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

Baroness Thornton Excerpts

Wednesday 29th July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Thornton (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister and other noble Lords for their remarks. Here we are again. I do not intend to rehearse the absurdity of this debate; we need to look on it as an opportunity that has been offered. I think the Minister has picked up, today and before, the dissatisfaction in the House and the statutory instruments committee with the current arrangements for scrutiny and accountability.

Leicester remains in lockdown, a situation that I believe is due to be reviewed tomorrow. Can the Minister explain what metrics will be used to decide what happens next in Leicester? I ask this because the people in Leicester seem to be asking exactly the same question, as my noble friends Lady Massey and Lord Clark said.

New measures to stop the spread of Covid-19 were introduced in Oldham yesterday. Can the Minister confirm whether the new rules in Oldham are guidance or a legal requirement? If the latter, how will it be enforced? How is the new local policy being communicated to residents in Oldham, which has a higher proportion of ethnic minorities among whom English may not be the first language? Oldham Council’s deputy leader, Arooj Shah, said the new measures are essential to prevent a strict local lockdown like in Leicester. Can the Minister confirm that national lockdown relaxations, including the reopening of gyms, cafés and pubs, remain applicable in Oldham? What advice have the Government received regarding the increased risk these relaxations pose in Oldham? Can he advise what the threshold of new cases is for introducing local lockdown regulations in Oldham? Can he confirm whether Oldham has been categorised as an area of intervention alongside Leicester and Blackburn and will receive increased national support, capacity and oversight accordingly?

This debate offers an opportunity for the Minister to update the House on how life in Leicester is and what lessons can be learned from this citywide lockdown. As my noble friends Lord Harris and Lord Liddle said, lessons need to be learned from this. In particular, as my noble friend Lord Harris asked, what happens in a large area such as a London borough? What is the impact of the extended lockdown on children who are missing out on school, local businesses and jobs, universities and voluntary groups and the mental and other long-term health consequences for the people of Leicester?

Have the Government learned the lessons about data? We know from the launch of the NHS Test and Trace system at the beginning of May that Leicester’s director of public health repeatedly asked Public Health England for the results of the data from the pillar 2 tests. Although the Minister has assured the House that all data is now being made available, there is a dissonance between what he and the noble Baroness, Lady Dido Harding, tell us and the anecdotal local-level evidence. For example, Katrina Stephens, director of public health for Oldham Council, said she was being given incomplete data about the occupation and recent location history of people who had tested positive. Can the Minister explain why this information was not available from the start?

As other noble Lords have said, many weeks ago the Leicester director of public health asked week after week for postcode-level details and was assured week after week by Public Health England and regional public health that there was nothing to worry about in Leicester. He was told that on 15 June. Three days later, the Secretary of State announced in a press conference that there was an outbreak in Leicester. In such an urgent situation, with a dangerous virus that spreads so quickly, you would think that data sharing would not be an issue. Is the director of public health in Leicester now receiving all the information he needs to do his job? Are they receiving the contact-tracing data? Is the data made available daily?

Let us look at communications. Over the weekend of 27 and 28 June it was briefed in the Sunday Times by the Home Secretary that Leicester was to be subjected to a lockdown, without warning or the involvement of the city council, local police or the NHS. I hope the lesson has been learned that this is completely unacceptable. We should record gratitude to the local MPs, the mayor, the city council, the Leicester police and local community groups for handling the situation with calm confidence, patience and skill. Does the Minister believe it acceptable that a local lockdown that affects hundreds of thousands of people should be announced in a national newspaper and in the national media? Have the Government learned that lesson? If so, what have they learned?

Finally, I ask about the extra costs that come with the lockdown. Can the Minister tell the House whether the Government will meet all these costs and in other areas where there is a spike? The Leicester MPs are saying that, frankly, the Prime Minister has failed businesses in Leicester and put local livelihoods and jobs at risk. I would be grateful if the Minister clarified what support local businesses are receiving. I am sure the Minister will agree that Covid challenges can be terribly difficult to deal with, but it is vital if the Government want to close down a city that they do it with respect and transparency for the local civic community.