Consideration of indirect harms

¶10.74. The closure of schools to most children, the lockdowns and other measures introduced by the UK government and devolved administrations were a drastic interference in the lives of the public. As set out in Chapter 3: The first 12 days of March 2020 and Chapter 4: Realisation and lockdown, in Volume I, these were extreme measures intended to save lives. As Professor Whitty explained, of the choices available to ministers:

" [N]o option came with only good outcomes; even when restricted to health outcomes the choice was usually between two bad outcomes with one being worse."¹⁵⁴¹⁵⁴ INQ000248853_0044 para 5.157

¶10.75. However, as set out in this chapter, and as is being considered further by the Inquiry in Module 10: Impact on society, these measures came at a significant cost, particularly to those people already subject to disadvantage.

¶10.76. It was foreseeable that requiring people to stay in their homes would expose some to particular harm, including those living in poor conditions, those at risk of violence, children at risk of harm and those with poor mental health. Removing important structures (like school) from people's lives gave rise to a serious risk that these measures would compound existing inequalities.

" Older people in residential care described losing the will to carry on; people living with dementia lost their remaining memories and recognition of people in their lives; and thousands of people would go on to die without ever seeing their loved ones again."¹⁵⁸¹⁵⁸ INQ000099714_0006

¶10.79. Disabled people experienced the pandemic, and the lockdowns that were imposed, differently from non-disabled people.¹⁵⁹¹⁵⁹ INQ000280067_0012 para 37 For some disabled people, existing barriers intensified and new ones were erected, including food insecurity, difficulty accessing medicines and medical services, isolation, exclusion and limited access to everyday personal assistance and support.¹⁶⁰¹⁶⁰ Nuala Toman 30 April 2024 157/7-12, 166/1-8; Locked Out: Liberating Disabled People's Lives and Rights in Wales Beyond COVID-19, Welsh Government, 2 July 2021, last updated 19 April 2022, p60 (https://www.gov.wales/locked-out-liberating-disabled- peoples-lives-and-rights-wales-beyond-covid-19-html; INQ000142176); INQ000400520_0018; INQ000099698_0005 According to Rhian Davies, Chief Executive of Disability Wales / Anabledd Cymru, reasonable adjustments to the restrictions were "few and far between" and, as a result, "[d]isabled people felt that society was changing without them".¹⁶¹¹⁶¹ INQ000410946_0040 para 106 Professor Debbie Foster, Professor of Employment Relations and Diversity at Cardiff University (and author of Locked Out: Liberating Disabled People's Lives and Rights in Wales Beyond COVID-19), explained:

" For many disabled people the clock was turned back. They lost their independence, some their human rights, and others their lives."¹⁶²¹⁶² INQ000274189_0029 para 93

Domestic abuse, sexual abuse and child abuse

¶10.81. There is a considerable body of evidence demonstrating that rates of domestic abuse, sexual abuse and child abuse rise in civil emergencies.¹⁶⁵¹⁶⁵ INQ000280066_0006 para 9 Outside this context, periods of financial pressure or periods when people are confined to their homes in stressful situations are also associated with greater levels of abuse and violence within the home.¹⁶⁶¹⁶⁶ INQ000280066_0015 para 48 Christmas is a perennial example of this.

¶10.82. Martin Hewitt, Chair of the National Police Chiefs' Council from March 2019 to April 2023, explained that "early reports from China and Italy … indicated a significant increase in domestic abuse",¹⁶⁷¹⁶⁷ INQ000216925_0026 para 109 but that the risks were "self-evident".¹⁶⁸¹⁶⁸ INQ000216925_0026 para 109; Martin Hewitt 9 November 2023 93/10-94/1 It was therefore foreseeable that, during a period of lockdown, abuse within the home would, in all likelihood, increase. Equally, a lockdown made it much more likely that such abuse would go undetected. The closure of schools to most children did not just expose them to greater harm within the home, but also reduced the role of schools as a vital part of the child protection system. This lack of visibility of children put them at even greater risk.

¶10.83. From April to September 2020, there was a 31% rise in incidents of death or serious harm to children aged under one year in England as compared with the same period in 2019.¹⁶⁹¹⁶⁹ INQ000273750_0022 There was also an increase in serious harm incidents involving children with a disability as compared with the previous six-month period.¹⁷⁰¹⁷⁰ INQ000273750_0023 In early April, there was a 120% increase in calls to the National Domestic Abuse Helpline over a single 24-hour period.¹⁷¹¹⁷¹ 'Home Secretary's statement on domestic abuse and coronavirus (COVID-19): 11 April 2020', Home Office and Priti Patel, 11 April 2020 (https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/home-secretary-outlines-support-for-domestic-abuse-victims; INQ000086591) In Northern Ireland, before the pandemic, the Police Service of Northern Ireland was already responding to one domestic-related incident every 17 minutes; by 8 April, its assumption was that there would be a 30% increase in domestic violence cases.¹⁷²¹⁷² INQ000176567_0002

¶10.84. The UK government's 'You Are Not Alone' campaign was launched on 11 April 2020. This was intended to reassure victims of domestic abuse that support services remained available, and to encourage members of the public to show solidarity and support by sharing government digital content or a photo of a heart on their palm.¹⁷³¹⁷³ 'Home Secretary announces support for domestic abuse victims', Home Office and Priti Patel, 11 April 2020 (https://www.gov.uk/ government/news/home-secretary-announces-support-for-domestic-abuse-victims; INQ000280184) By June 2020, 'Respect' – a phone line for perpetrators of domestic abuse – was reporting a 150% increase in calls. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children reported a 30% increase in calls reporting domestic abuse. The National Domestic Abuse helpline reported (on 18 June 2020) a 66% increase in calls. Visits to the 'Live Fear Free' website (on domestic abuse and sexual violence) increased by 144% in the previous month.¹⁷⁴¹⁷⁴ INQ000273937_0053 para 190 The UK government's 'Stay Home' campaign and the impact on victims of domestic abuse are considered in Chapter 12: Public health communications, in this volume.

¶10.85. According to Helen MacNamara, Deputy Cabinet Secretary from January 2019 to February 2021, it was "far too difficult to get people to pay attention to domestic violence and lockdown".¹⁷⁵¹⁷⁵ INQ000273841_0025 para 45 One explanation given was that domestic violence was "not showing up in the data" considered by decision-makers.¹⁷⁶¹⁷⁶ INQ000273841_0025 para 45 However, decisionmakers should have considered other sources, such as calls to domestic violence helplines. In an email on 24 April 2020, Ms MacNamara identified that:

" [ W]e should make a list of all of the things that have happened because of lack of gender diversity in decision makers. It isn't enough that we keep observing this phenomenon: and it doesn't matter if the political team haven't asked or don't seem interested. As Civil Servants we have a responsibility to find a way of building this input in so that the country gets the best outcome."¹⁷⁷¹⁷⁷ INQ000308302_0001

¶She noted that "it is very difficult to draw any conclusion other than women have died as a result".¹⁷⁸¹⁷⁸ INQ000308302_0001

¶10.86. Mr Johnson told the Inquiry that increases in child abuse and violence were not obvious risks but something that he learned from the first lockdown. He said:

" We considered such things as the 'hidden harms' like increased domestic abuse and child abuse and wanted to ensure it was essential that services supporting women and children remained available and steps were taken to tackle these crimes."¹⁷⁹¹⁷⁹ INQ000255836_0153-0154 para 542

¶10.87. At a UK Cabinet meeting on 21 May 2020, Mr Johnson acknowledged that the pandemic had had an impact on people subject to violence and abuse during the lockdown.¹⁸⁰¹⁸⁰ INQ000089051_0004 As a result of the "relentless pushing" by a female private secretary at 10 Downing Street, the Hidden Harms Summit took place later that day to develop an action plan to protect vulnerable people, including those at risk of domestic violence, child abuse and online sexual exploitation.¹⁸¹¹⁸¹ INQ000273841_0025-0026 para 45; INQ000089051_0005

¶10.88. However, it should not have required the first lockdown to demonstrate that these risks would materialise. The UK government should have assumed that the implementation of a lockdown would expose significant numbers of women and children to violence and abuse, in circumstances where these would be harder to detect, harder to seek support for and easier to hide. Clear consideration ought to have been given to the numbers of people already known to be at risk of violence or other forms of abuse in their homes, and plans made to mitigate them.

Children

¶10.89. The vast majority of children were not at risk of serious harm from Covid-19. SAGE explained in a paper considering Covid-19 risks in schools on 13 November 2020:

" The science is clear that children and young people are typically at very low risk from COVID. The disease is much less severe for children, even if they do catch coronavirus."¹⁸²¹⁸² INQ000605485_0001; INQ000074948_0001

¶The decisions to close schools and early years provision to most children and to implement a lockdown were steps taken to protect the adult population. They brought ordinary childhood to a halt.

¶10.90. For most children, the closure of schools, the inability to see friends and the requirement to stay at home were of profound consequence and compounded disadvantages to which they were already subject.¹⁸³¹⁸³ INQ000280060_0050 para 156

¶10.91. Access to play and interaction with family and friends in the early years are critical to children's development.¹⁸⁴¹⁸⁴ David Taylor-Robinson 6 October 2023 24/1-19 If the opportunity to develop early skills is lost, it may be difficult to recover.¹⁸⁵¹⁸⁵ David Taylor-Robinson 6 October 2023 24/1-25, 25/20-25 Professor Sally Holland, Children's Commissioner for Wales from April 2015 to April 2022, explained:

" [C]hildren experienced an extraordinary period, losing many of the activities that all of us would have taken for granted in our own childhood, of course: attending school, socialising with friends, visiting grandparents, et cetera. And we need to remember that these are not just nice to haves for children, but they're an important part of their development and their ability to thrive."¹⁸⁶¹⁸⁶ Sally Holland 28 February 2024 160/13-23

¶Anne Longfield (later Baroness Longfield), Children's Commissioner for England from March 2015 to February 2021, observed:

" Whilst the pandemic, and our country's response to it was a major challenge for most children, it was a disaster for many disadvantaged children who were already living with risks and vulnerabilities."¹⁸⁷¹⁸⁷ INQ000273750_0005 para 8

¶Professor David Taylor-Robinson, expert witness on child health inequalities (see Appendix 1: The background to this module and the Inquiry's methodology, in this volume), believed that the unequal impact of the pandemic on children could have been anticipated and mitigated with a comprehensive strategy that addressed the needs of children and young people.¹⁸⁸¹⁸⁸ INQ000280060_0049 paras 151-152

¶10.92. In Module 8: Children and young people, the Inquiry is considering in further detail what more could have been done to mitigate the effects of school closures and lockdowns on children.