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BritBanglaCovid Response to Baroness Hallett's Covid Inquiry Report

 

In Response to Baroness Hallett’s Covid Inquiry Report





Date: 20 Nov 2025

BritBanglaCovid welcomes the publication of Baroness Hallett’s Covid Inquiry report and recognises the scale and seriousness of its findings. The report confirms what our community experienced first-hand: that the UK entered the pandemic unprepared, that systemic failures cost lives, and that inequality played a decisive role in who suffered most.

For the British Bangladeshi community, COVID-19 was not only a public-health crisis but a social and economic crisis that exposed longstanding structural disadvantages. We lost elders, parents, key workers, and community leaders. Families were confronted with overcrowded housing, precarious employment, language barriers, and limited access to accurate health information. Our project was created precisely because these experiences were neither being heard nor documented.

The Hallett report validates the urgency of our work. Its findings on strategic failures, lack of challenge within government, poor communication systems, and gaps in data collection closely mirror the challenges we recorded through our stories, testimonies, and research.

However, recognition alone is not enough.

Our Key Messages in Response to the Report

1. The next pandemic plan must properly reflect ethnic and socio-economic inequalities.

Generalised, one-size-fits-all planning does not protect communities like ours. Pandemic preparedness must include explicit assessments of how risk differs across ethnic groups, housing conditions, occupations, and levels of deprivation.

2. Community voices must be included in future decision-making.

The report calls for more external challenge, including so-called “red teams.” These teams must include representatives from minority and migrant communities. Our lived experience is not an optional add-on; it is essential to preventing the same failures in the future.

3. Public communication must be culturally informed and multilingual.

Our community suffered from unclear messaging, slow translation, and misinformation. Future emergency plans must invest early and consistently in community-led communication—trusted local networks, culturally competent outreach, and accessible materials.

4. Data must be better collected, better shared, and ethically managed.

The absence of high-quality, disaggregated data left many communities invisible at the height of the crisis. Data systems must capture ethnicity, language, disability, and socio-economic factors while maintaining safeguards that build trust rather than fear.

5. Long-term support for affected families is still urgently needed.

The impact of COVID-19 did not end with the lifting of restrictions. Many British Bangladeshi families continue to experience bereavement, long-Covid, mental-health strain, and financial hardship. Government support must reflect these ongoing realities.

Our Commitment

BritBanglaCovid will continue preserving our community memory, and advocating for policy that centres fairness and dignity. Our recent book and exhibition show that community storytelling is not only a record of hardship—it is also a blueprint for resilience.

We stand ready to work with policymakers, researchers, and public-health bodies to ensure that the recommendations of the Hallett report translate into meaningful change for those who were hit hardest.

The next crisis will not wait. The lessons of this report must be implemented now rooted in inclusion, accountability, and justice.

BritBanglaCovid
Amplifying British Bangladeshi Voices.
Honouring our losses.
Building a fairer future.



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