Baroness Hollins

We recognise that these are extremely difficult conditions for leisure attractions such as science and discovery centres. These organisations educate and entertain visitors of all ages on what science is and the important discoveries over the centuries that have changed all our lives.

We have announced unprecedented support for business and workers, including those in the tourism and attractions sector, to protect them against the current economic emergency. This includes the Job Retention Scheme, VAT payment deferrals for firms and £330bn worth of government backed and guaranteed loans to support businesses. The Chancellor has also announced a Bounce Back loan scheme to help small businesses access loans of up to £50,000, with a 100% government-backed guarantee for lenders.

Our immediate national priority is containing the spread of the virus. As soon as it is safe to do so, we will be encouraging people to visit leisure attractions once again. On 11th May 2020 the Government published a roadmap setting out how we expect organisations such as science and discovery centres to open back up and welcome visitors again.

In recognition of the vital role that the charity sector plays in the UK, the Government has long provided tax reliefs to help charities carry out their charitable aims. This includes the provision of tax reliefs directly to charities to increase the amount they have to spend on charitable activities; and on donations, to incentivise charitable giving. Gift Aid is widely supported and is worth around £1.3billion (2018-19). Giving 100% tax relief to the donor for donations to charities would mean charities losing out on valuable Gift Aid income. However, those who wish to receive 100% tax relief can make their donations through Payroll Giving.

As part of the government’s £750million support package for charities, the government announced it would match-fund public donations to the BBC’s Big Night In charity appeal on 23 April, starting with a contribution of at least £20 million to the National Emergencies Trust appeal. The event has raised over £33 million in donations from the general public. We encourage the public to continue donating to the National Emergencies Trust appeal, which is coordinating national support for local charities doing vital work during the pandemic.

DCMS ministers and officials regularly meet stakeholders to discuss a range of issues, including online media sites and their comment sections.

The Government published the initial response to the Online Harms White Paper consultation in February 2020. This confirmed that the Government is developing legislation on online harms to establish a new duty of care on online companies towards their users, overseen by an independent regulator. This framework will make companies more responsible for their users’ safety. For comments sections on media sites, the legislation will not duplicate existing regulation.

The government has advised everyone to work from home if possible. Guidance on staying at home is available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/full-guidance-on-staying-at-home-and-away-from-others/full-guidance-on-staying-at-home-and-away-from-others.

We have also asked parents to keep their children at home, wherever possible, but asked schools and all childcare providers to continue to provide care for a limited number of children, including children who are vulnerable and children whose parents are critical to the COVID-19 response and cannot be safely cared for at home. Guidance for schools is available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-school-closures/guidance-for-schools-about-temporarily-closing.

The Government knows there are some extremely rare cases where individuals have sadly experienced harm following vaccination against COVID-19, and recognises how difficult this is for those individuals and their families. It would not be appropriate to comment on individual cases, including where there may be ongoing litigation that may involve the Government.

As part of business-as-usual work, the Government reviews the payment amount of the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS), alongside all routine policy on a regular basis. There are no plans at this time to change the level of payment awarded under the VDPS.

To provide a more comprehensive response to a number of outstanding Written Questions, this has been answered by an information factsheet Testing – note for House of Lords which is attached, due to the size of the data. A copy has also been placed in the Library

NHS England can confirm that five people with a learning disability, autism or both have died within a specialist inpatient setting between 5 March and 30 April 2020, the latest data available. This includes people who were transferred from a specialist inpatient setting to an acute setting and subsequently died. In the same period last year less than five people died within a specialist inpatient setting. NHS England hold demographic data on gender, age and ethnicity of these patients, but cannot provide them due to the low patient numbers leading to a high chance of patient identification.

Public Health England are undertaking a thorough analysis of data on the deaths of people with learning disabilities, including looking at age, gender and ethnicity of people who have died. This will draw on data published by NHS England and the Care Quality Commission to understand the impact of COVID-19 on this group of people and the specific risks that they may face from the virus.

The number of deaths of various at-risk groups has been published by the Office for National Statistics. This include a breakdown of deaths by the most common underlying conditions, ethnicity, age and occupation.

NHS England publishes data on deaths of patients with a learning disability in England (LeDeR programme) who have either tested positive for COVID-19 or are considered to have had COVID-19.

Specific guidance has been produced for visiting care homes. This can be found in the Admission and Care of Residents during COVID-19 Incident in a Care Home guidance which is attached.