THE government maintained its pledge to put children first throughout its handling of the pandemic and reacted swiftly to the challenges brought by Covid-19, the Chief Minister has said.
Speaking at a Scrutiny hearing yesterday, Senator John Le Fondré defended the policies put in place during the pandemic and argued that the government had done ‘pretty well’ when dealing with the ‘biggest test of resilience we have faced since the Second World War’.
At a Children’s, Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel on the impact of the pandemic on children and young people, he said: ‘It was a public health emergency and in the early days it was very much about saving lives.
‘We were told that if we did nothing 500 people could die in the first wave.
‘We had to react very, very swiftly. There was a lot of legislation that had to be put in place.’
Asked if the government would have acted differently with hindsight, he said: ‘I am sure there are “detail” improvements we could have made.
‘But in the round, dealing with all the cohorts and elements of the population, I think we have done pretty well.’
Deputy Rob Ward pointed out that the government had promised that its ‘putting children first’ approach would be maintained, and asked: ‘How did it put children first during this pandemic?’
Senator Le Fondré replied: ‘The schools remained open for vulnerable children and the children of critical workers.
‘We set up the children and families hub. There was a lot of focus on care leavers.
‘The biggest one was to minimise the disruption to education. The long-term impact of the loss of educational days could be very negative.’
He added: ‘We have got funding in place for catch-up for those who were particularly affected, in terms of extra lessons.’
Deputy Ward also queried the increase in the number of families accessing food banks, stating that the ‘pandemic has laid bare the inequalities and divisions in our society’.
Senator Le Fondré replied: ‘We need to understand a lot more about the situation. But as part of the fiscal stimulus and the Spend Local cards, people who were on Income Support were given an additional £100. We gave that particular category more than people from the middle class upwards.’
Deputy Louise Doublet asked the Chief Minister what he would say to children who felt that they had not been put first.
‘I would say “I am sure it has been hard for you but it has been hard for a lot of people. We have tried to look after children, we have tried to look after your parents, and we have tried to look after your grandparents”,’ the Chief Minister said.
