Covid-19: Masks

Lord Mann Excerpts

Thursday 11th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Mann (Non-Afl) [V]]

I do not intend to tell the Government what they should be doing, but I hope that they are following the science. In Germany, Berlin is not mandating or requiring the use of face masks, unlike some other regions, such as Saxony, which are. Are the Government evaluating any difference in the prevalence or death rate in Berlin compared to, say, Saxony, where the policy on face masks is entirely different?

Some football clubs are now producing their own face masks. Can we anticipate, at some stage later this year, socially distanced spectators at outdoor sports, such as cricket and football, wearing face masks in order to watch their favourite team?

Covid-19: R Rate and Lockdown Measures

Lord Mann Excerpts

Tuesday 9th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bethell [V]]

I share the noble Baroness’s tribute to the nation’s carers. This week is Carers Week, and it is quite right that the House pays tribute to the contribution of all those who have looked after loved ones and neighbours in the manner she described so well. Support for carers has been at the front of our minds, but she rightly reminds us that we could do more in a second wave, and we are looking hard at ways of developing that support in the months to come.

[Lord Mann (Non-Afl)]

What discussions have Ministers had with their German counterparts about the success of the German test and trace system?

[Lord Bethell [V]]

I have conversations with the German Government, medical authorities and diagnostic industry on a very regular basis. I have a fortnightly call with my counterpart in the German health system. It is true that Germany had a more developed and more local testing facility than the British at the beginning of the epidemic, but since then we have built up our capacity dramatically and we regularly do more tests than our German counterparts at the moment. The testing regime being developed is already delivering fantastic results that match those of many countries.

National Health Service Commissioning Board and Clinical Commissioning Groups (Responsibilities and Standing Rules) (Amendment) Regulations 2020

Lord Mann Excerpts

Monday 8th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Mann (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, the Government have a great opportunity because the public mood, as I judge it, is that the time for some coherent change is now. I think that the public would be prepared to pay that bit more to underwrite the changes that would guarantee the system.

There seems to be a growing consensus across parties that a significant amount of extra money will be needed. I am sure that there are plenty of arguments about where precisely that will come from, but I want to address where it goes. Nothing has frustrated me more over the last 20 years than seeing this disparity between the NHS and local authorities. Care for the elderly, as defined by care homes, has to be the provenance of the NHS. It is absurd that someone having to be released into a care home by a hospital, because they are not capable of living in their own property—whether owned or rented—and require additional support, is a health decision.

We are missing some obvious tricks. Where I live, housing is dealt with by the district council, social care by a county council. Our CCG is coterminous with the district council. What ought to happen is agreement on funding so that the district council builds housing for what I have in the past termed intermediate care. It must be housing that is fit for purpose so that people significantly delay going into a care home. It is supported living.

It is undeniably the case where I live is that old-style council bungalows—two bedrooms, very simple, very small, with a tiny garden, semi-detached or in blocks of four—are the most popular. Why? It is because they are the cheapest to live in and heat, and the easiest to clean, maintain and grow old in. If they were all fully adapted, people would be able to live in them for even longer. Families can and would want to give that support in the vast majority of cases. That is a form of care home, but I have seen so many people put into institutions when they would have thrived far more with a level of independence, if the system had allowed it.

Draft Human Tissue (Permitted Material: Exceptions) (England) Regulations 2020

Lord Mann Excerpts

Monday 18th May 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Mann (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, I shall be brief. The noble Baroness, Lady Deech, made my key point most eloquently, so I will not repeat her words. How much have the Government reached out in their consultation to groups which are out of the mainstream in their religious beliefs? Will the Government be reaching out further to build support for what they are attempting to achieve—I wholeheartedly endorse that and am pleased to see it moving forward without delay? There is a danger that, at some stage in the future, those who genuinely but strongly adhere to more inflexible religious beliefs may create a major argument with the Government, through the courts or the court of public opinion. This could be damaging, as those groups have been less likely to offer donations than the rest of the community. That has been well documented and analysed in a series of reports. How will the Government reach out to those who are less instinctively desirous of this change to ensure that they are either supportive or feel sufficiently consulted to be neither hostile nor oppose it?

Covid-19 Update

Lord Mann Excerpts

Monday 16th March 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bethell]

Yes, it would.

[Lord Mann (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, will the Government be giving precise advice to agencies dealing with the homeless? Will care workers on zero-hours contracts who need to go into self-isolation be paid by anybody? Are the Government relying on the House of Lords to set the best example in following the Chief Medical Officer’s advice?

[Lord Bethell]

On the provisions for those on zero-hours contracts, that is an area that is particularly knotty and difficult. It is absolutely the focus of the current negotiations on statutory sick pay and other provisions; it is one we care very much about getting right. As for the advice for those in the House of Lords, I cannot repeat the advice of the CMO more times than I have already. I very much hope that everyone will follow it.