I am pleased that today the House of Commons voted to renew the Coronavirus Act for a further six months with an overwhelming majority of 306.
This Act is crucial to helping us achieve our strategy of suppressing the virus while protecting the economy, education and the NHS, until a vaccine can keep us safe. Standing down the Act would have left us exposed, at a time when we need to be at our strongest.
The Act helps us in five important ways:
- Helping us to boost the health and social care workforce and protect the NHS, through allowing the emergency registration of health and social care professionals.
- Protecting the public servants who want to keep the UK running safely and securely, for example allowing Courts to keep running in a Covid-secure way through virtual hearings, and allowing Councils to hold their meetings virtually.
- It contains measures to suppress the spread of the virus, for example by restricting events and public gatherings.
- Allowing us to treat the deceased with the utmost dignity. The Bill’s measures have helped to eased pressure on coroners, reduce distress to the bereaved, and allowed funerals to take place without delay, and we propose to keep them.
- It contains measures to protect and support people through this crisis; it provided for the furlough scheme, a temporary increase to working tax credits, and making statutory sick pay payable from day one. It also includes measures to protect both business and residential tenants, by delaying when landlords can progress evictions.
It is vital that we strike the right balance between acting at pace and proper scrutiny. We listened to the concerns raised by colleagues, and I announced to the House today that we change our approach to bringing in urgent measures where possible.
As I made clear to the House today, for significant national measures, with effect in the whole of England or UK-wide, we will consult Parliament. Wherever possible, we will hold votes before such regulations come into force. Of course, responding to the virus means that the Government must act with speed, when required, and we cannot hold up urgent regulations which are needed to control the virus and save lives. We will continue to involve the House in scrutinising our decisions. This means regular statements and debates, and the ability for Members to question the Government’s scientific advisers more regularly. Honourable members can also gain access to data about their constituencies and join daily calls with the Paymaster General.
I hope these new arrangements will be welcomed by all sides of the House, and we will continue to engage colleagues’ throughout.
The Coronavirus Act remains just as fundamental as it was when I introduced it to the House six months ago, and I am delighted that it has been renewed.
We can now keep protecting lives, livelihoods, and the things we love, at a time when this nation is being tested like never before in peacetime.
Yours ever,
MATT HANCOCK