From grief to justice, we’ve changed government policy.
After the devastation of the pandemic, every member of CBFFJ made a choice. We stood up and said: never again. And together, we’ve turned that grief into a fight for justice that has already changed the future.
We know our loved ones didn’t need to die. Their deaths were not inevitable. They were the result of political negligence, greed and a government that put profit over people. But because we spoke out, in the media, at the Covid Inquiry, in Westminster, we’ve made sure those in power were forced to listen.
Now, the Government has adopted many of the recommendations we fought for in Module 1 of the Inquiry. Not only that, the Government has listened directly to our campaign, and is making real progress against the recommendations we made in the ‘Act Now, Save Lives Report’. This report drew on our member’s experiences to provide recommendations. It covered the duties and bodies that the government needed to bring into play to make sure it doesn’t shirk responsibility in the next crisis, the data we would need to make sure vulnerable groups to pandemics are better protected, and the transparency the government would have to adopt to make sure the public, experts and academics can challenge their approach to future disasters.
Drawing on our findings, the Government has acted to
a. Make sure pandemic plans are regularly updated and shared with local councils and authorities.
b. Make it easier for anyone involved in pandemic planning to speak up if they spot serious problems with staffing, resources or capacity.
c. Train ministers, advisers and civil servants to make better decisions in a crisis.
d. Regularly check whether the UK has what it needs to cope with a pandemic, and push for proper funding if it doesn’t.
e. Research and share data to understand and reduce the unfair impact of pandemics on different communities.
f. Ensure up-to-date risk data is shared with every level of government, including local councils.
That would not have happened without us.
The next time a crisis hits, someone will still have their mum, dad, child, sibling or partner because of the changes we’ve forced through. That is the most powerful tribute we could ever pay to those we lost.
We campaigned for a year to push those recommendations. From the press coverage we generated at the publication of the Inquiry’s recommendations, to the event we held in Parliament to launch our own recommendations, and the many pre and post election letter writing campaigns you carried out to get MPs to pledge their support, we built pressure in the media and in Parliament to force the government to listen.
Now, with the publication of the government’s Resilience Action Plan, we can see what an impact we have had. In a meeting last week with Pat McFadden MP (Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster) and Abena Oppong-Asare MP, who are responsible for the government’s response to the Inquiry, and a number of civil servants working on resilience, we acknowledged the progress made, and made it clear that we won’t stop campaigning until the recommendations from each Module of the Inquiry (there are 9 more modules to come) are put into action.
But this fight isn’t over.
We know what we are doing is working. Without us, the Government’s response to Module 1 would be far less ambitious. Recommendations on healthcare, government decision making and care homes to name a few are yet to come. We know the Government won’t act unless we hold them to account.
That is why we will be publishing a recommendation tracker on our website, publicly marking the Government's homework. Accountability is dependent on transparency, and we want to make sure everyone has access to the information they need to advocate for life saving changes.
Follow us on X and Facebook for updates and get in touch if you would like to know more about the Government’s progress, and the UK’s preparedness for the next crisis.
