The Department consulted on making vaccination a condition of deployment in older adult care homes from 14 April to 26 May 2021 and received more than 13,500 consultation responses. The Department also conducted extensive engagement, including meeting with organisations representing paid and unpaid carers, and with individuals with lived experience of care. These discussions have formed a crucial part of our policy development.

Regulations were laid on 22 June to make vaccination a condition of entry in all Care Quality Commission-regulated care homes. Exemptions apply to service users and their friends or relatives; those under 18 years old; those providing emergency assistance or urgent maintenance work; those visiting service users who are dying or experiencing bereavement; and individuals who should not be vaccinated for clinical reasons.

We recognise the vital role all unpaid carers play, especially during this difficult period and are committed to supporting carers to provide care as they would wish, and to do so in a way that supports their own health and wellbeing and other life chances.

The Health and Social Care Bill provides an opportunity to create a health and care system that is more accountable and responsive to the people that use it. We are committed to ensuring that the voices of unpaid carers and those who access care and support are properly embedded in the design and development of Integrated Care Systems.

We are working with the National Health Service and wider scientific community to better understand the long-lasting effects of COVID-19 infection, including symptom severity, symptom duration and how best to support recovery. Over £30 million of funding has already been committed to ‘long’ COVID-19 research projects and a further £20 million is available for an additional research call announced on 25 March 2021.

Specialist NHS ‘long’ COVID-19 assessment services have opened across England and NHS England and NHS Improvement have announced that more than 80 clinics will be open by the end of April 2021.

Public confidence in the vaccine programme is of paramount importance. The Government will continue to provide clear and regular updates to the public on progress and the impact of the programme, including publishing evidence on the effectiveness of the vaccines and data on adverse reactions to the vaccines.

Public Health England (PHE) has been monitoring the effectiveness of the vaccines, including the effects of dosage schedules. NHS England regularly publishes guidance and runs public information campaigns on the vaccines, to ensure the public is fully aware and informed. Data from PHE’s SIREN study shows that both available vaccines, Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford/AstraZeneca, provide high protection against COVID-19 infections after a single dose, beyond 56 days of having been vaccinated. A copy of Public Health England’s Annex A: Report to JCVI on estimated efficacy of a single dose of Pfizer BioNTech (BNT162b2 mRNA) vaccine and of a single dose of ChAdOx1 vaccine (AZD1222) is attached.

In England, more than 98% of the population are currently within 10 miles of a vaccine service. In a small number of highly rural areas, the vaccination centre will be a mobile unit. Local vaccination services can also coordinate and deliver vaccination to people who are unable to attend a vaccination site, including visiting care homes, residential facilities for people with learning disabilities or autism, prisons, the homes of housebound individuals, and to reach vulnerable groups such as those who are experiencing homelessness. In England, the latest data from 2 April shows that a total of 1,791 vaccination sites have now been established.

The Supreme Court has upheld the Court of Appeal judgment. Workers on ‘sleep-in’ shifts are entitled to the minimum wage for the time they are awake for the purpose of working.

The Government is considering the implications of the judgement with care commissioners and providers to consider what action, if any, is needed. We therefore have no plans to bring forward legislative proposals to amend National Minimum Wage regulations at this time.

During the pandemic, the Government’s priority for adult social care is to ensure that people get the care they need and are protected from COVID-19. We are committed to bringing forward a plan for social care to ensure that everyone is treated with dignity and respect and to find long term solutions for one of the biggest challenges we face as a society.

In response to these COVID-19 challenges, in August 2020 the Food Standards Agency launched the ‘Here to Help’ campaign to provide tailored guidance for small food businesses such as restaurants, takeaways and coffee shops, to outline changes to hygiene processes and requirements they must follow as they develop new ways of working. The Here to Help campaign aims to support businesses in getting this right, to ensure consumers continue to have access to food that is safe. Assessing whether food takeaway businesses comply with food law is the responsibility of local authorities.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has been clear that the National Health Service will get whatever funding it needs to respond to COVID-19.

In July, the Chancellor announced an extra £31.9 billion of support for health services and on 24 September, an additional £16.4 billion for health services. As part of this funding we have provided funding to a £3 billion package of additional capacity initiatives to support the NHS through the winter, including keeping the Nightingale hospitals capacity available during winter, accessing increased capacity from independent sector providers, and supporting increased safe discharge of patients from NHS hospitals.

The Government is keeping its social distancing measures under continual review. The Government will only make changes when we are confident we can do so safely. The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care keeps the restrictions and requirements under constant consideration, to ensure the measures continue to be both proportionate and necessary. The Government continues to issue guidance to support the public.

We do not hold data nationally on reasons for care home closures.

Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are required to shape their local market to ensure that they are sustainable, diverse and offer high quality care and support for people in their local area. The Care Act places a duty on local authorities to ensure that people continue to receive the services they need if their adult social care provider is no longer able to carry on delivering services. As in any market there are entries and exits of care providers, however the number of overall care home beds has remained broadly constant over the last 10 years from 460,664 beds in 2010 to 457,847 beds, as of June 2020.

The Government recognises and appreciates the vital contribution made by unpaid carers, including young carers, who are providing invaluable support for relatives, friends and neighbours who are ill, elderly or disabled during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For those who find themselves in severe financial difficulties, the Government announced up to £16 million to provide food for charities and other organisations supporting those who are struggling as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of this funding will provide millions of meals and be delivered through charities including FareShare and WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme).

The Government recognises and appreciates the vital contribution made by unpaid carers, including young carers, who are providing invaluable support for relatives, friends and neighbours who are ill, elderly or disabled during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For those who find themselves in severe financial difficulties, the Government announced up to £16 million to provide food for charities and other organisations supporting those who are struggling as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of this funding will provide millions of meals and be delivered through charities including FareShare and WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme).

The Government has stepped in to support the supply and distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE) to the care sector. We have focused on ensuring there is an emergency supply in place, whilst building a longer-term solution for distribution to the sector.  There are no plans to provide PPE for the family of care home residents. We continually keep our guidance under review.

We are aware that limiting visits in care homes is difficult for many families and residents who want to see their loved ones. We are working with the National Health Service and Public Health England, service users, academics and the voluntary sector to gather evidence and assess the potential longer-term impacts of COVID-19 on mental health and loneliness.

We are reviewing our policy on visitors and are looking to update our guidance shortly.

The Chief Medical Officer discourages in the strongest terms organisations from buying their own unvalidated antibody tests. Professor John Newton has also warned that unapproved tests could be misleading, by providing inaccurate or inconsistent results, potentially putting those tested and those around them at risk. He has therefore advised organisations both in the public and private sector against the use of antibody tests that have not been verified in a laboratory setting.

The Government has no plans to allow general practitioners (GPs) in training who have not completed their final exams, or those who have failed to pass the Membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners’ examination, to join the GP register.

The emergency powers in the Medical Act 1983 do not allow the General Medical Council to grant temporary specialist or GP registration to doctors who have not previously held this type of registration.

If a doctor has been removed from GP training due to failure to demonstrate competence for practice, there is no means in statute for them to become fully qualified GPs without demonstrating this competence.

The Royal College of General Practitioners and the four statutory education bodies are working to find a solution for trainees who have had their examinations cancelled as a result of COVID-19 to demonstrate their competence and qualify as a GP. A temporary recorded alternative to the Clinical Skills Assessment is rapidly being developed (subject to approval by the General Medical Council). The Royal College of General Practitioners is also working with their testing partner to enable the Applied Knowledge Test to resume at test centres with appropriate social distancing safeguards in place from July and are investigating options for remote invigilation for those who are shielding.

The Government has no plans to allow general practitioners (GPs) in training who have not completed their final exams, or those who have failed to pass the Membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners’ examination, to join the GP register.

The emergency powers in the Medical Act 1983 do not allow the General Medical Council to grant temporary specialist or GP registration to doctors who have not previously held this type of registration.

If a doctor has been removed from GP training due to failure to demonstrate competence for practice, there is no means in statute for them to become fully qualified GPs without demonstrating this competence.

The Royal College of General Practitioners and the four statutory education bodies are working to find a solution for trainees who have had their examinations cancelled as a result of COVID-19 to demonstrate their competence and qualify as a GP. A temporary recorded alternative to the Clinical Skills Assessment is rapidly being developed (subject to approval by the General Medical Council). The Royal College of General Practitioners is also working with their testing partner to enable the Applied Knowledge Test to resume at test centres with appropriate social distancing safeguards in place from July and are investigating options for remote invigilation for those who are shielding.

The National Minimum Wage and Living Wage apply across social care and we expect local authorities to work with providers to determine a fair rate of pay.

We are incredibly proud of all our National Health Service staff. We are working hard to ensure that staff feel supported and safe to continue the fight against COVID-19.

The Government is working around the clock with industry and the army to give the NHS the equipment and support they need to tackle this outbreak. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, we have delivered over 1 billion items of personal protective equipment (PPE) across the United Kingdom. The guidance on PPE is consistent with World Health Organization guidance for protecting health and social care workers from COVID-19.

The Government recognises the extraordinary commitment of NHS staff, working day and night putting our care and safety at the centre of everything they do. Annual pay awards for NHS staff are determined by an independent transparent pay review body process. We want to ensure that the NHS employment offer continues to attract, retain and reward staff and this offer continues to be kept under review.

We have centrally held stocks of a range of medical products, including face masks, to mitigate supply problems and help ensure the uninterrupted supply to the National Health Service. We have well established procedures to deal with supply problems, regardless of the cause, and work closely with industry, the NHS and others in the supply chain to help prevent shortages and to ensure that any risks to patients are minimised. Face masks for the general public are not recommended to protect from infection, as there is no evidence of the benefit of their use outside healthcare environments.