Covid-19: Response

Baroness Bull Excerpts

Monday 27th July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bethell [V]]

My Lords, it is put to me week in, week out that our relationship with directors of public health is in some way troubled. I reassure noble Lords that, every single day of the week, we are in contact with dozens of directors of public health in amicable, constructive dialogues that lead to concrete action, local interventions and sharing of data. These conversations happen in a cordial and friendly fashion. The message may have got through to some noble Lords that there is some huge acrimony and difficulty between us, but that is not the perspective that I have. The data has got through. It is a hell of a thing to have put up a huge track and trace system in a few months. That we can get such detailed data to a large number of people within the envelope of reasonable data security legislation is nothing short of a miracle. I am extremely proud and pay tribute to those involved.

[Baroness Bull (CB) [V]]

My Lords, I want to follow the noble Lord, Lord Reid of Cardowan, in pointing to ONS data, this time data showing that 60% of all deaths from Covid-19 have been among those living with disabilities. A recent report from Oxford University and the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights found a failure of government to embed social and human rights models of disability in its response to the pandemic, and a failure to support people with disabilities to make the adjustments required to comply with fast-changing regulations and to continue to live flourishing lives. Will the Government commit to an immediate review of the impact on disabled people of legislation passed during the coronavirus crisis, and will they put in place a disability-inclusive Covid-19 response and recovery action plan which involves people with lived experience of disabilities in decisions on economic and social recovery as well as ongoing healthcare guidance?

[Lord Bethell [V]]

My Lords, it is a horrible truth that this disease hits hardest those with vulnerabilities. We have put in place a massive national programme to seek to protect the most vulnerable, and those with disabilities have been very much the focus of our attention. I cannot make the commitments that I know the noble Baroness wants me to make, but I reassure her that those with disabilities are the focus of what we are trying to do.