Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what medical advice he has received on the longevity of covid-19 symptoms.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medical Officers at the Department have advised that the time to recovery for somebody with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 depends on the severity of illness and varies from relatively quickly through to extremely prolonged. Typically, time to recovery is within 10-14 days for mild and moderate cases. If a person feels unwell for longer than this, they should contact their general practitioner.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to support (a) night clubs, (b) music venues and (c) other businesses in the night time service sector by providing financial relief commensurate with the longevity of the period that they have had to remain closed during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government have put in place an unprecedented package of financial support to help businesses, including those in the hospitality and leisure sector, with the support they need during this difficult time of the covid-19 outbreak. Measures included deferring VAT payments for 3 months to support businesses with cashflow during the outbreak and extending the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme until October.
We are committed to reopening creative businesses, including music venues, as soon as it is safe to do so. On 9 July, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport announced that from 11 July outdoor arts performances – including theatres, opera, dance and music – will be able to resume provided they are covid-secure.
Asked by: Baroness Altmann (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to assist pension funds in matching their liabilities, in the light of the current COVID-19 pandemic-related issues in asset markets, by issuing (1) longevity or mortality gilts; (2) gilts linked to the consumer prices index; and (3) gilts specifically linked to limited consumer price inflation measures. [T]
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Debt Management Office (DMO) continues to issue long-dated conventional gilts and index-linked gilts (linked to the Retail Prices Index), which are instruments often used by pension funds to match longer term liabilities. Decisions on the exact composition of debt issuance are informed by an assessment of investor demand for debt instruments by maturity and type as reported by stakeholders, and as manifested in the shape of the nominal and real yield curves; and by the government’s appetite for risk. The former is noted at quarterly consultation meetings with market participants, held by the DMO.
At present, the UK Government does not have any plans to introduce any new debt financing instruments in response to Covid-19. The government remains open to the introduction of new debt instruments, but would need to be satisfied that any new instrument would meet value-for-money criteria, enjoy strong and sustained demand in the long-term and be consistent with wider fiscal objectives.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress has been made on meeting the objective in the Ageing Society Grand Challenge to ensure that people can enjoy at least 5 extra healthy, independent years of life by 2035.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Delivering the Ageing Society Grand Challenge (ASGC) mission will require complex systems thinking across a number of areas and we are already working closely across Government, industry, academia and the voluntary sector to do this.
We have invested £98 million through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund Healthy Ageing programme to enable businesses, including social enterprises, to develop and deliver services and products to support people as they age. We have also announced Andy Briggs as the ASGC Business Champion and our plans to establish the UK Longevity Council.
In 2019, the Department published the consultation document ‘Advancing our Health: Prevention in the 2020s’, which has the ASGC mission at its core and sets out the commitments to contribute towards achieving it.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress he has made in implementing the Clean Steel Fund.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
In August 2019, the Government announced a £250 million Clean Steel Fund to support the UK steel sector to transition to lower carbon iron and steel production, through investment in new technologies and processes. The Fund will help the sector towards achieving our target of net zero emissions by 2050 , by maximising longevity and resilience while harnessing clean growth opportunities.
Steel industry stakeholders provided positive responses to our recent Call for Evidence, which closed in November 2019. The Department is currently analysing responses to inform the scheme’s design, and as we develop the scheme, we will continue to engage closely with the sector to ensure that it meets the needs of businesses.
Asked by: Nick Thomas-Symonds (Labour - Torfaen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the evidential basis is for Government advice on the longevity of the coronavirus on (a) parcels and (b) other objects.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is a newly identified virus and as such no specific data on environmental survival is available. Public Health England (PHE) advice on the longevity of 2019-nCoV on parcels and other objects has been based on informed knowledge of other related viruses, such as Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus.
PHE’s current advice is that the virus does not survive well for long periods outside the body and so it is highly unlikely that 2019-nCoV can be spread through post or packages.
This advice and a range of further information can be found online at the following link:
Asked by: Stephen Metcalfe (Conservative - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to meet the Government’s ageing society target of five extra healthier, more independent years of life as identified in the Industrial Strategy.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Delivering the Government’s Ageing Society Grand Challenge will require complex systems thinking across a number of areas including housing, financial support, workforce as well as health and care. We are working with a range of partners across Government, industry, academia and the voluntary sector and we are taking steps in number of areas. These include building United Kingdom business awareness of the longevity economy and age-diverse workforce; supporting local places through Local Industrial Strategies to address the opportunities and challenges of an ageing society; and building research and innovation collaborations with international partners.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will provide support for empty home prevention schemes by offering financial support to owners for sustainability measures and home improvements such as insulation measures designed to increase the longevity and environmental efficiency of existing homes.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Department has no current plans to establish funding programmes specifically targeted at renovating or preventing empty homes, nor to carry out a formal review of local authorities' powers in this respect. Local authorities are already equipped with a range of powers and strong incentives to tackle empty homes. Through the New Homes Bonus, they earn the same financial reward for bringing an empty home back into use as for building a new one. Since 1 April 2019, via the Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Act 2018, local authorities have the discretion to increase the maximum level of premium charged on properties that have been empty for more than two years from 50 per cent to 100 per cent extra council tax. In certain circumstances, local authorities can apply for an Empty Dwelling Management Order (EDMO) to temporarily take over the management of a property that has been empty for more than two years and bring it back into use.
The number of long-term empty homes remains substantially lower than when records began. In October 2010, 299,999 homes in England had been standing empty for longer than 6 months; as of October 2018, there were 216,186 long-term empty properties. We do not have plans to make a further statement to the House on the issue at present.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she plans to take to limit a person's pension age rise when age eligibility for the state pension is increased.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government published its review of State Pension age in July 2017. The report can be viewed here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/630065/state-pension-age-review-final-report.pdf.
The next Government review of State Pension age will be completed within six years of that report.
The Pensions Act 2014 requires the Government to regularly review State Pension age and report to Parliament, to help to ensure the rules about State Pension age are appropriate having regard to life expectancy and the costs of increasing longevity are shared fairly between the generations, and provide greater clarity around the plans for changing State Pension age in the future.
The changes to State Pension age became law following consultation and extensive debates in Parliament. During the passage of the Pensions Act 2011, Parliament introduced limits to person’s State Pension age rise, worth £1.1 billion, which reduced the proposed increase in State Pension age for over 450,000 men and women, meaning that no woman will see her pension age change by more than 18 months, relative to the original 1995 Act timetable.
Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what plans they have, if any, to enable the charging of electric vehicles in the House of Lords carpark.
Answered by Lord Laming
The Senior Deputy Speaker has asked me, as Chairman of the Services Committee, to respond on his behalf.
The Services Committee considered the possibility of introducing electric vehicle charging (EVC) points at its meeting on 14 March 2019. The Committee declined to agree a proposal to introduce EVC points to the House of Lords. Although the Committee recognised the benefits, it did not believe it was the appropriate time to implement the scheme.
Amongst other factors, the Committee considered the location and impact of the EVC points, the longevity of the proposed installation of charging points, which risked being decommissioned when Restoration and Renewal commenced, the need for a long term vision for EVC across the Estate, and concerns that the proposal did not provide value for money.