Petition Protect benefits claimants from sanctions for missed appointments during COVID19

As the result of the large numbers of petitions and signatures we've received on coronavirus, we will be putting your concerns and questions directly to the Government at an evidence session (a question and answer session with representatives from the Government) in the coming days.

Tell us what question(s) you'd like us to the ask the Government and experts in this short survey: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/petitionscommittee/

We'll email you again to let you know more about the session, including when it's going to happen, who'll be taking part and how you can watch it live.

We will also email you a link to the video and a transcript of the session afterwards.

Who are we?

We are the House of Commons Petitions Committee. We are a cross-party group of MPs that looks at e-petitions submitted on petition.parliament.uk. We are independent from Government. You can find out more about us and our work on our website: http://www.parliament.uk/petitions-committee/role

You can follow the Petitions Committee on Twitter: @HoCpetitions

We emailed people who had signed this petition by 16 March to ask for your questions about the Government’s response to coronavirus.

Thank you to everyone who sent us your questions: we received over 60,000.

We put the most requested questions to the Government Minister for Schools, the Minister for Disabled People and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer. These included:

• How long will schools be closed for and what will the impact be on exams and grades?
• What financial support will be available for the self-employed?
• What financial support will be offered to people who are unable to pay their rent or bills due to self-isolation or loss of work?
• What support will be offered to the events, creative and hospitality industries now that pubs, clubs and cultural venues have been closed?
• What clear, practical steps can people take to make sure they are following Government guidance on social distancing, household isolation and self-isolation?
• Who is being tested and why, and will tests be made freely available to everyone?
• What is the Government doing to ensure that everyone is getting the right information?

Watch the session on YouTube: https://youtu.be/aPLXJcZEfi8

Read the transcript: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/192/the-governments-response-to-coronavirus/publications/written-evidence/

Because of the large number of petitions that we continue to receive on coronavirus we have sent more questions to the Government to answer.

Read our letters to different Government Ministers: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/publications/3/correspondence/

Some of the questions we’ve asked include:

• When will testing capacity will be increased; who will testing be available for and will it be free?
• What is being done to tackle the spread of disinformation?
• How quickly will support for self-employed people be made available?
• What will happen to the school year? Will summer holidays be cancelled so that children can catch up?
• How are foodbanks being supported to continue operating during the outbreak?
• What is being done to address panic buying and prevent price hikes of key items?
• Will trains, buses and flights continue to operate? For how long?

We’ll email you again to let you know when we get a response to these questions, and to let you know about any more action the Committee takes.

Who are we?

We are the House of Commons Petitions Committee. We are a cross-party group of MPs that looks at e-petitions submitted on petition.parliament.uk. We are independent from Government. You can find out more about us and our work on our website.

You can follow the Petitions Committee on Twitter: @HoCpetitions.

Further information

You can read impartial House of Commons Library information about coronavirus here: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/coronavirus/

You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:

https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips

MPs will debate the Work and Pensions Committee Report on the DWP’s response to the coronavirus outbreak this Thursday 26 November in the main House of Commons Chamber. The subject of the debate has been determined by the Backbench Business Committee.

This will be a debate on a motion proposed by Stephen Timms MP, Chair of the Committee, on which Members may vote at the end of the debate. It calls for the Government to take note of the report, and to increase relevant legacy benefits in line with increases to universal credit, to take steps to return people who have been inadvertently left worse off under universal credit compared with their previous benefits, and to suspend the no recourse to public funds visa condition for the duration of the coronavirus outbreak.

The debate will start in the afternoon, following the debate on the final report of Climate Assembly UK.

Read the report: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/1558/documents/14743/default/

Watch the debate: https://parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/4a97645c-8b6c-4ccc-a267-b564dfeab638

Find out more about how Parliamentary debates work: https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/business/debates/
Find out more about the Backbench Business Committee: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/202/backbench-business-committee/