Lord Robathan

Traffic marshals require specialist training specific to their role. As a minimum, the Parliamentary Marshal team has National Plant Operators Registration Scheme (NPORS) Vehicle Banksman Training.

Training includes a minimum of one day practical (on-site) training and additional classroom training. All candidates are required to complete the NPORS health and safety test and assessment. On successful completion candidates are issued with a NPORS Operators’ Card which is valid for five years.

Some Marshals, including those who are supervisors or managers, have chosen to gain additional qualifications. These include:

• The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents Vehicle Marshal

• Construction Plant Competence Scheme Plant and Vehicle Marshal A73
  

The Traffic Marshals direct vehicles and pedestrians on the Parliamentary estate to minimise the potential for incidents and to mitigate risk identified within the traffic management risk assessments. The team do not have legal authority to stop vehicles.

There are four traffic marshals stationed on the road between Black Rod’s Garden and New Palace Yard (also called the ‘spine road’); there is one marshal in Royal Court, two along the road itself, and one in Speaker’s Court.

Other marshals are located elsewhere -one at Carriage Gates, one outside Westminster Hall, one on the Corus Lane/Peers’ Car Park and one in Black Rod’s Garden. There is also one marshal supervisor and two relief marshals to provide shift and break cover. This makes 11 marshals. The total cost for all marshals per week is £12,588.

Marshals will be in place while construction work is underway as part of the New Palace Yard Security Project. The intention is to reduce the number of marshals on the spine road, and elsewhere in the Palace, once users become more confident with the new arrangement. Strategic Estates are tracking and reviewing the system daily. Any remaining marshals may be deployed where our current monitoring of the one-way system identifies the most need.

The need for traffic marshals is not a consequence of vehicle or pedestrian causalities but is based on risk assessments, traffic modelling carried out prior to the operation of the one-way system, stakeholder requests, and construction industry best practice. On construction sites pedestrians and traffic are almost always segregated, but where this is not possible, such as on the Parliamentary Estate, additional mitigations are required.

Parliament benefits from a significant layered security and policing presence, and is within the Government Secure Zone which also has a substantial policing footprint strengthened by additional protective and deterrent measures. Anything in this area that is deemed suspicious or a threat is swiftly identified, assessed and managed. For security reasons, it is not appropriate to detail publicly specific security arrangements or assessments. The Director of Security for Parliament is content to meet with any Members who wish to discuss specific concerns.

The main criminal offence under the Coronavirus Act relates to potentially infectious persons who refuse to co-operate with the police or public health officers, when they are required to be screened for COVID-19.

There have been no successful prosecutions of any offence created by the Coronavirus Act 2020. A review of completed prosecutions to the end of August 2020 show that 141 cases were incorrectly charged under the Act; because there was no evidence they applied to potentially infectious people, which is what this law covers.

However, data on prosecutions under the Health Protection (Coronavirus) Regulations 2020 shows that under the Regulations there have been 227 prosecutions resulting in guilty pleas, and 6 prosecutions found guilty after trial to the end of August. Data released by the National Police Chiefs Council also shows that 18,912 Fixed Penalty Notices have been issued under the Regulations between 27 March and 21 September by police forces across England and Wales.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.

Dear Lord Robathan,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking how many deaths from COVID-19 there were among patients in hospital aged under 60 with no pre-existing medical conditions (HL8682).

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes statistics on deaths in England and Wales and produces a monthly report[1] on provisional deaths involving COVID-19. Mortality statistics are compiled from information supplied when deaths are certified and registered as part of civil registration. In England and Wales, deaths should ideally be registered within 5 days of the death occurring, but there are some situations that result in the registration of the death being delayed[2].

National Records for Scotland[3] and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency[4] are responsible for publishing statistics on deaths registered in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.

Information on pre-existing health conditions is available based on the conditions mentioned on the death certificate. Our reports on deaths involving COVID-19 contained analysis of pre-existing conditions, most recently based on death occurrences between 2 March and 30 June 2020 that were registered up until 4 July 20201. Our data on pre-existing conditions does not include a place of death breakdown so data has been provided separately instead for deaths involving COVID-19 by place of death.

Table 1 below shows the number of deaths involving COVID-19 that did not have a pre-existing condition, and all deaths involving COVID-19, for persons aged under 60 years, occurring in England and Wales between 2 March and 30 June 2020. Table 2 shows the number of deaths involving COVID-19 by place of death, for persons of all ages, registered in England and Wales between 28 December 2019 and 25 September 2020.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

Table 1: Number of deaths involving coronavirus (COVID-19) that had no pre-existing conditions, and all deaths involving COVID-19, persons aged under 60 years, occurring between 2 March and 30 June 2020 and registered by 4 July, England and Wales[5][6][7][8]

Source: ONS

Table 2: Number of deaths involving coronavirus (COVID-19) by place of death, persons, all ages, registered between 28 December 2019 and 25 September 2020, England and Wales[9][10][11][12]

Source: ONS

[1]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsinvolvingcovid19englandandwales/deathsoccurringinjune2020

[2]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/articles/impactofregistrationdelaysonmortalitystatisticsinenglandandwales/2018

[3]https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/

[4]https://www.nisra.gov.uk/

[5]These figures represent death occurrences rather than death registrations.

[6]All figures for 2020 are provisional.

[7]Includes deaths where COVID-19 (ICD-10 codes U07.1 and U07.2) was mentioned anywhere on the death certificate including as the underlying cause of death.

[8]Includes deaths of non-residents.

[9]These figures represent death occurrences rather than death registrations.

[10]All figures for 2020 are provisional.

[11]Includes deaths where COVID-19 (ICD-10 codes U07.1 and U07.2) was mentioned anywhere on the death certificate including as the underlying cause of death.

[12]Includes deaths of non-residents.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.

Dear Lord Robathan,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking how many deaths of individuals under the age of 65 have been attributed to COVID-19 since 1 February; and of those, how many of those individuals did not have comorbidities (HL8386).

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for publishing mortality statistics for deaths registered in England and Wales. The most recent year for which mortality statistics are available is 2019 however we do publish provisional statistics for weekly death registrations which are currently published for deaths registered up to 11 September 2020. National Records Scotland (NRS) and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) are responsible for publishing the number of deaths registered in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.

Cause of death is defined using the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th edition (ICD-10). Deaths involving COVID-19, defined as either as a contributory or underlying cause of death are identified by the ICD-10 codes U07.1 and U07.2.

The most recent weekly deaths data, based on date of registration, shows that there were 5,550 deaths involving COVID-19 registered for individuals under the age of 65 between 1 February and 11 September 2020.

The latest data available on deaths involving COVID-19 by age group and pre-existing conditions was published in ‘Deaths involving COVID-19, England and Wales: deaths occurring in June 2020’. These figures are based on the date of occurrence rather than date of registration. These data show that there were 5,364 deaths involving COVID-19 that occurred between March and June 2020 to individuals under the age of 65. Of these, 772 (14.4%) did not have a pre-existing condition.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

[1]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/deathsregisteredinenglandandwalesseriesdrreferencetables

[2]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsregisteredweeklyinenglandandwalesprovisional/weekending11september2020

[3]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsinvolvingcovid19englandandwales/deathsoccurringinjune2020

His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the UK’s customs authority, is responsible for the vast majority of customs matters and protects the UK’s fiscal, economic, social and physical security before and at the border. HMRC works closely with Border Force to deliver customs controls for goods entering the UK. This ensures that customs functions are delivered effectively and in such a way that secures the UK border- for example, checking that goods have the correct customs documentation to allow import into the UK. All imported goods are required to meet UK regulations, including any relevant labelling requirements.

The Government has consulted on the detail of implementation and secondary legislation for mandatory biodiversity net gain in the Environment Act, and the response will be published in due course. The mandatory approach will be based on a biodiversity metric which assesses biodiversity using habitats. Species-based features such as bird and bat boxes are not included within the metric; instead it focuses on the habitats such species need to forage and complete their life cycles. Planning Practice Guidance published to help implement planning policy makes clear that relatively small features can often achieve important benefits for wildlife, with incorporating ‘swift bricks’ in developments in particular highlighted as an option. Specific biodiversity features, such as swift bricks, would normally be required for developments through either the relevant local plan or through the local authority’s development control team.

All local authorities have a duty to have regard to conserving biodiversity as part of their policy or decision making. As well as this duty, national planning policy states that the planning system should minimise impacts on biodiversity and provide net gains in biodiversity where possible. Planning Practice Guidance published to help implement planning policy makes clear that relatively small features can often achieve important benefits for wildlife, such as incorporating ‘swift bricks’ and bat boxes in developments and providing safe routes for hedgehogs between different areas of habitat. Specific biodiversity features, such as swift bricks, would normally be required of developments through either the relevant local plan or the local authority’s development control team.

Through the Environment Act 2021 we have introduced a mandatory duty for developers to deliver a ‘biodiversity net gain’, which will mean that habitats for wildlife must be left in a measurably better state than they were before any development.

There are no specific restrictions in fertiliser legislation preventing suppliers from reusing fertiliser sacks. However, guidance around the storage and handling of certain fertilisers such as ammonium nitrate may still apply, which could impact on the feasibility of reusing fertiliser sacks. For example, the Health and Safety Executive recommends precautions to prevent the risk of contamination and spillage, including that bags should be completely sealed on filling. In practice, the reuse of large sacks used by farmers is likely to be limited as they are usually cut open to transfer the fertiliser into the spreading equipment.

There are no provisions in UK animal feed legislation preventing the reuse of plastic sacks. However, feed business operators must demonstrate through their feed safety management systems that the packaging materials used for feed are safe and do not have an adverse effect on animal health, human health, and the environment.

The Government currently has no plans to introduce a legal requirement for the inclusion of spare wheels on all new cars. There are various solutions to flat tyres including full-sized spare wheels, a temporary use space-saver spare, or a sealant and inflation kit. Many manufacturers choose to provide a sealant and inflation kit which has benefits in reducing the weight of the vehicle and increasing usable space.

Whilst we do not hold that specific information, most all-purpose dual carriageways do not have hard shoulders.

National Highways measures safety performance using key metrics, including, Killed and Serious Injuries (KSI) and Fatal and Weighted Injuries (FWI)) which look at absolute values and rates accounting for traffic flows, as endorsed by the Office of Rail and Road.

The latest safety data is available in the Smart motorway stocktake second year progress report published in May 2022 (covering the period 2016-2020). This data shows that, overall, in terms of serious or fatal casualties, smart motorways are our safest roads.

Table I: 5-year average (2016-2020) injury adjusted metrics per Hundred Million Vehicle Miles (HMVM) for all collisions.

There are various solutions to flat tyres including full-sized spare wheels, a temporary use space-saver spare, or a sealant and inflation kit. Many manufacturers choose to provide a sealant and inflation kit which has benefits in reducing the weight of the vehicle and reducing CO₂ emissions.

Incidences of tyre deflation are relatively rare and the Government currently has no plans to introduce a legal requirement for the inclusion of spare wheels on all new cars.

The Health and Care Act 2022 transferred responsibility for water fluoridation from local authorities to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. This was to make it simpler to expand water fluoridation schemes. Subject to a public consultation, which will be published shortly, the Government has announced its intention to expand the current water fluoridation scheme across the North East of England.

The overall weight of evidence and authoritative reviews of relevant and suitable studies indicate that there is no convincing evidence that fluoride at the levels permitted in fluoridated drinking water present a risk of adverse neurodevelopmental effects in children.

Some studies from these countries have reported a reduction in IQ in children associated with exposure to relatively high levels of fluoride. However, the overall weight of evidence and authoritative reviews of relevant and suitable studies indicate that there is no convincing evidence that fluoride at the levels permitted in fluoridated drinking water present a risk of adverse neurodevelopmental effects in children.

The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Victoria Atkins MP) continues to have a duty to monitor the effects of water fluoridation schemes on health and to produce reports at no greater than four-yearly intervals. The last monitoring report for England was published in 2022. This supported the findings of earlier monitoring reports and the wider evidence that water fluoridation, at levels recommended in the United Kingdom, is a safe and effective public health measure to reduce dental caries and inequalities in dental health.

The Water Fluoridation: Health Monitoring Report for England 2022 considered the overall weight of evidence and authoritative reviews of relevant and suitable studies. These indicate that there is no convincing evidence that fluoride at the levels permitted in fluoridated drinking water present a risk of adverse neurodevelopmental effects in children.

A copy of the report is attached.

NHS England began collecting data on the number of patients hospitalised with COVID-19 from 20 March 2020. From 20 March 2020 to 4 July 2021, the number of such patients hospitalised in England is 407,019.

The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center published statistics on 23 February 2021 to show there have been 4,138,233 COVID-19 infections in the United Kingdom.

The Wagner Group continues to play a destabilising role in Libya. The withdrawal of foreign forces and mercenaries, including the Wagner Group, is one of the UK's top priorities in Libya. We have been clear that this should happen without delay as set out in the UK-led UN Security Council Resolution 2570. The Wagner Group is sanctioned under the UK's Russia sanctions regime and the UK continues to work with international and Libyan partners to restore Libya's sovereignty, put the country on a path to sustained peace, security and prosperity and reduce space for hostile actors.

We are deeply concerned by Wagner Group deployments to the Central African Republic, Libya, Mali, Mozambique, Sudan, Syria and Ukraine. We continue to monitor reports of Russian mercenaries in Venezuela, including reports that mercenaries who are either part of or affiliated to the Wagner Group have conducted activities in support of the Maduro regime.

Illegal gold mining in Venezuela involves very serious human rights abuses at scale and is causing significant environmental and wider social damage, especially in the Arco Minero region. Russian private military companies are reported to be active in this area.

The Wagner Group are a driver of conflict and capitalise on instability for their own interests. Wagner does not offer long-term security answers and operates opaquely. The Wagner Group is one of the over 1,000 individuals and businesses sanctioned under the Russia sanctions regime. It would not be appropriate to speculate on further potential Government activity, as doing so could reduce the impact of any options used in the future.

There have been no meetings between Ibrahim Mounir and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office officials or Ministers since the conclusion of the 2015 Muslim Brotherhood Review.

The Government remains committed to reviewing any groups or individuals whose actions may pose a national security threat to the UK. These reviews are undertaken on the basis of credible evidence and we will continue to consider any new evidence on the Muslim Brotherhood's activities against the UK's legal thresholds.

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. The Minister will write directly to the Member with a response shortly.

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Dissolution. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Dissolution. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

Britannia Royal Naval School Dartmouth has implemented COVID-19 control measures, including the operation of a restricted leave policy throughout COVID-19, to protect the Royal Navy's training output in line with its Defence commitments and above all, ensure a safe and secure COVID-19 training environment for its staff and trainees, following as far as practicable, PHE guidance at all times.

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS) - All Army recruits, including Officer Cadets at RMAS, have been confined to Army barracks at some stage during the HMG directed Covid-19 restricted movement period. Trainees and staff were released to travel home only for emergencies or in exceptional circumstances.

RAF College Cranwell - there have been no instances where all personnel at RAFC (Royal Air Force College) Cranwell have been confined to their personal accommodation due to concerns about COVID-19. During the peak of ‘lockdown’ all personnel accommodated at RAFC Cranwell were required to stay at the station, unless there were extenuating circumstances requiring weekend leave. The right to weekend leave was decided on an individual basis.

As lockdown restrictions have now eased, personnel are able to visit family and local community facilities, provided that the extant COVID-19 regulations are adhered to.

As at 17 July 2020 (inclusive), 406 UK Armed Forces personnel had a positive COVID-19 infection test result entered into their medical record. Of which:

• 57 were aged 18-24 years.
• 70 were aged 25-29 years.
• 66 were aged 30-34 years.
• 61 were aged 35-39 years
• 152 were aged 40+years

Two of these UK Armed Forces personnel with a positive COVID-19 infection test result subsequently died; both personnel were aged 40+ years.

It is not Defence policy that Armed Forces personnel be confined to barracks during the COVID-19 pandemic. The only occasions on which personnel may be confined to their accommodation are if they are self- or household-isolating, or if they are required to isolate for a short period prior to deployment.

All terrorist and extremist risk prisoners, including those with known links to terrorist organisations, are managed through a specialist case management process. This process enables us to assess the impact an individual or individuals are having on the stability of prisons and the risk they present to others, including particular groups that may be at risk such as former UK armed forces prisoners and staff.