Closed petition Allow larger supermarkets to remain open without restricted hours on Sundays

Last week the Petitions Committee put some of the most popular questions from the public about coronavirus 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

Have you struggled to get your weekly shop? Are you self-isolating or shielding and relying on deliveries or food parcels? Do you use a foodbank?  
 
A group of MPs called the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee would like to hear about your experiences of accessing food during the coronavirus outbreak.

You can share your experiences here: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=nt3mHDeziEC-Xo277ASzSsdf6aRbb_hHi61kcnJ3-KJUOFFXNEhLSDlFTUZaQzU1TlNEWVkwUVhHUC4u
 
They’d like to hear from you by 28 April. Your answers will help them to understand the issues people are facing and what questions MPs need to ask the Government. 
 
They might publish some or all of your responses, or read them out when they’re asking questions in a public Committee meeting or in the House of Commons. So please don’t share any personal information that you don’t want to be public.
 
You can get updates on their work by following the Committee on Twitter @CommonsEFRA or on their website: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/52/environment-food-and-rural-affairs-committee
 
 ### What is the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee?
 
The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee looks at and questions how the Government Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
 
·         is run
·         spends money
·         decides on its policies
 
It's a cross-party committee and is independent of the Government.
 
This is a ‘select committee’. Find out how Select Committees work:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_2RDuDs44c