Powers granted by the Bill, which MPs are not to be given a vote on, will last for two years. Proposals revealed this week include expanding the availability of video and audio link in court proceedings.
‘This will ensure that an appeal takes place but will not
require a person to break quarantine in order to attend in person. It will also
enable the expansion of the availability of video and audio link in various
criminal proceedings, including full video and audio hearings in certain
circumstances, and public participation in relation to these and other court
and tribunal proceedings conducted by audio and video.
‘The measures will enable a wider range of proceedings to be
carried out by video, so that courts can continue to function and remain open
to the public, without the need for participants to attend in person. This will
give judges more options for avoiding adjournments and keeping business moving
through the courts to help reduce delays in the administration of justice and
alleviate the impact on families, victims, witnesses and defendants.’
Other proposals in the Bill include enabling regulators to
emergency register suitable people as regulated healthcare professionals,
including recently retired people and students nearing the end of their
training, as well as social workers who may have recently left the profession.
The Bill also provides indemnity for clinical negligence
liabilities arising from NHS activities carried out for the purposes of dealing
with, or because of, the coronavirus outbreak, in order to legally protect
health workers.
There will be changes to legislation dealing with doctors' opinions on detaining mental health patients and time limits, as well as to
procedures in relation to death and still-birth certification.
Commenting in LexisPSL Public Law, Gerard Hanratty, partner
at Browne Jacobson, said: ‘The proposals also address the reality of how
serious this issue is by specifically addressing the need to manage the
deceased with dignity and respect. Overall, the Bill contains a realistic set
of proposals to support and enable our public services during this difficult
time.’
The Bill might also contain protection for private sector
renters during the crisis. The National Housing Federation has confirmed that
housing associations will not evict tenants in the event they fall behind on
rent due to coronavirus.
Olwen Brown, partner at Anthony Collins Solicitors,
commenting in LexisPSL Public Law, said: ‘The government has said that local
authorities will be fully compensated for coronavirus expenditure but it’s not
necessarily easy to identify what that is, so time will tell on the reality of
the policy.
‘The news about council tax relief for those hit by the virus
has however got to be good news, especially given the economy that persists at
the moment and the number of families likely to be affected as shops, restaurants
and bars close. But of course, this is also a time when the demands on councils
for social care support is going to be growing, and given the enormous hits to
local authority budgets since 2010, unless central government does make good on
its promise to pay, the impact on councils is going to be unbearable.’
The Bill may amend the Care Act 2014 to enable local
authorities to prioritise the most urgent care needs. It is also likely to
remove the rules on waiting days in relation to statutory sick pay, while
employers with less than 250 employees should be able to reclaim statutory sick
pay.
