Vaccine Roll-out

Debate between Matt Hancock and James Daly

Thursday 21st January 2021 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

Order. Before I call James Daly, I just want to say that I want to try to get everybody in, so we probably need to speed up a little bit.

[James Daly (Bury North) (Con) [V]]

Will my right hon. Friend join me in thanking Bury Council, our local CCG, NHS staff, medical practitioners and all those involved in the vaccine roll-out in Bury, Ramsbottom and Tottington? Approximately 19,000 vaccinations will have been given by the end of this week across the borough of Bury, and we are confident that all frontline workers and care home residents will be offered the vaccine by Sunday. It has been and continues to be a magnificent effort.

[Matt Hancock]

That is absolutely fantastic to hear. Across Greater Manchester as a whole, 187,947 vaccines have been done. It has been a huge effort, and I am very grateful for my hon. Friend’s support.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Matt Hancock and James Daly

Programme motion
Monday 19th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

It is very important that people come forward for testing. As the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster said yesterday, of course, the vast majority of people not only come forward for a test, and want to come forward for a test, when they have symptoms, but want the isolation arrangements to be enforced fairly so that everybody isolates when they need to. That is the reason that we have taken the approach that we have, which I set out to the House several weeks ago.

[James Daly (Bury North) (Con)]

Since the beginning of the pandemic, there has been no recorded covid-19 outbreak in public houses in my constituency. Taking into account low national rates of transmission in pubs, when my right hon. Friend is in negotiations with colleagues from Greater Manchester, will he think very carefully before closing these covid-secure environments, which have spent thousands to ensure that they are secure, and cease introducing extra restrictions that will make trading an impossibility?

[Matt Hancock]

Nobody has stood up for the pubs and hospitality businesses in Bury more than my hon. Friend, and he makes an important argument about outbreaks. We also have to look at the backward contact tracing data, and at where measures to bring the virus under control have worked. I will happily have a further discussion with him to try to make sure that we can get the right set of measures and the right balance.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Matt Hancock and James Daly

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.