What is the UK Covid inquiry and how does it work?

It quoted one estimate that the vaccine saved 475,000 lives in England and Scotland, but said more should have been done to encourage take-up among some groups. The announcement came after the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice campaign group said it was considering a judicial review over "time-wasting".

Public inquiries are established and funded by the government and are led by an independent chair. They can compel witnesses to give evidence. No one is found guilty or innocent, but an inquiry publishes conclusions and recommendations. The government is not obliged to accept these.

The Covid inquiry's chair is former judge and crossbench peer Baroness Hallett, who previously led the inquests into the 7 July London bombings. In December 2025, the BBC learned that the inquiry had so far cost the government more than £100m .

That is on top of the £192m spent by the inquiry itself - meaning the cost to the taxpayer is over 50% more than previously thought.

Speaking as the public hearings came to a close, Baroness Hallett defended the cost and time taken, saying the terms of reference set by Johnson were the "broadest of any public inquiry to date".

Having reviewed more than 600,000 documents and taken evidence from more than 350 witnesses, she said that completing the hearings in under four years was "an extraordinary achievement".

But the inquiry said that the lower vaccine uptake in poorer communities and among some ethnic minority groups should have been anticipated and tackled more effectively. The report said that the collapse of the NHS was only "narrowly avoided" due to the "extraordinary" efforts of healthcare workers.

Staff put themselves at exceptional risk because of a lack of suitable personal protective equipment, it added. It said that both Covid patients and those needing care for other conditions were failed, with people deterred from accessing healthcare in order to ease the pressure on NHS services.

Visiting restrictions meant some patients died without loved ones, and very vulnerable patients were left without support, including children in mental health units, women using maternity services and people with dementia. Baroness Hallett summarised the report's findings as: "We coped, but only just".

The inquiry's second report looked at political decision-making, and was published in November 2025. It said that lockdown might have been avoided if voluntary steps such as social distancing and isolation had been brought in earlier than 16 March 2020.

A week-long delay led to 23,000 more deaths in England in the first wave than would have been seen otherwise, the report said. More than 7,000 documents from the time have been made public, including WhatsApp chats and emails, private diaries and confidential files.

The first report, into resilience and preparedness, was published in July 2024. "Never again can a disease be allowed to lead to so many deaths and so much suffering," she added. It made recommendations for reforming the way the government approaches emergency planning.

Although there will be no further public hearings, the inquiry is still investigating other aspects of the pandemic: The report into procurement is expected in summer 2026, with reports on the care sector and test-and-trace due towards the end of the year.

The remaining reports will be published in the first half of 2027. Scotland is holding a separate inquiry into the pandemic. The inquiry's final public hearings took place in March 2026, after taking evidence from hundreds of witnesses.

They included current and former politicians, civil servants, government advisers, public health experts and representatives of bereaved families. Many were extremely critical of Johnson, who was prime minister throughout the pandemic.

He began his first evidence session in December 2023 by apologising for the "pain and the loss and the suffering" during the pandemic.

Johnson admitted mistakes were made and that "there were unquestionably things we should have done differently", but insisted that ministers had done their "level best" in difficult circumstances. In his first appearance before the inquiry, former Chancellor Rishi Sunak apologised to "all those who suffered...

as a result of the actions that were taken". But he denied his Eat Out to Help Out scheme had increased infections and deaths.

The government's chief medical officer, Prof Sir Chris Whitty, and former chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance, previously told the inquiry that they had not been consulted about the policy.

Sir Patrick, Sir Chris and his former deputy Prof Sir Jonathan Van-Tam also said they had received substantial abuse from the public while carrying out their roles. Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock has given evidence several times.

Hancock also criticised the "toxic culture" in government, for which he blamed Johnson's former adviser Dominic Cummings. In his evidence to the inquiry, Mr Cummings described a "dysfunctional" government and was very critical of Johnson's approach.

The hearing also discussed scathing text messages he sent, many of which contained offensive descriptions of ministers and officials. Mr Cummings said he regretted the handling of his infamous trip to Barnard Castle during the first lockdown, but denied that he had damaged public trust in the government.

The inquiry has also heard from Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish political leaders, including: Groups representing bereaved families urged the inquiry to ensure that their voices were heard.

The inquiry's Every Story Matters project had gathered more than 47,000 personal accounts of Covid when it closed for submissions in May 2025. The final Every Story Matters report was published in March 2026. Members of the public could apply to attend public hearings in person .

Public hearings were streamed on the inquiry's YouTube channel . In addition, witness transcripts were published on the inquiry website .