Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Leicester) Regulations 2020

Baroness Barker Excerpts

Wednesday 29th July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barker (LD) [V]]

My Lords, why did Public Health England take until 20 July to start supplying test data to local authorities on a daily, rather than weekly, basis? Why were local authorities told only then which households contained people who had tested positive?

On track and trace, when will the Government stop wasting resources on national call centres and—as we on the Liberal Democrat Benches have been advocating since March—put resources into local resilience forums working with directors of public health, health and safety officers and local police?

Matt Hancock stated in mid-May that he had

“tried to throw a protective ring around our care homes”

right from the start of the outbreak. Today, the Public Accounts Committee stated that discharging 25,000 patients in order to free up beds was an example of

“the Government’s slow, inconsistent and, at times, negligent approach”

to social care. The committee also said that advising hospitals to discharge thousands of patients into care homes without knowing if they had coronavirus was a “reckless” and “appalling” policy error. Will the Minister tell the House who was responsible for that decision?

There was no protection from central government. Will directors of social services now be empowered to challenge any similar decisions by NHS Providers and central government which jeopardise social care? Will local authorities currently in lockdown, such as Leicester, be resourced to share their experience and good practice with colleagues in areas at risk, such as Oldham? As the demographic profile of areas most likely to experience second waves becomes clearer, will local authorities be identified and given additional resources now to put prevention plans in place?