The UK government’s top scientists were not consulted about Rishi Sunak’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme before it was launched, the Covid inquiry heard today.
Witnesses said chief medical officer Chris Whitty, chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance, and the membership of SAGE – a group of scientific experts who met frequently during the pandemic – were not asked for their advice on the scheme, which partially subsidised restaurant prices during August 2020 to encourage people to spend more money in the hospitality sector. Nor were they asked to conduct scientific analysis on its possible health consequences.
Academics have since concluded that Eat Out to Help Out contributed to the second wave of Covid in the autumn of 2020, while a 2021 report by the London School of Economics found that the policy had only a “limited effect” on restaurants and cafes. It also found that there had been “no knock-on benefits to other businesses from people taking advantage of the EOTHO scheme”.
