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1191409

registered interest
date	28/04/2020
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	Coronavirus: Screening
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of drive-in COVID-19 testing sites in England are operated by (1) the NHS directly and (2) private contractors; what percentage of tests for each such site involves (1) swabbing of the nose and throat by trained staff, or (2) instructions being given in writing or verbally for participants to swab themselves; and what data is available on the relative accuracy of the two forms of test. [T]
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL3589
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2020 answer text <p>Regional Test Sites are overseen by the Department as part of the COVID-19 National Testing Programme. These sites have been commissioned by the Department and operated by a range of commercial organisations. As of 29 April, 43 regional tests were open across the United Kingdom. Of these, 11 deliver assisted testing, 14 sites operate the self-administered approach and 18 operate a hybrid model where both options are offered.</p><p>The test is reliable and effective. There are different tests in use under this programme and all have been assessed as performing to manufacturers specifications before being used.</p> answering member printed Lord Bethell question first answered 20/05/2020 12:53:49 answering member 4708 label Biography information for Lord Bethell
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1191410

registered interest
date	28/04/2020
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Students: Housing
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many students are currently living in on-campus accommodation at (1) colleges and (2) universities; of these, how many are (a) UK students (b) EU students, and (c) non-EU international students; how many are minors; and whether those students are housed in adequately maintained conditions and have access to the basic facilities they require.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL3590
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/05/2020 answer text <p>As both my right hon. Friends, the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer have made clear, the government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID-19.</p><p>Statistics on the numbers of further and higher education (HE) students resident in on-campus accommodation following 23 March’s lockdown are not held centrally.</p><p>However, Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) data show that approximately 360,000 students at UK higher education institutions in 2018/19 were resident in provider-maintained property, including some 117,000 international students, of which 31,000 were from the EU.</p><p>Levels of current occupancy of accommodation vary widely between different institutions with those students still resident likely to include care leavers, students estranged from their families and international students for whom there is no alternative accommodation easily available or who are not able to get home because of travel restrictions.</p><p>HE providers have been asked to aim to ensure staff (catering, cleaning and laundry staff, for instance) are available to support on halls management. Counselling staff should also be available to support on isolating students’ mental health. This support could be provided virtually.</p><p>We have worked to improve joint continuity planning between HE providers and Local Resilience Forums to consider how to ensure availability of supply of food and medicines.</p><p>College campus accommodation where children are resident is inspected by Ofsted against national minimum standards. The inspections are conducted on an age basis and include international students.</p><p>Ofsted holds a record of ratings for further education accommodation.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Berridge question first answered 19/05/2020 11:07:15 answering member 4218 label Biography information for Baroness Berridge
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1191411

registered interest
date	28/04/2020
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Students: Housing
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what are their plans to assist A-level and university students who are at risk of homelessness due to their on-campus accommodation contracts being terminated, and how they will ensure these students are neither rendered homeless nor forced into debt.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL3591
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/05/2020 answer text <p>As my right hon. Friends, the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer have both made clear, the government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID-19.</p><p>My hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Universities, has written to all higher education (HE) providers to explain the importance of HE institutions operating a non-eviction policy so that no student is required to leave halls if their contract has ended, if their rental agreement does not cover holiday periods or if they are unable to pay their rent. This is particularly important in the case of international students, care leavers and students estranged from their families.</p><p>In her letters, my hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Universities, also emphasised the need for HE providers to consider practical support to ensure that students who remain on campus can access sufficient food, medical and cleaning supplies, along with mental health support.</p><p>Students will continue to receive scheduled payments of loans towards their living costs for the remainder of the current 2019/20 academic year.</p><p>We have worked closely with the Office for Students to enable providers to draw upon existing funding to increase hardship funds and support disadvantaged students impacted by COVID-19. As a result, providers will be able to use the funding, worth around £23 million per month for April and May, towards student hardship funds.</p><p>Students with a part-time employment contract should speak to their employer about the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which has been set up to help pay staff wages and keep people in employment. This can be accessed from: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/covid-19-support-for-businesses" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/covid-19-support-for-businesses</a>.</p><p>We have also asked that HE providers pay particular attention to the additional financial hardships that are being faced by student staff who have been reliant on income from campus-based jobs at this time.</p><p>The government encourages universities and private hall providers to be fair in their decisions about rent charges for this period.</p> answering member printed Baroness Berridge question first answered 19/05/2020 11:19:06 answering member 4218 label Biography information for Baroness Berridge
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1189779

registered interest
date	21/04/2020
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	Care Homes: Coronavirus
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how much financial, or in-kind, assistance they have provided to care homes and home care providers since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic; and how much of that assistance was given to for-profit care homes and home care providers.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL3296
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/05/2020 answer text <p>We have set out a comprehensive action plan to support the adult social care sector in England throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, including ramping up testing, overhauling the way personal protective equipment is being delivered to care homes and helping to minimise the spread of the virus to keep people safe.</p><p>On 19 March we announced £1.6 billion to help local authorities deal with the immediate impacts of COVID-19, which many councils will have directed towards adult social care services. On 18 April we announced an additional £1.6 billion of funding to support councils delivering essential frontline services. We do not collect centrally the breakdown of local authority support for different types of care providers.</p><p>This funding is part of the Government’s commitment to ensure the National Health Service and social care system, and other public services, have the resources required to tackle COVID-19. The Government will continue to monitor pressures in the NHS and local government and will keep future funding under review.</p> answering member printed Lord Bethell question first answered 15/05/2020 11:25:47 answering member 4708 label Biography information for Lord Bethell
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1189781

registered interest
date	21/04/2020
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Food: Coronavirus
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to provide access to land to individuals and communities seeking to establish individual or community food growing schemes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL3298
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/05/2020 answer text <p>The Government values green spaces such as allotments and considers them to be an important community asset, particularly during the COVID-19 outbreak. Allotments play an important role in helping people to live a healthy and active lifestyle and in providing food.</p><p> </p><p>Local councils have a statutory duty under Section 23 of the Small Holdings and Allotments Act 1908 to provide a sufficient number of allotments based on local demand in an area and to let them to people residing in that area who want them. The provision of allotment spaces is the responsibility of local councils as they are best placed to determine the demand in their area.</p><p> </p><p>In 2012, the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-housing-communities-and-local-government" target="_blank">Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government</a> published a best practice guide for community groups wanting to find land to grow fruit and vegetables. This is available on the GOV.UK website at:</p><p><a href="http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/space-for-food-growing-a-guide" target="_blank">www.gov.uk/government/publications/space-for-food-growing-a-guide</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The Local Government Association also provides guidance on allotments and community food growing schemes in its “Growing in the community” guidance, which is available online at: <a href="http://www.local.gov.uk/growing-community-second-edition" target="_blank">www.local.gov.uk/growing-community-second-edition</a>.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 05/05/2020 16:19:18 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1189782

registered interest
date	21/04/2020
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	Coronavirus: Protective Clothing
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) surgical gowns, (2) N95 masks, and (3) surgical masks, are currently being held in central stocks in the UK; how many of each have (a) been distributed from central stocks in the UK in the last seven days, and (b) are expected to arrive in the next seven days; how they will be distributed (i) among the nations of the UK, and (ii) between the NHS and social care providers; and whether they intend to publish regular updates of these figures. [T]
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL3299
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2020 answer text <p>From 25 February to 23 April we have delivered over 950 million items of personal protective equipment (PPE) across the health and social care system within England. This includes 140 million masks, 150 million aprons, 1.5 million gowns and 518 million gloves. Tens of millions more items of PPE will have been distributed by the devolved administrations. Additionally, in the week commencing 20 April, we released 29 million items of PPE to designated wholesalers for onward sale to social care providers.</p><p>We are working closely with the devolved administrations to co-ordinate the distribution of PPE across the United Kingdom.</p> answering member printed Lord Bethell question first answered 14/05/2020 11:18:38 answering member 4708 label Biography information for Lord Bethell
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle