1st Report - Unequal impact? Coronavirus, disability and access to services: interim Report on temporary provisions in the Coronavirus Act

Select Committee
Women and Equalities Committee HC 386 25 September 2020
Report Status Government responded
Conclusions & Recommendations 13 items (8 recs)
Source View on Parliament website
Government Response (AI assessment · 12 of 13 classified)
Accepted 2
Accepted in Part 1
Acknowledged 3
Deferred 1
Not Addressed 2
Rejected 3
Government response
2nd Special Report - Unequal impact? Coronavirus, disability and access to services: interim Report on temporary provisions in the Coronavirus Act: Government Response to the Committee’s First Report · published 25 Jan 2021
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Recommendations & Conclusions

3 results
9 Recommendation Rejected
Para 50
Assessing needs and securing provision for children and young people meeting the threshold for EHC...
Recommendation
Assessing needs and securing provision for children and young people meeting the threshold for EHC Plans was an extreme challenge for local authorities during the peak of the pandemic earlier this year. Local authorities could not have been expected to … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government states it kept temporary changes to EHC Plan duties under close review and restored full support by July 31st. They do not intend to issue further notices to modify the EHC duty unless evidence changes, thereby implicitly rejecting the need to review processes for making faster decisions to return to full duties.
Government Equalities Office
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11 Recommendation Rejected
Para 54
If the Secretary of State for Education’s power to invoke the “reasonable endeavours” duty in...
Recommendation
If the Secretary of State for Education’s power to invoke the “reasonable endeavours” duty in relation to EHC Plans is to remain in place, we recommend the Department for Education update its guidance to local authorities to include the factors … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government states it does not intend to issue any further notices to modify the EHC plan duty unless evidence changes, effectively rejecting the recommendations to update guidance with minimum standards and examples or to issue notices on a local basis only, as they do not plan to reintroduce such flexibilities.
Government Equalities Office
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13 Recommendation Rejected
We consider the section 98 arrangements for six-monthly parliamentary review of temporary Coronavirus Act provisions...
Recommendation
We consider the section 98 arrangements for six-monthly parliamentary review of temporary Coronavirus Act provisions unsatisfactory. The Act prescribes a binary “take all or leave all” vote, which will present MPs with no real choice over provisions which have clear … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government rejected the recommendation to arrange separate votes on individual Coronavirus Act provisions, stating that existing mechanisms like the six-monthly review and renewal vote, alongside two-monthly reports, provide sufficient and proportionate parliamentary scrutiny.
Government Equalities Office
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