Nicola Sturgeon and John Swinney closed schools despite advice it would do little to slow Covid

Mr Swinney told the UK Covid Inquiry events were moving at a ‘ferocious pace’ in March 2020

Schools were closed for months during the pandemic

Nicola Sturgeon and John Swinney made the decision to close schools in March 2020 despite being advised just days earlier that this would not slow the transmission of coronavirus “to a great extent”, the UK Covid Inquiry has heard.

Mr Swinney, who was then the deputy first minister and education secretary, said events were moving “at an absolutely ferocious pace” and denied the Scottish Government was “in a state of complete panic”.

He confirmed the wider Scottish cabinet was not consulted before the decision was made, and no assessments were carried out regarding the impact on children and young people because there was no time.

Mr Swinney said: "It was an expression of leadership in a desperate moment, where parental anxiety was very high, staff anxiety was very high and the concern for the well-being of children and young people was very high as well.”

Earlier, he told the inquiry he “manually” deleted WhatsApp messages between himself, Ms Sturgeon and others in accordance with Scottish Government guidance.

Schools closed on March 20, 2020, with the decision announced the previous day. In a paper submitted to the Scottish cabinet on March 17, advisers said there would be no great effect caused to the transmission of the virus, and it could cause greater risk to older people seeing their grandchildren.

“Very active consideration was being given to the possible closure of schools and other educational establishments, but the evidence was not yet clear,” the paper said. “The epidemiological evidence did not suggest that this measure would slow the transmission of Covid-19 down to a great extent (and might in fact cause some additional infections – for example by increasing children’s exposure to grandparents over 70).”

However, the paper said keeping schools open could put children with certain medical conditions – such as asthma – at risk, while some schools may be forced to close regardless if parents decided to keep pupils at home or teachers fell ill from the virus, both of which Mr Swinney said had begun to happen.

Giving evidence to inquiry, he said events were moving extremely quickly in the early days of the pandemic, something reflected in the paper, which said: “The debate on school opening was ongoing, and it seemed likely that the balance of evidence would change – possibly over the coming days.”

On the evening of March 17, Mr Swinney said education officials had spoken to the UK Government and other devolved administrations, telling him they “thought it likely” that the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) would advise closure, reversing its position from earlier that month.

Mr Swinney said he did not have a chance to “interrogate Sage” about how the advice would apply to Scotland. He said the position in schools was deteriorating, with pupil and staff attendance declining. The decision to close schools was taken following a “direct discussion” with the First Minister, he said.

Mr Swinney said the Scottish Government had no time to carry out any equality impact assessment on children’s learning and development. The inquiry also heard that no impact assessment on children’s mental health was undertaken.

Jamie Dawson KC, the lead counsel to the inquiry, asked if it would be “reasonable to conclude” the Government was “in a state of complete panic” at this time. Mr Swinney denied this, but said ministers were “very anxious about the situation”.

The inquiry previously heard from Professor Mark Woolhouse, a member of the Scottish Government Covid-19 Advisory Group, who said schools contributed little to the spread of the virus. He said he argued they could have reopened in May 2020. They did not reopen until August, and shut again in the early part of 2021.

Mr Swinney said that there was a “terrifying couple of days” after a cabinet meeting on January 4, 2021, and said that the evidence about what was “coming our way” over the course of January was “absolutely terrifying”.

Earlier, Mr Swinney denied Ms Sturgeon’s “strong-mindedness” drove a culture that saw decisions taken by “a small cast list”, rather than the Scottish cabinet as a whole.

The inquiry saw WhatsApp exchanges between Humza Yousaf, the current First Minister and former health secretary, and Jason Leitch, the national clinical director, in which they criticised Ms Sturgeon.

In the messages from December 2021, Mr Yousaf was seeking to strengthen Covid restrictions and said he had taken “a hell of a bullet” at a cabinet meeting after suggesting he may be able to make £100 million from the health budget available for business support. He said Ms Sturgeon was “not remotely happy it’s at this last stage”.

Mr Leitch responded: “I was listening. I almost intervened to deflect for you. She was ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.” Mr Yousaf was “that’s just the way it is”, adding: “Her ranting at me isn’t the problem.”

Mr Dawson said: “Do these messages not show the culture of the Scottish cabinet was driven by Nicola Sturgeon’s strong-mindedness, when challenging her was seen as ‘taking a bullet’?”

Mr Swinney said: “No, because I think that particular morning, if I remember it correctly, I think the First Minister was just a little bit surprised that the health portfolio had been able to find £100 million to transfer to business support. In all my nine years, ten years of handling the public finances of Scotland, the health secretary never offered me £100 million in return for anything. I think it probably surprised the First Minister.”

He said the cabinet had “open and full discussions”. Earlier, Mr Dawson put it to him that there was a system “whereby you, the First Minister and a small group of selected others effectively made the decisions about how the pandemic should be managed in Scotland”.

Mr Swinney said: “I wouldn’t accept that characterisation at all.”

The inquiry heard the Scottish Government’s equivalent of Cobra meetings – the Scottish Government Resilience Room (SGoRR) – had not been minuted. Meetings of senior ministers outwith the regular cabinet meetings – the so-called “gold command” group – were also not minuted.

During an evidence session with former finance secretary Kate Forbes, Mr Dawson said: “Neither the SGoRR nor the gold group meetings are minuted, is that correct?”

Ms Forbes replied: “That surprises me and this would be the first of me hearing it.”

Mr Dawson said: “The reason we think that is the case is we have obviously asked the Scottish Government for all of its papers concerning these matters and although we have cabinet minutes, we don’t have minuted records of either of those groups. It becomes difficult to understand what the ultimate decision-making process was when there is no record of how those decisions were taken.”

Ms Forbes responded: “I can understand that frustration.”

The former finance secretary told the inquiry she had kept her WhatsApp messages up until January 2022.