Covid Monitoring (2020)
Request
- Since March 2020 until the current date might I enquire what assessment has the house taken to monitor the movement/progress of covid 19 across the parliamentary estate?
- Further to the above might the house provide on a monthly basis breakdown any data it has recorded on cases/outbreaks etc of that type
Response
- Since March 2020 until the current date might I enquire what assessment has the house taken to monitor the movement/progress of covid 19 across the parliamentary estate?
We have interpreted your request to be for details of the Covid-19 Risk Assessment document for Parliament.
Whilst the House of Commons holds this information, it is also already publicly available. This information is exempt from disclosure in accordance with section 21(1) and (2)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), which removes a public authority from the obligation to provide access to information which is already in the public domain. This is an absolute exemption and the public interest test does not apply.
However, it may help you to know that information relevant to your request can be found under Health & Safety on our transparency pages. - Further to the above might the house provide on a monthly basis breakdown any data it has recorded on cases/outbreaks etc of that type
Some information is held by the House of Commons in relation to your request. The House holds information about confirmed cases of Covid-19 among House of Commons and bicameral staff, where they are reported. For the period from March 2020 to date, 19 confirmed cases have been recorded.
The House holds further detail about confirmed cases of Covid-19, including a monthly breakdown. However, due to the low numbers of staff involved disclosing any further breakdown beyond the number above may make it possible for individuals to be identified. This information is therefore exempt by virtue of section 40 (2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), as disclosure of this information to the public generally, in the House’s view, would not be consistent with data protection principles in Article 5 of the General Data Protection Regulations. This is an absolute exemption and the public interest test does not apply.
Please note that there is no formal requirement for parliamentary passholders to report cases of Covid-19 to the House, although all are encouraged to do so. In addition, cases are recorded regardless of whether an individual has been working on the parliamentary estate or not.