Many people reading this article will think ‘why is she still banging on about this? It’s old news’.
I understand that. I don’t agree with it. Even though six years ago in March, I found myself sat in my substitute office (our caravan) on the drive of our Swindon home, trying to save my little business and feeling scared about what we were facing – even then I knew that the repercussions of the Covid19 pandemic would affect the rest of my life, and the lives of my children.
Time has proved that to be the case over and over again both personally and in wider society. Last month the official UK Covid 19 inquiry ended its public hearings after first starting in the summer of 2023. To date it has published two reports with another eight to follow, looking as best it can at the totality of the impact on us all. One of those modules will look at the economic impact which is of course, relevant to all businesses now – and possibly in the future.
The inquiry, headed by Baroness Heather Hallett DBE carried out 238 public hearing days, listened to 381 witnesses at hearings in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast. The team have handled so far more than 600,000 documents. It’s hoped that its reports will help shape our response to the next pandemic and that that response will be better, will save lives and will be fairer.
The inquiry makes it abundantly clear that we will have another pandemic and, even as I turn 60, it may be in my life time and will be in the life time of our children and grandchildren. It also makes it clear that as a country we were wildly unprepared and that the UK had prepared for the ‘wrong pandemic’:
“The Inquiry has no hesitation in concluding that the processes, planning and policy of the civil contingency structures within the UK government and devolved administrations and civil services failed their citizens.”
Before I talk about the economic impact both nationally and locally, let’s take a moment to consider the terrible human cost. In March 2024 the World Health Organisation estimated that there were 774 million cases and that globally seven million deaths were reported – the real figure is probably far, far higher. The cost of the pandemic impacted some people far more than others. For example, children. The impact of life just stopping for children will cause ripples down through time, there is no doubt about that.
Even the inquiry said: “the societal damage has been widespread with existing inequalities exacerbated and access to opportunity significantly weakened”.
In that context my family were very blessed – many families in Swindon suffered loss and pain beyond reckoning. Every life mattered.
Economic impacts:
A report on the economic impacts will be published in due course and that has involved people like me as I was – and many in Swindon were excluded from financial support.
When the then Chancellor Rishi Sunak stood up and said: “no one would be left behind” we believed him but this was one lie among many which were revealed over the following years around the promises and behaviours of those who held our lives in their hands at that time.
Don’t get me wrong. Much of the financial support provided to employees and some businesses saved them and were much needed. The furlough scheme, various grants, support for the self-employed and loans were rolled out and made available. However millions fell through the cracks, myself included, and no amount of campaigning, shouting or moaning changed that.
Only last month Scottish TV ran a story about three small business owners who are still trying to recover from the fact that they got no support.
Under the various schemes that were introduced to save jobs and businesses, around four million were excluded. Among them were:
*new starters – those between jobs or about to start a new job.
*newly self-employed.
*directors of small limited companies.
*owners of new businesses.
*PAYE freelancers
*Those made redundant before the cut off dates.
The basic reason behind these exclusions was that the then government relied on 2018 to 2019 tax data to try to prevent fraud. The argument was that these people could apply for Universal Credit (which took on average eight weeks to pay a penny) or business owners could go on furlough (but under the furlough rules you couldn’t trade beyond basic admin tasks so you risked losing everything). This didn’t work though because the estimated fraud associated with the pandemic is about £11bn and less than £2bn has been recovered so far.
One of the campaign groups which sprang up at that time was Excluded UK with the tagline ‘dutifully paid in, deliberately left out’. This campaign group is still very active. Members of this group gave evidence to the Covid19 inquiry claiming that around 40 people took their own lives due to not having enough financial support or losing their businesses.
Yet of all of those business owners and groups who did give evidence in relation to the economic impact, they did not do so just to whinge and moan. They offered a range of suggestions to ensure that the impact next time is less devastating and much fairer. The aim is that if emergency measures are required in the future, there are no gaps, everyone who is earning a living and paying tax to the UK government are treated equitably. These suggestions included:
*Learning from what worked well.
*Implementation of equitable financial support.
*Clear communication of information about that support.
*Financial support which is accessible to all.
*Tailored financial support depending on circumstances.
*Better financial support for all who are self-employed.
*Faster implementation of financial support.
*Gradual reduction of that financial support.
There is also now an All Party Parliamentary Group on Gaps In Covid 19 Financial Support which is chaired by Labour MP Steve Witherden though it’s not clear yet where this group will go and what it will achieve. The hope is that there will be some compensation for those who were left out of support when others were supported. The group last met in February and it’s unclear if this group can affect any change but at least we’re being heard.
The truth is I don’t expect to get any financial compensation from that time and I’m okay with that. We got through it as a family when so many lost their lives but it’s not an experience any of us wish to repeat. We must learn lessons around fairness all around. If we don’t and the next pandemic comes, then society may not be so willing to allow a UK government to simply shut down their lives. What will happen then?
Article from Scott Media
