‘A disservice to families’: Senedd closes ‘sad chapter’ as Covid scrutiny is silenced

Chris Haines, ICNN Senedd reporter

A Senedd committee set up to scrutinise the Welsh Government’s handling of the pandemic has been formally dissolved, marking a “great failure” by Wales’ democratic institutions.

Adam Price warned of institutional failure as the Senedd today (October 8) formally agreed to scrap the special purpose committee which was beset by problems before collapsing.

The former Plaid Cymru leader described the saga as a “very sad chapter” in the Senedd’s history and a forfeited opportunity to learn lessons from the pandemic.

Mr Price told the Senedd: “We have lost that opportunity in this Senedd to do that important work on behalf of the people of Wales: the living – and I have to say this, and I say it with the greatest of respect – and also the dead, and their loved ones as well.

“It will be for another Senedd now, and for another government, … to make right that wrong.”

‘Unholy alliance’

The MP-turned-Senedd member, who served on the “suboptimal” committee, explained it was born of a compromise between Labour and the Conservatives.

Reiterating calls for a Wales-specific, judge-led inquiry, Mr Price said: “We had two parties coming together in an unholy alliance, you could say.

“Yet, having made that compromise, they were no longer prepared to make other compromises to make it work…. If you make an agreement of that kind, then you have to deliver it – otherwise, you damage the trust of the people in the democratic process.”

Mr Price concluded: “This has been a very sad chapter in the history of this institution.

“I hope that we, in the next Senedd, will learn from that and also seek to learn properly from the things that we got right – the decisions that we made where we got it right in the context of the pandemic – and those where we got it wrong.

“Surely, that’s the lifeblood of democracy: being honest enough to admit your mistakes because that’s the only way you can create a better future.”

‘They didn’t want the scrutiny’

James Evans, the Tory shadow health secretary, broadly agreed with Mr Price as he accused the Welsh Government of not wanting to enter the committee in good faith.

Backing calls for a full, independent inquiry instead, Mr Evans told the Senedd: “There were reservations around swearing oaths….

“They didn’t want the scrutiny. And I think there are some serious questions to be answered here why a government would not want to be scrutinised. I can probably guess why.”

He added: “I think we’ve done a disservice… to the families of the people who lost their lives during that Covid-19 pandemic because we should have been able to bring ministers and experts in under oath to get underneath the issues, to understand them properly.”

Responding for the Welsh Government, Jane Hutt committed to providing regular updates to the Senedd on progress in implementing the UK’s inquiry’s recommendations.

She pointed out that the public accounts committee has agreed to take forward a focused piece of work with about six months of the Senedd’s term remaining.