Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance they provide to Government Ministers on wearing face coverings in crowded places with people they do not usually meet every day.
Answered by Lord Kamall
There is no separate guidance for the usage of facemasks worn by Government Ministers.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that Type 1 diabetics who would benefit from insulin pumps and glucose monitoring devices have access to these through the NHS.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends insulin pump therapy as an option for adults and children over the age of 12 years old with type 1 diabetes, provided that multiple-daily insulin therapy has already been tried to address specific problems related to glucose control. It also recommends that insulin pump therapy can be used for children younger than 12 years old with type 1 diabetes, provided specific criteria are met. Clinical commissioning groups are required to fund technologies recommended by NICE in its guidance.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the ending of COVID-19 restrictions in England before other areas of the UK.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The Government’s decision to end all COVID-19 restrictions in England has been informed by a wide range of scientific research and other evidence. The Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies (SAGE) and its sub-groups provide advice which is used in decisions taken by Ministers, alongside economic, social and deliverability considerations. Recent advice from the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling sub-group has included medium term projections of the trajectory of the pandemic, assuming no future policy or behavioural changes and estimates of the extent to which all measures and behaviour change are currently reducing transmission.
Prevalence of COVID-19 in the population remains relatively level and case numbers and hospitalisations are falling. The proportion of infections resulting in hospitalisations is significantly lower than previous waves, with less than one per 100 infections compared to above four per 100 infections during the peak of the Alpha variant. The proportion of hospitalisations requiring the most critical care has remained low throughout the wave of the Omicron variant and has fallen even when infections and hospitalisations increased over the Christmas period. The Omicron variant is less severe and there are now high levels of immunity across the population due to vaccination and natural infection.
The Government works with the devolved administrations on the response to COVID-19. However, public health is a devolved matter and each of the devolved administrations determines its own policy with regard to restrictions. Therefore, no assessment of the impact of the ending of COVID-19 restrictions in England before other areas of the United Kingdom has been made.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what scientific research informed their decision to end all COVID-19 restrictions in England.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The Government’s decision to end all COVID-19 restrictions in England has been informed by a wide range of scientific research and other evidence. The Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies (SAGE) and its sub-groups provide advice which is used in decisions taken by Ministers, alongside economic, social and deliverability considerations. Recent advice from the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling sub-group has included medium term projections of the trajectory of the pandemic, assuming no future policy or behavioural changes and estimates of the extent to which all measures and behaviour change are currently reducing transmission.
Prevalence of COVID-19 in the population remains relatively level and case numbers and hospitalisations are falling. The proportion of infections resulting in hospitalisations is significantly lower than previous waves, with less than one per 100 infections compared to above four per 100 infections during the peak of the Alpha variant. The proportion of hospitalisations requiring the most critical care has remained low throughout the wave of the Omicron variant and has fallen even when infections and hospitalisations increased over the Christmas period. The Omicron variant is less severe and there are now high levels of immunity across the population due to vaccination and natural infection.
The Government works with the devolved administrations on the response to COVID-19. However, public health is a devolved matter and each of the devolved administrations determines its own policy with regard to restrictions. Therefore, no assessment of the impact of the ending of COVID-19 restrictions in England before other areas of the United Kingdom has been made.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which members of the Government benefitted financially either (1) directly, or (2) indirectly, through a benefit to a close friend or family member, from the provision of goods and services in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The information requested is not held by the Department. Regulation 24 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 requires contracting authorities to take appropriate measures to effectively prevent, identify and remedy conflicts of interest arising in the conduct of procurement procedures. The Department has robust rules and processes in place to ensure that conflicts of interest do not occur, including declaration from suppliers, publication of Ministerial interests and robust Departmental guidance.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether an additional £250 million a week has become available for the NHS since the UK's departure from the EU; and if so, whether they will provide a breakdown of how this has been spent.
Answered by Lord Kamall
Detail on overall National Health Service spending will be available in annual reports and accounts for 2020/21 in due course. In September an agreement was reached with Her Majesty’s Treasury to provide a further £15.7 billion to the NHS over three years from April 2022 to March 2025. This funding comes on top of the historic long-term settlement for the NHS, which will see NHS funding increase by £33.9 billion by 2023/24 and was announced prior to the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any evidence which suggests that wearing a face covering reduces the spread of viruses other than COVID-19.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Government has not looked at the effectiveness of face coverings for reducing the spread of viruses other than COVID-19.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what the arrangements are for the COVID-19 pilot scheme in which Cabinet members may avoid self-isolating after being contact traced.
Answered by Lord Bethell
There are currently two pilot schemes on contact testing. The general public daily contact testing clinical study is a randomised control trial trialling at-home testing led by Public Health England. The workplace daily contact testing pilot evaluation scheme is evaluating the operational feasibility of daily contact testing in workplaces. The Cabinet Office is one of the 20 participating workplaces.
The general public daily contact testing study is comparing two approaches to routine testing of contacts. Participants in the ‘self-isolation’ group are given one polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test and must isolate for the full self-isolation period even if they receive a negative test result. Participants in the ‘daily testing’ group are given seven rapid lateral flow tests and can leave self-isolation for 24 hours if the test result is negative and also receive two PCR tests. Only participants in the daily testing group who continue to test negative and do not have symptoms are excused from the legal duty to self-isolate each day. Participants in the daily testing group have a legal duty to tell their employer that they are taking part in the study or if they cease to do so.
For the workplace daily contact testing pilot evaluation scheme, individuals who work at one of the participating workplaces who have been identified as a contact of someone with COVID-19 either in or outside the workplace but not within their own household, can opt to take part in daily contact testing. This involves daily lateral flow tests for each day they attend work for a period of seven days. Participants self-isolate until the first test is taken and if they test positive or they develop symptoms.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why they are introducing a requirement for proof of vaccination in some indoor spaces from September and not immediately; and what assessment they have made about (1) infection levels, and (2) transmissibility, to inform this decision.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Starting this requirement in September allows for all adults in the United Kingdom to be offered vaccination. Infection rates for fully vaccinated in those under 65 years old are three times lower than in the unvaccinated. There is now significant evidence that vaccines are effective at preventing infection and therefore will prevent transmission. There is also further evidence that even if vaccinated individuals become infected there is a reduced risk of transmission to others of approximately 40-45% after one dose.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have been told to isolate through the NHS Track and Trace app only to (1) show no symptoms, and (2) not need hospitalisation.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The NHS COVID-19 app cannot be used to identify users, whether they showed symptoms or were hospitalised.