Covid-19

Richard Holden Excerpts

Tuesday 25th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[Nadhim Zahawi]

I just remind the hon. Member that, at this Dispatch Box, the Prime Minister announced a full inquiry that will take place in the spring of 2022, where we can learn all the lessons of the covid pandemic and the Government’s response to it. Suffice to say that all contracting is published in the appropriate way, and civil servants follow the exact rules around contracting.

[Mr Richard Holden (North West Durham) (Con)]

Fifty-seven thousand people in North West Durham have had their first jab and 34,000 the second, so we are doing really well and progressing excellently. I have my first jab this Saturday. I say to my hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich (Tom Hunt) that he is 32, so he can also get his jab now. Anybody else in my constituency or across the country can book now through the app. There are concerns, though, about the vaccine. Can the Minister ensure that all the possible issues and side effects are constantly monitored and published so that people can make informed positive choices to get the vaccine, especially in the younger age groups, to ensure that everyone is protected as much as possible, especially from the new variants?

[Nadhim Zahawi]

I can certainly give my hon. Friend that assurance. We have an independent regulator here in the MHRA and, of course, Public Health England, and we have a yellow card system where adverse incidents are recorded—they can be reported directly by a GP, a clinician or the person themselves. All that data is published and people can access it on their MHRA website, or google it and see it. An incredible part of the success story of the vaccination programme is that sharing of data, which has led to the highest level of vaccine acceptance among adults in the world. The figures suggest that about 90% of all adults say that they will take the vaccine, or are very likely to take the vaccine.

Coronavirus

Richard Holden Excerpts

Thursday 25th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

This data has been collated recently; it is in the so-called SIREN study from Public Health England. I am very happy to look into exactly the data that my hon. Friends are looking for and, if we have it, to publish it. I think we have what has been asked for, but let us try to do this by correspondence to ensure that we get exactly what is being looked for. On the face of it, my hon. Friend is absolutely right; it is exactly the sort of thing that we are looking at, but I want to make sure that we get the details right.

As I was just saying, each step of the road map is guided by the data and the progress against the four tests. We were able to take the first step on 8 March, when we allowed the return of face-to-face education in schools, relaxed the rules on two people gathering outside for recreation and allowed care home residents to nominate a single regular visitor, supported by regular testing and personal protective equipment.

The regulations before the House today ease restrictions further—again, in a careful and controlled way. First, they allow us to put in place the remaining measures of step 1, which will come into force on Monday. That means that the “stay at home” rule will end and six people or two households will be able to meet outdoors, and outdoor sports can resume. The regulations also commit the remaining steps of our road map into law, so that we can gradually ease restrictions at the right time before eventually removing them all together, which we hope to be able to do on 21 June.

[Mr Richard Holden (North West Durham) (Con)]

My constituents have been in touch to raise concerns about these measures being in place for longer than absolutely necessary, but they have also been raising concerns about long covid. Will the Secretary of State respond to my constituents on both issues, and explain to the House what he and his Department are looking into to better understand the effects of long covid on the population?

Oral Answers to Questions

Richard Holden Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd February 2021 Commons Chamber

[Ms Dorries]

Work is under way; Health Education England is looking at proposals, particularly for the training of mental health workers. I wish to highlight one area where we can see that happening rapidly: in the mental health support teams that are going into schools. People are coming out of universities with their degree and going through a year’s training so that we can get them into schools faster to work with children and young people. The hon. Lady is right; the mental health workforce is at the heart of these reforms. I assure her that we have seen an increase in the number of people applying to be mental health nurses—and nurses across the healthcare estate—and that will have a knock-on effect on the number of people we have working on the wards with people who have severe mental illness.

[Mr Richard Holden (North West Durham) (Con)]

What progress has been made on the covid-19 vaccination programme.

[The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Matt Hancock)]

I am delighted that on 14 February we hit our target of vaccinating 15 million people across the UK and now more than 17.7 million people—one in three adults in the country—have been vaccinated. The NHS is delivering more than 250 vaccinations every minute, on average, and we are vaccinating at a greater weekly rate than anywhere else in Europe.

[Mr Holden]

The Government’s vaccine programme, procurement and roll-out has been described as “world-beating”. Those are not my words, but those of the Public Accounts Committee, which has Scottish National party, Labour and Lib Dem Members on it. Will the Secretary of State just clarify the link between the vaccine programme and the road map, because it is the return to normality, as far as is possible, that we want to see as soon as possible?

[Matt Hancock]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to make this link, because not only are the vaccines important to keep each individual safe—we saw wonderful data yesterday about how effective they are at reducing hospitalisations and deaths—but the vaccination programme is crucial to the road map out of this pandemic. It is only because of the success of the vaccine programme that we are able to set out the road map in this way. The vaccine is good for the individual, but it is also good for all of us, because by taking a vaccine people are helping to protect themselves and helping all of us to get out of this pandemic situation.

Covid Security at UK Borders

Richard Holden Excerpts

Monday 1st February 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Richard Holden (North West Durham) (Con)]

Everyone in this House, I hope, is clear that we have one common aim: to get the virus under control, and in doing so get back to normal as quickly as possible and save as many lives as we can. For every quarter of a million vaccinations, about 1,000 lives are saved. Every day sooner that we get the economy back open saves us about £1 billion, and crucially jobs and businesses will be saved up and down the country.

We achieve that by doing two things. First, we must vaccinate the people—the most vulnerable first—and drive down the number of deaths and hospitalisations. Secondly, we must control the movement of people and stop the virus spreading. We have done a huge amount in the UK to limit the spread, and I know that many people are very frustrated by some of the restrictions, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. We also have to control the spread from elsewhere. I welcome the measures to ensure that those from red flag countries stay in hotels, but in truth they are just building on what is already in place. For many months, anyone from any country has had to quarantine. Now, given the new variants, it seems sensible that those from the most at-risk countries need to quarantine in hotels.

What irks me is the way the Opposition are behaving. The Leader of the Opposition, when in the shadow Cabinet of the right hon. Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn), said at the Dispatch Box:

“Why would we want to be outside the European Medicines Agency”?—[Official Report, 31 January 2017; Vol. 620, c. 827.]

It was a rhetorical question from a learned Member used to rhetoric in the courtroom. Why indeed? Last year, the shadow Europe Minister, the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Catherine West), suggested that opting out of the European vaccine system would be akin to acting like “dumb and dumber”. The Leader of the Opposition posed too clever by half, seemingly unanswerable questions, but now we have a clear answer. Out there in the country they can see why. Britain avoided a bumbling, bureaucratic living nightmare of an EU scheme. Britain’s vaccination rates are four or five times the EU average. Now the Leader of the Opposition pretends he never wanted to be in any EU vaccine scheme, but the public will decide on the facts.

Today, the shadow Home Secretary comes here to attack the Government, yet he said in a Labour press release on 7 June last year that we must have a

“more targeted approach that allows the blunt tool of 14-day quarantine to be lifted”.

Today, Labour Members have tried to say that it is not hard enough, and that that has always been their position. It is like Labour is trying to conduct a thought experiment with the British people. Schrödinger’s cat has become Starmer’s policy. The British people deserve straight answers at a time of national crisis. That is what they are getting from the Government, and it is a shame that Her Majesty’s Opposition keep flip-flopping all over the place.

Vaccine Roll-out

Richard Holden Excerpts

Thursday 21st January 2021 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

We have put more money into the international effort to ensure that everybody around the world can be vaccinated than any other country. That is not just more as a proportion of our GDP; it is more cash that has gone into these international efforts across the UK. We can do that because of the strength of our international commitment as a country, so I am very pleased that we have been able to do that. Turning that money into vaccinations is important and a huge amount of work is being done by COVAX to make that happen. The UK can be proud of the work that we have done to support access for the most vulnerable, both in terms of the cash that we have put in and because it is UK research, backed by the UK Government, that has led to the Oxford vaccine, which is one of the two most appropriate for use in the developing world.

[Mr Richard Holden (North West Durham) (Con)]

There has been some great vaccine stuff happening in North West Durham, with 98% of the care homes done and the housebound having been started from last week. I thank the people working in the Crook and Tanfield View vaccine centres locally. I have heard that the pharmacy down in Bishop Auckland that is helping some of my constituents has just got the vaccine. However, I have a big rural area, with some people more than 10 miles from a vaccine centre, so will the Secretary of State let us know when those small hubs are going to be started and when the smaller community pharmacies in my constituency will get the vaccine to help to ensure that everybody across the country gets it as quickly as possible?

[Matt Hancock]

My hon. Friend is quite right to praise the teams across the north-east who have been doing an unbelievable job. The vaccination of 98% of residents in his area is something we should all celebrate. Making sure that everybody is within 10 miles of a vaccination centre is important. In the very rural areas that may include being 10 miles from a mobile site, because we will send in mobile sites to the most rural areas. Crucially, by 15 February everybody will have the offer of a vaccine. Sometimes they may get two offers. One might be to travel, for instance to go to Newcastle where there is a vaccination centre, but if they get that invitation they can still wait to have the more local offer of a jab from their primary care network. There are different ways to make it happen, but he is absolutely right on the importance of getting the vaccine available for all.

Covid-19

Richard Holden Excerpts

Tuesday 12th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Richard Holden (North West Durham) (Con)]

Covid has hammered the towns and villages of North West Durham, in terms of deaths—so many people have gone too soon—and of life-changing issues such as permanent lung scarring. Additionally, the measures necessary to control the virus have had a huge impact locally—on local businesses, which are really suffering, on local job losses and on the broader local economy. That has particularly been the case in our hospitality sector, our local gyms and our personal care sector. It is estimated that across the country these restrictions are costing the UK about £1 billion a day.

As the Minister knows, vaccines are our way out, and one in every 250 or so people vaccinated is a life saved; that means that for around 250,000 vaccines a day going out, we are saving 1,000 lives a day. The Public Accounts Committee yesterday questioned the chair of the Vaccine Taskforce, and she made it clear that we were several months ahead of other countries in our roll-out plans.

I hugely praise the efforts of my local NHS in North West Durham. I recently visited Shotley Bridge Hospital and Weardale Community Hospital and have regular calls with our CCG and NHS trust. All the staff are at the moment working on an enormous task and achieving at putting the north-east at the forefront of the vaccine programme. We seem to be getting communities really onside, and people are getting vaccinated. I encourage everybody who is eligible to take that up as quickly as possible.

I quickly want to ask the Minister one thing. It is great news about the dashboard—I have been on it myself today—but when will we see the regional and local breakdowns, because that will help give people even more confidence that the vaccines are coming to them?

Finally, we are all desperate for an end to lockdown and for a return to normality so that our businesses can thrive once more, and I urge the Minister to ensure that the restrictions are lifted at the earliest safe opportunity for our constituents.

--- Later in debate ---

[Jo Churchill]

I refer the hon. Lady to the in-depth answer on exactly that point that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave during Health and Social Care questions this morning, when he said that there is no national shortage of oxygen in the system. He explicitly outlined the challenges and what is being done to mitigate them.

Pharmacists are being brought online, as are many other parts of our system, including all the staff working hard behind the scenes to keep vital services going and to keep people safe. I reiterate that all front-facing health and social care staff in category 2 can access vaccines, including all dentists and their teams; I think nurses and optometrists were the other professions mentioned during the course of the debate.

We are entering a critical period in our fight against this virus. As my hon. Friend the Member for Milton Keynes North (Ben Everitt) said, there are challenging days ahead—we are not there yet. We are dealing with a new, more transmissible variant of this virus that risks overwhelming our NHS, so we had to put in place these tough but vital rules to slow the spread of the virus. I know how hard these rules have been, not only for those we are asking to follow them but for most of us—it goes to our very core. We did not come into politics to stop people doing things.

[Mr Holden]

I re-emphasise the Minister’s point: none of us came into politics to put these rules in place. Can she please ensure that the rules are relaxed as soon as is practically possible and as soon as it is safe for our constituents?

Public Health

Richard Holden Excerpts

Wednesday 30th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Richard Holden (North West Durham) (Con)]

Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker. Like many Members on the Government side of the House, and I am sure on both sides, the last thing I want to do is to be here again insisting on further lockdowns and further measures to restrict the freedom of my constituents. It is certainly not what I came into politics for.

We have had some good news today: the vaccine coming forward looks like it will put us in the final furlong for furloughed Britain, which is a really good place to be, but we are not there yet, so I will reluctantly support these measures today. I know that the Health Minister has been getting it in the neck from both sides of the House, and it is right that we as Back Benchers challenge the Government on the measures they are taking, but I have spoken to my local NHS hospital trust chief executive today and the trust is seeing a massive surge. Durham is going back into tier 4. It has seen a real spike in cases and a real spike in hospitalisations just over the last couple of weeks, after we had been seeing a real reduction in cases in tier 3 over a very prolonged period of time. It is quite clear that there is a real issue, so everything that can be done to get this vaccine out needs to be done. We really need to get it there as quickly as possible.

Like other hon. Members, I support SI No. 1518—the move from the Government on self-isolation from 14 to 10 days. We must do anything that can be done to improve the freedoms of my constituents at the earliest opportunity. I know that the support has been huge from the Government, but this is taxpayers’ money. It has been absolutely massive, with the furlough, self-employed income support and grants to businesses.

Like my hon. Friend the Member for Bracknell (James Sunderland), I want to speak about gyms. I have had a huge number of people in my constituency again getting in touch with me today, really concerned about the impact that this is going to have. I have had gym owners getting in touch because January and February is the time of year when they finally make some money, so any extra support from the Government for them would be particularly welcome. Anything in terms of instruction, via the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, on discretionary grant schemes from councils for gyms would be particularly helpful. If I can make a targeted suggestion that those on the Treasury Bench can pass on to the Treasury, perhaps, when we get through this, we could push out a scheme such as “Work out to help out” or something similar for this sector.

High streets more generally, from beauticians to bookshops, have been particularly hammered. They have not suffered like some of the massive international companies, and it is those guys on the frontlines running small businesses—the hearts and souls of our communities —who have been really affected. Anything more to push support, either discretionary or across the board, would be particularly helpful.

I cannot not mention the hospitality sector. I was particularly struck by what the hon. Member for Hackney South and Shoreditch (Meg Hillier) said. Whether it is on Shoreditch High Street or South Street in Crook in my constituency, or Sherburn Terrace in Consett, or Stanhope town centre, the hospitality sector across the country has been absolutely mullered by this disease, so anything that can be done to help them now will be particularly helpful. I also urge the Front-Bench team to look particularly at on-sale beer duty cuts come the Budget and at whether there is anything such as a further targeted scheme around eat out to help out, when they are able to reopen, to help them to restart again, just to give them the confidence to get going again. That would also be particularly welcome.

As hon. Members across the House have said, keeping schools open is important, but it is also right that we treat teachers as essential workers. If we can get the vaccines out to them, that would be really helpful. So many of my school leaders have been getting in touch with me. I thank the Government for the extra cash for schools and, if necessary, the military support, but we have to get some more support to them to help, because they are really doing everything they can, on the vaccine levels.

Just on the NHS, I had fantastic visits to both Shotley Bridge Community Hospital and Weardale Community Hospital in my constituency in the run-up to Christmas to see some of the staff there on the night shift. It is quite clear, however, that staff are really knackered, so if there is anything that can be done to support our NHS staff, particularly in terms of mental health, that would be particularly helpful.

Finally on the vaccine, and in reference to my hon. Friend the Member for South Cambridgeshire (Anthony Browne)—

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

Order. Sorry, Richard, you have run out of time.

Covid-19 Update

Richard Holden Excerpts

Thursday 17th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

The guidance has been set out by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. I think it is very important that we follow the clinical advice in this prioritisation to make sure that it is fair.

[Mr Richard Holden (North West Durham) (Con)]

I would like to thank the Department of Health and Social Care and the Secretary of State for everything they are doing, but I am sure he will appreciate, like me, just how fed up my local hospitality sector is across County Durham and the north-east. Will he join me in thanking local people for everything they are doing, because case rates have really come down? Will he also thank my local NHS staff? I saw them, when I visited on a night shift a couple of weeks ago, not only giving care to people with covid, but really showing love to them as they look after them. Will he commit to a fortnightly review, and will he ignore the LA7 group of local authorities and allow County Durham and perhaps parts of the north-east to go a separate way if case rates come down in the future? Can he update me and write to me about the vaccine roll-out, and will he also push the Chancellor for extra support for my local hospitality sector?

[Matt Hancock]

Yes, of course; I will write to my hon. Friend as soon as I can on the roll-out of the vaccine across his part of County Durham. Making sure that everybody can get access is so important, hence we are taking this community-led approach as well as using the big hospital sites. The truth is that we do look at County Durham on its own merits, as well of course as a part of the other north-east local authorities. People in County Durham have been acting in a way that gets the case rates down, and I am very grateful to them for doing that. We are not quite there yet and there is still that pressure on the NHS, but we are moving in the right direction.

Covid-19

Richard Holden Excerpts

Wednesday 11th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Richard Holden (North West Durham) (Con)]

I will keep my comments as brief as I can. First, I welcome the excellent news this week on the vaccine. I know that we are not there yet and that “hands, face, space” is still really important, and I echo that to my constituents today. I also thank the Government for the rapid testing in County Durham.

Others have made this argument already, but the three g’s—gyms, God and golf—have filled my inbox, so if there is anything that can be done on that for 2 December or before, I would really appreciate it. My constituents really are looking forward to 2 December, so I hope we do not have to see anything further beyond that.

I had a call last week with care homes in my constituency, so I will rattle through some of the issues that they raised. First, there has been some difficulty accessing flu vaccines for staff in care homes. Obviously, that is a bit of an issue with respect to transmission when they are dealing with older people. Those working in domiciliary care and going out into the community have had trouble getting testing for covid in some cases, so if there is any way that we can, perhaps, move towards weekly testing for those people, that would be brilliant.

The portal is seen as good and improving, but although the quantities have improved over recent weeks, some care homes are still having trouble getting the total quantities that they need, so anything that could be done on that would be really helpful. Finally, if there is any way that the infection control fund could be made more flexible, particularly if it could be allowed to help some care homes create facilities for better visiting, that would be great.

Public Health

Richard Holden Excerpts

Wednesday 7th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Richard Holden (North West Durham) (Con)]

I agree with quite a lot of what the hon. Member for Easington (Grahame Morris) has just said, and also what my hon. Friend the Member for Bishop Auckland (Dehenna Davison) said.

We all understand that localised restrictions are better than national ones, especially when there are particular spikes in local areas, but there are variations within our communities as well. Weardale in my constituency has far fewer cases than much of the rest of my constituency, so it would be great to see some really localised data and some really localised regulations. I understand that the Government have to respond to local authorities and have worked with them, and they have listened to Members when we have raised some issues. I thank the Minister and the Secretary of State for responding to the childcare issue that we raised recently.

More broadly, people in my constituency are concerned about three overarching things. First, the clarity of the schemes—how areas are put into them and how they get out. People really want to know the path forward, because currently that is really worrying people, and particularly local businesses in the hospitality sector.

Secondly, on the 10 pm curfew, my local pubs, clubs and restaurants really benefited from the eat out to help out scheme, but they are now really worried about what we are going to do going forward. We need to understand why the 10 pm curfew is in place—people need to hear what the Government are saying and the evidence behind it.

Thirdly, on test and trace, we have seen a huge increase in testing in the UK, but recently there has been a problem with speed of response, which has led to more concern locally. We really need some answers from the Government on how we are moving forward on that.

I shall conclude quickly, because lots of other Members want to speak. The Government really need to explain and justify the things that are being put forward, as my hon. Friend the Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Dr Mullan) said. Only by doing so will we maintain the consent of the people to impose measures. I agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Bishop Auckland that, with our local businesses facing real local impacts after being locked down once, and now facing restrictions again, they really need the Government to come forward with a clear message and some clear support.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

Order. I want to bring the Minister in at the end for at least five minutes. We can get everybody in if people think about each other. If people take, say, two and a half minutes, we can get everybody in. I am sure Margaret Greenwood will lead the way.