Lord True and Lord Bethell to give evidence on use of emergency powers during pandemic
Lord True, The Minister of State at the Cabinet Office and Lord Bethell, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Care, will tomorrow give evidence to the House of Lords Constitution Committee on the use of emergency powers during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The session is part of the Committee’s ongoing inquiry into the constitutional implications of Covid-19 and will focus on the legislative response to the pandemic, scrutiny of secondary legislation and legal certainty.
Questions the Committee is likely to ask Lord True and Lord Bethell include:
- For what reasons did the Government not include a lockdown power in the Coronavirus Act 2020?
- Has Parliament been able effectively to scrutinise the secondary legislation the Government has brought forward during the pandemic?
- What plans, if any, does the Government have to review and consolidate emergency powers as a result of the pandemic?
- How effectively have the three devolved Governments and the UK Government worked together during the pandemic?
- How effectively have local government leaders been involved in decisions about the UK response to Covid-19?
- What plans does the Government have for constitutional reform? What are the prospects for the commission to consider the Constitution, Rights and Representative Democracy?
The session will take place virtually on Wednesday 13 January at 09:45am and can be followed on Parliament TV.
