The Covid Inquiry has been urged to call Gavin Willamson as a witness after it failed to invite the former Education Secretary to give evidence.
Children’s charities and unions have asked Baroness Heather Hallett, the chair of the inquiry, to explain why she has not demanded Sir Gavin answer questions about government decisions in person.
As the inquiry’s second module investigating core decision making continued on Wednesday, Jennifer Twite, representing Save the Children UK, said government decision-making caused “educational and psychological harm that in many ways disproportionately impacted children”.
“The key decision in respect of children which the inquiry will wish to ask itself, and ask witnesses being called, is how does such a serious, inexcusable and avoidable failure of government policy making happen?
“Whose role was it to consider the interests of children and make sure their needs were not forgotten in this crisis?” she said.
She questioned why Sir Gavin’s role was “so incidental to decision making” that the inquiry had not called him to give evidence in the current module.
