Coronavirus Act 2020 (Review of Temporary Provisions) (No. 3)
(Limited Text - Ministerial Extracts only)
Read Full debate
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Sajid Javid)
I beg to move,
That the temporary provisions of the Coronavirus Act 2020 should not yet expire.
Since we set out our road map out of lockdown in February, we have reopened the economy and lifted restrictions in four steps, carefully removing the rules that have governed our daily lives during the pandemic. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have also emerged from lockdown on similar timetables and life in the UK has returned ever closer to normal.
One of my first actions as Secretary of State was to announce that we would proceed with step 4 of the road map on 19 July and, in doing so, shift the country’s main line of defence from lockdowns to vaccinations. We could do that because our vaccination programme has created a vast wall of defence. We have given nearly 95 million vaccines, with more than eight in 10 of every man, woman and child in the UK over the age of 12 getting at least one jab and some 79% receiving at least two. It is a remarkable achievement and now that our boosters have begun, they are reinforcing that wall of defence still further. The latest estimates show that our vaccines have prevented over 24 million infections, over 260,000 hospitalisations and over 127,000 deaths.
Mr Mark Harper (Forest of Dean) (Con)
I very much agree with the Secretary of State about the success of our vaccination programme. Does he have any concerns about whether the third dose for those with a compromised immune system and the booster dose for everyone who has had two doses is going fast enough? Are there steps that the Government can take to speed that up to put us in the strongest possible position ahead of the winter?
Sajid Javid
I thank my right hon. Friend for the scrutiny that he has provided of the Coronavirus Act 2020 through the Government and in many other ways over the last few months. It has been very valuable, certainly to me. On his specific question, the third jabs, whether they are for those who are immunocompromised or booster jabs, are critical over the next few months. As of yesterday, we have administered some 3.7 million jabs. It is off to a good start but we need to continue to work hard to increase the uptake. That is exactly what is happening and certainly will be over the next few weeks with a big marketing campaign about to begin as a way of trying to boost that. He is right to raise that issue.
The Coronavirus Act has been instrumental in our response to the pandemic. It has helped to steady the ship in stormy waters. It has protected the NHS in its hour of need by allowing tens of thousands of medical and care staff to register with the NHS temporarily, including nurses, midwives, paramedics, radiographers, social workers and many others; by keeping public services going, including ensuring that our courts and local democracy could function; and by providing a vital lifeline for people and businesses across the country, supporting 11.7 million jobs and providing 1.6 million business loans.
Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)
I thank my right hon. Friend for giving way and apologise to you, Mr Deputy Speaker, because I am taking part in a Westminster Hall debate, but I need to ask this important question. I understand the lockdown measures, but will my right hon. Friend ensure this time, God forbid, if things do get worse, that whatever happens, he will keep the schools open, because we know the damage to mental health, educational attainment, lifelong learning and lifetime chances that school closures have brought to our children?
Sajid Javid
During the pandemic, my right hon. Friend has done a fantastic job of drawing everyone’s attention, rightly, to the impact that the measures—the lockdown measures in particular—have had on children, especially those in school. I hope he would agree that the plans that the Government have set out, including our primary plan of relying on vaccinations, treatments—there are ever more treatments, which is fantastic news—testing and surveillance, is the right way to deal with the challenges of the pandemic.
With all the measures that we have taken, it is clear that we are now in a new phase of the pandemic and that we are learning to live with the virus. Throughout this public health crisis, we have always sought for our provisions to be proportionate to the threat that we face. Parliament has rightly been given the opportunity to scrutinise this legislation every six months. We do not wish to keep provisions in place any longer than they are absolutely necessary, especially those that are limiting the freedoms that rightly belong to citizens.
Dawn Butler (Brent Central) (Lab)
The Secretary of State says that this House has had time to scrutinise the legislation, but 90 minutes every six months to scrutinise the Act really is not enough time for Parliament.
Sajid Javid
The hon. Lady is right to point to the importance of scrutiny. Of course, it is not just the time that we have for debate now or the regular time we have had since this Act has been on the statute book. Scrutiny is also provided in other ways: for example, she will know that Select Committees have looked at the Act, with parliamentarians represented and taking evidence. That is just another way to make sure that the Act is getting the scrutiny that it deserves.
Dr Liam Fox (North Somerset) (Con)
No one disputes the success that some of these measures have had but there is a strong resentment—which, I have to say, I share—in many quarters about giving any Government extension to powers that are quite as blank as these are. Have the Government considered any other mechanism for allowing extension for a lesser amount of time or are there alternatives by using the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, which many of us feel should have been used from the outset, rather than presenting this gift-wrapped to the devolved parts of the United Kingdom?
Sajid Javid
I understand my right hon. Friend’s concerns and, rightly, many people across the House share those concerns. He will know that when the original Bill was brought to Parliament, the Government said, rightly, that any measures would be kept in place only for as long as necessary and that they would have to be proportionate. Even before coming to the House today with the recommendation to expire seven of the non-devolved provisions in the Act, 13 have already expired. He also pointed to alternative ways that some of these measures, if necessary, could be taken, and that is a very valuable suggestion. For example, I believe that in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which is before Parliament now, my colleagues are looking at some of the provisions on courts and keeping the remote working of courts going. So there are possible alternatives and he is right to draw attention to that.
Mr David Davis (Haltemprice and Howden) (Con)
The Secretary of State was not originally responsible for this. The issue that my right hon. Friend the Member for North Somerset (Dr Fox) raises was first raised on 23 March 2020 when we were first putting the Coronavirus Act into law. The point made at the time was that the Act is not necessary, because it replicates many other pieces of legislation, and that the Act alone allows the Government to act without recourse to the House, which is not true of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 or the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984. That is why it is wrong: because it does not have to come back to the House every time it takes away another piece of British freedom.
Sajid Javid
Like my right hon. Friend the Member for North Somerset (Dr Fox), my right hon. Friend the Member for Haltemprice and Howden (Mr Davis) makes an important point. He will understand that now that the Act is in place, it is important that the Government act promptly and quickly at any time when we can retire, expire or in some cases suspend measures in it; that there is regular scrutiny of the process; and that I and other Ministers come to the House whenever we can to expire its provisions or, if they are to continue, to justify them.
Dawn Butler
The Act has always been presented on the Floor of the House as an all-or-nothing Bill; MPs never have an opportunity to change, amend or scrutinise it, so I think that the Secretary of State is just a little misleading in how he is presenting it to the House today.
Sajid Javid
Thank you for that intervention, Mr Deputy Speaker. I think that I have been very clear not only about the history of the Act, but about the importance of Ministers coming forward for regular scrutiny to set out which provisions can be expired or suspended, or if expiry or suspension are not possible, why the provisions are necessary. That is the purpose of our debate today.
Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)
I think the problem for the Secretary of State is how the Government acted in the past by not bringing things to the House for debate; I know that the chairman of the 1922 committee, my hon. Friend the Member for Altrincham and Sale West (Sir Graham Brady), used a lot of force to try to get them to do so. We are being asked to take something on trust from the Government when their previous behaviour towards the Act has been—how can I say it? —not very good.
Sajid Javid
First, may I wish my hon. Friend a very happy birthday? He makes an important point in his valuable intervention. What I can say, which I certainly hope will reassure him, is that the Act will be regularly reviewed, that parliamentary scrutiny from all quarters is very welcome and that any powers retained in the Act need to be properly justified—they must be necessary and proportionate. That is the case that I am setting out on behalf of the Government today.
John Redwood (Wokingham) (Con)
A lot of us feel that this legislation should now just lapse, because there has been a material improvement in the situation. There are other powers should things go wrong, and this House could grant powers in the space of a few hours if there were a new and unpleasant crisis. Why do we have to have these powers hanging over our head when there does not seem to be a need to use them?
Sajid Javid
What I can tell my right hon. Friend is that there are provisions that we hope to keep in the Act, subject to the House’s will today, which are still necessary. For example, there are provisions that protect NHS capacity with respect to temporary registration of nurses and other healthcare professionals. There are similar provisions for the care sector; there are also provisions that provide support packages for those whose jobs may have been hit or who have to take time off work to meet the self-isolation requirements. There are provisions in the Act that I think are still necessary; I will speak about some of them in just a moment.
Richard Fuller (North East Bedfordshire) (Con)
Does my right hon. Friend recognise that by leaving the Act intact, albeit with certain restrictions, he is leaving the opportunity for extreme measures to be taken relatively simply and with limited reference to this House, as the hon. Member for Brent Central (Dawn Butler) mentioned? A lot relates to pressures on the NHS; those could come because every winter the NHS is under pressure or because catching up on services puts it under pressure. I am interested to know how on earth my right hon. Friend will work through the next few months to understand what is an undue amount of pressure on the NHS that might require him to take the actions in plan A or plan B, or potentially even further actions.
Sajid Javid
In our response to the pandemic, we have set out clearly our plan for the autumn and winter; I have certainly done so in the House. We certainly expect more pressure as we head into winter. We have been very open about that; it is why the covid vaccination booster programme and the flu vaccination programme both remain important. However, there are provisions in the Act that I believe are still necessary and proportionate to help with the pressure that my hon. Friend refers to, such as the registration of healthcare and social care workers and the power to discontinue healthcare assessments for people being discharged from the NHS. I think that it is wise—especially as we head into the winter, when we do not know just how significant the pressures will be—to have that flexibility.
Dr Andrew Murrison (South West Wiltshire) (Con)
Would my right hon. Friend go a little further? As a medical support worker, I can tell him that there has been very little effort to follow through on a programme begun last year to encourage people to return to being patient-facing. They need to remain engaged; the Act is a good start in that process, but it does not appear to have been developed in any way. I agree absolutely that my right hon. Friend needs to keep those provisions in the Act, but he needs to develop them more than has been done so far—particularly because if we face a bad winter and possibly the resurgence of this or another virus, we will need those people. They need to remain engaged.
Sajid Javid
My right hon. Friend is right to draw attention to that point. We need to keep working on it, but it might be helpful to know that under section 2 of the Act, the Nursing and Midwifery Council has been able to register temporarily some 14,000 nurses, midwives and nursing associates in England, and the Health and Care Professions Council has been able to register more than 21,000 temporary paramedics, operating department practitioners, radiographers and other professionals. That has certainly helped the NHS and the care system.
We have already allowed 13 of the 40 temporary non-devolved provisions in the Coronavirus Act to expire, and at the most recent six-month review we deemed a further seven provisions and part of an eighth suitable for expiry. Last month, as we published our autumn and winter plan, I came to the House to set those out.
Some of the provisions that we are recommending for expiry are some of the most stringent aspects of the Coronavirus Act. They include section 51, which relates to potentially infectious persons and which has been used only 10 times and not since October 2020; section 52, which gave powers to issue directions relating to events, gatherings and premises, and which has never been used; section 23, which relates to time limits for urgent warrants under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 and which is no longer proportionate to this stage of the pandemic; and section 37, which allowed for the disruption of education for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, and which continues to be unused.[Official Report, 22 October 2021, Vol. 701, c. 8MC.]
Munira Wilson (Twickenham) (LD)
The Secretary of State has been extolling the virtues of parliamentary scrutiny, which, as many right hon. and hon. Members have stated, has been sadly lacking of this Act and in its renewal debates. Will he give us a cast-iron guarantee that should he decide to bring forward vaccine passports, we will get not just a full parliamentary debate, but a vote on any such measures?
Sajid Javid
I think that the Government have already been clear that should we try to bring forward what the hon. Lady calls vaccine passports, it would be a decision for the House and it would be a vote. If that happened, we would have to justify it to the House.
In addition, we are expiring sections 56, 77 and 78. Taken together with the 13 out of 40 temporary non-devolved provisions in the Act that have already expired, that will mean that half of the original 40 temporary non-devolved powers in the Act will expire early.
Kim Johnson (Liverpool, Riverside) (Lab)
I welcome the lifting of the more draconian measures in the Coronavirus Act, including section 52 and schedule 22, which gave significant and unprecedented powers to the police relating to events, gatherings and premises, with no protections for the safeguarding of freedom of expression. Most of those powers are mirrored in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. Will the Secretary of State go back to his Government and secure an agreement to remove the more draconian elements of that Bill before its next stage?
Sajid Javid
I thank the hon. Lady for what she has said, but I think the Government have already set out clearly the provisions that they intend to expire or suspend, subject to the will of the House today, and explained why they have focused on those provisions. I can also inform the House that we recommend the suspension of the remaining unsuspended parts of schedule 28 and section 58.
I am sure the whole House will welcome this news—the latest steps that we are taking towards a more normal way of life—but the winter just around the comer is a cause for caution, with the twin threats of covid-19 and flu still uncertain. In line with our autumn and winter plan, we intend to retain the temporary provisions that remain essential to our ongoing pandemic work, including sections 2, 6, 14, 38, 45, 50 and 75, which cover vital aspects such as supporting the NHS to help it to retain emergency staff and enabling statutory sick pay to be provided for people who are self-isolating. We will review this legislation again in the spring.
Sir Graham Brady (Altrincham and Sale West) (Con)
Will my right hon. Friend explain in detail which of the measures that the Government seek to retain could not be implemented alternatively by means of the Civil Contingencies Act or the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984?
Sajid Javid
My hon. Friend will know that there are numerous measures that the Government are planning to retain. To do proper justice to his question, I would have to go through them one by one and try to link them with every single Act, but I should be happy to meet him or write to him giving him the proper detail, because I think it was a very fair question.
Sajid Javid
I think I have given the hon. Lady enough opportunities to intervene.
We have come so far and achieved so much as a country because of the sacrifices of the British people and the dedication of our fantastic public servants. We are learning to live with the virus, so we can face the winter ahead with an ever greater degree of confidence. There is no doubt that we will continue to experience bumps on the road—covid-19 has not, of course, gone away, and flu remains an ever present danger—but I am confident that the steps that the Government have set out today strike the right balance, removing unnecessary stringent measures while retaining the tools to fight infection wherever it might arise.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Maggie Throup)
It is a pleasure to be closing this debate, and I thank hon. Members from all across the House for their contributions today. It is clear from the speeches we have heard—and, indeed, from the fact that the House can meet at full capacity once again—that we have made so much progress in our fight against covid-19. This is thanks to the perseverance and resolve of the British people, and also to our vaccination programme, which has now given first doses to over 85.9% of the population of the UK over the age of 12. It is this life-saving work that has disrupted the once inevitable link between cases, hospitalisations and deaths, and that has allowed us to start carefully reopening our society and our economy once again.
This battle forced us to take unprecedented steps in pursuit of a lethal virus, and the Coronavirus Act has been a vital weapon in our armoury, but we have said throughout our response that we did not want to keep these powers in place for any longer than we have to and that the House performs an essential role in scrutinising the measures every six months.
In 2020, and shortly after the one-year review, we came before Parliament to remove provisions from the Act that were no longer needed. So far 13 of the non-devolved temporary provisions have already been expired and, as pledged in our autumn and winter plan, we are looking to expire even more of these provisions and will lay regulations very soon to make this happen so that we can continue down the path to normal life.
Simon Hoare (North Dorset) (Con)
May I invite my hon. Friend to remind the House and the country that the instincts of the Government sitting behind this Act were benign and in support of public health, not malign and vindictive and trying to erode liberties? These were unprecedented times that required emergency action. Those actions have paid dividends; they were difficult but right. The intention was benign not malign, contrary to what some of our colleagues seem to suggest.
Maggie Throup
I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. The Government were acting in very difficult times and had to take unprecedented measures, as he rightly said.
The Secretary of State explained the provisions in detail in his opening statement, so I will not repeat those that we will be expiring but they include some of the most stringent measures in the Act such as directing the temporary closure of educational institutions, the detention of potentially infectious people, and enabling Ministers to restrict or prohibit gatherings or events. Meanwhile the powers in the Act that we are retaining are those that are critical to our response to the pandemic; after all, as the Opposition spokesman rightly said, this virus has not gone away. We are facing a difficult winter, a time when we have seen from experience that the virus poses a particular threat, so we are keeping in place provisions that are fundamental to our response, for example to make sure the NHS is properly resourced and to support statutory sick pay for those who are self-isolating.
Bob Stewart
I rise to repeat the point I made to the hon. Member for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath (Neale Hanvey). It would be very good if the NHSs in all four parts of the kingdom were to get together and ensure that those who have had one vaccination in one part of the kingdom and another in a different part could have a piece of paper that allows them to, for instance, attend a lecture. At the moment, at least one of my constituents is not allowed to go to a lecture because she had one vaccination in England and one in Scotland, and the NHS in Scotland does not recognise the England one and the NHS in England does not recognise the Scottish one. What is going on? It is mad.
Maggie Throup
I reassure my right hon. Friend that there are ongoing talks across all the devolved nations and the interoperability of the devices are being looked into; work is under way on that.
Dr Murrison
Will my hon. Friend also scrutinise the Bill, as a number of colleagues have mentioned this afternoon, to find those bits that were inserted as expedients but probably need to be refined a little and perhaps given a different statutory basis, such as the certificates in section 19, which for many years have been a nice little money-earner for members of my profession but a burden on the deceased’s estate and which really are not necessary?
Maggie Throup
Of course we keep every aspect of the Act under review and will continue to do so.
Members have made a number of compelling points and I would like to address them and respond to some of the questions raised. The shadow spokesman raised the issue of vaccinations and I am pleased to report that 3.6 million booster jabs have been delivered to date over a very short time period. This week sees the launch of a communications campaign on the importance of flu jabs. As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced earlier, the national booking service will open for vaccination bookings for young people shortly and letters will be sent to parents and guardians of children aged 12 to 15 over coming weeks inviting them to book the vaccine online or by calling 119. Jabs will continue to be delivered in schools and if the child has already been invited through their school they do not need to act on their invite unless the parents wish to do so. This is a further option for parents to get their children vaccinated.
In response to my right hon. Friend the Member for Forest of Dean (Mr Harper), on 23 September, the Government laid out their plans for parliamentary scrutiny should there be a need for vaccine certification. The Government recognise the vital importance of parliamentary scrutiny. In addition, there was a call for evidence, which closed on 11 October. I trust that my right hon. Friend was able to contribute to that.
My hon. Friend the Member for Bolton West (Chris Green) raised the issue of care workers. My father was in a care home for seven years. I know from personal experience that care workers become part of the family and play a really important role.
Mr Harper
Before my hon. Friend moves on, may I press her a little further? She rightly says that the Government recognise the importance of parliamentary scrutiny. That is welcome, but my question was very specific. The Secretary of State committed to the House’s having to make the decision about vaccine passports, and my question was whether the House would be asked to make that decision in advance and not retrospectively. Can the Minister confirm that the House will be asked to make that decision in advance of any move to implement vaccine passports, and that it will not be asked to approve it retrospectively?
Maggie Throup
Covid certification will be brought in under the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984, which, as my right hon. Friend is aware, allows for emergency measures. We will do our utmost to bring forward the vote in Parliament before any enactment of the need for covid certification.
I return to the comments by my hon. Friend the Member for Bolton West. A consultation about making vaccination a condition of deployment in the NHS and wider social care closes on 22 October. We will consider all the responses in due course.
Chris Green
Does my hon. Friend share my constituents’ perplexity and confusion that the Government think it is suitable to have compulsory vaccination in care home settings—that has been their intention for many weeks—yet they are still confused or undecided as to whether that is equally relevant in the NHS? Carers are going from care settings into the NHS at the moment.
Maggie Throup
I reiterate that we are consulting at the moment for the NHS and other social care settings, and we are not moving the dates that we have already set for vaccination as a condition of deployment in care homes.
The hon. Members for Brent Central (Dawn Butler) and for Twickenham (Munira Wilson), my right hon. Friend the Member for Haltemprice and Howden (Mr Davis) and my hon. Friend the Member for Wycombe (Mr Baker) raised the issue of unlawful convictions. I reassure them that since April 2020, the Crown Prosecution Service has reviewed all prosecutions under the Coronavirus Act, and it continues to do so. As such, the issue is primarily administrative, rather than one of the wrongful use of powers provided by the Act. That policy of review by the CPS has provided an effective safeguard. All incorrect charges made under the Act and reviewed by the CPS have been overturned, and updated guidance has been issued to the police.
Dawn Butler
I wonder whether the Minister will also consider the fines under the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act and whether there will be an appeal mechanism. Will she push for that, please?
Maggie Throup
I will take the hon. Lady’s comments on board. The progress that has been made with regard to unlawful convictions has been really helpful.
We have come so far in our fight, but we still have a long way to go. This pandemic is not yet over, and the steps we are proposing will give us the support we need to continue our fight against the virus while restoring yet more of our precious freedoms and the important experiences that we really love.
I commend the motion to the House.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)
The question is Motion No. 4 as on the Order Paper. As many as are of that opinion, say Aye. [Hon. Members: “Aye.”] Of the contrary, No. [Interruption.] Could I have the Noes again?