Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Steps and Local Authority Enforcement Powers) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2021

Considered in Grand Committee

Moved by

That the Grand Committee do consider the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Steps and Local Authority Enforcement Powers) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2021.

My Lords, we are here today to discuss the regulations allowing the move to step 2 of the coronavirus road map, a decision which not only allowed us to reclaim some normality in our lives but set the platform for today’s move to step 3. Getting to this point has taken remarkable perseverance and resolve; I am hugely grateful to everyone involved in getting us there. We are clearly not free of coronavirus yet and, while we have met the first four tests that have enabled the move to step 3, the disease still poses a clear and present threat.

The Prime Minister’s address last week clearly highlighted the threat from variants of concern and we must remain cautious and vigilant. We are putting in place measures to combat variants. The evidence so far suggests that the vaccine is effective. I am heartened to hear that teams deployed to Bolton over the weekend were well received and reported a positive atmosphere—a result of strong community engagement and an effective communications campaign conducted in the area. As the Prime Minister made clear on Friday, while we progress further along the road map today, we must continue to exercise caution and common sense because the choices we have to make in the coming days will have a profound effect on the road ahead.

It has been a year like no other but we are taking significant steps forward to regaining our freedom. It is this combination of the public’s dedication, our world-leading vaccine programme and the unrelenting hard work of our health and care workers that has allowed us cautiously to unlock the country.

The road map seeks a balance between our social and economic priorities and the need to save lives and avoid another surge in infections. The decisions to move to step 2 and 3 were both informed by the latest scientific evidence and based on the assessment that all four tests set out in the road map had been met.

My Lords, I am very grateful to the Minister. The debate takes place as we take the next step out of lockdown, but it also comes as concern rises about the impact of the Indian variant. Getting the balance right between getting back to normal as soon as possible and understandable caution about the risk of opening up too soon will always be an incredibly difficult judgment. But the Government’s record of vacillation and delay over key decisions does not inspire confidence, and the delay in placing India on the red list is at least questionable, given the rate of Covid cases in that country at the beginning of April.

The SAGE meeting on 13 May pointed to the multiple fast-growing clusters of the B16172 variant, most noticeably in the north-west of England, with transmission faster than that of the B117 variant most prevalent in the UK. SAGE concluded that it is a “realistic possibility” that the Indian variant is

“as much as 50% more transmissible”

and warned:

“In the areas where numbers of infections are increasing rapidly under the measures”

then

“in place, an even faster increase can be expected if measures are relaxed.”

Of course, today, they have been so relaxed. SAGE warned that if the Indian variant

“were to have a 40-50% transmission advantage nationally compared to B.1.1.7 … it is likely that progressing with step 3”—

which we are doing today—

“would lead to a substantial resurgence of hospitalisations.”

SAGE concluded:

“Progressing with both steps 3 and 4 at the earliest dates could lead to a much larger peak.”

It is therefore legitimate to ask the Minister why, in view of that, we are going ahead with step 3 today. What factors will be taken into account in respect of a decision to go ahead with step 4? What will the Government use as metrics to decide whether tougher restrictions need to be imposed nationally or locally? As we will not know until mid-June at the earliest the full impact of step 3 on hospitalisations and deaths, does the Minister agree that decisions on further steps out of lockdown must be considered after this information becomes available?

My Lords, these regulations were laid on 7 April. It is ironic that we are discussing them today, as we start moving to step 3. If they had been discussed earlier, the facts on 9 April might have been raised to help us keep all local areas safer. On 9 April, Bangladesh had the South African variant but not the Brazilian variant but was put on the travel red list. Pakistan had neither the South African nor the Brazilian variant on that day but was put on the red list. India had both the South African and Brazilian variants and the emerging Indian variant but was not put on the red list. On 9 April, cases per 100 million on a seven-day rolling average were 21 in Pakistan, which was put on the red list, and 43 in Bangladesh, which was put on the red list. India had 84 cases per million—four times as many as Pakistan—but was not put on the travel red list.

Why, with more cases per million and with both the Brazilian and South African variants present, and the emerging Indian variant, was India left off the red list on 9 April? If the Government had followed the data, it would have been put on the red list. However, the Government were following a date—24 April—so that the Prime Minister could go on a trade mission. Dates, not data, yet again, will cause problems for individuals, families and businesses. In the period between 9 April and putting India on the red list, 900 people a day entered the country—nearly 20,000 people. They could have been carrying the South African, Brazilian or new Indian variants.

One can only assume that this was yet another abject failure of government to act with speed and good judgment to secure the nation’s borders and keep people safer. When trade deal trips trump the public health and safety of individuals and businesses, you have to ask when a government Minister will take responsibility and resign. By not putting India on the red list and by following a date and not data, the Government have put businesses and individuals at risk of illness, death and bankruptcy. It is time now for an independent inquiry to learn lessons and to put in place secure border restrictions to ensure that people stay safe and what we see in Bolton is not replicated in any other community in this country.

My Lords, I thank the Minister for his thorough introduction to these regulations. These amendments were necessary at the time, and therefore need approval, albeit retrospectively, as we go into step 3 of the journey. But journeys are rarely irreversible, and the road map may at some stage, at least in part, have to be reversed.

What analysis is being conducted of the effectiveness of the various regulations and restrictions so far? We cannot wait for the eventual inquiry to produce its results; we need to know now what has been effective and what has not.

Step 2 saw the opening of non-essential retail and gyms. Personally, I have always thought that gyms had to be a risk if the virus was around, but I would like to see some analysis of whether gyms have been responsible for carrying Covid. As the Minister knows, I really do not understand why non-essential retail could open and galleries and museums could not. Can we have some analysis of that? It would be useful, in case we have to return to level 2-type restrictions.

Can the Minister give us an indication of where the Government really stand on the importance of continuing to work from home if one can work from home? For instance, what guidance has been given to civil servants? It is important for our town centres that people return to the office. Are we really to wait until step 4 before that happens?

On travel, my understanding was that having an amber code for a lot of countries meant that those who wished to travel there and were prepared to quarantine on their return could do so. But we now hear the Foreign Secretary say that people should certainly not take holidays in amber-list countries. Understandably, the travel industry is unhappy about this and would like firm guidance on the Government’s position on foreign travel.

Finally, I read over the weekend that the Government are in talks with airport operators about how to deal with travellers coming in from red-list countries. Surely, at this stage, to be in talks with the authorities is fairly ridiculous. The stories from Heathrow about the intermingling of travellers are quite terrifying. Can the Minister give us some indication of when talks might turn into action?

The noble Lord, Lord Robathan, has withdrawn, so I call the noble Lord, Lord Rooker.

My Lords, nothing I shall say to the Minister is addressed personally to him; he is not in charge of this.

On 21 April, a devastating report was published by the Hansard Society and the Constitution Unit about the marginalisation of the House of Commons under Covid. Although it was specific to the Commons, it applied to Parliament as a whole. Of the five ways in which powers have been undermined, I just want to deal with those in paragraph 2, headed “The erosion of parliamentary control: regulations”. It says:

“Over 400 Coronavirus-related Statutory Instruments … have been laid … All have been subject to little or no scrutiny, a situation described as ‘totally unsatisfactory’ by the Commons Speaker … An unusually high share of Covid SIs have been subject to the ‘made affirmative’ scrutiny procedure—meaning they became law before being scrutinised, and require only retrospective … approval”.

This is such an SI. The report continues:

“This mechanism, which severely undermines accountability, has been described as ‘addictive’”

by those who watch us. It goes on:

“The government’s casual approach to the scheduling of debates on SIs means they have often been in force for weeks before MPs could consider them … Frequent errors that need to be corrected, the lack of Impact Assessments, and discrepancies between law and guidance have all compounded scrutiny problems … for the wider public”.

This is such an SI, as it corrects errors in another: No. 364. As the noble Lord, Lord Scriven, said, it was made at 10.30 am on 9 April, laid before Parliament at 1 pm on 9 April and was in law on 12 April. It was debated in the Commons on 26 April for 24 minutes. People would have been lonely in the room because, as far as I can see, only two people spoke. On 17 May, it was in the Lords.

The preamble to this SI is essentially a two-fingered salute to Parliament. It is about time the Commons got off its knees, and the Lords should encourage it to do so. I shall develop this theme further on Thursday in the debate on Covid and the Lords.

My Lords, it is of great concern that we are moving today not to step 2 but to step 3 of the road map, while the more transmissible Indian variant is spreading—Professor Whitty expects it to become predominant in the UK. I make no apology for repeating the concerns of other noble Lords. While the vaccine will provide a high level of protection to those who have received it, unvaccinated people could now be at high risk of serious disease and the NHS again of being overwhelmed.

The Prime Minister finally put India on the red list on 19 April, a few days before he was due to fly to India to discuss the trade deal he so desperately needed after Brexit. Many commentators believe the two facts are linked. Will the Minister give a clear answer to the following questions about India?

Why was India not put on the red list on 2 April, at the point when it had the same level of incidence as Pakistan and Bangladesh? By 9 April, cases in India were four times higher than in Pakistan, yet the Government waited another 10 days to act. During those three weeks’ delay, around 20,000 people came here from amber-listed India. Do the Government know whether they all quarantined for 10 days, as required, and had the necessary tests?

When red-list powers were announced in mid-February, the Government said they could be implemented in hours. Why, then, did they wait four days before implementation, allowing 900 people per day to come in from India without red-list restrictions? Why, when travellers arrived from India, were they forced to mingle at immigration with hundreds of people coming in on flights from other countries? Why have the Government not insisted on dedicated arrival facilities for passengers arriving from red-list countries? What support is being given to those people arriving from India who find it difficult to quarantine?

Why have the Government not learned that the characteristics of variants of concern are not the only reason to put countries on the red list? The cases in India had been rising exponentially for weeks before 19 April. There were more than 100,000 cases a day in India on 5 April, and the cemeteries were overflowing. Why did the Government not act when that level of cases was being reported?

My Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, who has made some extremely important points. I thank my noble friend for setting out the purport of these regulations, applaud his work ethic and say that what I shall say, just as the noble Lord, Lord Rooker, said, is no personal reflection on him.

These regulations are part of the road map setting the way out of lockdown, which I support; the approach is correct. I would like some reassurance from my noble friend. As we are out of the eye of the hurricane, it is about time we saw these regulations in advance of them becoming law. We are looking at these some 37 days after they became effective. Frankly, it is just not good enough. It is about time that we started to see these ahead of their becoming law rather than in the rear-view mirror, as has become the case. There may have been a time when that was justifiable, but that time has now passed.

I will take my noble friend up on some of what he said about the Indian variant. I am sure that we will look at this whole issue of why action seemed slow in relation to India when it was not so slow in relation to Pakistan and Bangladesh. It seems strange. Are flights still arriving from India in any way, as I have heard is the case? That might not be true. Could my noble friend also provide some reassurance about our border controls, which seem all too porous? People from countries where there is a known risk mingling with other travellers when they arrive is, frankly, amazing and needs to be stopped forthwith. I cannot understand why that is happening.

My noble friend the Minister spoke about action at the weekend in Bolton, which I certainly welcome. Could he tell us whether similar action has been taken elsewhere, in other communities where there is clearly a threat from this variant, such as Blackburn, Bedford and so on? Could he indicate where that is the case? If he is unable to provide a detailed list—there might be many areas that this applies to—perhaps he could undertake to write and put a copy in the Library.

My Lords, as has been said, even by recent standards the timing of this debate is particularly ironic. On the very day that we move to step 3 of the easing of lockdown restrictions, here we are debating the move to step 2, which happened five weeks ago. To make matters worse, given the much more transmissible Indian variant, which the Health Secretary Matt Hancock said at the weekend could “spread like wildfire”, this easing now feels fraught with risk. I very much support what the noble Lord, Lord Bourne, just said about the need for us to scrutinise regulations in advance.

The Indian variant has caused great anxiety in recent days. For many people it feels as if, just when the sunlit uplands were coming into view, they are being snatched away by a new variant when more efforts could and should have been taken to avoid it. The Sunday Times reported this weekend that at least 20,000 passengers who could have been infected with the new variant were allowed to enter the UK because the Prime Minister delayed imposing a travel ban from India. I add my voice to those of other noble Lords asking whether the Minister can explain why India was added to the red list only on 23 April, three weeks after the announcement of a ban on flights from Pakistan and Bangladesh, both of which had lower case rates than India.

The combination of moving up the steps and the Indian variant makes having an effective test, trace, isolate and support system ever more critical. I place particular emphasis on the last two words—isolate and support—which is where things are still breaking down. The major problem reported by local resilience forums is that people are still not self-isolating and will not until they get their income paid. It is those on zero-hours contracts, those doing jobs that you cannot do from home and families living in multigenerational households who need the support most. People do not want vouchers; they want their earnings reimbursed. Reimbursing earnings is substantially cheaper than running the test and trace functions and, if a serious case of Covid occurs, the cost to the NHS.