Boris Johnson has announced the launch of a Covid-19 public inquiry into the preparations and response to the pandemic across the country, following threats of legal action from bereaved families.

The Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group threatened a judicial review when no date for an inquiry was set up.

“The UK inquiry into Covid-19 is now formally established and able to begin its important work,” Johnson said in a statement. “The Inquiry will examine, consider and report on preparations and the response to the pandemic in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, up to and including the Inquiry’s formal setting-up date, June 28, 2022.”

Baroness Hallett was appointed in December 2021 to chair the probe, which was previously set to start in spring this year, however, until now a date failed to be announced.

“Finally we can begin the process of learning lessons from the awful suffering we’ve endured,” said campaign spokesperson Hannah Brady. “However, it is pitiful that after six months of inexplicable delays, the Government has finally decided to act just two days after we announced that we were considering a judicial review over their time-wasting.

“It goes to show that they were simply delaying the process for as long as they could get away with, and there are going to have to be serious consequences if valuable evidence has been lost as a result. Baroness Hallett is now going to have to get the process moving as quickly as possible so that lessons can be learned ahead of future waves.”

It is reported that Johnson has accepted Baroness Hallett’s changes to the government’s draft terms of reference for the inquiry “in full”, as well as proposing to appoint two additional panel members in the coming months. 

The inquiry will look at disparities in the impact of Covid-19 on different groups of people and the experiences of bereaved families while highlighting lessons which may apply to future civil emergencies and producing prompt recommendations.

The inquiry’s aims include considering any disparities in the impact of Covid-19 on different categories of people and the experiences of bereaved families, highlighting where lessons from the pandemic may apply to other civil emergencies, and producing any recommendations promptly

“I am pleased to see all of my recommendations accepted by the Prime Minister and included in the final Terms of Reference,” said Baroness Hallett. “The Terms of Reference set the broad outline of the Inquiry. My team and I are ready to begin the Inquiry’s work at speed and in earnest. The Inquiry will be run independently, fairly and openly, and those who have suffered significantly during the pandemic will be at the heart of the Inquiry’s work.”