Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of extending support bubble arrangements to grieving households of any size during periods of (a) national and (b) regional Tier 3 covid-19 lockdown restrictions.

The loss of a loved one can be extremely difficult for people of all ages, particularly during the pandemic where usual systems of support are harder to access.

The regulations make exemptions to the restrictions on gatherings for support groups for those who have suffered bereavement, as well as making provision for ‘linked households’, known as ‘support bubbles’.

A ‘support bubble’ is a network between a household with only one adult or a household with one adult and one or more children who are under the age of 18. In effect, this support bubble acts as a single household with people from another household as if they were a member of a household.

The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (No. 4) Regulations 2020 are the current set of restrictions, which will expire 2 December 2020, and an announcement on their replacement will be made in due course. The government continues to follow the advice of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies and is regularly monitoring current guidelines on COVID-19 restrictions going forward.