Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people claiming Personal Independence Payments with covid-19 classified as their primary reason for claiming that benefit are awaiting a tribunal hearing.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
As of March 2021, a new code, ‘Coronavirus Covid-19’, has been added to the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) disability coding system in the Infectious disease, Viral disease B01-B10 section with other viral diseases.
Claimants under ‘Coronavirus Covid-19’ are a group of people who remain unwell at 12 weeks, with a wide variety of symptoms whose long-term prognosis is unknown. These people meet the diagnostic criteria for post Covid-19 syndrome. Some may recover in a few more months, some may recover over a longer time period. Others may remain unwell or become more unwell over time. Fluctuating functional impairment and wide-ranging symptoms that change over time seem to be a feature of the condition. It is those claimants who have significant functional impairment at 12 weeks who do not seem to be recovering, who may have entitlement to PIP. Claimants do not have to have had a positive test result to be diagnosed with the syndrome. Testing has not always been easily available.
For Personal Independence Payment (PIP) initial decisions made up to 30th June 2022, where ‘Coronavirus Covid-19’ was recorded as a claimant’s primary condition, there were 290 lodged appeals (8% of initial decisions) with no appeal outcome recorded by 30th September 2022.
Please note:
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Office for National Statics data on coronavirus related deaths by hearing and vision impairment status, England: 24 January 2020 to 20 July 2022, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his Department's policies of that data.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No specific assessment has been made.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that covid-19 (a) testing and (b) vaccination services are accessible for deaf British Sign Language users in the context that the wearing of personal protective equipment by the people providing those services makes lipreading impossible.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We recommend that individuals who have specific needs, such as requiring the use of British Sign Language (BSL), book their covid-19 vaccine through their general practitioner, so they can access the appropriate support to meet their needs.
Guidance published on GOV.UK states the specifications of the personal protective equipment (PPE), including masks, that should be worn. The guidance requires that where the wearing of PPE restricts communication with individuals, other ways of communicating to meet their needs should be considered. Transparent masks are not currently used at test sites. However, the Department and the National Health Service are actively working with partners to ensure that at least one designated staff member will be provided with a transparent mask to be worn during the site’s opening hours, to assist test subjects that need to be able to lip read or see facial expressions. BSL is also currently available via the Test and Trace 119 call centre.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have suffered from hearing loss or tinnitus as a result of being infected with covid-19.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 18th March 2021 to Question 168885 on Pupils: Hearing Impairment, what specific guidance and advice has been issued to (a) schools, (b) colleges and (c) nurseries on how to meet the duties they have to make reasonable adjustments for deaf and disabled pupils since 8 March 2021.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department’s advice on face coverings is outlined clearly in our guidance, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak; https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-further-education-provision; and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures.
As the guidance outlines, those who rely on visual signals for communication, or communicate with or provide support to such individuals, are currently exempt from any requirement to wear face coverings in education and childcare settings or in public places. The same exemptions apply in education and childcare settings and we expect staff, pupils and students to be sensitive to those needs, noting that some people are less able to wear face coverings and that the reasons for this may not be visible to others.
Education and childcare settings should follow the system of controls as outlined in our guidance and put in place proportionate control measures that suit their individual circumstances, based on a thorough risk assessment. This should include making reasonable adjustments for disabled pupils and students to support them to access education successfully.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2021 to Question 109439 on Hearing Impairment: Coronavirus, when the pilot referred to in relation to clear face coverings will be reviewed; and how many of the 250,000 clear face coverings procured have been provided to health and social care systems in Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Distribution of these masks was split between the seven regions. However, information at a constituency level is not currently available.
The ClearMask pilot is now complete and the feedback has been assessed. Based on the feedback, we will be running an assessment of a broader scope of products from a range of manufactures. This assessment will test different types of transparent masks currently at prototype stage, against a new technical specification being developed by the regulatory bodies. The assessment and engagement will also assess the appropriateness of different masks for each end-user and setting.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support is available for parents who, as a result of the covid-19 outbreak, are homeschooling a child with a hearing impairment.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Where pupils with hearing impairment are not in school, we expect schools to provide suitable remote learning materials, consistent with the Children and Families Act 2014. Schools and other institutions must use their best endeavours to secure the provision called for by the pupil’s or student’s needs.
Our published guidance is clear that schools should work collaboratively with families, putting in place reasonable adjustments as necessary, so that pupils with SEND, which will include those with hearing impairment, can successfully access remote education alongside their peers. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak. To help support this, a one-off universal £650 million catch up premium for the 2020/2021 academic year to ensure that schools have the support they need to help all pupils make up for lost teaching time. Schools can use their funding in a way that suits their cohort and circumstances. The department is also, for the 2020/2021 academic year, providing laptops and tablets to schools to help children and families in need to access remote education during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many clear face masks have been sent to NHS and social care workers in each NHS region since the start of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Last year, the Department procured 250,000 transparent facemasks, which are currently being piloted within the health and social care systems. Initial distributions commenced mid-August with equal allocations across the health and social care sectors, as well as allocations to the devolved administrations and the National Supply Disruption Response.
The Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement will continue to work closely with suppliers on future orders based on demand.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the BMJ Case Report of 13 October 2020 on Sudden irreversible hearing loss post covid-19, if he will make it his policy to prioritise partially deaf people for receipt of the covid-19 vaccine.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) consists of independent experts who provide advice to the Government on which groups to prioritise. The Committee has stated in their advice that Phase 1 roll out of a vaccine will have the prevention of mortality at the forefront of its objectives, as well as to support the National Health Service and social care system.
For the first phase, the JVCI has advised that the vaccine be given to care home residents and staff, as well as frontline health and social care workers, then to the rest of the population in order of age and clinical risk factors. Included are those with underlying health conditions, which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure that British Sign Language users without internet access are aware of covid-19 guidance.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to PQ 107140 on 21 October 2020.
It is vital public health information in this pandemic is accessible to all. Covid-19 guidance is provided in alternative formats including Easy Read, British Sign Language and Audio. Covid-19 press briefings with BSL are published on the 10 Downing Street and UK Government social media channels. The BBC News Channel has live signing for the briefings and has been made available across the UK via Freeview, cable, satellite and online.
We have also used publicly held contact details to communicate with those who may need support, and our on the ground teams have directly spoken to local residents. The Government Digital Service has published detailed accessibility standards and guidelines to help departmental channel owners improve content. We will continue to review this and all Covid-19 communication through regular feedback sessions with disability charities.