The first meeting of the ‘Wales Covid-19 Inquiry Special Purpose Committee’ will be held today, Tuesday, July 11, 2023, one week since the first evidence hearings took place with witnesses from Wales, as part of the UK Covid Inquiry.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Adam Price MS, Plaid Cymru’s representative on the committee, said:

“Decisions made in Wales should be scrutinised in Wales – and what we’ve seen and heard from the last week of the UK Covid Inquiry has done little to prove otherwise.

“From documents not being read, advice not being taken, and strategies not being updated in more than a decade – what has been uncovered about the Welsh Government’s pandemic preparedness has been alarming. And it has barely scratched the surface. In the mere day and a half given for just five of Wales’ key players to give their evidence, there remain more questions than there have been answers.

“Whilst the remit of the Special Purpose Committee is to look at any gaps identified in the UK Covid Inquiry, by definition, it can never complete until after the UK Inquiry has concluded. This could be years away!

“Without a Wales-specific Covid inquiry too many lessons – positive and negative – will remain unlearned and too many questions will go unanswered. It’s not too late for the Welsh Government to change their minds and open themselves up to full scrutiny by holding a Welsh specific Covid inquiry.”