It was the last week of sitting in most legislatures around the country this week, with the notable exception of the House of Lords, which will continue to put in a hard day’s work until next Thursday. So what have they been cramming in before the end of term non-uniform day and afternoon films on an old nineties telly?

Westminster

On the green benches we saw a debate about the impacts of long covid on the workforce, with opposition MPs arguing that the Government should be doing more to examine and tackle the issue. Long covid, the reported continuing symptoms of earlier covid infection has itself proved to be intensely controversial, not only amongst lay people, but also professionals. With a wide range of symptoms being reported, medical research is still ongoing as to the nature of the condition.

For the Government this presents something of a problem. With medical research still ongoing and firm conclusions yet to be reached, it’s difficult to draw any conclusions about the degree of support and change that might be necessary to support sufferers. For the time being, they seem to be lumping it in with other long-term health conditions.

In particular, the minister mentioned the “Health is everyone’s business” consultation which ran from 15^th July 2019 to 7^th October 2019, still relatively early in the pandemic. The response does acknowledge the pandemic, but makes no mention of long covid, instead referring to learning from the impacts of covid. With large numbers of people reporting long covid symptoms, and as research progresses, it might be interesting to see if minds change at any point further down the line. Whilst it seems unlikely, it’s the sort of case that would be ripe for a legal challenge by a campaign group.

Scotland

Maternity services were on the agenda in Scotland this week, with proposed increases in mother and baby unit capacity being considered alongside a wider debate on accessibility of services. Scotland’s geography, particularly in the more northerly parts, can make accessibility to centralised services something of a challenge. In this debate, one MSP highlighted the situation of expectant mothers in Caithness having to travel 100 miles to give birth in a maternity unit.

Consultation in difficult geographies is not something we look at very often, but probably is something we should consider more. It’s another place where drawing on local networks and links can be very useful. In Scotland where there is a big focus on community involvement in decision-making, these sort of arrangements have proven useful in bridging geographical gaps, but as we have highlighted in the past many arrangements lack the comprehensive legal protection that good consultation can give.

With more consultation JRs coming out of Scotland, we’re not sure whether there hasn’t been a bit more of a turn back to consultation on top of these involvement arrangements. If that’s the case, then we might need to start considering the issue of geography in consultation considerably more.

Wales

One of the major legacies of Welsh industrial history is the issue of coal tips, mounds of waste materials once removed from coal mines. Many communities in Wales play host to them, and safety concerns continue to be a major consideration, especially with increasingly wet weather increasing risk. The Welsh Government is now following up on a Law Commission report on the issue and will be launching a White Paper on consisted coal tip management strategy which could involve a supervisory body.

With many of these coal tips being in often deprived or under-considered communities, there will need to be a specific focus in the White Paper on how to bring communities along with the ideas in it. Communities such as this still often unfortunately fall within the seldom heard category, and can slip through the gaps- something which only perpetuates injustices and disparity. We’ll keep an eye out for the White Paper and take a look at it when it comes out.