Asked by: Lord Strasburger (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the level of functional impairment endured by patients suffering from long Covid.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that long COVID is a complex condition, with a wide range of symptoms, which, in the worst case, can be substantially incapacitating. The term ‘long COVID’ is an umbrella term, coined by patients and widely used to describe a wide range of symptoms or clusters of symptoms, of differing duration and severity, and potentially a number of distinct syndromes. The clinical case definition produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence identifies three phases of post-COVID-19 infection, the latter two of which are commonly described as long COVID, which are as follows:
The most common symptoms of long COVID are extreme tiredness or fatigue, feeling short of breath, problems with your memory and concentration, sometimes referred to as brain fog, heart palpitations, dizziness, joint pain, and muscle aches.
Asked by: Lord Strasburger (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they are monitoring the prevalence of long Covid in England; what is their estimate of number of people in England currently suffering from long Covid; what is their analysis of how long those people have had long Covid; and at what rate is the prevalence of long Covid increasing or decreasing.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The most recent data from the Winter Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Study, a joint study carried out by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the UK Health Security Agency, shows that, for the period 6 February 2024 to 7 March 2024, an estimated 1.8 million people, or 3.3% of the population, in private households in England, self-reported experiencing long COVID symptoms more than four weeks after a COVID-19 infection. The following table shows a breakdown of duration:
Duration | Estimate |
4 to 11 weeks | 148,971 |
12 to 25 weeks | 105,946 |
26 to 38 weeks | 28,107 |
39 to 51 weeks | 57,164 |
52 to 77 weeks | 105,962 |
78 to 103 weeks | 116,876 |
104 to 155 weeks | 253,770 |
156 weeks and over | 365,922 |
No estimate has been made of the rate at which prevalence of long COVID is currently increasing or decreasing in England. The ONS does not regularly collect this data.
No estimate has been made of the effect of long COVID on the economy in each year from 2020 to 2024, including the effect with respect to those affected by long COVID of their economic inactivity, the diminution in their quality of life, their lost income, the cost of informal caregiving for them, and their extra healthcare costs.
The most recent data from the infection study shows that for those who self-report long COVID of any duration, in England and Scotland, who are aged between 16 and 64 years old and are not in education are less likely to be employed or self-employed compared with those who have not reported long COVID.
On 18 December 2020, NHS England had put in place 69 dedicated clinics across the country. As of 1 April 2024, there were over 90 adult post-COVID services across England along with an additional 10 children and young people’s hubs.
Asked by: Lord Strasburger (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the effect of long Covid on the economy in each year from 2020 to 2024, including the effect with respect to those affected by long Covid of (1) their economic inactivity, (2) the diminution in their quality of life, (3) their lost income, (4) the cost of informal caregiving for them, and (5) their extra healthcare costs.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The most recent data from the Winter Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Study, a joint study carried out by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the UK Health Security Agency, shows that, for the period 6 February 2024 to 7 March 2024, an estimated 1.8 million people, or 3.3% of the population, in private households in England, self-reported experiencing long COVID symptoms more than four weeks after a COVID-19 infection. The following table shows a breakdown of duration:
Duration | Estimate |
4 to 11 weeks | 148,971 |
12 to 25 weeks | 105,946 |
26 to 38 weeks | 28,107 |
39 to 51 weeks | 57,164 |
52 to 77 weeks | 105,962 |
78 to 103 weeks | 116,876 |
104 to 155 weeks | 253,770 |
156 weeks and over | 365,922 |
No estimate has been made of the rate at which prevalence of long COVID is currently increasing or decreasing in England. The ONS does not regularly collect this data.
No estimate has been made of the effect of long COVID on the economy in each year from 2020 to 2024, including the effect with respect to those affected by long COVID of their economic inactivity, the diminution in their quality of life, their lost income, the cost of informal caregiving for them, and their extra healthcare costs.
The most recent data from the infection study shows that for those who self-report long COVID of any duration, in England and Scotland, who are aged between 16 and 64 years old and are not in education are less likely to be employed or self-employed compared with those who have not reported long COVID.
On 18 December 2020, NHS England had put in place 69 dedicated clinics across the country. As of 1 April 2024, there were over 90 adult post-COVID services across England along with an additional 10 children and young people’s hubs.
Asked by: Lord Strasburger (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many specialist clinics dedicated to treating long Covid were operating in 2020, and how many are operating now.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The most recent data from the Winter Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Study, a joint study carried out by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the UK Health Security Agency, shows that, for the period 6 February 2024 to 7 March 2024, an estimated 1.8 million people, or 3.3% of the population, in private households in England, self-reported experiencing long COVID symptoms more than four weeks after a COVID-19 infection. The following table shows a breakdown of duration:
Duration | Estimate |
4 to 11 weeks | 148,971 |
12 to 25 weeks | 105,946 |
26 to 38 weeks | 28,107 |
39 to 51 weeks | 57,164 |
52 to 77 weeks | 105,962 |
78 to 103 weeks | 116,876 |
104 to 155 weeks | 253,770 |
156 weeks and over | 365,922 |
No estimate has been made of the rate at which prevalence of long COVID is currently increasing or decreasing in England. The ONS does not regularly collect this data.
No estimate has been made of the effect of long COVID on the economy in each year from 2020 to 2024, including the effect with respect to those affected by long COVID of their economic inactivity, the diminution in their quality of life, their lost income, the cost of informal caregiving for them, and their extra healthcare costs.
The most recent data from the infection study shows that for those who self-report long COVID of any duration, in England and Scotland, who are aged between 16 and 64 years old and are not in education are less likely to be employed or self-employed compared with those who have not reported long COVID.
On 18 December 2020, NHS England had put in place 69 dedicated clinics across the country. As of 1 April 2024, there were over 90 adult post-COVID services across England along with an additional 10 children and young people’s hubs.
Asked by: Lord Strasburger (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what research they are funding, and at what cost, into treatment options for long Covid, including clinical trials.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) have dedicated funding to research into treatment options, clinical trials, and to understanding the underlying mechanisms of long COVID. This investment spans both infrastructure supported projects and programme awards.
The total funding for the research studies, which include at least one element on treatments, is over £16.2 million. We have provided the overall figures of investment into the relevant studies, although not all funding would have been directly spent on treatments or clinical trials, which are as follows:
Asked by: Lord Strasburger (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what threshold applies before police can conduct facial recognition searches against (1) the passport database, (2) the EU Settled Status database, or (3) the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency database, in the course of their investigations.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Police forces can currently request facial recognition searches against the passport database on a limited basis in support of the most serious law enforcement investigations.
No facial recognition searches are currently carried out against the EU Settled Status and Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency databases in the course of police investigations to identify people suspected of offences.
Asked by: Lord Strasburger (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether police forces can use facial recognition technology to search against photographs from (1) the passport database, (2) the EU Settled Status database, and (3) the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency database, to identify people suspected of offences.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Police forces can currently request facial recognition searches against the passport database on a limited basis in support of the most serious law enforcement investigations.
No facial recognition searches are currently carried out against the EU Settled Status and Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency databases in the course of police investigations to identify people suspected of offences.
Asked by: Lord Strasburger (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the legal methods for refugees who are citizens of Somalia, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Eritrea, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar or the Democratic Republic of the Congo to apply for asylum in the UK when they are (1) living in the country of their citizenship, (2) living in a safe third country, or (3) living in an unsafe third country.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth - Shadow Minister (Home Office)
Whilst we sympathise with people in many difficult situations around the world, we are not bound to consider asylum claims from the very large numbers of people overseas who might like to come here. Asylum is for people in danger in their home country. Those who need international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach – that is the fastest route to safety.
Between 2015 and December 2022, just under half a million people were offered safe and legal routes into the UK– including those from Hong Kong, Syria, Afghanistan, Ukraine as well as family members of refugees.
This includes over 28,200 refugees resettled through the government’s refugee resettlement schemes. Our family reunion policy has also reunited many refugees with their family members; we have issued over 44,659 visas under our refugee family reunion Rules since 2015. The UK is one of the largest recipients of UNHCR referred refugees globally, second only to Sweden in Europe since 2015.
The UK continues to welcome refugees and people in need through existing resettlement schemes which include the UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS), Community Sponsorship, the Mandate Resettlement Scheme and the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS).
Further information on existing safe and legal routes is available below:
Asked by: Lord Strasburger (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the legal routes to the UK for citizens of Somalia, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Eritrea, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar or the Democratic Republic of the Congo who are applying for asylum.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth - Shadow Minister (Home Office)
The UK does not accept asylum claims from abroad. Whilst we sympathise with people in many difficult situations around the world, we are not bound to consider asylum claims from the very large numbers of people overseas who might like to come here. Those who need international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach which is the fastest route to safety, in line with the 1951 UN Convention.
Our resettlement schemes have provided safe and legal routes for tens of thousands of people including global schemes to start new lives in the UK. The UK welcomes people from all over the world through the UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS), Mandate Resettlement Scheme, Community Sponsorship as well as country specific routes such as Afghan Citizens’ Resettlement Scheme as well as Ukraine and BNO schemes. This commitment, alongside a fair and firm asylum system, will ensure we continue to offer safe and legal routes to the UK for those in need of protection.
There are additional global safe and legal routes for people to come to the UK should they wish to join family members here, work or study. They would need to meet the requirements of the relevant Immigration Rule under which they were applying to qualify for a visa. Details about the criteria and how to apply are available on GOV.UK at: http://www.gov.uk/apply-uk-visa.
Asked by: Lord Strasburger (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk of introducing inconsistencies into the law around marriage if humanist marriages are legislated for before the Law Commission's review in this area has concluded.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar - Shadow Attorney General
In 2014, the Government published a consultation paper and response assessing the potential merits of provision for non-religious belief marriages. This concluded that the matter was complex, and that by allowing Humanists to solemnise marriages in unrestricted locations, the Government would create a provision for Humanists that would not be available to all groups.
To ensure we are considering the implications of changing the law on marriage on all groups, we invited the Law Commission to undertake a review which is currently underway and is expected to report in July of this year. By looking at the law comprehensively, the Law Commission will seek to put forward proposals that would ensure that, insofar as possible, groups and couples are all subject to the same rules and the same level of regulation. That reform is not possible by only authorising Humanist weddings, even on a temporary basis pending the Law Commission report.
The Government will carefully consider the Law Commission’s recommendations when the final report is published in July, and it is right for us to wait for the outcome of the report before amending marriage law any further.