Covid-19

James Sunderland Excerpts

Tuesday 12th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[Edward Argar]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. I seem to be taking multiple interventions today from people I have known in a past life in different ways and forms, which is always a pleasure. He will be aware that the prioritisation and roll-out of vaccines in that context are guided by the clinical advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which, as he will appreciate, at the current time, and rightly, is clearly focused on what will do the most to save lives. We have seen—I will turn to this in my speech shortly—that age is the single biggest determinant of risk of death, so it is right that we are prioritising those most at risk as we roll out the vaccine. When I come to them later, he will hear about the very ambitious and deliverable plans, which he heard about from the vaccines Minister yesterday, to ramp up the roll-out across our country.

[James Sunderland (Bracknell) (Con)]

rose—

[Edward Argar]

I did promise my hon. Friend that I would take an intervention from him—then I will make progress.

[James Sunderland]

In 1940, when our small boats set sail for Dunkirk, nobody stopped to check through health and safety paperwork or institutional red tape. Will my hon. Friend the Minister please confirm that the Government will cut through unnecessary bureaucracy as we embark on the vaccine roll-out, and that we will throw the kitchen sink at this with the help of our armed forces?

[Edward Argar]

I am incredibly grateful to my—if I recollect correctly—hon. and gallant Friend, who has served in the past with distinction. He is absolutely right to highlight the amazing work of our armed forces, which was highlighted in the Chamber earlier this afternoon. He is also right to highlight the spirit of getting things done. He will have seen that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has been very clear that, while making no compromises on safety for patients and for those receiving the vaccine, he is working very hard to make sure that any bureaucratic barriers that do not support patient safety are removed to ensure the speedy and effective roll-out of the vaccine. So I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his point.

We have vaccinated more people than the rest of Europe put together—well over 2 million individuals, including more than a quarter of the over-80s in this country. I think that is a record to be proud of, but there is no room for complacency. We continue to work hard to get more injections in more people’s arms.

In that context, I pay tribute not just to the Secretary of State and to the Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, my hon. Friend the Member for Stratford-on-Avon, but to Kate Bingham and the Vaccine Taskforce, who have done so much to make sure that this country was at the forefront of being able to purchase and deploy vaccines to help save lives. Yet, just as we accelerate the deployment of the vaccine further and faster, we must also recognise that the new variant of the coronavirus does present us with a renewed challenge.

Our strategy has always been, and continues to be, to suppress the virus to protect the NHS and save lives until a vaccine can make us safe, but with a new variant that is more than twice as transmissible, we must be clear that that task becomes considerably harder. The figures from the Office for National Statistics are stark: more than one in 50 of the UK population has the virus and an even higher proportion than that in places such as London. So, just as the virus has evolved, so must our response. We find ourselves once again in a difficult and challenging national lockdown, taking steps that I do not think anyone could have imagined in January last year—steps that, understandably, are truly testing the patience and forbearance of every person in this country but that are essential to relieve the pressure on our NHS, allow for the vaccine to be effectively deployed and, ultimately, set us free from the need for these restrictions.

Before I turn to those steps in a little more detail and the deployment of our vaccines, I am sure the whole House will, as always, join me in paying tribute to the heroic responses we continue to see from people in every walk of life. The return of the clap for carers initiative last Thursday, under the new guise of clap for heroes, is a reflection of the shift in our collective understanding of just what heroism and service look like and a tribute to everyone who is helping us push through this difficult time.

I know that my constituency neighbour, the hon. Member for Leicester West (Liz Kendall), will join me in paying tribute to and thanking everyone who works in our NHS in this country and all those who support not just the NHS but social care, in care homes, social care settings and domiciliary care—people in a range of roles up and down our country who, day in, day out, selflessly care for those who need it. In a past life, I was a local councillor, and I had the privilege of being the cabinet member for adult social care, health and public health for the council on which I served. I saw at first hand the amazing work that our social care workforce do, and it is right that we recognise that at every opportunity in this Chamber.

It is also important to highlight the great British scientists who are at the forefront of humanity’s fight against this virus, developing not only the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine but life-saving treatments for those who become infected with covid, first in the form of dexamethasone and now tocilizumab and sarilumab—I have considerable sympathy with the Prime Minister in his attempts to pronounce those—both of which have been found to reduce the risk of death for critically ill patients by almost a quarter and cut time spent in intensive care by as much as 10 days. Those life-saving drugs are now available through the NHS, and it is an example of the huge debt of gratitude we owe people from all walks of life—not just those on the health and social care frontline, but people who are working under very different but no less considerable pressures for our country. The Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, my hon. Friend the Member for Bury St Edmunds (Jo Churchill), who is the Minister for prevention, public health and primary care, will no doubt reflect on that when she winds up the debate.

In terms of the context, I must first turn to the pressures in our acute hospital settings. Across the UK, there are more than 32,000 patients in our hospitals with covid. That is over a third of the NHS’s available beds of all types. On 31 December last year, the total reported admission to hospital and diagnosis of covid in English hospitals was 2,536—on one day. That increased by 46% in the week that followed, so on 9 January, we were seeing 3,718 people admitted. The pressures on our acute hospitals and those who work in them are intense. Patients are therefore currently being treated in Nightingale hospitals in Manchester, Exeter, Bristol and Harrogate to cope with these numbers, and NHS England has confirmed that the Nightingale in London is also open for patients.

Last Monday, all four UK chief medical officers recommended that we move the country to covid-19 alert level 5, meaning that in their expert view, there is a material risk of healthcare services being overwhelmed. In this place, we have often talked about the most frightening of possibilities, but frankly, we have never been this close to seeing it happen, although we are all doing everything we can to ensure that the NHS continues to be able to cope during this time. Quite rightly, we have thanked our NHS staff, and people in this country have expressed gratitude and clapped them, but I think it is fair to say—echoing some of the intensive care doctors and nurses I have seen in the media recently—that the best way we can all say thank you to our NHS is to follow the rules and stay home in line with those rules, to ease the pressure on them.

That is why the choice that this House took last Wednesday to vote overwhelmingly for new regulations, placing England into a national lockdown alongside the action taken in each of the devolved nations, was the right choice. The key message is and must be as it was in the spring, as I have just enunciated: you must stay home. We have always said, and I have always been clear, that it is right that schools should be the last thing to close, and we deeply regret that we have had to close them, but as we begin to move out of lockdown, when we can safely do so—and, as the Prime Minister has promised, through the gradual loosening of restrictions when we can—schools will be the first thing to reopen.

Our regulations provide for these new restrictions until 31 March 2021. I hope that they may not be needed for as long as that, but that time allows us to take steady, controlled and evidence-led decisions, including moving places down through tiers on a local basis—again, when it is safe to do so. As you would expect, Mr Deputy Speaker, we will of course keep these restrictions under continuous review, with a statutory requirement to look at them every two weeks and a legal obligation to remove them if they are deemed no longer necessary to limit transmission of the virus.

Public Health

James Sunderland Excerpts

Wednesday 30th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[James Sunderland (Bracknell) (Con)]

The year 2020 has been grim for so many of us. Nobody wants the restrictions, but they are necessary and I welcome them, and I will therefore be voting with the Government this evening on all the motions.

The retrospective nature of this legislation has been difficult to stomach. Going on recess and then facing this on the Friday was difficult for me, as it was for all MPs and constituents, but this measure is not being imposed for any reason other than the public health imperative. At the back of our minds, we must always remember that.

I say all the time to constituents who write to me, “This is not personal. The fact that you can’t go and see family at Christmas, the fact that you are locked away for this awful winter—there is nothing personal there at all. It is simply the Government doing what they have to do to keep people safe.” I have had many letters from people in Bracknell and the wider constituency over the past few months. I understand their frustrations completely and I empathise with them. Having Christmas plans curtailed at the last minute was awful. Nobody takes any pleasure at all in restricting people from seeing their loved ones, but it is the duty of any responsible Government to take tough and unpopular decisions to protect lives. It is a sign of good leadership that the Government are making these decisions.

I again commend my constituents. The public have been resolute in the main in abiding by the rules, and the self-discipline we have seen across the UK this year has been phenomenal. We welcome today’s news of a second vaccine—it is fantastic—so there is light at the end of the tunnel, and we must look forward to a more positive 2021.

It has been a difficult few weeks in my constituency. Bracknell went from tier 2 to tier 4 in a matter of days, which was a bitter blow to the morale and mental health of so many. As of today, we are at a rate of 568 cases per 100,000. It is no exaggeration to say that it has septupled in the past month. Over a six-week period, that is a 1,000% increase in the rate in my constituency, and it is mirrored elsewhere locally. In Wokingham it is 413, in Reading it is 452, in Windsor and Maidenhead it is 509, and in Slough it is 646. The fact is that the virus is ripping through the constituency and beyond. This is the wave that we were fortunate not to have had so far.

Locally, our hospitals are really struggling. Wexham Park, Royal Berkshire and Frimley Park Hospitals are at max capacity, and today the Thames Valley Local Resilience Forum was almost at the point of declaring a major incident in Berkshire because it has got that bad. When the stats are presented, it is irresponsible not to react to the exponential increase in cases, however tough it is to stomach. A decision not to act would have been a grave dereliction of duty.

To be a critical friend to the Government, there are three areas that I would like to concentrate on very quickly. First, on gyms, we need to make sure we do not curtail freedoms to the extent that people cannot exercise. We have known about the restrictions on the fitness and leisure industry for some time, so I ask the Government please to review the rules on gyms and all forms of exercise and sport so that life can continue as best it can for many.

Small businesses have also had it really bad and some are on their last legs. We have seen giant online corporations such as Amazon and Google dominating the market, continuing to sell goods with impunity and making it increasingly difficult for the high street to survive. There must please be more support for those businesses. We have also heard about the excluded, and we cannot ignore them. It is important that we do whatever we can, even at this stage, to help them.

I welcome the Government’s stance on keeping schools open. That is a necessity for our children and their parents, many of whom need to go back to work, but I implore the Government to maximise testing in schools and roll out vaccinations for teachers at the earliest opportunity.

Notwithstanding the grim nature of 2020, we have much to look forward to, and we must keep the faith. Last week, I visited the fantastic Bracknell vaccination centre, run by the East Berkshire clinical commissioning group, and what I saw there was simply amazing. I saw people in their 80s and 90s who had left home for the first time. I want to share with my hon. Friend the Member for Peterborough (Paul Bristow) the hope that I saw, which was quite staggering. What I saw there was magnificent, and I commend everyone in the NHS, key workers and other key staff across the UK for what they are doing. We will get through this.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

I call the last Back-Bench speaker, Richard Holden.

Covid-19

James Sunderland Excerpts

Monday 14th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[James Sunderland (Bracknell) (Con)]

Thank you very much for calling me, Madam Deputy Speaker. As the final Back-Bench speaker this evening with no votes on a one-line Whip, we could call this the graveyard shift, but I am grateful to be called.

Government policy in 2020 has been to strike a balance between conflicting priorities, and I publicly commend the Government for what they have done. For any journalists who may be watching, we are damned if we do and damned if we don’t, but I recognise resilience, pragmatism and unwavering dedication, having done a few tough jobs myself, so it is a big tick for the Government from me.

The macro imperative this year has been to keep people safe in line with public health advice, and that is entirely right, but I want to sound a few notes of warning. First, the Government’s support during the pandemic, notwithstanding the 3 million excluded—I am still concerned about them—has been excellent, with more than 1.5 million new claims of universal credit, 9.6 million jobs furloughed under the job retention scheme and claims totalling £41.4 billion. The massively generous coronavirus large business interruption loan scheme has provided 78,000 loans worth £18.4 billion, and we have also had £300 billion or thereabouts from the Treasury to support the country at this difficult time. It has got to come back. The important thing is that we as individuals need to learn to live alongside the virus and not hide from it, so we have got work to do to get back to normal, putting the money back into the Treasury and carrying on next year alongside the virus.

Christmas is welcome for all of us, and the Government’s relaxation of rules over the festive period, which I welcome, does show how they understand how important it is to the mental health of the nation and how far we have come in a short period of time. Welcome steps have been taken with the launch of visitor testing, visits regardless of tier and indoor visits to care homes—the list goes on. I am grateful for what has been done, but these enhanced freedoms are effectively a gift; the risk of a third wave or further lockdown in the new year cannot be the price that we pay for losing our resolve and will over Christmas.

This morning I visited the Lexicon shopping centre in Bracknell. It is a fantastic example of what can be achieved—a £240 million regeneration project, supporting the “Christmas Wishes” campaign. The Lexicon is doing everything possible to attract shoppers into its fantastic set-up. I was struck by how vibrant and busy it was today; the car park was full and people were also parked on the high street. The important thing is that it was safe. People were wearing masks. Excellent measures were in place in shops and there was clear distancing down the aisles. I am really grateful to Bracknell Forest Council for everything that it has done to ensure that supporting our high street can be done safely. Given the very low rates in my constituency over the last few months, it would be easy to complain that Bracknell is being put into tier 2 rather than tier 1, but by the same token we have to be pragmatic, because the rate next door in Slough and Reading is much higher. Of course, our own rate in Bracknell is rising too, so there is no time at all for complacency.

I want quickly to plug Brants Bridge, which is a medical facility in my constituency. I really welcome that the Government are setting up a new covid-19 Lighthouse laboratory at the walk-in urgent care centre at Brants Bridge—one of two in the country. It is expected to process 40,000 tests a day at full capacity, from drive-in centres and home tests across the south-east. It is part of Britain’s largest ever network of diagnostic testing facilities, and will create 300 new jobs for local people: 170 in logistics, 100 scientists, and 30 supervisors and managers. It should be open in January, running 24/7 and hoping to reach full capacity by February. It is a result of a collaboration between the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, the Royal Surrey County Hospital, and Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust—a fantastic example of what can be achieved. I also thank the East Berkshire Clinical Commissioning Group.

The vaccine really gives us hope. It is being rolled out in Finchampstead in my constituency from tomorrow, with a capacity of more than 500 per day, and more broadly in Bracknell from next Monday. It is really exciting for the Bracknell constituency and beyond. Bracknell is pretty well served by hospitals. We have three hospitals on our doorstep, Wexham Park, Royal Berkshire and Frimley Park, all of which are serving my constituents brilliantly. I thank everyone working in the NHS and all key workers.

As I wrap up, I want to thank the people of Bracknell, Crowthorne, Finchampstead, Sandhurst and Wokingham Without for their pragmatism, social responsibility, patience and community spirit. We do not say thank you enough in this place. Without being glib, I am proud of what has been achieved locally, and I am grateful; merry Christmas to you all.

Covid-19

James Sunderland Excerpts

Wednesday 11th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[James Sunderland (Bracknell) (Con)]

Broadly speaking, I recognise the hard truth that lockdown 2 was necessary to keep our NHS and emergency services from being overrun. Although I would have wanted to see the tier system endure a bit longer, I recognise that it took strong leadership from the Government to make the strong calls that they have done, and I commend them for that. It is also hugely welcome to hear the news of the vaccine developments, and I recognise the huge human cost that has been spoken about a great deal this evening.

I want to focus if I may on the economy. We are now past the point of no return with regard to the economy. If we choose to go back to the tiered system, it cannot come soon enough, given the lives and livelihoods put at risk by the restrictions. We need to see the UK open for business. Yes, we must take the virus seriously, but we cannot let it prevent us from living our lives. Therefore, if a new normal is necessary, we need to learn to live alongside the virus, not to hide from it.

There are certain areas that the Government would wish to focus on right now and it is really important that we do that. First of all, aviation is a particular concern to me. It concerns 330,000 jobs worth more than £28 billion. It is a desperate position for aviation.

The leisure industry has also been hit harder than most. Despite reports of very low infection rates at fitness centres and outdoor sports providers, not to mention the ever-growing body of evidence of mental health benefits, they are yet to be recognised as part of the solution rather than part of the problem. We have 600,000 signatures on a petition against gym closures, and I urge the Government to please look very closely at that.

Turning now to entertainment, although it is great to see elite sport back on TV, we cannot forget those grassroots sports providers—league 1 and league 2 clubs for example—and also the Football Association redundancies, plus the whole raft of sports all across the UK. Exhibitions employ 600,000 people. The UK currently exports £2 billion-worth of exhibition services every year. We are a top 10 global exporter, so we must put that right as soon as we can.

Lastly, I have a few words to say on my constituency of Bracknell, if I may. These points have come directly from my constituents via correspondence over the last couple of weeks. First, the infringement of civil liberties needs to be balanced against the need to restrict the spread of the virus, so I urge the Government please to perhaps look at that balance more carefully. Some 100,000 people currently make up the cancer backlog, and we must do some work there as well. On flu jabs, I believe there is a shortage of flu jabs. People are asking locally about getting flu jabs at local pharmacies and surgeries, and I again urge the Government to look at that. Finally, I would like to see a permanent Test and Trace site in Berkshire.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

The thing is that if everybody took two minutes, instead of three minutes, everybody would get in. I am not going to reduce the time limit officially, but if colleagues want to be considerate to each other, that would be my advice.

Covid-19 Update

James Sunderland Excerpts

Tuesday 10th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

Yes, of course I will. It is an incredibly important subject. It underlines the fact that by controlling the virus and taking action to suppress it, we allow the other activity that the NHS needs to do, which is very important for the precise reasons that the hon. Lady sets out. I would be very happy to meet her and her constituent, listen directly to her experience and see what we can do to help.

[James Sunderland (Bracknell) (Con)]

Lockdown 2 has been very divisive across the UK, not least in Bracknell. Are there any circumstances in which my right hon. Friend might consider early easing of restrictions, perhaps in low-infection areas?

[Matt Hancock]

We always keep the data under review and we are always looking at what we can do. Our goal is to get out of this lockdown into the tiered system and we are focused on that and on getting the numbers down. Even in Bracknell, where for so long the rate of infection was incredibly low, we have seen an increase in that rate of infection and it is important to get it under control in Bracknell, as it is elsewhere in the country.

Coronavirus

James Sunderland Excerpts

Tuesday 15th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

No; in fact, it is incumbent on us all to take a responsible approach and tell our constituents that tests are available in large numbers, that the average distance travelled is 5.8 miles and that people should take this seriously and not game the system.

[James Sunderland (Bracknell) (Con)]

I am grateful to the Government for all that they are doing to fight covid-19 and keep the population safe. May I ask my right hon. Friend if there is a formal trigger for easing the rule of six and measures like it?

[Matt Hancock]

My hon. Friend makes an important point, and it comes to the point that was previously made about Christmas. Of course, we will keep the rule of six in place only for as long as is absolutely necessary for health reasons. The vaccines and treatments that I spoke about and the mass testing regime are all important in trying to find a way through this virus with a minimal impact on the economy, education and people’s social lives. There is not a formal rate at which we will make that review; we keep everything under control, and I have no doubt that we will constantly debate the matter in this House in order to ensure that we come to the right decision.

Covid-19 Update

James Sunderland Excerpts

Thursday 10th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

It is a real pleasure to be commended on my enthusiasm for technology—normally comments about my enthusiasm are followed by a large “but”. In this case, I totally agree about the importance and use of technology, and that will be coming to English pockets very soon.

[James Sunderland (Bracknell) (Con)]

It is inevitable that, with the return of our schools this week, we have seen increased demand for testing across the country, not least in my own patch of Bracknell. In true military fashion, may I ask what scope there is for flexing or surging resources at short notice. Indeed, how do we ask for it?

[Matt Hancock]

My hon. Friend is a former military logistics expert, and in my experience—especially my recent experience during this crisis—there are no greater logistics experts in the world than those in the British military. He knows of what he speaks. We are surging, but doing so particularly in the areas where the case rate is higher, and thankfully in his part of the world the number of cases remains relatively low.

Coronavirus Update

James Sunderland Excerpts

Tuesday 14th July 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

Lisa, we cannot hear you. We will come back to you at the end. We will try to sort out the technical problem.

[James Sunderland (Bracknell) (Con)]

Will the Secretary of State please outline what is being done to enhance procurement resilience within the NHS? Also, what is being done to ensure that British companies get orders for PPE, not just China?

[Matt Hancock]

I am absolutely determined to see that happen. Many British companies have stepped up to the plate to deliver PPE, and a very significant proportion of our PPE will be manufactured in the UK by the end of the year. It is a very important part of our global resilience.

Coronavirus

James Sunderland Excerpts

Tuesday 7th July 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

That is true. The actions we have put in place mean that we can open hospitality such as pubs, and doing that safely means that we have been able to open more hospitality than we would otherwise have done. I, too, went for a haircut and a pint on Saturday morning—[Laughter.] The haircut was on Saturday morning; the pint was early in the afternoon. I am glad to say that my name and phone number were taken when I turned up at the pub. I have not been back to Suffolk since February. That is one of the things I have missed most about this whole crisis. I am going on Friday and I will go to the pub there. No doubt they too will take my number.

[James Sunderland (Bracknell) (Con)]

We have heard much in recent weeks about the risks of a second wave. Will the Minister please outline the current science on that and outline when we might be most at risk?

[Matt Hancock]

The policies we have put in place with the local action are precisely targeted to reduce the risk of a second wave nationally. Nevertheless, as we turn to winter and the weather gets colder, there are signs of some seasonality in this virus, meaning that we will have to be much more careful, both because of the potential impact on how easily the virus transmits and because of changes in behaviour—we know that outdoors is safer and it is just harder to be outdoors in winter. So we must remain vigilant as a country.

Covid-19 Update

James Sunderland Excerpts

Monday 29th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

That data is available to directors of public health in local councils who have signed a data protection record. I am committing to the House to publish it at as local a level as possible, so that everybody will be able to see and analyse that data.

[James Sunderland (Bracknell) (Con)]

It was right to ease lockdown, as we must get the economy breathing again, but it is also dispiriting to see packed beaches, passengers without face masks on public transport and other mass gatherings. Given that the Government will no doubt get blamed for any second spikes, how serious is the Secretary of State about imposing similar measures more widely beyond Leicester?

[Matt Hancock]

People will have seen from the action we have taken today and announced tonight that although I do not want to take that sort of local action, we are perfectly prepared to take it if that is what is needed to control the virus. Throughout the lifting of the lockdown measures, our plan has been to lift the national measures and have a more targeted approach, whether that is at an individual case, whereby NHS test and trace contacts all those who have been in contact with the person who has tested positive, or whether at a cluster in one setting, for example, in the factory in Kirklees that was mentioned, which was addressed at that level, or at a wider outbreak, as demonstrated by tonight’s action.