Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what partnerships they have established in order to deliver sufficient COVID-19 testing; what assessment they have made of the adequacy of those partnerships; and by what date they expect a full COVID-19 testing programme to be operating across the UK.
Answered by Lord Bethell
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
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to resolve the reported disruption to deliveries of personal protective equipment to the UK; and by what date they expect such disruptions to have been resolved.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Government has brought together the National Health Service, industry and the armed forces to create a personal protective equipment (PPE) distribution network, delivering critical PPE supplies to those who need it.
We are doing everything we can on every front on the international procurement of medical supplies. There is a joint unit within the Department for International Trade and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office that uses our extensive overseas networks and United Kingdom-based expertise to coordinate international procurement of medical and other critical supplies.
There is a 24-hour helpline that allows National Health Service and social care providers to request emergency drops of PPE to meet immediate need.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the approach taken by the government of South Korea to tackling COVID-19; in particular, of the impact of multiple localised interventions and the importance of the quality of local relationships in delivering effective interventions.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Government is monitoring the development of the COVID-19 outbreak around the world, including South Korea. International evidence has been considered alongside a wide range of other evidence to inform the United Kingdom response. The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), which provides scientific advice to support UK decision-makers during emergencies, monitors the approaches taken by other countries and how it can be useful for the Government. SAGE has published its report of the Impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to reduce COVID-19 mortality and healthcare demand. A copy is attached.
In recognition of the importance of transparency in these unprecedented times, SAGE has been publishing the statements and the accompanying evidence it has reviewed on GOV.UK to demonstrate how the scientific understanding of COVID-19 has continued to evolve as new data emerges, and how SAGE’s advice has quickly adapted to new findings that reflect a changing situation. This list can be found by searching online for ‘Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE): Coronavirus (COVID-19) response’. It will be updated as SAGE releases papers from recent and future meetings.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the support required by pharmacies during the COVID-19 pandemic; and what steps, if any, they are taking to ensure that any shortfall in such support is addressed.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Ministers and Government officials are working closely with the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, the representative body of pharmacy contractors, and NHS England and NHS Improvement to ensure that community pharmacies get the support they need to supply medicines and to help their communities stay well.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the amount of personal protective equipment that has been held at Heathrow Airport customs since 29 March; and what steps they are taking to ensure that any such equipment is released quickly.
Answered by Lord Bethell
It is a priority for agencies operating at the border that genuine critical and essential goods arriving in the United Kingdom are handled promptly to help speed the flow of these goods into the UK. With this aim, Border Force is working closely with the Department and National Health Service suppliers to identify goods in their supply chain and to ensure they move quickly across the border. However, it is also vital that the UK tackles border related fraud and prevents fake and substandard or dangerous goods from entering UK supply chains.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the accuracy of data collection across the UK in respect of COVID-19; and whether they have identified any regional variability in the quality of data collection processes.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.
Dear Lord Mawson,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what assessments have been made of the accuracy of data collection across the UK in respect to Covid-19, and any regional variability in the data collection processes (HL3420).
In my role as National Statistician, I have a responsibility to ensure the presentation of all data and analysis across Government is useful, transparent about its caveats, and of a high quality. Trustworthy, coherent and relevant data and statistics to support democratic decision-making is as important now as ever. As part of our response to Covid-19, we are working to ensure that the UK has the vital information needed to respond to the impact of this pandemic on our economy and society. I have been pleased with the response of colleagues in stepping up to that challenge by adapting data collection methods and sources, and publishing relevant, timely information. It is a strength of the UK statistical system that we provide equality of access to data on which important decisions will rely.
Data collection processes feeding into the production of evidence to support the response to COVID-19 are monitored, and any reports of differences in data collection investigated. Currently there are a very small number of those investigations ongoing. Those investigations would not have an impact on ONS weekly deaths statistics, which remain the most complete source of information.
The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) has also been helpful in adapting processes for assessing accuracy and coherence of statistics during this crisis. These steps further enhance the trustworthiness of the statistical system’s response.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the date by which they will have robust data on the number of deaths from COVID-19 that occur outside of hospitals.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.
Dear Lord Mawson,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking for the date by which robust data on the number of deaths from COVID-19 that occur outside of hospitals will be available (HL3417).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for producing a weekly report on the provisional number of deaths registered in England and Wales including deaths involving the coronavirus (COVID-19)[1]. As part of this report, data is published for deaths registered where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate by place of occurrence, which includes places outside of hospitals such as care homes or the home of the deceased. Additionally, on 28 April, the ONS published data from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) on the number of deaths in care homes involving COVID-19[2]. Going forward, data from the CQC will be published alongside the weekly report.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of siloed working in the public sector, at a local and national level, regarding the response to the COVID-19 pandemic; and what steps they are taking to address any such siloed operations.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
This Department has ensured that there has been regular and significant contact between Ministers, regional mayors and council leaders throughout this crisis to respond to the Covid-19 emergency.
This includes calls between the Secretary of State and Ministers, and regional mayors, as well as regular teleconferences hosted by the Secretary of State for local government representatives, including leaders and chief executives. My Department is also discussing priorities and support measures with councils in each of the nine English regions, alongside a Ministerial-led Covid-19 local delivery board with councillors. Further to this, a Ministerial-led Economic Recovery Working Group has been established, made up of local government leaders from across England including several Metro Mayors to help inform Government’s plans for economic recovery.
Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) are making a vital contribution to the efforts to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus emergency on local communities. The Government has also supported the embedding of a number of highly experienced military planners into each LRF, who are providing on-the-ground strategic and logistical support. These are further supported by senior Departmental leaders and experts in local engagement and response, ensuring key issues are raised and responded to as appropriate.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans are being processed quickly and efficiently; and how long, on average, they estimate it will take for a business to receive such a loan.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) opened for applications on 23 March. Since that date, we have made changes to widen the scheme’s eligibility so that more small businesses across the UK can benefit from the scheme, by extending loans to all viable small businesses affected by the Coronavirus, not just those unable to secure regular commercial financing. We have worked with the lenders to implement some technical changes to the British Business Bank’s processes that ensure that applications will be processed faster. As of 21 April, over £2.8bn worth of loans have been issued under CBILS, to over 16,000 businesses.
Lenders, such as banks, are responsible for providing loans supported by the guarantee. The exact terms of each loan and length of application will vary from lender to lender. Lenders are fully aware of the current urgency, so we would expect them to respond appropriately to their customers’ needs.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what the interest rates will be for businesses who have been supported via a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan, following the end of the 12-month zero-interest rate period of that scheme; and what plans they have to ensure that such rates stay below 6 per cent.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Interest rates charged under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) are set at the discretion of each lender. The UK Government expects that the benefit of the guarantee under the CBILS Scheme is reflected in the interest that is charged on the CBILS Facility. This expectation is re-enforced by the State Aid rules that also require this.
The Government held discussions with the banking industry prior to the launch of CBILS and the Business Secretary continues to hold regular calls with each of the biggest CBILS lenders to address feedback on how the scheme has been working and closely monitor its implementation to ensure that companies feel the full benefits of this support.
CBILS lenders have agreed that no early repayment charges will be levied should a borrower choose to repay their CBILS facility earlier than planned.