Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish (a) advice and (b) guidance provided by the (i) Chief Medical Officer and (ii) Public Health England on the ban on communal worship during the November 2020 covid-19 national lockdown.

Public Health England had not been requested to research and publish detailed specific data on the numbers of COVID-19 cases related to place of worship and allied settings on outbreak investigation. This is now being performed.

Throughout the pandemic, the Government has listened carefully to the views of the scientific community, the information from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies and its sub-groups when taking decisions on the best way to tackle the pandemic.

It is known that confined spaces, multiple households, limited ventilation, and people raising their voices are all known to be risk factors when spreading COVID-19.