Bereaved families call Welsh Covid-19 review 'a waste of public money'

Campaigners for families who lost relatives to Covid-19 say they will not take part in the Welsh government's pandemic review unless it has legal powers.

The co-lead of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru said the group was concerned the review would not have the power to call people to give evidence under oath, something Wales' health minister promised before entering government.

The Plaid Cymru government announced it would hold an independent review of the previous Labour administration's handling of the pandemic, but did not give further details of how it will take shape.

Reform said anything other than a full public inquiry would be "a spectacular U-turn" from Plaid.

First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth defended the review, and said its aim was "not about apportioning blame" but ensuring Wales was better prepared "should a pandemic strike again".

The previous Welsh Labour government refused to hold one, on the grounds that Wales' response to the pandemic should be investigated in a UK context.

Now the government under Plaid Cymru said a review would be established by Dafydd Trystan Davies - the effectiveness and constitution minister.

On Thursday Catherine Griffiths, co-lead of the bereaved families group and whose 86-year-old father died after contracting Covid in a care home, told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast the review should have statutory powers.

"I'm not happy at all, actually," she said.

"I mean for six years, senior Plaid politicians have been calling for a statutory Wales Covid inquiry, and we wonder why their commitment appears to have shifted towards a review.

"They're very, very different beasts, a review and a statutory inquiry. I think it would be a waste of public money.

"To establish what happened, identify responsibility and make recommendations, the inquiry needs to be statutory.

"Otherwise, it's an ad hoc arrangement. No-one is obliged to provide evidence.

"We would be unable to engage in a review as a group, and it would appear Plaid was going against its manifesto pledge."

Wales' Health Minister Mabon ap Gwynfor had previously stated his party would hold an inquiry that would see witnesses compelled to give evidence under oath.

Two months before his party won May's Senedd election, ap Gwynfor - then Plaid's health spokesperson - said his party was committed to holding a "short and precise inquiry" in areas not "adequately" covered by the UK-wide inquiry.

But he said it would have a "clear remit and timescale" and not be a full public inquiry like the one for the UK.

"The expectation with a public inquiry is that it is an open-ended process with unlimited resources and time," he said in March, and that the purpose of a review would be "to learn the lessons from the pandemic we need to learn here in Wales".

Following the government's announcement on Wednesday evening, Reform's health spokesperson Benjamin Hodge Mckenna said the review would "do little to paper over Plaid's broken promise to bereaved families".

"Plaid promised a full Welsh Covid inquiry, and have now U-turned in a spectacular way," he said, adding: "Only Reform can be trusted to deliver the things we promise."

Ap Iorwerth said the Welsh government had promised to "learn the lessons of Covid here in Wales".

He told BBC Wales it was "not about apportioning blame" but about ensuring Wales was better prepared if another pandemic struck.

Welsh Conservatives health spokeswoman, Natasha Asghar, said she looked forward to scrutiny of an "extraordinary and distressing" time.

"There are difficult questions that need addressing such as why the virus was allowed to spread in care homes and why the Welsh government took a more draconian approach to lockdowns compared to other parts of the UK," Asghar said.

Constitution minister Davies is expected to provide details of the review when Members of the Senedd (MSs) return from the autumn recess in November.

The Welsh government said on Wednesday: "The cabinet minister for government and effectiveness and the constitution has agreed to establish an independent Wales Covid-19 review.

"Further details will be announced in due course."

Additional reporting by Alexandra Banfi