Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Leicester) Regulations 2020

Lord Bethell Excerpts

Wednesday 29th July 2020 Lords Chamber

Moved by

[Lord Bethell]

That the Regulations laid before the House on 3 July be approved.

Relevant document: 22nd Report from the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care (Lord Bethell) (Con)]

My Lords, these regulations were made on 3 July and came into effect the following day. On 16 July, my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care made a Statement in the House of Commons saying that the latest epidemiological data allowed for a relaxation of some of the measures in the protected area of Leicester. As of Saturday 18 July, local restrictions were lifted in other parts of the county that were initially in the protected area, namely Charnwood and Blaby. As of 24 July, a further amendment to the regulations meant that non-essential retail, out-of-school childcare and education establishments were allowed to reopen in Leicester. Bars, restaurants and hairdressers remain closed until at least the next review, which will be on 30 July.

The concern about the outbreak in Leicester has been significant, which is why we took it so seriously. Engagement has been extensive, repeated and productive, and is, I am pleased to say, yielding results. I would like to say a profound thank you to the local authorities and the local resilience forum, to national organisations including Public Health England and the Joint Biosecurity Centre, and to the local directors of public health, Ivan Browne of Leicester City and Mike Sandys of Leicestershire County Council.

The decision to act was not driven by any one number. It was a judgment about the overall situation. But when we imposed the local lockdown, one number did stand out: the seven-day infection rate. In Leicester, it was 135 cases per 100,000 people, which was at the time three times higher than the next highest area. On the clinical front, admissions to hospital were between six and 10 per day in Leicester, rather than one or two, as in other trusts. Action had already taken place to protect people in Leicester, including increases in testing and public health capacity. We hoped that these interventions and the work of local public health teams would get the infection rate down. However, by the end of June it was clear that the high rate of infection was continuing.

The cross-government Covid-19 operations committee, chaired by the Prime Minister, decided on 29 June to take further measures. The Secretary of State set out these measures in his Statement. Most of the measures taken did not require legislation. We increased testing capacity further, with eight mobile testing units deployed across the city and three local test sites. We also gave additional funding to the upper tier local authorities: Leicester City Council received about £2.5 million and Leicestershire County Council received approximately £2.3 million. This enabled them to enhance communications, including using locally relevant languages and channels such as community leaders and volunteers. We recommended against all but essential travel to and from Leicester. Shielding measures could not be relaxed, as they were in the rest of the country the following week. Schools in Leicester were closed, except to vulnerable children and children of critical workers.

Data is critical to the response, and gigabytes of data have been provided to directors of public health and local authorities to inform their local action plans. From 11 June, NHS Digital made available to directors of public health an operational data dashboard, including counts of local tests, local total positives and local total voids per local authority. Leicester had access to the dashboard from 19 June. The PHE field team provided support and analysis for the directors of public health prior to them gaining access to the dashboard. Local-level test-positive data, including postcodes, was provided to Leicester on 25 June, once it had signed a data-sharing agreement. As of 20 July, PHE has provided to directors of public health access to fully identifiable data via a secure platform to enable them more flexible access to positive-test case and contact-tracing data to support their outbreak management responsibilities. Data is currently updated daily.

Every day there are dozens of conversations between directors of public health, local authorities, the JBC and PHE. Data and analysis are shared on secure platforms and according to privacy laws. However, I remind noble Lords that data on its own does not beat the virus; local action beats the virus, and I commend the unsung local heroes—the infection-control professionals—who deal with many outbreaks and break the chain of transmission by implementing effective Covid action plans every day of the week.

Given the urgency of the situation in Leicester, we used the emergency procedure to make the present set of regulations as soon as we could. They require the closure of non-essential retail, limited overnight stays and restricted gatherings, and they enable households containing only one adult or one adult and one or more people under the age of 18 to link with one other household.

Regulation 2 requires the Secretary of State to continue to review the need for the restrictions. The first review was on 16 July; the next one will be on 30 July. Regulations 8 to 11 set out how the provisions will be enforced. We also published guidance in the relevant languages for people living in Leicester.

Since these measures were introduced, it is clear that our co-ordinated local and national effort, particularly by the people of Leicester, is working. The number of positive cases is down by 54%, with the seven-day total per 100,000 of population reducing from 140 to 64.

We always knew that the path out of the lockdown would be a marathon, not a sprint. The Leicester lockdown has demonstrated our willingness and ability to take action where we need to. We will learn from the experience of the lockdown in Leicester to develop our responses to further outbreaks. As I said earlier, one review of the regulations has been completed and another is due by 30 July.

I am grateful to all Members for their continued engagement in this challenging process. I profoundly thank the people of Leicestershire, who have responded so well to the measures in place. It is thanks to their continued efforts that we were able to reopen non-essential retail and childcare and education centres. I commend the regulations to the House.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Bethell]

My Lords, I shall try to answer as many questions as I can. There are more than 30 of them, however, and I therefore hope that noble Lords will forgive me if I am brief.

In answer to the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, we have shared data when we have had data, but I cannot hide from this Chamber that when we started this process, we did not have data. Now that we do, we are sharing it.

I commend the noble Lord, Lord Scriven, for his well-remembered comments on the emergency powers for councils. We have done exactly that when it was needed and when they were asked for.

In answer to my noble friend Lord Ribeiro, we have put in place a system of co-ordination with local authorities that is proving effective. It is largely endorsed by those local authorities.

In answer to the noble Baroness, Lady Young, workplace and ethnic data is shared when we have it. Many do not wish to share their ethnic and workplace data, and we would prefer people to step forward to have a test. But I completely agree that local authorities do not have large contact-tracing outfits; that is why we have a centralised system.

I completely share in the comments of the noble Baroness, Lady Jolly, on the responsibility of employers. I pay tribute to the great many employers who have followed guidelines. I condemn those who break them and call on all employers to consider enhancing measures to break the chain of transmission.

I bow to the greater expertise of my noble and learned friend Lord Garnier in the area of Leicester.

May I please confirm to the noble Lord, Lord Harris, that, as I have said before, we are not phasing out self-testing? It is accurate—as accurate as laboratory testing—and very popular, particularly among those who prefer to avoid hospital, such as those who are still shielding.

I confirm to the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, that the boundaries are drawn up by directors of public health, mayors, county councils and the boroughs.

I confirm to the noble Baroness, Lady Verma, that local intelligence collection is essential. I commend the work of Ivan Browne, whose local intelligence is profound and invaluable. I agree that it has a huge amount of value to add to centralised data.

In reply to the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, the decision on Spanish travel shows how quickly things have changed and why we need to approach regulations as we do.

I say to the noble Lord, Lord Campbell-Savours, that I recognise the progress made in Leicester. I completely reject the suggestion that party politics has taken a role in these decisions. The decision on the future of the Leicester lockdown will take place on 30 July.

I reassure the noble Baroness, Lady Barker, that we maintain a rolling watchlist of areas and that support is offered to those areas. That has been done in the past, it is happening today and it will continue in the future.

I reassure my noble friend Lord Holmes that local and accessible materials have been made available. I completely understand the importance of getting this right.

My noble friend Lord Robathan is correct that Covid shines a spotlight on uncomfortable places in our society. The use of exploited labour in sweatshops has contributed to this disease. It is not good enough and it needs to stop.

In answer to the noble Lord, Lord Addington, one major lesson from Leicester is that we have to redouble our efforts to communicate our messages to hard-to-reach communities, which have not always heard our messages on social distancing, hygiene and isolation. We are focused on that mission.

On the second wave, I say to the noble Lord, Lord Truscott, that we are hopeful but cautious. That is why we are investing in diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines.

I reassure the noble Lord, Lord Willis, that data is shared as he describes and that we are investing heavily in serology testing.

I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Uddin, who has championed the use of all languages in local situations. It is a lesson that we have taken to heart and we are redoubling our efforts in this area.

The noble Lord, Lord Liddle, is right that trust between local and central government is key. Dozens of bilaterals happen every day, but life is not simple and complex collaboration is essential to fighting this disease.

I remind the noble Baroness, Lady Benjamin, and all those who have clear 20/20 rear vision that we have done a huge amount to prepare areas on our watchlist. However, outbreaks happen extremely quickly and are extremely difficult to predict.

In reply to the noble Lord, Lord Clark, the travel patterns of the population are complex, exactly as he describes. It is a challenge that defies simple solutions and analysis of travel patterns is an important part of our response.

The noble Lord, Lord Rennard, is quite right to emphasise the links between obesity, diabetes and the worst effects of Covid. I share his hopes for our obesity strategy and can confirm that corporate influence will not be brought to bear.

Regarding care home discharge, may I reassure the noble Baroness, Lady Barker, that all patients are required to be tested prior to discharge? No care home should be forced to admit an existing or new resident if they are unable to cope with the impact of that person having Covid-19.

To the noble Lord, Lord Bhatia, and the noble Baroness, Lady Uddin, who asked about the impact on business: we have introduced a generous and wide-ranging package of support to help as many people as possible whose incomes are affected. The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme remains open, and over 9 million jobs have been supported nationally.

To the noble Baroness, Lady Massey: Blackburn with Darwen has taken a number of proactive measures; we are working the authority and will look at further measures if necessary. Case rates in Blackburn with Darwen have decreased slightly, but we are monitoring them very closely.

To the noble Lord, Lord Roberts of Llandudno: the economic and clinical effects of the disease are both horrible, as he described. To reassure him, however, we are working hard to get the balance right, and addressing those who are underprivileged is an important part of that.

The noble Baroness, Lady Gardner, is right to remind us of the challenge of the second wave by example of Melbourne, and she is right to remind us of the importance of having a really good holiday.

I say to the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, that I completely recognise and sympathise with the concerns of the vulnerable and the clinically extremely vulnerable. I remind her that the clinically extremely vulnerable are able to access, where they are eligible, statutory sick pay, self-employment income and income support packages, and they are benefiting from the injection of a further £8 billion into the welfare system.

On communications, the information given to those shielding has been clear and consistent. Decisions have been guided by the latest scientific advice, which has evolved as we have learned more about the virus, and we have worked closely with patient groups and charities throughout the process to ensure that our communications are correct.

Turning to the metrics for Leicester, I can tell the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, that our lodestar is to break the chain of transmission, and we will do whatever it takes to fulfil that commitment. As for guidance or legality, we lean in all matters towards guidance and try to avoid mandating wherever possible.

In Oldham, we are working hard to reach those communities termed “hard to reach”. Resources have been allocated generously to Oldham, and more will be made available when they are needed.

Motion agreed.