Cabinet office admits Covid communications not to standard expected by public

The Cabinet Office has admitted that communications during the Covid-19 crisis were “clearly not always of the standard that the public would expect”.

Anne Studd KC, representing the Cabinet Office, told the UK Covid-19 public inquiry that “even in crisis, colleagues would be respectful to each other”.

The pandemic inquiry has been shown expletive-laden WhatsApp messages while witnesses have described chaos and dysfunction across Government as the crisis unfolded.

These include:

– Dominic Cummings, who was chief adviser to Boris Johnson during the crisis, labelled former deputy cabinet secretary Helen MacNamara “that c***” and said he would “handcuff her and escort her” from Downing Street.

– Lord Sedwill, former head of the civil service who departed Government amid reported clashes with Cummings, joked it was necessary to remove former health secretary Matt Hancock to “save lives and protect the NHS” while it was claimed that the former prime minister Boris Johnson referred to Mr Hancock as “totally f****** hopeless”.

– Cabinet Secretary Simon Case said that the wife of Mr Johnson, Carrie Johnson, was “the real person in charge”.

– The Government’s top science adviser, Professor Dame Angela McLean, referred to the then chancellor and now Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as “Dr Death”.

In closing statements to the second module of the inquiry, Ms Studd said: “Evidence has been heard in particular about the tone and content of private communications between colleagues, which the Cabinet Office accepts was clearly not always of the standard that the public would expect.

“This should be considered both in the context of the nature of the communication – largely informal messaging that was intended to be private – and the prevailing circumstances, a fast-paced, uncertain and high-pressure environment where staff are facing stress both in the workplace and in their personal lives.

“The Cabinet Office takes very seriously the broader evidence that’s been heard about certain elements of the culture at the centre of Government in this period. In any workplace, even in crisis, colleagues should be respectful to each other.

“In 2022, the Cabinet Office launched a significant programme – a better Cabinet Office – in order to affect lasting change to the employee experience. The programme has six core themes including one on leadership, respect and inclusion.”

She said that WhatsApp was used to communicate, “not surprisingly given the pace and the remote nature of much of the work” but said the evidence does not demonstrate that decisions were made on the instant messaging tool.

Meanwhile the pandemic probe also heard that former chief scientific adviser to the Government, Sir Patrick Vallance, did not submit his diaries to the Covid-19 inquiry “enthusiastically”.

The candid notes made during the pandemic have given a unique insight to Government operations during the crisis.

But, through legal teams, Sir Patrick stressed that the diary entries were “unedited thoughts scribbled down in the most challenging circumstances”.

It comes after the UK Covid-19 public inquiry chair Baroness Heather Hallett ruled that only individual extracts from the transcribed note would be published, after she faced calls for the diary entries to be published in their entirety.

Neil Sheldon KC, representing the Government Office for Science, also rejected the view that there was friction between Sir Patrick and England’s chief medical officer Professor Sir Chris Whitty.

Meanwhile The Treasury rejected the view that its position was “pro-death”.

Representing The Treasury, Neil Block KC said: “HMT rejects in the strongest terms possible, the unfair and irresponsible characterisation of its workers pro-death.

“Whilst some have suggested that supporting the economy and protecting lives with competing objectives, HMT did not see it this way.

“Throughout the response, HMT were clear that the best thing for the economy was to control the virus.”

And he pointed to a report which concluded that there is “little evidence to support the claim that Eat Out to Help Out scheme directly led to an increase in Covid-19 cases on a UK-wide level”, and that the policy was just a “small part” of the Treasury’s work to protect the economy during the pandemic.

The pandemic inquiry’s second module is looking into decision-making and political governance during the crisis.

The Thursday hearing concludes the evidence sessions for the first part of the module.

Evidence sessions for the inquiry will return in the new year and will examine the strategic and overarching issues from the perspective of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Concluding the hearing, Lady Hallett said WhatsApps messages were just a “relatively small part” of the evidence she would consider during her deliberations.

Lady Hallett also said that she expects that the report into the first module of the inquiry – which looked at the UK’s resilience and preparedness – would be ready in the summer of 2024 and she hoped to publish a report on the second module later in the year.

Commenting, Jean Adamson from Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK said: “Module 2 has been bruising for bereaved families.

“Politicians have attempted to use the hearings to settle political scores and shrug off blame, which in turn has been used to discredit the Inquiry. However, what matters is the evidence.

“The Inquiry must now reflect on how crisis decision making and response systems are improved at the heart of government.”