Opposition parties are attempting to create a special purpose Senedd committee to investigate failings in Wales’ Covid response.
Mark Drakeford has faced substantial criticism for over a year about his decision to not hold a Wales specific Covid inquiry despite the fact that Welsh Labour were taking the vast majority of the decision relating to the Covid response in Cymru. The First Minister has instead said that a UK wide Covid inquiry is the best way to get answers.
WalesOnline has previously listed 29 things a Welsh specific inquiry in Covid in Wales would need to look at as well as highlighting the voices of families who lost loved ones from the Covid Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru group. Despite this, the Welsh Government has been steadfast in their refusal to hold an inquiry.
Read more: A woman documented her distressing 16 hour wait in A&E with her seriously ill mum
How the chair of that inquiry’s Chair Baroness Hallett recently admitted that its investigation " can't cover every issue " relating to Wales, which has prompted concerns that it could miss out on many aspects of the pandemic in Wales.
The Welsh Tories and Plaid have co-submitted a motion to through a standing order to establish a Wales COVID-19 inquiry special purpose committee. They will still need Labour votes to get the motion through the Senedd.
The parties say the committee would “aim to identify where the UK Covid-19 inquiry is not able to fully scrutinise the response of the Welsh Government and Welsh public bodies to the Covid-19 pandemic” and “to undertake an inquiry into the areas identified”. The aim would be for the committee to be dissolved no later than December 2024 following a Plenary debate on its final report.
The vote on whether to establish the committee will go before the Senedd on Wednesday, November 30. If Welsh Labour votes against, they will accused the party of trying to dodge scrutiny. Labour is likely to argue that any Senedd investigation should wait until after the UK inquiry.
WalesOnline had previously interviewed many of the families who had lost loved ones during the pandemic, some of whom had truly harrowing stories . A spokeswoman for the Covid Bereaved Families Cymru group, said: “We welcome this action by opposition parties. The Welsh Government has had every opportunity to hold a Wales specific Covid inquiry but has chosen not to.
“The First Minister assured us that Wales being in the UK Inquiry was the right thing despite devolved-decision making. However the UK Inquiry cannot cover the issues in Wales in detail and in the way that he said he wanted.
“All we have ever wanted is what went wrong for our loved ones to be acknowledged and for lessons to be learned. Our concerns about the UK Inquiry are coming true and the First Minister has not challenged this. Ultimately we deserve a Wales specific judge-led inquiry. Sadly we’ve been denied this in Wales, therefore this committee will at least help ensure some detailed scrutiny of Wales that the UK Inquiry will not cover.”
Commenting ahead of the debate in the Senedd, the Welsh Conservative shadow health minister Russell George MS said: “For the last year and a half we’ve tried to make the Labour Government accept that we need a Wales-specific Covid inquiry so people who suffered from the virus and lockdowns – and know others who died because of them can – get the answers they deserve.
“We simply should not be in this position where we are asking for a Senedd committee to do the job of filling the gaps of the UK investigation – Mr Drakeford was keener than anyone to point out that Welsh rules were made in Wales, so why should there be no investigation here either?
“It is increasingly clear that we are here because Labour ministers do not want to be under the microscope and in the limelight, preferring to hide behind the more well-known issues that affected England. The exercise of devolved power must be scrutinised and those who used them must be held accountable for their actions and the results incurred. Any politician who votes against our motion puts themselves in opposition to this principle and must justify that to the people of Wales.”
Plaid Cymru’s spokesperson for health and care, Rhun ap Iorwerth MS said: “So far, the Labour Welsh Government has left the scrutiny of its own decisions to the UK Covid Inquiry. This is unacceptable. Since the early days of the pandemic, Plaid Cymru has argued that there should be a Wales-specific inquiry, with decisions made in Wales properly scrutinised in Wales.
“We’ve argued that a single UK inquiry can’t possibly reflect devolved decision-making properly, concerns which were confirmed on the first day of the UK Covid Inquiry, when the chair stressed that it would not be possible to cover every issue, or call every witness relating to decisions made in Wales.
“To leave decisions unscrutinised or inadequately scrutinised does a disservice to the people of Wales, particularly to those who worked so hard on the front line, those who lost loves ones and those who are still suffering with long-Covid. We must take every opportunity to scrutinise the Welsh Government on Covid, both good decisions and bad. That’s how we’ll learn lessons about what worked well and what didn’t. In calling for this committee to be set up alongside the UK Covid Inquiry, Plaid Cymru and our fellow opposition parties are saying that we can and should scrutinise those decisions.”
Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds MS said: “Now is the time for Welsh Labour Senedd Members to do the right thing and back a Welsh COVID-Inquiry. As I have repeatedly said this isn’t about apportioning blame, but about ensuring that we learn vital lessons to ensure we are better prepared for the future.”
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