Covid-19 Update

Bill Esterson Excerpts

Tuesday 24th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

The armed forces are doing an absolutely fantastic job of supporting civilian efforts, for instance in the NHS on the logistics of delivery of protective equipment and much more; but the armed forces will not be involved in the enforcement of the law. That is for the police, who will levy fines, starting at £30 and escalating if people continue to flout the rules.

[Bill Esterson (Sefton Central) (Lab)]

One of my constituents is a home carer who has been unable to get PPE. She stopped working because her daughter has asthma, and obviously she is concerned about the potential for passing on the virus. I am pleased about what the Health Secretary said about the availability of PPE, but people such as my constituent, and their employers, need to know how to get hold of it. He said that that information would be on the gov.uk website, but not everybody knows about the website. Could he improve awareness of how to find out this information, and make sure that we have access to the website and the phone number?

[Matt Hancock]

I will make sure that the hon. Gentleman gets the phone number, so that he can pass it on to his constituent, and so that others in the same circumstances know how to make that happen.