Terms of reference

Purpose

The COVID-19 pandemic has been an event like nothing within living memory.  It has affected every aspect of our lives and every corner of our United Kingdom. 

There is a solemn duty on our whole United Kingdom to come together and mark this momentous and life-changing occurrence. This UK Commission on Covid Commemoration will be a national endeavour, above party politics and distinct from any public inquiry. It will recommend ways in which the nation can remember the loved ones who perished, honour the heroism of those who have saved lives and the courage of frontline workers who have kept our country going, celebrate the genius of those who created the vaccines, and commemorate the small acts of kindness and the daily sacrifice of millions who stayed at home.

The Commission will work across our United Kingdom and together with the Devolved Administrations to build a national consensus around measures which could be put in place to tell the whole story of this period in our history.

It will report to the Prime Minister by no later than March 2023.

Objectives

In carrying out its remit, the Commission should:

  • Empathetically engage bereaved families and examine the range of memorialisation initiatives emerging across the UK to consider how those who have lost their lives should be remembered in our communities and at national level.
  • Consider how the wider story of this period in our history should be remembered and commemorated, including:
    • What further commemoration there should be of the service of critical workers;
    • How we recognise the experience of those who were seriously affected by COVID-19;
    • What initiatives could sustain volunteering, acts of kindness and philanthropy;
    • How the advances of British science in this period should be celebrated;
    • What initiatives could capitalise on the way technology has been used to bring people together;
    • How the national spirit through which everyone played their part should be celebrated.
  • Learn from how other countries around the world – including members of the Commonwealth – are seeking to remember the pandemic.
  • Provide specific opportunities for interested parties and members of the public, including bereaved families, to offer evidence on existing memorialisation initiatives and suggestions on further commemoration plans.
  • Shape a broader national conversation and create deep and broad public ownership of recommendations.
  • Submit a report to the Prime Minister setting out the evidence gathered and outlining a set of concrete, deliverable recommendations which will ensure this period in our history is appropriately commemorated.

It will be for His Majesty’s Government to consider and take forward the implementation of these recommendations.

Contents