Lords’ Scrutiny Committee voices concerns over wide definition of critical worker

Article summary

The Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee in the House of Lords has raised fears that the guidance on critical workers is causing issues. They allege the problem is twofold. Firstly, the definition of a critical worker is not included in the relevant legislation, which can lead to ambiguity about the interaction between legal regulations and non-binding guidance. Secondly, due to the widened definition of who is a critical worker, some schools have more than 50% of pupils in attendance. The Committee has encouraged the Lords to request an urgent review of the definition and for it to be written into the legislation so that it may be scrutinised by Parliament.