Renewed calls for Wales Covid inquiry as Senedd Committee meets for the first time
The call is being led by Plaid MS Adam Price
There are fresh calls for a Wales specific Covid inquiry.
It's as a Senedd committee set up to look at issues raised at the hearing in London meets for the first time this morning.
Plaid MS Adam Price is leading calls saying decisions made in Wales should be scrutinised here.
He's also questioned how long it will take for bereaved families to get answers with the UK inquiry expected to last many months with work from the Senedd Committee then beginning after that.
He said: “Decisions made in Wales should be scrutinised in Wales – and what we’ve seen and heard from the last week of the UK Covid Inquiry has done little to prove otherwise.
“From documents not being read, advice not being taken, and strategies not being updated in more than a decade – what has been uncovered about the Welsh Government’s pandemic preparedness has been alarming.
And it has barely scratched the surface. In the mere day and a half given for just five of Wales’ key players to give their evidence, there remain more questions than there have been answers.
“Whilst the remit of the Special Purpose Committee is to look at any gaps identified in the UK Covid Inquiry, by definition, it can never complete until after the UK Inquiry has concluded. This could be years away!
“Without a Wales-specific Covid inquiry too many lessons – positive and negative – will remain unlearned and too many questions will go unanswered. It’s not too late for the Welsh Government to change their minds and open themselves up to full scrutiny by holding a Welsh specific Covid inquiry.”
The Welsh Government has previously rejected calls for a Wales specific inquiry saying the experience of the pandemic in Wales will be explored as part of the UK inquiry.