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CHILDREN’S RIGHTS IN COVID DECISION MAKING

We understand there were incredibly difficult decisions to make in March 2020, and interventions such as school closures may have been necessary for a period of time. Yet as the months went by, we believe the pandemic policies’ impact on children’s wellbeing was avoidable.

Through the Covid-19 Public Inquiry, we wanted to explore who, amongst leading politicians, civil servants and scientific advisors, was thinking about children, their rights, their development and their physical and mental health when critical decisions were made. 

We wanted to ask questions to those who were making decisions to help us understand why pubs opened before schools, why there were different, more stringent rules for how children could socialise with their families in England and Northern Ireland compared to Scotland and Wales, and why adults’ sports clubs could restart but not children’s activity clubs. 

WHAT DID WE FIND OUT DURING THE INQUIRY?

Over eight weeks of inquiry our lawyers followed carefully what witnesses submitted and said about the way that decisions were made. It was clear in what we found that the impact on children was known at the time, not just with hindsight. You can watch our closing submission or read our written statement for our full findings.

There were three key findings:

 

1) No one disputed that children were disproportionately impacted by the pandemic 

Witnesses, including former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, recognised that children were seriously affected by the pandemic. No one said that the decision making was adequate and met the needs of those who have no voice themselves in decision making. While we acknowledge there were many groups who suffered from the failings of political and administrative decisions, we feel it is particularly important to recognise children’s experiences as distinct and important. As our Barrister Jennifer Twite stated, “to say that children are different from adults is an embarrassingly simple and depressingly obvious submission to have to make, but sadly it is a necessary one.”  

We heard from children’s experts, including an expert in children’s public health and the former Children’s Commissioner for England, about why it is so important that children are considered in a comprehensive and deliberate way for their social, mental, and physical development. It was also stressed that not all children’s experience of the pandemic was uniform, and how detrimental the pandemic was and continues to be for children, especially those experiencing poverty. 

Quote: “to say that children are different from adults is an embarrassingly simple and depressingly obvious submission to have to make, but sadly it is a necessary one.” Jennifer Twite, Barrister representing Children’s Rights Organisations

Quote: “If children are everyone's responsibility, they are by default nobody's priority. That is the problem.” Rajiv Menon KC, Barrister representing Children’s Rights Organisations

 

2) No one was responsible for children’s rights and well-being during the pandemic

Government ministers said that they were all concerned about children. However, as our Barrister Rajiv Menon KC said, “If children are everyone’s responsibility, they are by default nobody’s priority. That is the problem.”

It speaks volumes that the Secretary of State for Education at the time, Gavin Williamson, was not invited to give evidence during this module. Without someone dedicated to represent the rights and needs of children in rooms where decision making is happening,  our youngest generation will continue to be let down.

3) The failings to children are symptomatic of systemic failures in decision making  

There were insufficient systems and processes in place to ensure children's voices and rights were considered. Some of the most striking evidence was from civil servants who spoke of their concerns about who was looking out for children, especially when it came to children in vulnerable situations. They said that when the curtain fell, it struck them that many children would become “invisible” to the system in a way they hadn’t before. They also recognised how the lack of diversity in government contributed to children with particular vulnerabilities being overlooked. 

This adult centric lens in decision making predates the pandemic but was crystallised in decisions meaning that pubs could open before schools, or that adults could socialise and return to activities before children could.

When we asked government ministers about this, they could not recall why decisions were made or referenced scientific evidence that we could not trace. Contrary to this, other evidence pointed to advice regarding children’s wellbeing provided to government, that was not heeded. 

Quote: “There wasn't enough thinking about the overall experience of children who might not have quite the same privileges as the people who are in the rooms in Whitehall taking decisions" Helen McNamara, Former Deputy Cabinet Secretary

While media attention during the inquiry focused on the actions of a few individuals, the inquiry made clear that the failings that children experienced were not just the result of individual decision-makers, but of fundamental structural issues meaning that children’s rights are not systematically considered when decisions are made.  

We have put forward all the evidence and recommendations in our closing submissions. These are intended to make children structurally visible, ensure their rights are brought into the balance, and ensure someone at the Cabinet table is responsible for giving due consideration to those rights. 

We now await the interim report of Module 2. Despite the fact this will be over five years from the first lockdown, we hope the Chair will speak boldly to the effect that the pandemic had on children and recognise such failings in decision making for the covid generation. 

 

 

MORE INFORMATION

  • Save the Children’s overview of the inquiry
  • Oral Opening Statement on behalf of the Children’s Rights Organisations. Watch from 0:50 – 19:39
  • Oral Closing Statement on behalf of the Children’s Rights Organisations. Watch from 0:20 – 21:07

 

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