Food Hygiene Rating Displays

Lord Fowler Excerpts

Wednesday 7th October 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

Well, the noble Baroness makes a strong case. I think a lot of consumers would like to see the kind of rating that she describes. I am not sure whether it is rightly the responsibility of food inspectors to provide that complex service, but we are working very closely with the hospitality sector on both tracing and the implementation of Covid-friendly measures. The response from the sector has been extremely strong, but we are maintaining a close analysis of progress.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)]

My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed. We now come to the fourth Oral Question.

Covid-19: Adult Social Care Complaints

Lord Fowler Excerpts

Monday 5th October 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

The noble Baroness is entirely right. There are very good arguments for combining the two ombudsmen and that is recognised by both of them. However, the framework and structure for that kind of reform is best conducted when there is an overall reform of social care. The Government made it crystal clear during the election that they are committed to a major and significant overhaul of the social care system. That has been reiterated by the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. When it happens, we will review the combination of those two ombudsmen, as the noble Baroness described.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)]

Baroness Warsi? We will move on to the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton.

[Baroness Thornton (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, given the pattern and themes of complaints emerging during Covid, what will the role of the Health and Social Care Ombudsman be in the forthcoming inquiry into the pandemic? Will the Minister give a guarantee of full involvement of that ombudsman, given the evidence it can bring to the table?

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

My Lords, I recognise that the ombudsman’s recent report on adult social care did call for a statutory requirement for signposting. We have worked substantially with the sector to improve signposting of the ombudsman and other routes of complaint. The commitment by CQC and Healthwatch to the “Because we all care” campaign is an important and effective measure to fill the gap and raise awareness of the complaints procedure. It is right to wait until we see the results of that campaign. We acknowledge the possibility of mandatory signposting but would like to see a voluntary and more effective marketing campaign work if it possibly can.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)]

My Lords, all supplementary questions have been asked. We now move to the second Oral Question.

Covid-19: People with Learning Difficulties and Autism

Lord Fowler Excerpts

Monday 5th October 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

My Lords, let me clarify with an update on the numbers. As of 25 September 2020, 690 deaths from Covid of people with learning disabilities have been reported to the leader programme since 16 March. We have commissioned Public Health England to carry out additional analysis of the existing data, which will be published as soon as it is completed. We are not trying to hide from this issue. Covid has raised very serious questions about the impact of a pandemic on those with learning difficulties, who are often more susceptible to disease and mortality than others. We absolutely accept the challenge of figuring out how to protect the most vulnerable in our society. Therefore, we will embrace the opportunity to take these learnings and put them into a disability report at some point in the future.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)]

My Lords, I regret that the time allowed for this Question has elapsed.

Covid-19: NHS Application

Lord Fowler Excerpts

Thursday 1st October 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

My Lords, version 1 does not have an international component to it, but that is something that we would seek to develop. I emphasise that the app in its current form is very much focused on providing a huge amount of personal privacy and is therefore not an appropriate vehicle for putting in place any form of surveillance or quarantine management. That would be in breach of our arrangements with our technical partners, Apple and Google. Therefore, although I cannot give my noble friend Lady McIntosh a complete answer, I would like to hint that perhaps this will not be the vehicle for accelerating airport testing.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)]

My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed.

Hospitals and Nursing Homes: Do Not Resuscitate Notices

Lord Fowler Excerpts

Thursday 1st October 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

My Lords, I welcome the testimony of the noble Baroness. We often keep track of Wales’s use of innovative health measures and, while I am not aware of this concept in particular, I will be glad to take the advice back to the department, recommend it and return to the noble Baroness with a response on how we are going to take it forward.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)]

My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed—my apologies to the noble Lord, Lord Foulkes.

Covid-19: Tracking

Lord Fowler Excerpts

Wednesday 30th September 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

My Lords, the point of the app is to support our tracing efforts and provide security among those who are in areas that are not socially distanced in order to alert them when they have been near someone who has recently had a test. The test results are not, as the noble Lord described, typically available after seven days. The figure is much lower and we have already found enormous support for the use of the app.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)]

My Lords, all supplementary questions have been asked and we now come to the third Oral Question.

Mental Health Services: Young People

Lord Fowler Excerpts

Thursday 24th September 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

My Lords, we are rolling out our response to the Green Paper on mental health for young people. That has included the implementation of mental health support teams, which will make a big impact. In addition, and in response to recent circumstances, on 8 September we launched a mental health well-being campaign specifically for children and young people through the PHE website. It encourages a personal mind plan and the use of a quick and easy interactive tool, and 2.5 million mind plans have been completed since its launch.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)]

My Lords, the time allowed for this question has elapsed. We now come to the fourth Oral Question.

Covid-19: NHS Long-term Plan

Lord Fowler Excerpts

Tuesday 15th September 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

My Lords, the Chancellor has made it clear that catch-up support for the NHS to recover from the impact of Covid is an important part of his financial projections. However, I remind the noble and gallant Lord that we are investing in 40 new hospitals. It is a massive capital investment and the impact on our healthcare service should not be underestimated.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)]

My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed. We now move to the next Question, which is from the noble Lord, Lord Storey.

Covid-19: Self-isolation Payment Scheme

Lord Fowler Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd September 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

The evidence base and criteria were our discussions with local authorities and community leaders on what an effective amount would be that would tip the balance in a personal decision to isolate. As I said earlier, those personal decisions are extremely tough. It was agreed with local infection teams and authorities that this was the kind of sum that would make a difference.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)]

My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed, and that concludes Question Time.

Childhood Obesity

Lord Fowler Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd September 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

My Lords, the Government are not planning a review of VAT at present.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)]

My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed.