What is the point of inquiries?

The UK Covid-19 Inquiry has just published its Module 1 report two years after the inquiry began.1 At least another eight modules are still to be published. The inquiry has cost £94 million so far2 and is projected to cost over £200 million in total.3 The first report was forensic, pinpointing major flaws in the UK’s pandemic preparedness and putting forward 10 recommendations. But the recommendations from inquiries are only useful in so far as they are acted on, and mostly they are not.The Institute for Government examined 68 public inquiries from 1990 to 2017. Together, they cost £639 million and made 2625 recommendations for change.4 But the institute reported that only six out of the 68 inquiries have received full scrutiny by a parliamentary select committee to hold the government to account for implementing recommendations. Of course, some changes have been made in response to these inquiries, but they…
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