“The need to understand how to prevent such adverse impacts on children in any future emergency and how we can best help children of all ages recover and flourish as we move out of the pandemic is now urgent,” the letter concludes.

“Our pandemic response over the last two years has consistently, and at times devastatingly, deprioritised the education, health and welfare of children in relation to their adult custodians. We owe a collective duty to children to correct course, and to do so swiftly.”

Earlier this week , the president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists said the inquiry must investigate the impact of Covid on children’s mental health and “make sure their voices are heard as part of the process”. Mind, the mental health charity, echoed the call and said young people had to “bear the brunt”.

Molly Kingsley, the co-founder of UsForThem, said it was a “shocking and astonishing oversight” that the inquiry is currently not going to investigate the impact of the pandemic on children.

She added: “There has been no other group that has been more prejudiced by the Government’s pandemic response than children. This inquiry brings a one-off opportunity to ask what went wrong for children. It would be a tragedy were that opportunity to be wasted.”

The public can submit responses on the UK Covid-19 Inquiry website until midnight on April 7. The inquiry is also holding a series of meetings with key stakeholders, and on Friday education sector representatives were invited to discuss their views on what the inquiry should include.  

After this, the inquiry could make amendments to its terms of reference and will submit these to the Cabinet Office for approval.