Calls for an inquiry into the handling of the coronavirus pandemic in Gloucestershire have been dismissed by council leaders as an “expensive and wasteful way” to politicise what was an incredibly challenging time.

A total of 1,535 people have had Covid listed on their death certificate in the county since the start of the pandemic.

And Liberal Democrat councillors are bringing forward a motion to Gloucestershire County Council’s meeting this week which calls for an inquiry into how local public bodies responded to the pandemic.

However, council chiefs say the county council has no legal power to launch such an inquiry.

And Conservative councillors have branded the motion “an expensive and wasteful way to politicise an incredibly challenging two years”.

Cllr Jeremy Hilton (LD, Kingsholm and Wotton), who is set to propose the motion, said: “In a fast moving situation, it is unreasonable to expect our public bodies to get everything right. Yet, during the pandemic, mistakes sadly cost lives.

‘For example, we know that there were numerous times when people were moved from hospital to care homes without testing first – which likely led to outbreaks within these care homes.

“By the end of the pandemic, barely a single care home had not seen Covid deaths. This a long way from the promised “protective ring” that was meant to keep our vulnerable loved ones safe.

“More than 1,500 people in our county have died from Covid-19. We owe it to them and their families to learn these lessons now so we can better protect our residents from any possible pandemic that might occur in the future.’

Cllr Lisa Spivey (LD, South Cerney), who is expected to second the motion, said it is not about attributing blame but about ensuring the county is much better prepared for any further waves of Covid or future pandemics.

She said: “Previously we have been told that it’s not the right time to discuss how we performed during the pandemic – but since this Government has declared that we must learn to live with Covid, indeed, even preventing us from being able to test ourselves for the virus – it is time to learn the lessons from the past two years.

“The first months of 2020 were extraordinary, with guidance changing daily and everyone working to the bone.”

The Labour group is expected to support the motion and group leader John Bloxsom (L, Rodborough) said his party has consistently called for a public inquiry to start as soon as possible.

He said: “There are particular issues for Gloucestershire, from the role of the super spreader event Cheltenham Festival 2020, discharging untested elderly hospital patients into care homes ­and the impact of vaccine hesitancy amongst some communities.

“It is vital that, as the public health authority, the county learns lessons. We are likely to see more infectious disease outbreaks due to climate change, biodiversity loss and global trends. We support calls for a local inquiry as a result of which the council and its partners can be better prepared.”

The council does not have powers to order a statutory inquiry as defined by the Inquiries Act 2015 but could establish a panel such as a scrutiny task group or working group to look into the issue.

However, the motion will likely be rejected as the Conservative group has a majority.

Council leader Mark Hawthorne (C, Quedgeley) said: “This Liberal Democrat motion calls for an inquiry that we have no legal power to launch.

“We will of course be feeding into the national Covid-19 Inquiry along with all other local authorities in the UK, and have already planned structured debriefs for our teams to capture the Gloucestershire specific learning and inform how we respond to future challenges.

“This motion is an expensive and wasteful way to politicise an incredibly challenging two years. Our public health and adult social care teams are working tirelessly on dealing with the aftermath of the pandemic and that is where the Conservative group’s focus remains too.”

The Green group declined to comment.