In response to the former Children's Commissioner for England giving evidence to the Covid Inquiry, Louise King, co-lead of Just for Kids Law and Director of the Children’s Rights Alliance for England, said:
“The former Children’s Commissioner for England has today shone a powerful spotlight on the fact children have been a low political priority for the UK government, both in the years before the pandemic and when the virus hit. We agree that the Covid-19 response was devastating for children, especially for the most vulnerable and came after years of under investment in child mental health, early intervention and prevention services, and a significant increase in child poverty.
"Schools should not have closed for as long as they did and it should have been a core focus of the UK Government to get them open at the first available opportunity.
“This invisibility of the UK’s children to decision-makers must never happen again. They are a significant proportion of the population and their rights must be fully considered and respected in any future crisis’.”