Last December the UK Government, working alongside the Government of Gibraltar, reached agreement with the Spanish Government on a political framework to form the basis of a UK-EU treaty regarding Gibraltar. We are committed to delivering a treaty which safeguards the UK's sovereignty of Gibraltar and supports the prosperity of both Gibraltar and the surrounding region. Negotiations will begin once the EU has agreed its mandate and we are confident that a treaty between the UK and the EU can be agreed. However, if this does not prove to be the case, or the deal on offer is not the right one for the UK and Gibraltar, we are fully prepared to accept the implications. The UK will stand fully behind Gibraltar, its people and its economy in any scenario.

The UK stands by its assurances to Gibraltar that we will never enter into arrangements under which the people of Gibraltar would pass under the sovereignty of another state against their freely and democratically expressed wishes, nor enter into a process of sovereignty negotiations with which Gibraltar is not content.

Testing National Health Service staff who have symptoms consistent with COVID-19 has been available from 29 March 2020. The NHS staff groups of both Chorley and South Ribble Hospital, and Preston Hospital are included within this guidance and any other NHS England guidance.

Further guidance is now available on testing non-symptomatic staff groups.

In line with the Lord Carter of Coles report furthering the modernisation of pathology services, a network approach supporting the consolidation and integration of laboratory testing continues to progress. The networked approach has enabled the pathology services across England to stand up significant testing capability rapidly.

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust host the microbiology hub and provide COVID-19 testing for the hospitals within its management, including Chorley and South Ribble Hospital.

To provide a more comprehensive response to a number of outstanding Written Questions this has been answered by an information factsheet Testing – note for House of Lords which is attached, due to the size of the data. A copy has also been placed in the Library.

Local authorities and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), working with their Local Resilience Forums and drawing on their pre-existing plans for pandemic influenza and the latest guidance for the COVID-19 outbreak available online at GOV.UK, should follow the steps to support people who use direct payments to purchase care and support. The role of the commissioner of their direct payment, whether the local authority or the CCG, is to provide assistance in accessing personal protective equipment.

Proposals to temporarily close the accident and emergency department at Chorley and South Ribble Hospital were discussed at a senior level within the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Fylde Coast Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and NHS England and NHS Improvement during March 2020, in light of the emerging COVID-19 pandemic.

The decision to temporarily reconfigure services at Chorley and South Ribble Hospital was taken via a virtual meeting of the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Board on 26 March 2020, under emergency powers in response to the pandemic. The aim was to address patient safety issues and make the critical care service more sustainable in managing the expected increase in COVID-19 patients who need critical. The decision was communicated to staff on the same day with two press statements being added to websites and further shared via email to range of stakeholders, including local media, hon. Members, local councillors, integrated care system and integrated care provider colleagues, neighbouring trusts and CCGs and the North West Ambulance Service between 27 and 31 March 2020.

NHS England can confirm that Chorley and South Ribble Hospital is being used for COVID-19 testing.

Data on the numbers of ambulance drivers who have died and been placed in intensive care due to COVID-19 is not held centrally.

Data on usage of private ambulances is not held centrally. The use of private ambulances is decided at a local level by trusts and their commissioners based on capacity needs on a day to day basis.

The accident and emergency department at Chorley and South Ribble Hospital has been temporarily modified to provide an urgent care level service. This is to safely manage the local response to COVID-19. This temporary change will be kept under review during the pandemic and services will be reinstated as soon as reasonably possible, based on local service needs.

We are working around the clock to give the social care sector and wider National Health Service the equipment and support they need to tackle this outbreak. We have delivered over 1 billion items of personal protective equipment (PPE) across the health and social care system within England.

The full weight of the Government is behind this effort and we are working closely with industry, social care providers, the NHS, and the armed forces to ensure the right equipment continues to be delivered.

The United Kingdom Government and devolved administrations have published clear guidance on the recommended PPE for different types of ambulance staff.

On 27 March, Lancashire Resilience Forum started a process of purchasing personal protective equipment outside of the Government’s delivery scheme. NHS Blackburn with Darwen Clinical Commissioning Group and NHS East Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group are all local partners which have been involved in these purchases.

To ensure NHS services can best meet the needs of their local population and ensure the most efficient and safe use of the available resources during the response to COVID-19, it has been necessary to implement some temporary service changes. These changes will be kept under review during the period of the pandemic and services will be reinstated at an appropriate future juncture.

The accident and emergency department at Chorley and South Ribble Hospital has been temporarily modified to provide an urgent care level service. This change is to facilitate the treatment of acutely ill COVID-19 patients on a single site, at the Royal Preston Hospital. The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care was informed of this change on 25 March 2020.

In Lancashire, in addition to the change at Chorley and South Ribble Hospital, paediatric accident and emergency services are temporarily closed overnight at Ormskirk Hospital. NHS England and NHS Improvement have stated that there have been no further temporary closures of accident and emergency services in England during this time.

To ensure NHS services can best meet the needs of their local population and ensure the most efficient and safe use of the available resources during the response to COVID-19, it has been necessary to implement some temporary service changes. These changes will be kept under review during the period of the pandemic and services will be reinstated at an appropriate future juncture.

The accident and emergency department at Chorley and South Ribble Hospital has been temporarily modified to provide an urgent care level service. This change is to facilitate the treatment of acutely ill COVID-19 patients on a single site, at the Royal Preston Hospital. The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care was informed of this change on 25 March 2020.

In Lancashire, in addition to the change at Chorley and South Ribble Hospital, paediatric accident and emergency services are temporarily closed overnight at Ormskirk Hospital. NHS England and NHS Improvement have stated that there have been no further temporary closures of accident and emergency services in England during this time.

The Government announced on 30 April that the Rugby Football League (RFL) will receive a £16 million cash injection to safeguard the immediate future of the sport for the communities it serves.

This emergency loan will help the sport deal with the extreme financial impact of the coronavirus outbreak while the season remains suspended, due to social distancing measures.

It comes ahead of England hosting the Rugby League World Cup next year, which will see the men's, women's and wheelchair games come together for a world first on the sport's biggest stage. The Government’s manifesto included a commitment to delivering a successful tournament, with significant financial support already provided.

The United Kingdom is negotiating the future relationship with the EU on behalf of the whole United Kingdom family, including Gibraltar. We continue to work with the Government of Gibraltar, in keeping with the mature and modern constitutional relationship which Gibraltar enjoys with the United Kingdom, and we will remain steadfast in our support for Gibraltar, its people and economy.

Insects are an essential part of our environment and pollinating insects play a crucial role in food production. Government research has shown that a major pressure on pollinating insects has been the loss of flower-rich habitats but there are several other threats, which are likely to interact, including climate change, land use intensification, invasive species, disease and inappropriate pesticide use.

The Government has not made a direct assessment of the impact of pesticides on other insect populations. We ensure that the use of pesticides is only authorised where detailed scientific assessment finds that this will not harm people or have unacceptable effects on the environment (including on insects). The UK supports the current restrictions on the use of neonicotinoid insecticides that were put in place in 2018 to protect pollinating insects. We will maintain these restrictions unless the scientific evidence changes.

Since 2014, the Government has been working with a range of partners on the National Pollinator Strategy to address the various threats and help pollinators to thrive. There is strong scientific evidence that by increasing habitat for insects, we support long-term population increases and we are working to that end with farmers, businesses and conservation organisations.

In 2015, the Government amended section 3 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 to specifically make it an offence to allow a dog to attack an assistance dog. The maximum penalty for such an offence is three years imprisonment or an unlimited fine, or both. Information on the number of guide dog or other assistance dog attacks is not collated centrally, and information on the penalties imposed as a result of a conviction under section 3 of the Act does not specify whether the offence was specifically in relation to an assistance dog.

In 2015, the Government amended the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 to specifically make it an offence to allow a dog to attack an assistance dog. The maximum penalty for such an offence is three years imprisonment or an unlimited fine, or both.