Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the statement of Professor Gabriel Scally on 6 September that the UK Government has 'lost control' of COVID-19.

The Prime Minister announced a set of measures on 23 November 2020 as part of the Government’s COVID-19 winter plan, including the introduction of a tiered approach to be adopted from 2 December 2020 in order to control the virus. This included confirmation that we have ordered over 350 million doses of vaccine for the United Kingdom, Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories and that the National Health Service is preparing a roll-out programme. Further details will follow in due course.

NHS Test and Trace are working with local leaders and communities to curb the spread of the virus and the contact tracing team ensures individuals and their close contacts isolate, preventing others from being infected. In addition, we have announced £3 billion of extra funding to the NHS for the winter and secured personal protective equipment to ensure front-line workers are protected.