Let's Be Heard: Scottish and UK COVID-19 Inquiries
Both the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry and UK Covid-19 Inquiry are bound by their respective Terms of Reference and there will be occasions where the inquiries will consider the same issues, including where those matters are devolved.
The areas the Scottish Inquiry is investigating broadly relate to the devolved areas of health, education, welfare assistance and financial support. They do not cover areas such as vaccine safety or international travel and border controls, which are matters for the UK Inquiry. Below is an illustration of the areas the Scottish Inquiry is investigating:
An illustration depicting the 12 areas defined in the Inquiry's Terms of Reference, including the provision of health and social care, education, business, and welfare assistance and financial support.
If you are unsure which inquiry relates to particular experiences you can read the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry’s Terms of Reference, and the UK Covid-19 Inquiry’s Terms of Reference).
Please note, the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry’s Terms of Reference relate to the period from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2022, whereas the UK Covid-19 Inquiry’s Terms of Reference cover the period up to, and including, 28 June 2022.
How are the two inquiries working together?
Let’s Be Heard has been working closely with Every Story Matters, the UK Covid-19 Inquiry’s listening project, to ensure that engaging with either process was as seamless as possible.
Questions for both Let’s Be Heard and Every Story Matters were quite similar, so if you kept a copy of your Let’s Be Heard response you can copy and paste it to engage with the other Inquiry as well.
Both inquiries are committed to avoiding duplication.
By doing so, we hope to put less pressure on people who may not have wished, or found it difficult, to share their experiences twice.