Jul. 21 2020
Source Page: DVSA annual report and accounts, 2019 to 2020Found: To comply with social distancing rules , we suspended the majority of practical driv er and rid er
Written Evidence Jul. 15 2020
Inquiry: Life beyond COVIDFound: In sum, although I am advocating the need to encourage public compliance with social distancing rules
Written Evidence Jul. 14 2020
Inquiry: Defence contribution to the UK’s pandemic responseFound: Our military delivery busi ness has proceeded as normal, with all operations being fully compliant with
Mentions:
1: Lord Sheikh (CON - Life peer) I commend these organisations on their ingenuity and for revising their arrangements to comply with social - Speech Link
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the capacity of UK Visa and Immigration services to process applications, following the suspension of the priority service and the closure of Sopra Steria and some VFS global visa application centres; what consideration they have given to the need to process applications from NHS staff before the suggested changeover date of 5 August; and when they expect a full service will resume.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
As UK Visas and Immigration begins to reopen its Visa Application Centres both in the UK and overseas, we are working closely with our partners to maximise the available capacity to service applicants in line with social distancing rules in each location.
For those applicants who are due to start work in the NHS but who are unable to make their application from overseas due to the temporary closure of the Visa Application Centres, they should contact the UKVI NHS Team by emailing UKVINHSTeam@homeoffice.gov.uk and the team will seek to assist them.
Applicants sponsored by the NHS who lodge an application in the UK under Tier 2 can begin work immediately while their application is under consideration.
The Home Office has put in place a range of measures to support those affected by the covid-19 outbreak, full details of which are published on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-for-uk-visa-applicants-and-temporary-uk-residents. The department continues to monitor the situation closely and takes these exceptional circumstances into account.
These are unprecedented times and further adjustments may be made to requirements where necessary and appropriate, to ensure people are not unduly affected by circumstances beyond their control.
Written Evidence Jun. 26 2020
Inquiry: Unequal impact: Coronavirus (Covid-19) and the impact on people with protected characteristicsFound: Its inability to cope with further strain, coupled with social distancing rules, has meant that additional
Oral Evidence Jun. 25 2020
Committee: NoneFound: come under financial pressure as well, and production had to be largely halted almost immediately with
Written Evidence Jun. 16 2020
Inquiry: Unequal impact: Coronavirus (Covid-19) and the impact on people with protected characteristicsFound: However, to ensure prisons are complying with social distancing rules and to protect staff and prisoners
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has received representations from representatives of (a) dancing schools, (b) the Royal Shakespeare Company and (c) other stage-based entertainment bodies on how those bodies can reopen and operate in conformity with social distancing rules; whether he has made an assessment of the practicability of those proposals; and what support his Department provides to those bodies to ensure that they will not cease to exist before their reopening is permitted by the Government.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
In order to ensure appropriate support and guidance is given to the cultural sector, DCMS has established the Cultural Renewal Taskforce and the Entertainment and Events working group which include extensive membership from across the artistic and creative industries sectors. The focus of these groups’ work is on ensuring that COVID-19 secure guidelines are developed in line with the phasing ambitions and public health directions, building on the existing guidance and providing intelligence and sector-specific expert input. These groups specifically include representatives for dance and stage based entertainment, all of whom are being consulted extensively on how the sector can reopen and operate under social distancing. Full details of the Taskforce can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/culture-secretary-announces-cultural-renewal-taskforce and the Entertainment and Events Working Group can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/cultural-renewal-taskforce-and-supporting-working-groups#entertainment-and-events-members.
The Secretary of State, my fellow Ministers and DCMS officials continue to consult the creative and cultural sectors extensively to ensure they understand fully the potential impacts of the Covid-19 outbreak on the sector. DCMS officials and ministers have also held regular calls with representatives from across the arts and cultural sector and these have included representatives from the Royal Shakespeare Company and a number of dance schools and representatives including Sadler’s Wells and Northern Ballet.
The Secretary of State and DCMS are committed to supporting the cultural sector through this pandemic and getting the curtain up at venues across the country as soon as it is safe to do so. In addition to the unprecedented financial measures the Government has announced DCMS has also worked closely with its arm’s-length bodies to deliver tailored support packages at speed, including the £160m Emergency Funding Package announced by Arts Council England, made possible by Government funding.
Mentions:
1: Ewing, Fergus (SNP - Inverness and Nairn) that, for some self-catering accommodation and fixed-unit caravans, it is perhaps easier to comply with - Speech Link