CBI weclomes extension of Job Retention Scheme

Dame Carolyn Fairbairn, CBI Director-General, said:

The Chancellor’s welcome extension of the Job Retention Scheme beyond the end of May will help protect the economy and prevent unnecessary job losses through this new lockdown phase. Once again, the Government deserves credit for showing agility in the face of unprecedented challenges.

This extension means that firms will no longer be forced to issue redundancy notices over the next few to days to comply with 45-day consultation requirements, and can instead return to focusing on protecting jobs and their businesses.

  

No firm wants the Scheme to last for longer than it needs to, but it’s absolutely clear that these vital support systems must stay in place until it’s safe for people to return to work and we can begin to restart and revive our economy.

Brent Council puts out a call for new foster carers to avoid Covid-19 disruption to children

From Brent Council

We are calling out for new foster carers to join us in Brent to ensure we have enough homes for the children who need us most.

Whilst the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic is having an impact on us all, some things do not change - our local, vulnerable children still need caring families to look after them.

Anyone who lives in Brent or a neighbouring authority and meets these five basic requirements can apply to foster with us:

1.         Over 21 years old (there is no upper age limit)

2.         Have indefinite leave to remain in the UK

3.         Have available living space: space for a cot in the bedroom to foster babies (0-2 years-old), or a spare room in the house to accommodate older children

4.         Live in Brent or the neighbouring boroughs so that travelling for foster care purposes is easy for you and your foster children

5.         Enjoy spending time with children, and be loving, kind, open-minded and inclusive.

Applicants will undergo an online assessment consisting of virtual meetings and visits, aimed at keeping them and their families safe and protected. Given the urgent need for foster carers, the application process, which normally lasts between 4 and 6 months, can be fast-tracked in certain circumstances.

Cllr Patel said:

We need to make sure that we have enough carers to deal with the challenges posed by Covid-19 and that throughout, our children have someone to look after them. They have experienced disruption before and we do not want them to go through this again. There are lots of caring people in Brent who have what it takes to foster and we hope to see some of them step up to help vulnerable children during this challenging time.

Anyone who is interested in fostering is encouraged to speak to our team directly by calling 0800 001 4041. There is a social worker at the other end of the line from Monday to Friday, between 9am and 5pm. 

Alternatively, to find out more about fostering and to check the support and rewards package, please visit brent.gov.uk/fostering.

At last a response to Brent Scrutiny's recommendations on air quality

Readers will recall that there was some disquiet that Scrutiny Committee reports are merely noted by the Brent Cabinet rather than responded to in detail with action points. This was particularly true of Scrutiny's recommendations on Air Quality which were made after painstaking investogation and consultation with local organisations.

Now 5 months after the initial report Cabinet is to discuss an Executive reponse at Monday's virtual meeting (4pm).

The report is below - comments welcome. Click bottom right corner for full page version:

NHS workers warn of the dangers of premature full re-opening of schools

NHS workers are circulating an open letter to Matt Hancock regarding the dangers of the complete re-opening of schools too early.  NHS workers can add their names HERE

NHS staff support school workers

PLEASE READ AND SIGN THE OPEN LETTER BELOW

Dear Matt Hancock,

As NHS workers with children currently attending school, we are worried about recent speculation that schools could be wholly reopened soon.

The risks of working at the current time should not need explaining to the government. Your own working patterns have resulted in widespread, high profile infection among the ministers and professionals we see on TV every day. The Prime Minister required intensive care treatment, which, in his own words ‘could have gone either way’. We too have seen the impact of this virus at work in essential jobs - although those of us who have had it, may never know because we have not been tested and no antibody test is on the horizon.

The systematic review in the Lancet recently (see below) concluded that evidence regarding the impact of school closures is ‘equivocal’. What is not equivocal, however, is that social distancing works and that school closures ‘flatten the curve’ for other infectious respiratory diseases - such as influenza. The reason findings are equivocal about school closures, per se, for coronavirus specifically is because nobody has kept schools open while maintaining the other measures. What does that tell you? Do not make us the global guinea pigs. It is self-evidently unwise to force hundreds of people into small rooms in small buildings during a pandemic.

Many of us go into small primary school playgrounds of inner-city schools along with the families of the 120 other children for each year group. We are part of a workforce that receives media attention when workers die from this virus. Our risk is higher because of inadequate PPE and exposure to a larger viral load, but other workers are not separated out or counted in the data. We each reflect on the uncounted care workers, transport workers and shop workers who are losing their lives. Their deaths do not make the front pages, but nor do they work in environments that are deep cleaned as often.

There is no cure for coronavirus and there is no vaccine. It is not fair to increase teachers’ risks while not knowing how many people are losing their lives because of work, because a teacher's work means sharing rooms and equipment with many people, from many households, again and again. Some teachers have already tragically died from the virus, and we do not want to risk any more. The conditions of strict widespread testing for suspected Covid-19, rigorous contact tracing and scrupulous adherence to quarantining must be met before a return to schools - for the enduring safety of teachers and the wider community.

Until we know more about the transmission of this virus and the risk factors for severe illness. Until we know that staff can access PPE, virus tests and accommodation if they live with vulnerable people. Until we know that children will not learn that their teacher has died because of an infection caught in their class, we should remain sensible and wait.

The economic harm of keeping schools closed is significant - but is known. This means the government can act and intervene to mitigate this harm. We do not know about the harms of reopening schools yet. The example that is set by opening schools earlier than is known to be safe runs counter to all the messages you are sending - that the recent slowing of hospital admissions should not be taken as a premature signal that we are safe.

Iain Wilson, NHS nurse

References:
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanchi/article/PIIS2352-4642(20)30095-X/fulltext
https://www.tes.com/news/coronavirus-stop-speculation-about-schools-reopening?fbclid=IwAR25fXV31JAr0vX5EHqMd9Qhi-B3boJVn2CC0yMUDx3V-5b2-Uk7Ja5uAno

Green Party must stand shoulder to shoulder with workers during Covid-19 crisis

The Committees of Green Left and Green Party Trade Union  Group (both Green Party organisations) have issued the following statement:

Green Left and Green Party Trade Union Group (GPTU) call on all Green Party of England and Wales’ publicly elected representatives, MP, Assembly Members and Councillors, to seek out and work with trade unions and local and national authorities to ensure that:

· all essential workers are provided with adequate protective equipment, sanitary measures and testing during the CV19 crisis. We note that this should not only include health and caring workers but also cleaners, food and pharmaceutical distribution and preparation workers, transport workers and security workers. 

· no threats of dismissal, pay cuts or other means of coercion are used to compel workers to work when they are in danger of transmitting or contracting CV19. 

· workers who take industrial action due to the unsafe attitude of some employers and government, are supported, so that they do not suffer financial and/or disciplinary sanctions for taking such actions 

· attempts to organise non-unionised workers are supported.

*The Green Party of England & Wales (GPEW) is a significant political presence at local authority level with over 300 Councillors many organised in the Association of Green Councillors (AGC). 

They and other public representatives can play a positive role in defending workers rights at a local level. 

We would also ask local Green Parties to stand shoulder to shoulder with workers over this issue at this very important time.

https://wembleymatters.blogspot.com/2020/04/brent-council-found-no-cause-for.html

http://greentulondon.blogspot.com/2020/04/london-bus-drivers-must-be-provided.html

https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/nurses-told-to-refuse-to-treat-coronavirus-patients-if-they-cannot-get-protective-equipment-as-criticism-of-government-mounts

https://www.rcn.org.uk/covid-19/rcn-position

Brent pays local businesses more than £12m in COVID-19 grants - apply now if you haven't done so yet

From Brent Council

Local business have received more £12million from Brent Council in grant payments aimed at supporting them through the COVID-19 crisis.

Since opening for applications two weeks ago, Brent Council has in the past fortnight paid out a total of £12.3million to 875 businesses through the Small Business Grant Scheme and the Retail, Leisure and Hospitality grant scheme.

Through the Small Business Grant Scheme, a one-off grant of £10,000 is available to businesses currently eligible for small business rate relief, rural rate relief or tapered relief to help them meet ongoing business costs, whereas the Retail, Leisure and Hospitality grant provides a payment of either £10,000 or £25,000 to eligible businesses to help meet ongoing costs.

Cllr Shama Tatler, Brent Council’s Cabinet Member responsible for business said:

I’m glad that so many have come forward to access this support which could be a lifeline for many businesses and for people’s jobs in the borough.

These are unprecedented times and we want to ensure that each and every business that’s eligible for this support receives the help they are entitled to as quickly as possible.
 
As 875 businesses will be able tell you, all we need is a few details to get the payment made.

The sooner we receive these details the sooner we can get the grants paid, so get your forms in and help us spread the word.

NEU calls for clarity on Government's school re-opening plans - Letter to Boris Johnson

From the National Education Union

Letter to Prime Minister calling for end to unhelpful speculation on school and colleges reopening.

In the light of unhelpful speculation on the further opening of schools and colleges the joint General Secretaries of the National Education Union are calling on the Prime minister for clarity on how Government will make such a decision.

Given that a full return to the school population will increase risks to our members and the children in their care the NEU is asking for the modelling, evidence and plans that will form the basis of any decisions made by the Prime Minister and his Government to be shared.

Dear Prime Minister,

We are writing to you on behalf of the members of the National Education Union. First, let us say that we wish you all the best in your personal recovery from the virus.

Our members are hard at work, supporting the children of key workers and vulnerable children who are still attending schools. They are helping efforts to support vulnerable children at home. They are doing their best to support children’s learning in these unusual circumstances.

We are pleased that you, other ministers and Chief Nursing Officer have acknowledged their efforts in helping NHS staff to be at work.

Our members are disturbed, however, by increasing media speculation that schools will soon be re-opened. We consider this speculation to be most unhelpful: it may undermine people’s resolve to stick to social isolation. We are disturbed that it is seemingly being stimulated by unnamed Government ministers.

Given that an early return to full school populations will mean an increased risk to our members and the children in their care, we are writing to ask you to share your modelling, evidence and plans.
As a matter of urgency, and certainly well before any proposal to re-open schools is published, please can you share with our members:

· your modelling of the increased number of cases and mortalities among children, their parents, carers and extended families, and their teachers and support staff, as a result of the re-opening of schools.
· whether such modelling is based on some notion that social distancing could be implemented in schools. (We ask this because our members think it would be a foolhardy assumption.)
· whether your modelling would be based on concrete plans to establish regular testing of children and staff, availability of appropriate PPE and enhanced levels of cleaning - with all of which we are currently experiencing severe difficulties.
· whether your modelling would include plans for children and staff who are in vulnerable health categories, or who are living with people in vulnerable health categories, not to be in attendance at school or college?
· your latest evidence concerning the groups of people who are most vulnerable to death or life-changing consequences as a result of the virus, for example the evidence of the impact on those who live in crowded accommodation, those with different comorbidities, those from different ethnic groups and of different ages and sexes.
· whether the Scottish Parliament, the devolved assemblies in Wales and Northern Ireland and our neighbours in the government of the Republic of Ireland agree with your plans.

Further, given that in re-opening schools and colleges, you would be asking our members to take an increased risk, we believe they have a right to understand fully how any such proposal belongs within an overall Government strategy to defeat the virus.

In this context, please could you give the firmest of indications:

· whether you are developing plans for extensive testing, contact tracing and quarantine in society as a whole? Our members see that countries successfully implementing such strategies have many fewer cases and many, many fewer mortalities than we do in the UK.
· if you are developing such plans, how long it will take to put them in place and how low the number of virus cases needs to be before such a strategy can be successful?
· whether you intend these plans be in place well before schools are re-opened. (This seems essential to us.)
· if you are not developing such plans, what is your overall approach and is it dependent on an assumption that those who have had the virus are subsequently immune?
· of your assessment of the strategies in place in South Korea, where there is a clear policy of testing, contact tracing and continued school closures?

We have written to you as representatives of staff who in the event of schools re-opening would be asked to accept an increased risk for themselves and the children they teach.

You will appreciate that our attitude to the issue of reopening is dependent on the answers to the questions above.

Again, we wish you well in your recovery and in your efforts to bring our country through this crisis.

We restate our willingness to work with you on finding solutions to the problems posed by the current situation.

We look forward to your urgent reply.


Yours sincerely

Mary Bousted Kevin Courtney
Joint General Secretaries

Joint General Secretary

Brent Trades Council opposes lifting coronavirus restrictions too early

BRENT TRADES COUNCIL OPPOSES LIFTING CORONAVIRUS RESTRICTIONS TOO EARLY.

THIS COULD SPARK A RESURGENCE ACROSS THE GLOBE WHICH COULD BE AS CATASTROPHIC AS THE CURRENT ONE.

Workers and trade unionists must publicise the WHO 6 key demands to be included in any exit strategy:

1) Transmission under control;
2) Health services able to cope;
3) Risks in care homes minimised;
4) Preventative measures introduced in workplaces and schools;
5) Virus importation risks managed;
6) Communities able to reduce future transmissions.

STAY AT HOME, SAVE LIVES, STAY SAFE