Covid-19 Update

Debate between Hywel Williams and Matt Hancock

Tuesday 2nd March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

I do not have those specific figures to hand, but the MHRA—the regulator—regularly publishes what are called adverse events when somebody still has a problem with coronavirus having had the vaccine or has a response to the vaccine, and I will ensure that the appropriate body, whether it is MHRA or Public Health England, publishes both the number and the percentage.

[Hywel Williams (Arfon) (PC) [V]]

The covid testing package reservation form for international travellers from red list countries into England requires proof of purchase of two covid-19 tests before they can travel on to England and Scotland. However, there is no reference to Wales on the form. Will the Secretary of State assure me that that is an oversight that will be remedied immediately and that international travellers from England continuing on to Wales are indeed required to comply with the testing and quarantine rules?

[Matt Hancock]

Yes, all international passengers are required to comply with the rules. It is the first time I have heard of that particular issue. I will write to the hon. Gentleman to set out either why the system is done in that way or that it has been rectified, if that is what is needed.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Hywel Williams and Matt Hancock

Tuesday 9th February 2021 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

Yes, of course I will.

[Hywel Williams (Arfon) (PC) [V]]

Yesterday, the number of deaths from covid in Wales passed the grim total of 5,000. Our public health leaders say that the Welsh Government’s £500 self-isolation payment is not enough and is indeed an economic driver for people to go to work. Sick pay, on the other hand, is the responsibility of this Government, so will the Secretary of State now commit the Government to increasing the paltry level of sick pay, as suggested, from £96 per week, to enable working people to self-isolate safely?

[Matt Hancock]

We have put in place the extra £500 for those on low incomes to ensure that everybody can get the financial support that they may need while self-isolating.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Hywel Williams and Matt Hancock

Tuesday 2nd February 2021 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

I can confirm what the Prime Minister has set out: schools will be the first in the queue for reopening. We will consider the data in the middle of this month, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister will set out a statement after that, and we will give two weeks’ notice. Schools will not open before 8 March, and of course we will look at the data, as I set out in a previous answer.

[Hywel Williams (Arfon) (PC) [V]]

The Health Minister in Wales has now admitted, at last, that many lives could have been saved had the Welsh Labour Government locked down sooner last year. Does the Secretary of State believe that an earlier general lockdown in England would have saved many lives? If so, how does that belief inform the quarantine and lockdown decisions that his Government now face?

[Matt Hancock]

We have taken action very rapidly when we have seen rises in cases. The most recent example here in England was, of course, right at the start of this year, when we saw the sharp spike in cases and took very rapid action to close schools after some of them had been open for just one day. We do not take such measures lightly and we understand the impact that they have, but they were absolutely necessary.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Hywel Williams and Matt Hancock

Wednesday 9th March 2016 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Hancock]

My hon. Friend has enormous experience in this area, and I look forward to publishing the update of the digital strategy very soon. In the meantime, we are getting on with implementing it.

[Hywel Williams (Arfon) (PC)]

Under the requirements of .gov, the language choice button on each government page has to appear at the bottom right—and in very small letters. That means that many Welsh speakers do not realise that the language choice is open to them, as it is in so many Government documents now. Will the Minister look at moving the language button to the top of the page and making it rather more prominent?

[Matthew Hancock]

I am an enormous supporter of the Welsh language, and we are working hard to make sure that Government documents are always, where needed, translated into Welsh. I shall certainly look at the location of the button on the page, but we do a lot of user-friendly research to work out where the buttons ought to be.