Oral Answers to Questions

Naz Shah Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd April 2020 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

This has been raised already in this House, and it is critically important. I totally agree with my hon. Friend on the imminent need for getting the PPE to the places that need it most. Since the start of the outbreak, we have delivered 1 billion items of personal protective equipment, and we have ensured that we have distributed it via the devolved Administrations so that all four nations get the equipment they need. We are also working through the local resilience forums, with our local authorities and with the support of the military, to ensure that everyone who needs it, whether it is NHS key workers on the frontline or care home workers, is getting the PPE they need. With the help of my noble friend Lord Deighton, who ran the Olympics, we are going to ramp up even further our capacity not just to procure and produce PPE but to get it to where it is needed most.

[Naz Shah (Bradford West) (Lab)]

At a time of national crisis, it is critical that the Government keep their word. Local councils are ensuring that communities get the support they need. I know this from the work that has taken place in Bradford: they are the government on the frontline. Will the right hon. Gentleman confirm that the Government will meet their promise to fund whatever is necessary and fully compensate local councils for all the costs and loss of income related to the covid-19 crisis, and not just provide the funding already announced, which only partially covers what the councils have already spent?

[Dominic Raab]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right, and I pay tribute to the councils up and down the country who, whether it is through social care or the services that they need to provide to their residents, are doing an incredible job. I can reassure her that we have already announced an additional £1.6 billion of funding just this weekend to support councils delivering those essential services on the frontline.