What does it investigate and how does it work?

The latest evidence sessions of the public inquiry investigating Scotland’s response to the pandemic will take place in the coming weeks.

The Scottish Covid Inquiry began its hearings last year and has already covered the impact of the pandemic on people using health and social care services.

The inquiry will now turn its attention to how the provision of education at all levels in Scotland has been affected by the Covid crisis.

Across all areas, the inquiry will first look at the impact of the pandemic, before moving on to how decisions were made to respond to the public health emergency and then to how Covid policies were implemented.

The aim of Scotland’s public inquiry into Covid is to establish the facts of what happened during the country’s response to the pandemic and find out what lessons can be learned for the future.

The inquiry was commissioned by Scottish ministers but operates independently under chairman Lord Brailsford.

A total of 12 elements of pandemic management in Scotland will be examined and fall under three themes:

• Health and social care
• Education and youth
• Finance, business and welfare

Pandemic planning, provision of personal protective equipment, school closures and isolation guidelines for businesses are just some of the issues being examined.

At the end of the inquiry, no one is found guilty or innocent, but recommendations are made and are expected to be implemented by the Scottish Government.

The UK’s Covid-19 inquiry began in 2022 and heard from a number of key people involved in Scotland’s response to the pandemic – including former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

As well as starting earlier than Scotland’s inquiry, its scope is much wider as it covers the impact of the pandemic and decisions made by the UK government for the whole of the Kingdom.

The Scottish Inquiry only investigates policy areas under the control of the Scottish Government.

For example, the UK inquiry will investigate the decisions made about which Covid vaccine supply strategy to follow for the entire Kingdom.

The Scottish inquiry does not cover the vaccines that were bought, but will look at the design and delivery of the vaccination strategy, as it is up to Scottish ministers to implement these UK-wide decisions.

The UK inquiry has already investigated some of the political decision-making around the pandemic, while the Scottish inquiry is leaving this for later in its programme.

The approach in Scotland is to prioritize evidence from those most affected by the pandemic, such as bereaved relatives and health workers, before moving on to key decision-makers.

This means that conclusions and recommendations will come at the end of the process, which is likely to be at least two more years.

Instead, the UK inquiry is doing so as it goes, and in July chair Baroness Hallett published its first findings, where she said both the UK and Scottish governments “failed its citizens” by not doing enough to properly plan for the crisis.

The UK Covid Inquiry is currently in London listening to those involved in healthcare delivery.

Evidence from people in the health and social care sector who have been most affected by the pandemic was heard between October last year and June this year.

Much of this was the personal and often harrowing stories of relatives of some of the thousands who died of Covid during the pandemic.

This was gathered both in written documents and in people who appeared in person at the inquiry hearings in Edinburgh.

In November last year, Gillian Grant told the inquest a “do not resuscitate” plan was put in place for her grandmother to the care home where he lived, against the family’s wishes.

The inquest also heard Caroleanne Stewart’s story of paramedics arriving at her brother’s home as he struggled with Covid symptoms but refused to get out of the ambulance.

In terms of protective equipment, the inquiry heard that the lack of PPE in the early stages of the pandemic meant some GPs wore reused garbage bags for aprons.

Another hearing saw a group of relatives compare care home residents “displayed in a reptile house” due to pandemic restrictions that limited visiting.

In addition to the public hearings, the Scottish Inquiry conducted a The Let’s Be Heard Project to try and maximize the number of people across the country who can speak out about the impact Covid has had on them or their loved ones.

More than 10,000 people took part in the project and an intermediate report explain how the lockdown measures have affected people.

The focus of inquiry hearings over the coming weeks will be the impact of the pandemic on education, from early years to colleges and universities.

A wide range of issues will be addressed with experts and frontline workers presenting evidence.

The hearings will look at whether the digital divide has affected home schooling, investigate disruptions to exams and qualifications and look at how social isolation has affected young people’s mental health.

In the early years, the impact of blocking on children’s social and emotional development and behavior will be considered.

It will also look at the reopening of colleges and universities, as well as the financial and educational impact of lockdown restrictions on students.

The investigation made the decision not to let the young people testify in person.

Instead it is conducting surveys to gather experiences from teachers, childcare professionals and children aged eight and over.

Education hearings in the coming weeks will be followed by business and welfare impact hearings, with this section of the inquiry due to conclude on 20 December.

A final series of impact hearings between February and June next year will explore the effects of the pandemic that have not yet been covered on the three main themes.