Asked by: Lord Lipsey (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, under the restrictions in place to address the COVID-19 pandemic in England, when two households join to form an extended household, that extended household has to remain the same, or whether another individual or family can be substituted to form a new extended household.
Answered by Lord Bethell
A ‘support bubble’ is a close support network between a household of any size and a single adult household. Households with more than one adult can expand their close support network so that it includes an additional single adult household.
Support bubbles should be exclusive. This means people should not switch the household they are in a support bubble with or make connections with multiple households. This is to avoid creating chains of transmission.
Asked by: Lord Lipsey (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of how much the increase in daily reported COVID-19 cases can be attributed (1) to increased testing, and (2) to changes in natural prevalence.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Public Health England and the Joint Biosecurity Centre established a Joint Situational Awareness Team that produces a daily situational awareness report to provide an overview of current COVID-19 epidemiology locally, regional and nationally using a range of epidemiological, clinical and other indicators (including testing data). These reports are disseminated to Directors of Public Health and discussed each morning with frontline health protection colleagues to ensure that local knowledge is factored into the interpretation of the data.
Asked by: Lord Lipsey (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, in reporting COVID-19 deaths by location, whether the person’s home address, the hospital where there are treated, or some other factor determines the location recorded.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Public Health England (PHE) reports data on all deaths in people who have had a positive COVID-19 test result confirmed by a public health or National Health Service laboratory. These data include COVID-19 related deaths from all settings, in hospital or elsewhere, and geographical details of residence are assigned using the home postcode of the person who died.
The Office for National Statistics is responsible for publishing mortality statistics for deaths registered in England and Wales. The data is taken from information recorded on the death certificate. The geographical location of a death is assigned according to the address recorded as the usual residence of the deceased. The location of death (hospital, care home, etc) is assigned according to the information provided on the death certificate about the place of death.
Asked by: Lord Lipsey (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the value of the use of probiotics in treating COVID-19.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The use of probiotics and prebiotics to treat COVID-19 are not currently our priority in trials. The Government is investing across the board in both basic genetic research and clinical studies to find a sustainable treatment or vaccine against COVID-19. More information can be found in Our plan to rebuild: the UK Government’s COVID-19 recovery strategy which is attached.
The Government has been at the forefront of the international response to the virus, co-hosting the Coronavirus Global Response Summit on 4 May, pledging £388 million in aid funding for research into vaccines, tests and treatment including £250 million to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.
Asked by: Lord Lipsey (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what calculations, if any, they have made of the savings that would result if the speed limit in roadworks on the M4 was increased from 50 to 60 miles per hour.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Highways England has not assessed the specific savings of using a 60mph speed limit in the roadworks on the M4 between junctions 3 and 12. However, Highways England and its supply chain are currently assessing whether there are opportunities for this higher speed limit to be introduced on the M4. In all cases, careful consideration has to be given to the safety implications of increasing speed limits in roadworks, and not all roadworks will be suitable for a higher speed limit.
Asked by: Lord Lipsey (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sugg on 4 April (HL14781), what discount rate they applied to the forecasted benefits.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The benefits of the scheme were calculated over a 60-year period. The discount rate applied to the forecasted benefits was 3.5% each year for the first 30 years and 3% each year for the next 30 years, as stipulated in the HM Treasury’s “The Green Book: Central Government Guidance on Appraisal and Evaluation
Asked by: Lord Lipsey (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the estimated value of motorists' time lost due to the 50mph speed limit in place as part of the works to create a digital M6 motorway.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The impact of delays during construction of the current M6 Junctions 2 to 4 and Junctions 13 to 15 smart motorway schemes was assessed as part of the economic appraisal undertaken prior to the start of construction. This took into account various factors including the impact of the construction programme in full, lane availability and also the effect of limiting traffic speed to 50mph. This assessment gave an estimated value of £80 million for motorist’s journey time lost during construction.
The economic appraisal also forecast that the completed schemes would give a journey time gain of £802 million to motorists.
In July 2018, Highways England announced its intention to test whether 60mph speed limits in roadworks could be used more often. That work is ongoing, and it is anticipated that the benefits will include improved journey times for motorists.
Asked by: Lord Lipsey (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the estimated value of motorists' time lost due to the 50mph limit in place as part of the works to create a digital M4.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The impact of delays during construction of the M4 junction 3 to 12 smart motorway scheme was assessed as part of the economic appraisal undertaken prior to the start of construction. This took into account various factors including the impact of the construction programme in full, lane availability and also the effect of limiting traffic speed to 50mph. This assessment gave an estimated value of £123m for user delay costs during construction. The economic appraisal also forecasts that the scheme could deliver £2 of benefits for every £1 of cost.
Asked by: Lord Lipsey (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, following the withdrawal of the draft Legislative Reform (Horserace Betting Levy) Order 2018, they intend to revise the guidance by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills Legislative Reform Orders: Guide for Policy Officials, published in May 2016.
Answered by Lord Henley
The current guidance on Legislative Reform Orders (LRO) was published in 2016 and includes comprehensive information on the rules and processes governing the use of LROs. The guidance makes clear that it is the responsibility of the owning Department to scrutinise their proposal against the criteria set out in the Legislation and Regulatory Reform Act 2006 and this scrutiny should be completed with Departmental lawyers. The Government has no plans to issue revised guidance.
Asked by: Lord Lipsey (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect to publish their Green Paper on social care.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The Social Care Green Paper remains a priority for this Government and the Department. We will be publishing the Green Paper at the earliest opportunity.