Oral Answers to Questions

David Evennett Excerpts
Tuesday 19th May 2020

(4 years, 6 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Ian Levy Portrait Ian Levy (Blyth Valley) (Con)
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What steps he is taking to promote (a) good hygiene and (b) social distancing in supermarkets.

David Evennett Portrait Sir David Evennett (Bexleyheath and Crayford) (Con)
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What steps he is taking to promote (a) good hygiene and (b) social distancing in supermarkets.

George Eustice Portrait The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (George Eustice)
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From the outset, we have worked extensively with retailers and Public Health England to establish best practice and publish guidance on social distancing and hygiene, to keep staff and customers safe. Industry has adapted effectively and quickly, and measures introduced include signage and floor markings to help customers maintain distance, screens at tills and limits on the number of customers in store.

George Eustice Portrait George Eustice
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On the latter point, I take the opportunity to pay tribute to all those key workers working throughout our food supply chain, from those working on farms to those working in logistics and food manufacturing, and of course those working in our supermarkets. They have helped to ensure that the nation has remained fed, and the work that they have done has been truly phenomenal.

I also agree with my hon. Friend that as we seek to evolve the current restrictions and move back to something closer to life as normal, we all have a great deal that we can learn from the measures that have been put in place by supermarkets—and also in factory environments by our food processors.

David Evennett Portrait Sir David Evennett [V]
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I congratulate my local Sainsbury’s stores in Erith Road, Barnehurst, and in Crayford on their good organisation and friendly staff. Does my right hon. Friend agree that other businesses will be able to learn lessons from the actions taken by supermarkets to ensure good hygiene and social distancing?

George Eustice Portrait George Eustice
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My right hon. Friend is absolutely right: our supermarket retailers acted within hours—certainly within 24 hours—to implement social distancing when lockdown occurred. They acted swiftly, and we have learned a lot along the way, in conjunction with Public Health England. I can tell my right hon. Friend that the experiences of our supermarkets and food manufacturers have been shared extensively with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, as it has developed safer-working protocols for other parts of the economy, because we can—absolutely—learn from the steps that supermarkets and others have taken.