Covid-19 Update

James Daly Excerpts

Tuesday 8th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

The hon. Gentleman does better when he does not take the Labour party handout notes.

[James Daly (Bury North) (Con)]

I pay personal tribute to my right hon. Friend. Bury has been under restrictions for six weeks, and both he and his team have been a constant source of support not only to me and the leader of the council but to the people of Bury through this difficult time.

I agree with everything that the Secretary of State said, but I would welcome his views on this point. One challenge being faced in my constituency is childcare. We are in a situation where many people are looking to get back into work. Many grandparents look after children, but they are struggling because they remain in the bubble that we have in Bury, which is one person to another household, and many of them still live together. They are asking whether the bubble can be extended to two people per household to allow them to provide emotional, practical and social support to their family at this difficult time.

[Matt Hancock]

I understand why grandparents in Bury and across the country want to see that happen. The challenge is that the support bubbles are there primarily so that when people are living on their own, they can get that emotional and mental-health support from having some people with whom they can closely communicate, whereas a couple living together have each other for that.

The challenge in terms of childcare is that although children rarely experience any negative impacts of covid, they can transmit the disease. Grandparents are typically at risk if they are over about 70, so we are quite cautious about encouraging them to look after their grandchildren, because of the problem of transmission. That is the challenge that we are trying to address, but I understand why people want to see that.