The Covid-19 Inquiry was announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in May 2021. It operates under the Inquiries Act 2005 and is chaired by Baroness Heather Hallett - a former Lady Justice of Appeal.
Following a public consultation, the Chair wrote to the Prime Minister to recommend changes to the draft Terms of Reference. The final Terms of Reference were received in June 2022.
The Inquiry published its first report and recommendations on Thursday 18 July 2024. This examined the state of the UK’s central structures and procedures for pandemic emergency preparedness, resilience and response.
The Inquiry's second report (Core decision-making and political governance) was published on Thursday 20 November 2025. This examines initial response, central government decision making, political and civil service performance as well as the effectiveness of relationships with governments in the devolved administrations and local and voluntary sectors.
The two reports to date are essentially an examination of governmental structures and processes - i.e what was done within government and how. Reports of this type attract only minimal commentary from legal writers - (there isn't much law in them)! Nonetheless, political comment is usually extensive.
Comments made by the Inquiry Chair are likely to stir up considerable criticism of the government of Boris Johnson, of him personally, of other Ministers and officials, and of the decisions made (e.g. "lockdown").
At the time. some disputed the need for "lockdown" but it is fair to note that many other European countries adopted lockdown sooner than UK. A notable exception was Sweden which has a much smaller population than UK as well as a larger land area. Sweden did not lockdown. It's population is approx 11m with land area 448 sq km. against the UK's 69m population and land area 242 sq km. [2025 figures].
Throughout the pandemic, this blog tried to keep abreast of the many developments - see the Coronavirus Logs.
The Second Report
Volume 1 of the report (464 pages pdf) and Volume 2 (336 pages pdf). 800 pages in total.
A useful start is the Statement by Baroness Hallett (7 pages pdf) when announcing the second report.
Hallett noted that the report covered the period from the emergence of Covid-19 in January 2020, until the final restrictions were lifted in May 2022. Her remarks are very critical of the handling of the pandemic in all four parts of the UK (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland).
The Recommendations may be seen at Appendix 3 to Volume 2.
From a legal viewpoint, two recommendations are of particular interest:
It will be recalled that, for a period, Parliament did not meet and an emergency power in Part 2A of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 ("the 1984 Act") was used. This power was subsequently used throughout the pandemic even when Parliament was able to meet. See, for example, this blog 7 June 2020.
This blog also discussed the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (post of 23 May 2020) and noted that the Act contains a requirement for Parliament to meet.
Lady Hallett discussed the legislation at Chapter 13 of Volume 2.
What next?
There are, in total, 19 recommendations which Hallett believes will better safeguard the UK in any future pandemic and improve decision making in a crisis. Although the Inquiry will monitor implementation of recommendations it remains open to government to accept or reject particular recommendations.
By the end of 2025 the Inquiry will have completed 9 of the 10 module hearings. with reports published throughout 2026 and early 2027.
Links
Institute for Government - Five things we learned from the UK Covid-19 Inquiry report on Module 2
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