Covid-19: Update

Lord Sarfraz Excerpts

Tuesday 20th April 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

My Lords, we put in place a considerable amount of support for those on low wages, including the furlough scheme, and a huge amount of economic support. It is true that those on low wages have wage pressure put on their lives, but we have statutory sick pay for those who are sick and out of work, and we have a huge amount of investment in local government and in charities, which also provide support for those who live in deprivation.

[Lord Sarfraz (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I join other noble Lords in thanking my noble friend the Minister for just how hard he has worked and for all that his department has achieved over the last year. Will he tell us what plans there are for the development of new vaccines in response to new variants?

Hotel Quarantine for Travellers

Lord Sarfraz Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd February 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

My Lords, I acknowledge the detailed and perfectly reasonable questions raised by the noble Baroness, but I am unable to answer them all in detail. A Statement will be forthcoming from the Government on exactly those questions. I remind her that travel has come down by 90% in a comparative period. She is entirely right that travel patterns are complex; any measures we put in place will recognise that many travellers leapfrog from one country to another, brushing against others, and that the spread of the virus cannot be narrowly contained to travel corridors in the way one would sometimes like to hope.

[Lord Sarfraz (Con) [V]]

My Lords, can my noble friend say whether we will try to monitor the physical and mental health and well-being of those in hotel quarantine, including vulnerable travellers, travellers with disabilities and those with small children?

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

The noble Lord is entirely right to be concerned about those who travel for essential reasons but who may face some hardship through their journey. We are putting in place special arrangements to ensure they are looked after in the best way possible. However, I remind him and the House that the purpose of these measures is to reduce dramatically the amount of travel. Travel is no longer a right; it is a danger, and as a result everyone needs to think very seriously before they commit to a journey.

Social Care Funding (EAC Report)

Lord Sarfraz Excerpts

Thursday 28th January 2021 Grand Committee

[Lord Sarfraz (Con) [V]]

My Lords, our country’s care system has never been under such pressure as over the last year. I am sure that noble Lords are as grateful as I am to live in a country that could financially afford to step up to the challenges of the pandemic and has worked day and night to make sure that everyone is treated with dignity and respect. Many countries around the world do not have our financial resources—we are indeed very fortunate.

The numbers speak for themselves. The Government have made available £4.6 billion to local authorities to address pressures on local services. There is an additional £1 billion of funding available for social care in 2021-22. Public spending on adult social care services has increased in real terms in every year since 2015, reaching £18.8 billion in 2020. In 2021-22, the Government expect to provide local authorities with estimated funding of around £3 billion to help to manage the impact of Covid across their services. These are very substantial numbers, but they are not just numbers. They translate into countless real people and real families getting the care that they need.

However, the funding system needs reform. This is indeed a complex area and I welcome the Government’s proposals on improvement, which I understand will be brought forward this year. I also welcome the Government’s appreciation that anyone needing care should never have to sell their home to pay for it.

The number of home care agencies in England has significantly increased, from 5,780 in 2010 to 10,294 in January of this year. That is almost double the number of home care agencies. According to CQC registration data, pressures on adult social care from the pandemic do not appear to be translating into significant amounts of reduced capacity or service closures, but this data should of course continue to be closely monitored.

We are not without challenges. Some providers of care settings designated for the discharge of Covid-positive individuals from hospitals have had difficulties securing sufficient levels of commercial insurance cover. This is why I welcome the recent ministerial Statement that new arrangements will provide temporary, state-backed indemnity cover for clinical negligence, employer liability and public liability to designated settings that have been unable to source adequate insurance cover.

This has been an incredibly difficult year for all of us, but there is clear evidence of the tremendous work and effort that the Government have put into ensuring that our care system delivers for everybody. There is always more to do and areas where improvements must continue to be made.

Finally, I would like to pay tribute to all those workers in care settings, who have faced probably the most difficult year of their professional lives and have made our country so very proud.