ORDER ‘NOT NORMALLY SEEN IN PEACETIME’
NEW powers to be given to the UK’s governments amid the coronavirus pandemic will be of an order “not normally seen in peacetime”, Wales’ First Minister has said.
Mark Drakeford, right, said emergency legislation being published in
Parliament yesterday would allow ministers more control in devolved areas, and would include being able to re-purpose schools and ban mass gatherings.
Mr Drakeford told a press conference in Cardiff: “The Bill responds to the unprecedented difficulties that we face and is based on the need to reduce the rise in coronavirus on the one hand, and to free up public service from some of the more normal requirements so that they can be doing more at the front line.”
He said the Bill gives Welsh ministers new powers in devolved areas which were “of an order that would not normally be seen in peacetime”.
“These are powers to be used if we reach a point where such draconian interventions in the lives of individuals are necessary,” Mr Drakeford said.
Schools could be forced to close or remain open, teachers could be redeployed to address shortages and standard ratios of staff to children and qualification requirements could be disapplied, he said.
There are also temporary changes to the Mental Health Act to allow the number of people required to make decisions to be “slimmed down”.
“It provides new powers in relation to the managing of the number of deaths which coronavirus might provide; for example, extending the opening hours of crematoria,” Mr Drakeford said.
He said he expected the Coronavirus Bill to receive Royal Assent and become law by the end of March.
Mr Drakeford said there were “no imminent plans for a lockdown” of cities or towns in Wales to help slow down the spread of the virus, but said he echoed Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s comments on Wednesday that “nothing can simply be ruled out”.
Asked whether the courts in Wales and England should continue to stay open for trials lasting fewer than three days, Mr Drakeford said “all advice is being revised all the time”. “If the advice changes then the actions will change.”
The First Minister said the founding principles of the health service would be “tested over the weeks ahead”, but that people with the most urgent care needs would be put “at the front of the queue”.
Mr Drakeford said it was “good news for Wales” that Health Minister Vaughan Gething had tested negative for Covid-19 and is back at work, after he self-isolated because his son was ill with a cough.
Asked whether widespread testing should take place, Mr Drakeford said the regime is being extended so “essential service workers” can return to work sooner than the seven to 14-day selfisolation period if they tested negative.