Wednesday 2nd December 2020

(3 years, 11 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Lord Beamish Portrait Mr Kevan Jones (North Durham) (Lab)
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The Secretary of State talks a lot about partnership at local level. Two weeks ago, his Department contacted the local public health directors and asked them to draw up plans for care home testing. Last week, his Department sent out a letter directly to care homes, bypassing those local directors of public health, to introduce testing in those care homes. Why was the approach changed? How will the data from that testing in local care homes be fed through to local directors of public health to do local tracing?

Matt Hancock Portrait Matt Hancock
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It is very important that tracing happens, and the data, as the right hon. Gentleman knows, is fed through to councils where that data agreement has been put in place. The best approach is for councils and the national system to work well together.