Health Protection (Coronavirus, Wearing of Face Coverings in a Relevant Place) (England) Regulations 2020

Motion to Approve

That the Regulations laid before the House on 23 July be approved.

My Lords, I beg to move that the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Wearing of Face Coverings in a Relevant Place) (England) Regulations 2020 and the three instruments amending those regulations on the Order Paper in the name of my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care be approved.

These regulations were made by the Secretary of State on 23 July and came into force on 24 July. The Government introduced the regulations to make it mandatory to wear face coverings in some indoor settings, such as shops, supermarkets and indoor transport hubs in England, and we have subsequently amended them to ensure that we continually took the necessary steps to protect public health as lockdown restrictions eased over the summer. Amendments were made on 8 August, 22 August and 28 August accordingly to extend the requirement to wear a face covering to a wider list of indoor settings now open to members of the public, providing clarity on who is exempt, the circumstances in which a face covering is not required and around continuing to ensure the enforcement powers given to police and Transport for London are reasonable and proportionate.

These regulations are helping to save lives. They are exceptional measures, brought forward to mitigate the unprecedented impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and comply with all the Government’s obligations in relation to human rights. I urge the Chamber to approve these regulations and the amending regulations so that we may continue to use these powers to protect the public.

The people in this country have played and continue to play a vital role in helping us in our national effort to beat coronavirus. We therefore introduced these regulations to give members of the public the confidence to visit public indoor spaces safely and enhance protections for those working in these settings. This was explained by the Secretary of State when he addressed Parliament on 14 July and announced these measures, and reiterated this week by my ministerial colleague, the honourable Nadine Dorries, in the other place.

Since 24 July it has been mandatory to wear a face covering in indoor places such as shops, supermarkets and enclosed shopping centres. We have received positive support from the retail sector, including the chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, who has said that face coverings can

“make shoppers feel even more confident about returning to the High Street.”

Additionally, the chair of the Federation of Small Businesses has said:

“As mandatory face coverings are introduced, small firms know that they have a part to play in the nation’s recovery both physically and financially, and I'm sure this will be welcomed by them.”

The Government continue to review and refine their advice on face coverings, informed by the latest scientific evidence. Prior to these regulations, the Government had already been encouraging the public to wear face coverings in enclosed spaces where they may find it difficult to maintain social distance and come into contact with others they would not usually meet. Furthermore, face coverings have been mandatory on public transport in England since 15 June. While face coverings are not a substitute for social distancing and good hand hygiene, the scientific evidence suggests that when used correctly, face coverings may have some benefit in reducing the likelihood of those with the infection passing it on to others, particularly if they are asymptomatic.

Amendment to the Motion

Moved by

At end to insert “and that this House welcomes the introduction of the Regulations, but regrets the delay in bringing forward the Regulations as Her Majesty’s Government has advised the public to wear face coverings in enclosed public spaces since 11 May, announced that face coverings would be mandatory in shops from 24 July on 14 July, and laid these Regulations under the made affirmative procedure on 23 July; further regrets that this delay has caused confusion over where people will have to wear face coverings due to the absence of detailed legal requirements being available in advance; and notes the concerns of the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee in its 19th Report, published on 25 June, which urged Her Majesty’s Government ‘to ensure that the legislation follows on more closely from any announcement that they have made’.”

My Lords, this amendment is by way of protest at how this issue has been mishandled by the Government.

I hope the House will understand that we on these Benches do not oppose the introduction of the wearing of masks, but we regret the truly incompetent way in which it is being done. We regret the delay in the regulations, as Her Majesty’s Government have been advising the public to wear face coverings in enclosed public spaces since 11 May and announced on 14 July that face coverings would be mandatory in shops from 24 July. They laid these regulations under the affirmative procedure on 23 July.

Further, we regret that this delay has caused confusion over where people have to wear face coverings, due to the absence of detailed legal requirements being made available in advance. The detailed regulations that employers, shopkeepers and others needed to know about to ensure that they complied with the law were published the day before the regulations became active, meaning that staff training, compliance and other such issues were dealt with without proper guidelines or information.

This is very serious. We want people to be safe and to follow the necessary restrictions, but they will not take the Government seriously and many will not obey the rules because of the lack of clear communication in a timely fashion. That is the cause of our regret.

In its 19th report, published on 25 June, the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee urged Her Majesty’s Government

“to ensure that the legislation follows on more closely from any announcement that they have made”.

It said that

“even a short gap between regulations being laid and their coming into effect would better enable those affected to prepare, having seen the law’s actual detailed requirements (rather than just the headline announcement). While we fully understand the need for legislation to take immediate effect when imposing lockdown measures to protect public health, the justification is less strong when relaxations are being contemplated”,

My Lords, I support the amendment and thank the Minister for his thorough explanation of the new regulations and how they will work, which is very helpful. I particularly support the part of the amendment that

“regrets the delay in bringing forward the Regulations”

back in the spring. Indeed, I regret the fact that the Government were not advising people to wear face masks even earlier—in particular in the early days of the virus, when there was a lot of concern about the lack of PPE generally and face masks were a substitute for people in care homes and so on who could not get hold of proper PPE. Nevertheless, face masks were better than nothing.

I congratulate people all over the country who set about making them on their sewing machines at home and distributing them—particularly a group in Colne who call themselves the Maskateers and ended up producing thousands of face masks initially for free distribution to local care homes and so on when they simply had nothing else. It was appalling that this was necessary but highly commendable that they did it. When the care homes began to get proper equipment, they continued making them and made them available to the general public for a donation, which has been to the great benefit of the local hospice—so not everything is bad in what has happened as far as Covid is concerned.

When I was cut off by time in the previous debate, I was talking about the fact that in our borough we had got to the top of the league table of the incidence of positive tests and were working very hard indeed to bring it down. In his reply, the Minister talked about the need for dedicated local outbreak plans. The point I was making was that that was exactly what we had. A lot of people were working very hard, based on the accepted mantra of “test, test, test”, then “track, track, track” the contacts and follow up to make sure that they were are isolating. That is what we were doing.

That effective local work was destroyed in one day when the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State went on television and appeared to be blaming people who were not symptomatic for wanting tests. In our part of the world, with the full agreement of people at national level, we had been encouraging everybody to go and get tests so that we knew what was happening and where the problems were, and then—in the streets and areas where the main problems were—going and knocking on doors and getting people to do it. That is what I meant when I said that the Government had pulled the rug from under the work that was being done locally—and unfortunately our numbers are now going up again.

My Lords, I welcome the clarifications from my noble friend as to the purpose and operation of these regulations. I also welcome the opportunity to question him about them, even if it is ex post facto.

As someone who was reluctant to wear a mask, I now find them rather comforting, and I predict that when the weather gets really cold, mask wearing will become positively popular. On the whole in the United Kingdom, our rules so far in this respect have been less stringent than in some other countries. For example, in Spain, even in holiday resorts, the wearing of masks outdoors as well as in shops, restaurants and so on is compulsory.

However, as has already been said by previous speakers, and indeed in the previous debate, there is considerable confusion among the general public. I appreciate the need for flexibility and change to respond to changing circumstances, but it is essential to get the message across.

The Government have issued guidance in relation to all these regulations. Can my noble friend tell us how this guidance and advice is made available to the general public? Most people get their information from television, radio and newspapers, but it is often interpreted and rephrased, which sometimes adds to the confusion. Further, can my noble friend tell us whether guidance has been issued in other languages and whether the guidance includes advice about hygiene in relation to face coverings, which I fear could become a germ trap if not regularly cleaned?

To add to the confusion, I note that these regulations apply only to England. It is to be hoped that those living and moving on a regular basis across United Kingdom internal borders are not faced with different sets of regulations and penalties if they do not comply with them. Did any consultation take place with the devolved Administrations before the issuing of this guidance to avoid any such added confusion?

The noble Baroness, Lady Andrews, is now not participating in the debate, so I call the noble Lord, Lord Flight.

My Lords, taking the Motions we are discussing now and the previous ones, there are 50 speakers in total. It speaks for itself that 50 people care about this particular area of legislation. I see it rather as Sweden versus lockdown, in that there are very much two camps of thought on this territory. Bit I start by congratulating my noble friend Lord Bethell on the thoroughness of his explanation today.

Sweden gets to be known as the herd immunity group. People are obliged to wear masks but there is no facility for fining them. The UK laid down statutory instruments requiring people to wear them, with fines if they do not. The face coverings are with the aim of reducing the spread of Covid-19 and the regulations include a list of places where people must wear face coverings. The regulations add places to be covered when they are reviewed every year. The approach is designed to shelter people from contact but does not grow immunity, whereas the Sweden approach is in essence to permit immunity to grow and so far looks as if it has been successful. Not many masks are yet compulsory. There is the key issue of older people who may have health failings such as asthma and diabetes and need full medical treatment. It will be interesting to see how Sweden deals with that aspect of things.

I conclude by saying that, properly managed, health masks work. I have a son who is training to be a doctor in New York. He and other young men and women are regularly in hospitals that are badly affected by the current problems. Remarkably, there is almost a nil incidence of paramedics working in his hospital being struck down by Covid-19. That says that masks work. They will work in the short term, but my worry is the long term and the potential repeat of the illness. That is where the Swedish approach needs more attention and application.

My Lords, I promise I can tell the time. The Minister will have realised by now that there have been massive mixed messages. It is his job to get that sorted. We have heard that from both sides of the House.

I have a couple of questions to ask, then a couple on behalf of my noble friend Lady Andrews. Why are we still buying masks from China when there is clear evidence that, in the ordinary sense of the word, slave labour is used in some of the factories? My other point is that masks cover the mouth and nose. What about the eyes? I recall seeing a man in Wuhan back in January or February who said that when he went out shopping he covered his mouth and nose and wore his swimming goggles. Have the Government done any research, or seen any, on the effect of wearing spectacles on those entering hospital in the spring or summer months in respect of the virus?

My noble friend Lady Andrews, who regrets she cannot be with us, has a couple of questions, which I will ask in the time available. Can the Minister tell us in what respects the UK continues to follow the World Health Organization’s advice on medical personnel and medical masks, or on wearing masks in the whole community? Can he tell us what research is in process to establish the relative effectiveness of the three-layer fabric masks that most people in the community are now wearing? What tests are being done on filtration, for example? Are some materials better than others at keeping out viruses? Can this information be made available?

Also, would the Minister agree that it might be a good idea to ask universities to require students who return to campus to wear masks when attending any lectures, seminars and especially lab sessions, where social distancing might be harder to maintain? This would be one move to stop the UK always being behind the curve. I will refrain from asking any further questions and conclude to try to make up for the abuse of time that just took place.

My Lords, I support the amendment from the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton. As I said in previous debates, we should not be debating these regulations so long after their introduction. Nevertheless, the debates we do have are important. I am convinced that the persistence of the noble Lord, Lord Campbell-Savours, in helping the Government shift their position on face masks, albeit grudgingly, has saved lives. One just wishes that face masks, like so many other measures, had been introduced earlier than they were.

I have recently been travelling by train quite a bit and taking the tube. From my experience, South Western Railway is not doing a bad job. At present, trains are long enough to socially distance and there are regular announcements by guards on the trains. Mask wearing is now the norm on station concourses such as Waterloo, as I asked the Government for in July. One thing I will ask the Minister to take a look at is that you never see sanitising gel dispensers anywhere near ticket machines. It might be advisable to carry your own bottle, but not everyone will.

Most people comply with mask wearing, at least in the locations so far legislated for, but a minority still do not, even considering exemptions. This week, I counted four separate individuals in one uncrowded tube carriage not wearing masks. Some railway workers and shop workers, who often stack shelves and are therefore out in the open, are not doing so either. It is not mandatory, but it is inconsistent.

Wearing masks protects others. One wishes that the Government believed in this measure more, but the equivocal stance they take makes room for naysayers, including celebrities. The science is not ambiguous, as the Minister quoted the CMO as saying this week. I ask him to look at the summary by Jeremy Howard and Trisha Greenhalgh of more than 100 studies concluding the effectiveness of masks. In March, the head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said that the mistake Europeans were making was not wearing them. This week, the virologist Robert Redfield, director of the United States CDCP, said that face masks might be a more effective tool in limiting the spread of Covid than a vaccine. This begs the question of how masks could be deployed further to tackle the increase in cases we are now seeing. I suggest this could include groups of schoolchildren walking to and from school.