Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many of her Department's ministers have been exempted from quarantine in a hotel after returning to the UK from a covid-19 red list country to which they have travelled for the purposes of conducting official business.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Details of Ministers’ overseas travel are published quarterly on GOV.UK, and all travel is arranged in line with official regulations.
Ministers are able to claim an exemption from travel restrictions under the ‘Crown Servants or government contractors exemption’. The full text of this exemption can be found under the Government guidance Coronavirus (COVID-19): jobs that qualify for travel exemptions, available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many of his Department's ministers have been exempted from quarantine in a hotel after returning to the UK from a covid-19 red list country to which they have travelled for the purposes of conducting official business.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Details of Ministers’ overseas travel are published quarterly on GOV.UK, and all travel is arranged in line with official regulations.
Ministers are able to claim an exemption from travel restrictions under the ‘Crown Servants or government contractors exemption’. The full text of this exemption can be found under the Government guidance Coronavirus (COVID-19): jobs that qualify for travel exemptions, available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the evidential basis was for his Department's decision not to remove quarantine for people who can demonstrate that they have been infected and recovered from covid-19 recently.
Answered by Maggie Throup
Decisions to inform quarantine rules are taken by the Government based on the latest scientific advice, alongside wider public health factors. We are unable to provide the specific advice and evidence which informs these decisions as it relates to the ongoing development of Government policy.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason people who have been fully vaccinated against covid-19 on a mixed-vaccine course and are travelling from an amber list country have to quarantine for ten days.
Answered by Maggie Throup
There is now a single ‘red list’ of countries. The rules for travel from countries and territories not on the ‘red list’ is dependent on the individual’s vaccination status. Those who are fully vaccinated with a mixed doses of one of the four vaccines authorised for supply in the United Kingdom arriving from countries and territories currently approved for relaxed inbound travel measures do not have to quarantine.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what overseas visits have been made by (a) herself, her predecessor or senior officials in her Department, (b) the Director of Public Prosecutions or senior CPS officials and (c) the Director of the Serious Fraud Office or senior officers over the last 12 months; which countries were visited; what matters were discussed; and whether covid-19 quarantine rules were followed by all people making such visits.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The Attorney General, Solicitor General and senior officials in the department have not undertaken any overseas visits in the last 12 months.
In June 2021, Lisa Osofsky (The Director of the Serious Fraud Office) and John Carroll (Chief Operating Officer of the Serious Fraud Office) visited the United States of America (USA). The purpose of the visit was to meet strategic partners and discuss collaboration and cooperation in tackling serious and complex economic crime. They both followed Covid protocols throughout their time abroad and on returning to the UK.
In October 2021, on a visit to the USA, the Director attended a work meeting with DOJ Senior Officials. In this meeting, she met with American Operational partners and discussed collaboration and cooperation in tackling serious and complex economic crime. The Director followed Covid protocols in place for foreign travel.
No overseas visits have been undertaken by any other Senior SFO Officer over the past 12 months.
Over the past 12 months, the Director of Public Prosecutions completed two overseas business trips, to Poland and the United States. During both visits, the DPP met key stakeholders, including HMG officials. Both of these visits provided an important opportunity to demonstrate support for CPS Liaison Prosecutors based in these jurisdictions and to cement the importance of their role and our cooperation with our international partners.
On both occasions, there were no requirements to quarantine on entry into either country, or on return to the UK.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford and Eccles)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to help ensure that UK citizens who have received the Vaxzevria vaccine produced in India are able to participate in travel to Poland without having to quarantine.
Answered by Wendy Morton
Border restrictions are the prerogative of the receiving state. Poland will exempt travellers fully vaccinated with a vaccination approved for use in the European Union from quarantine on arrival. All AstraZeneca/Vaxzevria vaccines given in the UK are the same product and appear on the NHS COVID Pass as Vaxzevria. The European Medicines Agency has authorised Vaxzevria and we're confident that travel to Poland should not be affected. Where there have been instances of confusion about the vaccine used in the UK, specifically around the 5 million doses of Vaxzevria manufactured in India, our officials have worked to clarify those misunderstandings with the governments concerned.
Nevertheless, travel restrictions can change, sometimes without notice. Travellers should check the FCDO's Travel Advice for Poland prior to travel to ensure they are familiar with the latest restrictions.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many Government Ministers have been exempted from quarantine in a hotel after returning from the UK from a covid-19 red list country to which they have travelled for the purposes of conducting officials business.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Ministers from the Department for Transport have not claimed any exemptions from the requirement to quarantine in a managed quarantine facility that is required after returning from a red list country. The Department for Transport does not hold information on exemption usage by ministers from other government departments.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford and Eccles)
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 help ensure that UK citizens who have received the Vaxzevria covid-19 vaccine produced in India are able to participate in travel to Poland without having to quarantine.
Answered by Maggie Throup
All AstraZeneca vaccines administered in the United Kingdom are the same product and appear on the NHS COVID Pass as ‘Vaxzevria’, which has been permitted for international travel since May 2021.
The European Union has published a list of vaccines it recognises as equivalent to those authorised by the European Medicines Agency, which includes all approved vaccines administered in the UK, including Vaxzevria. Decisions on which vaccines countries will accept at their borders and their subsequent quarantine arrangements are a matter for respective Governments. Where countries have introduced vaccine status into their entry requirements, we continue to engage to ensure there are no limitations for those in receipt of doses administered in the UK.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information he is requiring from hotels responsible for managed covid-19 quarantine provision on the handling of any (a) physical and (b) mental health emergencies for people quarantining; whether he is monitoring the handling of those emergencies; whether appropriate treatment and care is provided; if he will take steps to ensure that hotels know what to do in the event of a managed quarantine guest experiencing a mental health emergency; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The Department’s Landside Operations team produces a report for each quarantine hotel describing all notable incidents occurring in the previous 24 hours, including the handling of mental and physical emergencies. Managed Quarantine hotels are required to provide daily contributions for this report.
If a hotel guest experiences a physical or mental emergency, medical care is accessed directly from the National Health Service. Landside Operations liaison officers are on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week and can facilitate transition from the hotel for a mental or physical emergency.
Asked by: Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party - North Ayrshire and Arran)
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 ensure that companies contracted to provide managed quarantine packages to passengers arriving in England from red list countries are fulfilling their obligations to provide transport both to and from quarantine hotels, given that many such passengers are travelling on to other parts of the UK once their quarantine has been completed and need to check back into their arrival airport, often at unsociable hours.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The managed quarantine package includes travel to and from the quarantine facility. We expect that passengers are transported back to the airport they were collected from when they arrived in England. Onward travel to other parts of the United Kingdom is not included within the quarantine package. The Department has on-site liaison officers within all facilities to ensure that any issues with transportation can be effectively dealt with.