I have been approached by constituents who are working hard for charity. One has asked me to mention his idea that people stuck at home might like to donate the price of their missed haircut to charity. To do so he has set up www.haircutforcharity.com for those who would like to check it out.
Another has told me about Rotary’s wish to raise money for disaster relief. They are planning a telethon on May 2nd at COVID-19#RotaryResponds.
I have received this update from NHS England:
Dear Mr Redwood
Since the announcement on 25th March that all routine dentistry should cease, there are now 36 hubs now fully operational across the South-East of England.
Urgent dental care hubs have been opened in Berkshire over the last week with hubs opening in Maidenhead and Bracknell on 14th April, Reading on 20th and Slough on 21st.
When establishing the urgent care hubs we have had to consider the requirements of patient access alongside the safety of those patients and the dental team delivering those services. Critical to the safety of the dental team is Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). The availability of this equipment has limited the number of sites from which services can be provide at this stage. In identifying the sites for the hubs, we have located them in the main population centres, also trying to ensure they are accessible to the surrounding areas. Many of the residents of Wokingham Borough live in wards on the outskirts of Reading.
The other issue we have had to take into account are the different patient needs likely to be presented on an urgent basis. The potential Covid-19 status of the patients impacts on which hubs they will be referred to. The hubs in the two largest population centres (Reading and Slough) are for most of the population and can provide treatment for patients who are Covid-19 symptomatic, self-isolating or asymptomatic. The hubs in Maidenhead and Bracknell are for patients who have been identified as shielded from Covd-19 or greater risk to significant damage to their health due to Covid-19. The services delivered from these hubs will be delivered by a service provider who specialises in providing treatment for more vulnerable patients (the Community Dental Service).
Patients will access the hubs if necessary, via referral from their NHS dental practice. If patients do not regularly attend an NHS practice, they can find out about NHS dental practices close to their home via https://www.nhs.uk/
When they contact the dentist, the dentist will assess their needs offering advice or prescribing medication where necessary. If the dentist believes that urgent treatment is necessary, they will refer to an urgent care hub who will carry out a further assessment to confirm that urgent treatment is required and book the patient an appointment.
The referral process is underpinned by an electronic referral management system that will direct the patient to the hub that is closest to their home address and appropriate to their wider health needs.
The hubs that have been established to date are the first tranche of hubs and we will continue to look at the possibility of opening further hubs if circumstances allow, but the safety of the patients and the dentists are primary considerations in this process.
Yours sincerely
Sarah Macdonald
Director of Primary Care and Public Health Commissioning
NHS England and NHS Improvement – South East Region
Yesterday I published a study of the damage done to the UK economy by the boom and bust policies of past decades. It was part of a series of papers commissioned by the Centre for Policy Studies and published on Capx. It will be followed by a web based event next Wednesday at 5pm.
I looked at the Oil and Secondary banking crash of 1974, the Exchange Rate Mechanism boom and bust of 1989-92, and the Great Recession and banking crash of 2005-9. In each case the Bank of England allowed easy money and credit to excess, then reined it in too quickly, causing a damaging downturn and creating massive instability in the financial system.
I contrasted these big errors of the Bank with the more supportive policy of the new Governor, working closely with the government and so far keeping things liquid enough to avoid a financial and banking meltdown. I made my case that there is no such thing as an independent Central Bank serving a single country. All Central Banks are state owned and answerable to those who run the government. They can appear to be independent for a bit if there is political agreement about their task and their performance, but as soon as a major policy issue or disagreement about economic policy arrives action will be taken to make the Bank supportive of government.
Today the damage to the main economies of the wrold is the direct result of government policy to control the virus. The role of the Central Banks is to ensure the recessions brought on by lock downs do not turn into a financial crash as well. So far a hyperactive Fed and accommodating Central Banks elsewhere show they are determined to avoid a crash. They are also showing they wish to co-operate with their governments, seeing monetary and fiscal policy as important and complementary mechanisms.
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I have received the enclosed update from HMRC:
Dear Sir John,
I want to update you on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. I’m very grateful to the huge number of MPs who have shared HMRC’s guidance on the scheme with constituents and would please ask you continue to do so.
More than 285,000 businesses have already applied for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme since it went live on Monday 20 April. To be sure payment comes through to employers before the end of the month, they will need apply today (Wed 22 April).
Accessing the system
We have noticed that some people have had difficulty accessing the system
because they do not have an active PAYE enrolment. In order to make a claim
they will need to:
I’m pleased to say that we were able to investigate and resolve the issue quickly thanks to the agents who raised an issue with authorisations when the new system first went live on Monday morning.
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme Calculator
We are updating the online calculator tool so that it covers more employment circumstances this afternoon. The update will mean that employers can use it to work out what they can claim for most employees who are paid irregular amounts each pay period, as well as those who are paid fixed amounts.
Webinars now available
To support businesses, we have been offering live webinars on a variety of Covid-19 related topics, including the Job Retention Scheme and how to make a JRS claim.
Employers can book a place on our ‘how to’ JRS webinars here.
They can book a place on any of our other webinars or watch a recording on HMRC’s YouTube channel
If employers in your constituency have already made a claim
Employers should retain all records and calculations for their claims, in case
we need to contact them. Provided their claim is made in accordance with HMRC’s
published guidance, they can expect to receive the funds six working days after
their application. We ask them not to contact us before this time.
HMRC will check claims made through the scheme and will act to protect public money against anyone who makes a claim using dishonest or fraudulent information.
We continue to be busy supporting customers at this time, so we would ask that they only call us if they can’t find what they need on GOV.UK or through our webchat service – this will leave our lines open for those who need our help most.
We’d encourage all employers to also protect their own credentials from potential scammers and opportunist criminal activity.
I hope this update is helpful. I continue to wish you all the best at this challenging time,
Jim
Harra
First Permanent Secretary and Chief Executive, HMRC
Recent experiences with delayed and cancelled deliveries of medical equipment and clothing from abroad should lead us to ask whether we should source more of these important items from home.
Procurement and state aid rules has required us to source many things through open tender globally or within the Customs Union of the EU. Today there are many UK companies that could make medical machines, offer clothing and produce drugs and vaccines. Some can do so already, some would need to invest in capacity and would want reasonable assurances of sustained contracts.
The challenges posed by the virus are leading many countries, governments and companies to reconsider their arrangements. There was always an override to procure the most sensitive and potent parts of defence equipment nationally, with further limitations on buying from outside friendly states and the NATO alliance for things we do not make for ourselves. It looks as if these arrangements can be widened to cover more goods.
Recent experiences will re open the case for Chinese involvement in our digital systems and networks. Delays with PPE will lead to a wish to have more capacity here in the UK that can be scaled up in times of emergency.
I have always argued that our defence policy requires us to own the relevant technologies and to have plans to produce much more of our requirement at home against the day we have no wish to see were we to get into a larger war where enemies tried to throttle supplies from overseas.
It would also be a good part of strategic and emergency planning to make sure we have the capacity at home to handle medical emergencies, which must include the supply system to provide the drugs, medical supplies and equipment needed for any given pandemic or other disaster.
I had a most reassuring conversation with the Chief Executive of West Berkshire Council today. He reported no known problems with protective clothing for West Berkshire social services. They have established a virus test centre in Newbury for key workers to use if they have symptoms or worries about their health or exposure to the disease.
He praised the work of community groups in Burghfield and Mortimer. There are some money issues which I will take up with the government over social care and the distribution of the additional £1.6bn announced for Councils recently.
I thanked him and his staff for all the work they have put into social care, business grants and other requirements from the virus. I also join him in saying thank you to all the volunteers who are helping the community.
I am pleased that Parliament is to meet today and in the following days, with new rules encouraging participation from remote locations. I had made an early request for our return, and am delighted the Speaker has been so active in securing a way of bringing it about.
In the meantime there have been various routes to make points to Ministers and to contribute to the policy debate, as I have been doing.
The Government has launched a new ‘support finder’ tool which will help businesses and self-employed people across the UK to quickly and easily determine what financial support is available to them.
For more details, please visit this link:
https://www.gov.uk/business-coronavirus-support-finder
The Government has produced an update to the specification for any manufacturers seeking to make ventilators.
For more details please visit this link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/specification-for-ventilators-to-be-used-in-uk-hospitals-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak?utm_source=284796da-db81-4c5e-b732-7a20710333bf&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
If your business is able to support, please register that capability here:
https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus-support-from-business
The government has decided to continue the lock down for another three weeks. They are afraid that an early relaxation would allow the virus to spread more rapidly again, losing some or all the gains seen in fewer patients going to hospital in recent days.
In response to past representations by myself and others the government is now doing more work on a timetable for getting more people back to work. It is unfortunate there may be no early arrival of a vaccine to protect the population in large numbers, nor even an early medical agreement on a treatment which makes it much more likely patients with severe cases on Covid 19 survive. For that reason we need to plan to live with the virus whilst still being able to run our economy at a reasonable level of output with more people in jobs and more companies generating revenue than today.
I have suggested to the government that a back to work plan should encompass new ways of working with better protection for employees. Office based businesses could encourage much more homeworking, with limited numbers of staff in the main office observing social distancing. Factories and warehouses need to operate at levels that do not require staff to be close together, with additional automation where necessary. Any business staff in touch with the public should be given protective screens or personal protective clothing suitable to the risk level.
We should continue to give strong advice to at risk groups to stay at home, and do more to support them with remote technology to ensure deliveries and safe social contact. The protection of care homes needs more work. I supported moves to ensure all patients to be discharged from hospitals back to care homes should be tested . We need to avoid introducing the virus into a home through the return of a patient . I am pleased the government has now promised to do this.
Yesterday saw the Furlough scheme to subsidise employment which I have long championed open for claims. It is vital as many jobs as possible are saved by this means, to keep them in being until their employers can re open and afford the wages again. The self employed package still excludes some groups who deserve support and is still on the low side so I am asking the Treasury to look again at it.
Let us hope the positive trends in cases and deaths continues as a reward for the sacrifice many are making. On the latest figures too many people are still dying, but our death rate in relation to total population is still well below Belgium, Spain and Italy who have suffered particularly badly. The next few days are important. If the rate of death and of new patients to hospital continues to decline we should be able to start to relax controls. In the meantime I am conscious there are pressing needs like getting more dentists to work on emergency treatment, and tackling some of the backlog of medical appointments that were cancelled or delayed to make way for Covid 19 patients.
I would like to say another big thank you to all of you who have volunteered to help in so many ways. Some are delivering food parcels, some tackling loneliness of those staying at home alone, some are making protective clothing. I also wish to thank all who are going to work to care for people, to treat people in hospital, to provide us with food and to keep basic services and deliveries going.
Yours sincerely
John Redwood
I have received this update from HMRC:
Dear Sir John,
Employers in your constituency can now claim online for a grant for 80% of their furloughed employees’ salaries, up to a maximum of £2,500 per employee, per month, through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. This scheme will be open until the end of June 2020.
Before employers in your constituency claim, they need to:
To receive payment by 30 April, employers will need to complete an application by 22 April.
We expect to be very busy so we would ask that employers only call us if they can’t find what they need on GOV.UK or through our webchat service – this will leave our lines open for those who need our help most.
After employers have made a claim, they should:
HMRC will check claims made through the scheme and will act to protect public money against anyone who makes a claim using dishonest or fraudulent information.
We also encourage all employers to protect their own credentials and please be aware of potential scammers and opportunist criminal activity.
I’d be very grateful if you could share this information with employers in your constituency.
I wish you well at this challenging time,
Jim Harra
First Permanent Secretary and Chief Executive, HMRC