Debates between Robert Halfon and Matt Hancock during the 2019 Parliament

Mon 19th Apr 2021
Thu 17th Dec 2020
Mon 14th Dec 2020
Wed 17th Jun 2020
Tue 3rd Mar 2020
Mon 27th Jan 2020
NHS Funding Bill
Commons Chamber

2nd reading & 2nd reading: House of Commons & 2nd reading & 2nd reading: House of Commons & 2nd reading

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Robert Halfon and Matt Hancock
Monday 19th April 2021

(2 years, 11 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Matt Hancock Portrait Matt Hancock
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The admiration in which I hold NHS staff holds no bounds. The question of pay is rightly one for the independent pay review body, and I look forward to its publication.

Robert Halfon Portrait Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con) [V]
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On Friday I visited the vaccination centre at the Harlow Leisurezone to see the extraordinary work it is doing. Will my right hon. Friend thank the remarkable NHS staff and volunteers at the Harlow Leisurezone and at Lister House for vaccinating 40,000 residents in Harlow with their first jab? Given what he has said previously about Public Health England and the move to Harlow, will he meet me and colleagues to discuss the move and the exciting proposals for Public Health England, to ensure that Harlow and the surrounding area of west Essex becomes the public health science capital of England?

Matt Hancock Portrait Matt Hancock
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May I add my praise for those at the vaccination centre at Harlow Leisurezone? They have been working incredibly hard and we are all very grateful. I would add Essex County Council to my right hon. Friend’s long list, which I fully endorse. The council has leaned into the vaccination effort right across Essex. I am always happy to meet him, and with the recent announcement on the UK Health Security Agency, I think now is a good time to have a discussion on this topic.

Health and Social Care Update

Debate between Robert Halfon and Matt Hancock
Thursday 18th March 2021

(3 years ago)

Commons Chamber
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Matt Hancock Portrait Matt Hancock
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People across Scotland who were listening to that will recognise that political point scoring is the opposite of what is needed right now and that instead the UK Government are delivering for people across Scotland the benefits of this United Kingdom working together. Instead of making arguments for constitutional meddling and separation, we are delivering for people. We are delivering vaccines into arms. We are delivering a testing system that works for people across the whole of the UK. Crucially, we are also delivering that enormous economic support package to businesses and individuals alike. All of this is possible only because of our great United Kingdom, and I am glad that the people of Scotland increasingly recognise that.

Robert Halfon Portrait Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con) [V]
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I welcome my right hon. Friend’s statement and pay tribute to him for the vaccine programme, along with everyone else in the NHS. Given the £200 million already spent on the move of Public Health England to Harlow, first announced by the Government in 2015, and the additional £120 million given this year to facilitate the move, will he set out the progress on and timings of the move of Public Health England or its successor body to Harlow and the next steps on the completion of the Harlow campus, as part of our country’s programme to modernise our public health science?

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Robert Halfon and Matt Hancock
Tuesday 2nd February 2021

(3 years, 1 month ago)

Commons Chamber
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Matt Hancock Portrait Matt Hancock
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What the SNP spokeswoman failed to mention is that it is only because we built the huge genomic surveillance capacity that we now have, which is available right across the UK, that we have been able to spot these variants of concern. This is a critical point, because those sorts of variation happen everywhere, but the challenge is to spot them as soon as we can and act on them.

The hon. Lady asked about travel. We already have in place rules against all non-essential travel, with clear “stay local” guidance. We also have mandatory isolation for new arrivals, so yes, we have tightened in response to the new evidence that she mentioned, but she did not also mention the fact that it is only because the vaccine programme is rolling out so rapidly across the whole UK that we are able to protect people against the old variant, which of course is the most widespread, in combination with the variant discovered in Kent. That is the way that we will get out of this situation. It is a UK programme, and we are enthusiastic and willing, from the UK Government point of view, to do everything we possibly can to support that roll-out, including all the way across Scotland, to make sure that people in Scotland and every other part of this United Kingdom can get their jab as soon as possible.

Robert Halfon Portrait Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con) [V]
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I pay tribute to my right hon. Friend and to the vaccines Minister, my hon. Friend Member for Stratford-on-Avon (Nadhim Zahawi), for the work they have done on vaccines. Will my right hon. Friend thank Essex Council, NHS staff and volunteers in Harlow who have, so far, vaccinated many thousands of residents?

Public Health England has said that adults over 18 with learning disabilities are at greater risk of dying than most people aged 65 to 74. International studies show that if someone is learning disabled aged 55 to 64, death rates are comparable to those for people aged over 80. My right hon. Friend will have seen the parliamentary petition on this, signed by many thousands, so will he work with the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation to move the adult learning disabled high up the priority list for vaccinations?

Matt Hancock Portrait Matt Hancock
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I pay tribute to all those working in Harlow, including at the Harlow mass vaccination site, and also to the GPs and the pharmacists who are working so hard to vaccinate people right across Harlow.

On the question of the JCVI ordering and the prioritisation for vaccination, as my right hon. Friend knows, I think the best approach is to take the clinical advice and to follow that clinical advice. The sorts of considerations that he raises are an important part of the JCVI deliberations. I know it has looked very closely at the subject he raises. What matters now that it has made and published its decision is that we drive through the vaccination programme to get through as many of those groups as possible, and I am very pleased to see the hundreds of thousands of new vaccinations that are taking place every day.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Robert Halfon and Matt Hancock
Thursday 17th December 2020

(3 years, 3 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Matt Hancock Portrait Matt Hancock
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We have plans in place to ensure that the vaccine can continue to be distributed whatever the outcome of the discussions on a future trading arrangement with the EU.

Robert Halfon Portrait Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con) [V]
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Early this morning I visited a vaccination centre in Harlow that is running like a military operation and has started vaccinating the elderly and those in care homes. Will my right hon. Friend thank West Essex clinical commissioning group, GPs, staff and volunteers who are vaccinating many hundreds of Harlow residents? Will he also set out a route map by which Harlow can return to tier 2? I strongly welcome the testing announced for schools, but can he confirm that school openings will not be delayed in January?

Matt Hancock Portrait Matt Hancock
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I am very grateful for what my right hon. Friend says about the vaccination centre in Harlow. It is an uplifting sight visiting a vaccination centre. Rarely have I seen so many smiles on faces this year, which has been such a difficult year, as when I visited the Milton Keynes vaccination centre last week. I am really glad that it is working well in Harlow. I add my thanks to his thanks to the GPs, the volunteers and the staff—all those organising the vaccinations.

In terms of a route map out of the tier, of course in time the vaccination programme will help, but for now the best thing people can do is to bring the case rate down by doing everything they personally can to not pass on this disease. Unfortunately the case rate in Harlow is 302 per 100,000—very, very elevated—and in nearby Epping Forest, unfortunately, it is over 500. It is a very serious problem. We all have to pull together to try to sort out this growth of the virus locally, and that is the route to tier 2.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Robert Halfon and Matt Hancock
Monday 14th December 2020

(3 years, 3 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Matt Hancock Portrait Matt Hancock
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I would recommend people to exercise caution over Christmas, especially with respect to seeing elderly relatives, who, of course, people are yearning to see. I understand that, but I think it is important that people not only abide by the rules, but take personal responsibility in case they have coronavirus and might be passing it on, but do not have any symptoms and do not know about it.

Robert Halfon Portrait Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con) [V]
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My right hon. Friend will know that I have supported all the measures that have been put in place, and I have put my faith in the Government and the scientists and medical officers. However, I have real worries about Harlow in Essex being put into tier 3, as local hospitality businesses are really struggling and on their knees. I would be grateful if he could explain how further restrictions will curb the disease, given that cases increased in Harlow during the second national lockdown. I understand that the virus has recently stabilised in Harlow and that there has been no rate of increase in the over-60s in the last week. Further to this, the overall increase in cases in Harlow is 12% against a regional average of 40%, so I ask him to consider keeping Harlow in tier 2.

Matt Hancock Portrait Matt Hancock
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Unfortunately, cases are rising in Harlow and in the districts of Essex and Hertfordshire nearby, so we do have to take the action that we are. What I say to my right hon. Friend, who is an incredible champion of Harlow and his local community, is let us work together to get this down, let us work together to get this done and let us work together to try to get Harlow back into tier 2 as soon as possible, not just to save lives and protect the NHS in Harlow, but to give people their livelihoods back.

Coronavirus

Debate between Robert Halfon and Matt Hancock
Wednesday 17th June 2020

(3 years, 9 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Robert Halfon Portrait Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con) [V]
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Remarkable consultants, doctors, nurses, support staff and domestic workers at Princess Alexandra Hospital in my constituency of Harlow have saved and nursed back to health more than 270 patients from this awful coronavirus. Will my right hon. Friend pay special tribute to the workers at Princess Alexandra Hospital and the management team and also confirm—because of the pressures on that hospital—that we will get our new hospital and a new site as soon as possible?

Matt Hancock Portrait Matt Hancock
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Absolutely. My right hon. Friend is the greatest friend that there is to the Princess Alex Hospital in Harlow. He has campaigned on it absolutely rigorously—ruthlessly, too—since he was first elected. First, I pay tribute to all the frontline staff and support staff, who have worked so hard at the Princess Alex through this crisis, for their service. Secondly, I reconfirm that we will rebuild the Alex and make sure that it is a world-class hospital.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Robert Halfon and Matt Hancock
Tuesday 10th March 2020

(4 years ago)

Commons Chamber
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Matt Hancock Portrait Matt Hancock
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Yes, absolutely. My right hon. Friend is right to highlight the threat of AMR, because microbial illness and disease is just as much of a threat as viral disease and we must ensure that we retain the tools that we currently have through antibiotics to tackle it. We are investing in that space with more to come.

Robert Halfon Portrait Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)
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4. What progress he has made on new hospital projects.

Coronavirus

Debate between Robert Halfon and Matt Hancock
Tuesday 3rd March 2020

(4 years ago)

Commons Chamber
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Matt Hancock Portrait Matt Hancock
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Yes, that is absolutely our intention.

Robert Halfon Portrait Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)
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Will my right hon. Friend thank the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow for dealing with a case and for all the work it does? May I bring him back to the issue of workers? In Harlow, at least 8,000 people are working in retail, food, customer service, front-of house, leisure, transport and accommodation services. Those people, who are often on lower pay, could lose their wages, especially if restaurants cut the number of staff, for one reason or another, in the event of a serious outbreak. Will the Government consider setting up an insurance scheme if things get much worse to ensure that individuals such as the workers I have mentioned do not lose their incomes?

Matt Hancock Portrait Matt Hancock
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As I have said several times, we are keeping this area under review. We are also looking into what we can do to support successful businesses that might have a short-term negative impact from some of the disruptions that have come with, and could come further with, coronavirus.

NHS Funding Bill

Debate between Robert Halfon and Matt Hancock
2nd reading & 2nd reading: House of Commons
Monday 27th January 2020

(4 years, 2 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Matt Hancock Portrait Matt Hancock
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The hon. Member is quite right to raise this. There is a Public Health England unit or hub at Heathrow to meet all flights from China now; it met the one flight that has come from Wuhan directly since news of this outbreak reached the level it did last Wednesday. The advice is clear to anybody who is worried about having coronavirus, and that is to call 111. If they have travelled to Wuhan or elsewhere in China recently, they should declare that to the 111 service when they call, and the 111 service has the full advice available. It is important for them to call 111 or to call their GP rather than going to a GP or to A&E, for exactly the reason that we want people to self-isolate if they have been to the region or if they think that they may have the virus.

I will now move on to the Bill. As we have been highlighting with the NHS work on the coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, few things in life are certain. However, it is the job of Government to plan for the future, even though we cannot fully see it. We do not know for instance exactly how many babies will be born in four years’ time, but we can anticipate demand for maternity services. We do not know exactly how many people will make a 999 call in four years’ time, but we can and must plan for that. Indeed, we do not know if the Labour party will have a competent leader in four months’ time, let alone four years’ time, but I hope for the country’s sake to see the hon. Member for Leicester South (Jonathan Ashworth) on the Opposition Front Bench well into the next decade. There is one institution that, with this Bill, knows it will get the funding it needs in 2024, and that is the NHS, because this Bill injects the largest and longest cash settlement ever granted to the NHS and will enshrine it into law—£33.9 billion extra a year by 2024.

Robert Halfon Portrait Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)
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Does not this excellent Bill ensure that people will never again be misled into thinking that we are selling off the national health service to Donald Trump? Does the Secretary of State also agree that the money guaranteed in this funding Bill will ensure that places such as Harlow will have a new hospital, as has been guaranteed by my right hon. Friend?

Matt Hancock Portrait Matt Hancock
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Yes, I am delighted to be able to assure my right hon. Friend that, on both counts, he is absolutely spot-on. This Bill makes it clear that we will be funding the NHS with its long-term plan and making this long-term commitment as a minimum. The election result put paid to the scaremongering put about by Opposition Members in relation to the NHS in trade deals, because the NHS is not on the table. When it comes to Harlow, my right hon. Friend and the people of Harlow well know that I am delivering: we will have a new hospital in Harlow.

Wuhan Coronavirus

Debate between Robert Halfon and Matt Hancock
Thursday 23rd January 2020

(4 years, 2 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Matt Hancock Portrait Matt Hancock
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I appreciate the cross-party approach that is being taken to this outbreak, as reflected in the shadow Minister’s remarks. I shall address the specific points that she raised. On the reports from the flight that arrived yesterday, it is important that we get the enhanced monitoring right. The challenge is that symptoms for the Wuhan novel coronavirus do not usually appear until five to seven days, and sometimes up to 14 days, after a person has been infected, and therefore the advice is that the most important part of the monitoring is to ensure that everybody knows what to do if the symptoms arise, because often the symptoms will not be there for somebody on the flight. Having said that, we do not expect further flights from Wuhan, because the Chinese authorities have taken steps to stop travel out of the city.

The hon. Lady asked whether we will be monitoring flights from other Chinese cities or, indeed, from anywhere else. The current evidence suggests that the vast majority of cases are in Wuhan. Obviously we keep that under constant review, and we will not hesitate to take further steps, if necessary, to protect the British public.

Robert Halfon Portrait Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)
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We have a big and vibrant Chinese community and a very large Chinese community centre in Harlow. What information is being sent to such Chinese community centres? Many members of the Chinese community have relatives in Hong Kong, so what will be done if this disease reaches Hong Kong?

Matt Hancock Portrait Matt Hancock
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There is evidence of potential cases of the coronavirus in Hong Kong, although the vast majority of cases are in Wuhan city. We will keep that under review.

The advice to my right hon. Friend’s Chinese residents is exactly the same as the advice to all, which is to avoid anything but essential travel to Wuhan city and that direct flights from Wuhan city appear to have ceased. An awful lot of people who work for Public Health England are already in Harlow, with more to come. I am sure he would want to join me in thanking them for the vigilant work they are undertaking.

Health and Social Care

Debate between Robert Halfon and Matt Hancock
Thursday 16th January 2020

(4 years, 2 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Matt Hancock Portrait The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Matt Hancock)
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This Queen’s Speech has health and social care at its heart. For the first time in the history of the NHS, we will enshrine in law our long-term funding settlement. Yesterday we brought forward the NHS Funding Bill, which makes a record financial commitment of £33.9 billion more each year—the largest cash injection since the NHS was founded. It will enable us to go further and faster in delivering better health and social care in this country over the next decade. We are already delivering on this Queen’s Speech. We are already delivering on our manifesto, and this Queen’s Speech sets out how we will deliver on the rest of our manifesto. How many new hospitals will there be over the next decade? Forty! That was even mentioned by the hon. Member for Leicester South (Jonathan Ashworth).

Robert Halfon Portrait Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)
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Will the Secretary of State give way?

Matt Hancock Portrait Matt Hancock
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I give way immediately.

Robert Halfon Portrait Robert Halfon
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I am delighted that my right hon. Friend has mentioned new hospitals because we have a new hospital coming in the Harlow constituency. Does he not agree that that shows the level of investment that this Government are putting into our national health service? Will he set out the plans for our new hospital—not a rebuild, not a reconfiguration, but a new hospital for Harlow?

Matt Hancock Portrait Matt Hancock
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That is right, and of those 40 new hospitals over the next decade, one of the very first will be in Harlow. I pay tribute to my right hon. Friend, who has been a champion of Harlow for the last decade and has championed the need for a new hospital in Harlow. I am working very closely with the Harlow trust to make sure that that new hospital delivers what is needed for the people of Harlow. I very much look forward to working with him, and perhaps even being invited to cut a ribbon in due course.