(3 years, 10 months ago)
Commons ChamberMy hon. Friend is absolutely right. The court ruling in question found that we were on average 17 days late with the paperwork, but it did not find against any of the individual contracts. My team worked so hard to deliver the PPE that was needed and so, as the National Audit Office has confirmed and as my hon. Friend set out, there was never a point at which there was a national shortage. There were, of course, localised challenges and we were in the situation of a huge increase in global demand, but I think that we should all thank the civil servants who did such a good job.
As we have repeatedly explained, supply is the rate-limiting factor. The hon. Member will no doubt have seen that there have been international discussions on the rate of supply, and countries around the world are finding supply the rate-limiting factor. Thankfully, thanks to the decisions that this Government took early, we have some of the best access to the supply of vaccine in the world. That is why we have one of the best vaccine delivery programmes in the world.
(3 years, 10 months ago)
Commons ChamberThe head of the Government’s own test and trace system admitted that up to 20,000 people per day who are asked to self-isolate are not doing so. Will the Secretary of State please confirm, after 10 months of being asked for it, when he will come up with a plan to fix the isolation system, so that those who need to self-isolate have the pastoral and financial support they need to do so?
We have put in place that support, including £500 for all those on low incomes. Everybody who is asked to self-isolate needs to self-isolate to break the chains of transmission.
(3 years, 11 months ago)
Commons ChamberUrgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Yes, of course, we have to make sure that the priority groups are all offered the vaccine everywhere in the country and are able to be vaccinated by 15 February. I totally agree with her about the great effort locally. Reaching 10,000 vaccinations is superb. I particularly want to thank Ritchie Chalmers, Cheryl Lee, John Weeks and the whole team at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust. There have been very significant challenges in Kent over the past few months. Thankfully, the case rate appears to be coming down in Kent, which is very reassuring. We have to get this vaccine out as quickly as possible.
In St Albans, our GP-led vaccination centre at Batchwood Hall is doing a brilliant job, but it only has enough vaccine supply for two days a week, not seven. Now we are hearing rumours that the NHS might set up a large hub in St Albans, which we would not need if our Batchwood Hall centre was getting the vaccines that it needs. Can the Secretary of State confirm that the NHS will be putting all its efforts into helping to put the infrastructure in place in parts of the country that need to catch up, rather than dislocating infrastructure in areas that already have excellent centres but just need that extra vaccine?
The truth is that supply is the great limiting factor, so we do need to put the vaccination centres where they are most needed, and pharmacy has an important role right across the country. The hon. Lady is right that the great inhibiting factor is the amount of supply, and that is what we are constantly calibrating to get people as much supply, with as much notice, as we can, given the challenges that we all face.
(3 years, 11 months ago)
Commons ChamberWe will vaccinate according to clinical need, because that is the best way both to protect lives and to be able to lift the restrictions.
Even once vaccinated, some older and clinically vulnerable people will have no one to look after them if their unpaid carers get ill with coronavirus. Vaccinating unpaid carers would be a clear way of reducing pressure on the NHS and social care, with the double benefit of protecting carers and providing the care that the NHS and social care system would then not need to provide. So will the Secretary of State give an unequivocal commitment that unpaid carers will be included in priority categories for vaccination?
As I have said, we will absolutely vaccinate according to clinical need. Once we are through those clinical need cohorts, there is a very important call on the next set of prioritisations, which we have not yet set out, and both teachers and unpaid carers have a good case to make.
(4 years, 1 month ago)
Commons ChamberI am happy to answer any detailed question about the provision of vaccines in this country.
Does the Secretary of State accept that there are those of us in this House who like a mixed economy and who recognise the role of the private sector and of business, but that that does not undermine the need for any Government to have transparency about procurement and to protect the spending of taxpayers’ money?
Yes, absolutely. With comments like those, the hon. Lady should come over to this side of the House if she wants to be part of the big team effort. She obviously did not get the memo that says, “If you sit on the Opposition side, you have to attack anybody in the private sector who is helping.”
We have to pull together, because coronavirus is a powerful adversary. It has the power to overwhelm our hospitals, disrupt our economy and suspend the moments that make life so special, so we must take the hard but crucial steps to get it under control, and we will stand behind every single person who joins in this national effort. Everybody has a role to play, and as we come together once more, we must all work and make sacrifices to protect those who we love at this time of national need.
(4 years, 2 months ago)
Commons ChamberThe original urgent question was about the 10 pm pubs curfew, and after this statement it is clear that the Government are simply not listening. They seem to be covering their eyes and ears and singing “La, la, la, la.” The Secretary of State says that this is under review, but the evidence is clear: the 10 pm pubs curfew has been a hammer blow to hospitality, and turfing crowds of people out of covid-secure venues on to the streets is putting lives and livelihoods at risk.
Since reopening in July, businesses on every single one of our high streets have put blood, sweat and tears into making their venues covid-secure, but they are trading at a reduced capacity. Since the pubs curfew was introduced, some of them have seen a further 50% reduction. The Prime Minister announced the blanket 10 pm closing time last Tuesday. Within hours, the industry warned that it would lead to chaos on the streets, and it did. The shocking truth is that this Government have, by their own admission, made no assessment of the cost of this measure to the industry, and SAGE has confirmed that it was never even consulted on whether a 10 pm curfew would be effective. Now, experts are telling us that it is making the risk of covid transmission worse.
Public Health England’s weekly surveillance reports are clear: outbreaks of the virus in hospitality venues are responsible for less than 3% of all cases, and they have not contributed to any of the increase, yet the Government are making thousands upon thousands of hospitality jobs unviable, undermining public health and killing our high streets. The Government like to talk about balance and the tough choices that they have to make between public health and the economy, but the shocking truth is that the pubs curfew is bad for both, and the longer the Government defend it, the more damage it will do.
People are scared. Care homes are becoming prison-like, students are being locked up and businesses are saying that without a further package of support they will be closed by Christmas. I asked for some evidence behind this measure; the Secretary of State has provided none. That is why the curfew must be scrapped today.
I just want to correct the hon. Lady on the point that she made about outbreaks. The updated statistics will be published today by Public Health England. The measures that have led us to understanding that the virus spreads most outside of households, when other households meet together, including in hospitality venues, comes from the very backward contact tracing that the hon. Member for Leicester South (Jonathan Ashworth) asked about. The outbreaks data is about where there is an outbreak with significant numbers within one institution—for instance, within a care home or a school, and that is then raised as an issue with Public Health England—not where individuals go. I am afraid the hon. Lady is using a different set of statistics, which do not make the case that she puts forward. We all understand the concern about the impact of this virus on so many parts of our economy. Our task is to try to limit the impact on lives as well as on livelihoods, and that is at the root of our strategy.
(4 years, 3 months ago)
Commons ChamberUrgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Yes, 100%. I strongly support my hon. Friend, and I congratulate her on—[Interruption.] Somebody says, “Her pregnancy”. I hope it is public knowledge—well, it is now. I congratulate her on her pregnancy, and I know she has a strong interest in our getting this sorted. We put out extra guidance last week, and it has been a pleasure to work with her on the campaign to ensure that all hospitals follow that new guidance. We must ensure that partners can be there throughout each stage of pregnancy, in a covid-secure way, and that people get the support they need.
Coronavirus cases are on the rise in Hertfordshire, and yet in St Albans key workers, teachers, doctors and parents cannot access tests. They are frustrated for two reasons, first because they cannot get a test, but secondly because this was utterly predictable. We knew there would be a surge in symptomatic cases and we knew there would be a surge in demand from key workers. Was any modelling actually done, and, if so, will the Secretary of State publish it?
Of course, we have been increasing capacity all the time, and working throughout the summer to do that, to make sure that there is as much capacity as there is. The big change in capacity will come when one of the new technologies comes off, and that is why I am so passionate about them—because that is what is going to be able to get us out of the situation of having to have prioritisation and instead getting a test to everybody who wants one, not just those who need them according to the clinical prioritisation.
(4 years, 6 months ago)
Commons ChamberUrgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
It is important that those engaged in the tourism industry follow the guidance on social distancing as carefully as possible. They should always follow those rules and ensure that social distancing is in place. As we manage to open things at the right pace—cautiously and safely—in due course, it is incumbent on industries such as the tourism industry to ensure that they follow the guidelines. The proposed next step, subject to formal confirmation, is the opening of non-essential retail. Non-essential retailers will have to follow clear guidelines about ensuring that their shops are safe and that they do not add to the spread of the disease. If we are able to take further steps after that, it is so important that a whole industry, such as the tourism industry, helps everybody to help it by following those sorts of rules.
I have received a letter from a little boy called Charlie, who is clinically extremely vulnerable and has been shielding with his family for about 11 weeks. He wants to know why non-vulnerable people can be allowed to have unlimited exercise wherever and whenever they want, while people who are still shielding feel trapped in their own homes without even 30 minutes to go outside. Now that we have stopped clapping for carers, would the Secretary of State agree that, for just once a day, we could stay home for shielders?
The hon. Lady asks an important question. We did make a change to the guidance, in order to recommend going outside. I know that some people were very worried about doing that, but it is safe to do so safely—by staying 2 metres away from others. Let me say this to all those who are shielding: the shielding guidelines are there for your own protection; you are particularly at risk if you catch the disease and these are the guidelines for how you can stay safe. We appreciate that the guidelines have a significant impact on those who are shielding, and are always looking at what we can do to make the lives of those who are shielding better and to improve the guidance.
(4 years, 7 months ago)
Commons ChamberWe have been working very closely with the SNP Scottish Government on testing, so I am slightly surprised at some of the questions from the SNP spokeswoman. Of course the tests are not double-counted. There has been a ramp up in testing capacity. I am very glad to see in Scotland that testing capacity is now starting to rise—in the latest figures, it was up to around 5,000. I work very closely with my SNP opposite number on making sure that everybody has the very best capacity. The contact tracing system was also stopped in Scotland. The reason was that the number of cases right across the UK became very high. We needed social distancing to bring that number down. Now that that number is coming down right across the UK, contact tracing is once again effective. That is the reason we are bringing it in now, and I am pleased that we have hired 21,000 contact tracers in England to ensure that we can get it going. Therefore we are on track for the current proposed 1 June changes. That date is dependent on making sure that everything is right, and that it is safe to make the changes then.
The Minister has just confirmed that there will be thousands of contact tracers who are not medically trained, but who will be handling highly sensitive patient information and issuing clinical advice given to them. Will he bring forward primary legislation to govern the collection and any potential misuse of data, whether that is via an app, by qualified health professionals or by the non-medical call handlers, so that members of the public can have confidence that all strands of his data collection plans are effective and safe?
(4 years, 9 months ago)
Commons ChamberUrgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Yes, we are working with all the local resilience forums and the local authorities, which are crucial parts of them.
The director general of the World Health Organisation has called on all Governments to develop all-of-society and business continuity plans. What is the Minister doing in respect of two groups: the street homeless, and the staff and volunteers who work in homeless shelters; and small businesses? Specifically, in a worst-case scenario, would the Government, under contingency plans, underwrite the three biggest costs facing small businesses—staff, rent and business rates?
MHCLG is working on and leading on the first of those, which is very important, and the Treasury is leading on the second.
(4 years, 9 months ago)
Commons ChamberI commend my hon. Friend for the responsible and calm way in which he has responded to the news in his constituency. The message to schools is clear: if you do not have both a positive case and the advice from Public Health England to close, you should not close. The Minister for School Standards, who is sitting next to me, reiterates that message. We have a hotline that schools can call to get that advice from Public Health England, and schools that close without the advice from PHE are contacted by the regional schools commissioner, who explains to them the position.
There are now four confirmed cases of covid-19 in Hertfordshire, yet Hertfordshire has an unfunded burden in next year’s financial budget of £2.8 million from the cost of the pay uplift for nurses and health visitors under the “Agenda for Change” programme. I am told that potentially up to 30 directors of public health across this country are poised to have to cancel contracts and make school nurses and health visitors redundant if this money is not confirmed. With less than a month until the next financial year, can the Government confirm today, or within the next 24 hours, that the money for the “Agenda for Change” pay uplifts will be made available?
We have increased the public health grant and we have increased local authority spending power by 4.4% in real terms next year, which of course comes in at the start of April.