labour and the Welsh Conservatives, to identify any gaps in what the UK inquiry said about Wales.

It follows a long-running row over whether Wales needs its own inquiry into the pandemic, calls for which have been resisted by the Welsh government.

Lucy O'Brien, a lawyer with extensive experience in public inquiries and judicial reviews, said she was concerned that the Senedd committee would not have the resources to adequately scrutinise decisions made during the pandemic.

She said: "With an independent public inquiry, the inquiry would be resourced to approach witnesses and compel evidence and hold public hearings.

"Say the UK public inquiry found there were issues with care homes in Wales and that was part of Baroness Hallett's recommendations, would the Senedd committee then be contacting care homes in Wales to obtain evidence? I think that's unlikely because I think they're unlikely to be resourced to do so."

A spokesperson for the Welsh government said they would not be providing running commentary on the evidence the inquiry was taking and would not be speculating on any conclusions the inquiry may come to.

Ms O'Brien said she was "surprised" the Welsh government voted against holding a Welsh independent public inquiry.

"We know Wales went in its own very different direction to the UK government during the pandemic and that in many areas the response in Wales was different to the rest of the UK," she said.

"It's surprising to us from a legal perspective that the Senedd voted against that."

The committee is being co-chaired by Joyce Watson, Labour Member of the Senedd for Mid and West Wales, and Tom Giffard, Conservative MS for South Wales West.

The Conservatives are co-chairing the committee with Welsh Labour which has been criticised by Plaid Cymru.

Plaid Cymru health spokesperson Mabon ap Gwynfor said both parties wanted to "quieten the issue" of a public inquiry and "push it into the long grass".

"It's not just the gaps we need to look at, we need to look at the Covid issue in the round in Wales because health is devolved," he said.

Leader of the Welsh Conservatives Andrew RT Davies said the party was committed to "enabling this committee to work to its fullest ability like any scrutiny committee in the Welsh Parliament."

He added: "The challenge is obviously to government backbenchers to make sure they step up to the plate and act as backbenchers, not an extension of the Welsh government."