Tag: UK Government

The Great Gamble: Johnson sets out plan for living with COVID in England

  • Prime Minister confirms next steps for living with Covid-19
  • Vaccines will remain first line of defence against the virus with further boosters this spring for the most vulnerable
  • All remaining domestic covid regulations restricting public freedoms to end this week as part of the Living with Covid Plan

Vaccines will remain the first line of defence against Covid-19 as the Prime Minister sets out the Government’s plans to live with and manage the virus.

The UK was the first country in the world to authorise the use of the Pfizer and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, the first European country to vaccinate 50% of its population and has delivered the fastest booster programme in Europe.

Over 31 million boosters have been administered across England and almost 38 million UK wide helping break the link between infections and hospitalisations. In England, the number of cases, hospitalisations and deaths continue to decline and are far below the levels of previous waves, with boosters offering strong protection against severe illness and hospitalisation.

Thanks to our hugely successful vaccination programme, the immunity built up in the population and our new antiviral and therapeutics tools, the UK is in the strongest possible position to learn how to live with Covid and end government regulation.

To save lives and protect the NHS, unprecedented measures were taken on a global scale that interfered with people’s lives and livelihoods. Billions of pounds were spent on supporting a locked down economy as the public stayed at home.

The Prime Minister has been clear that restrictions would not stay in place a day longer than necessary. The British public have made extraordinary sacrifices during the 2020 lockdowns, the Roadmap, and recent Plan B measures in response to the Omicron variant.

The Plan, published yesterday, sets out how vaccines and other pharmaceutical interventions will continue to form our first line of defence. The UK Government has accepted the JCVI recommendation to offer an additional booster to all adults aged over 75, all residents in care homes for older adults, and all over 12s who are immunosuppressed.

An autumn annual booster programme is under consideration, subject to further advice. Further detail on deployment on the spring booster programme will be set out in due course. The Government will continue to be guided by the JCVI on future vaccine programmes.

The plan covers four main pillars:

  • Removing domestic restrictions while encouraging safer behaviours through public health advice, in common with longstanding ways of managing other infectious illnesses
  • Protecting the vulnerable through pharmaceutical interventions and testing, in line with other viruses
  • Maintaining resilience against future variants, including through ongoing surveillance, contingency planning and the ability to reintroduce key capabilities such as mass vaccination and testing in an emergency
  • Securing innovations and opportunities from the COVID-19 response, including investment in life sciences

The public are encouraged to continue to follow public health advice, as with all infectious diseases such as the flu, to minimise the chance of catching Covid and help protect family and friends. This includes by letting fresh air in when meeting indoors, wearing a face covering in crowded and enclosed spaces where you come into contact with people you don’t normally meet, and washing your hands.

The Prime Minister yesterday confirmed domestic legal restrictions (in England – Ed.) will end on 24 February as we begin to treat Covid as other infectious diseases such as flu. This means:

  • The remaining domestic restrictions in England will be removed. The legal requirement to self-isolate ends. Until 1 April, we still advise people who test positive to stay at home. Adults and children who test positive are advised to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for at least five full days and then continue to follow the guidance until they have received two negative test results on consecutive days.
  • From April, the Government will update guidance setting out the ongoing steps that people with COVID-19 should take to be careful and considerate of others, similar to advice on other infectious diseases. This will align with testing changes.
  • Self-isolation support payments, national funding for practical support and the medicine delivery service will no longer be available.
  • Routine contact tracing ends, including venue check-ins on the NHS COVID-19 app.
  • Fully vaccinated adults and those aged under 18 who are close contacts are no longer advised to test daily for seven days and the legal requirement for close contacts who are not fully vaccinated to self-isolate will be removed.

Our testing programme has been a crucial part of our response to the virus. Over 2 billion lateral flow tests have been provided across the UK since 2020 ensuring people could stay safe and meet family and friends knowing they were free of the virus.

As set out in the Autumn and Winter Plan, universal free provision of tests will end as our response to the virus changes.

From the start of April, the government will end free symptomatic and asymptomatic testing for the general public.

Limited symptomatic testing will be available for a small number of at-risk groups and we will set out further details on which groups will be eligible shortly. Free symptomatic testing will also remain available to social care staff. We are working with retailers to ensure that everyone who wants to can buy a test.

The Test & Trace programme cost £15.7 billion in 2021/22. With Omicron now the dominant variant and less severe, levels of high immunity across the country and a range of strategies in place including vaccines, treatments, and public health knowledge, the value for taxpayers’ money is now less clear. Free testing should rightly be focused on at-risk groups.

The Government remains ready to respond if a new variant emerges and places unsustainable pressure on the NHS, through surveillance systems and contingency measures such as increased testing capacity or vaccine programmes. Our world-leading ONS survey will allow us to continue to track the virus in granular detail to help us spot any surges in the virus.

Further changes being made include: * Today the guidance has been removed for staff and students in most education and childcare settings to undertake twice weekly asymptomatic testing. * On 24 February, removing additional local authority powers to tackle local COVID-19 outbreaks (No.3 regulations). Local Authorities will manage local outbreaks in high-risk settings as they do with other infectious diseases. * On 24 March, the Government will also remove the COVID-19 provisions within the Statutory Sick Pay and Employment and Support Allowance regulations.

From 1 April, the UK Government will:

  • Remove the current guidance on voluntary COVID-status certification in domestic settings and no longer recommend that certain venues use the NHS COVID Pass.
  • No longer provide free universal symptomatic and asymptomatic testing for the general public in England.
  • Remove the health and safety requirement for every employer to explicitly consider COVID-19 in their risk assessments.

PM statement on living with COVID

Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a statement in the House of Commons on the government’s strategy for living with COVID.

Mr Speaker, with permission I will make a statement on our strategy for living with Covid.

And before I begin, I know the whole House will join me in sending our best wishes to Her Majesty the Queen for a full and swift recovery.

It is a reminder that this virus has not gone away, but because of the efforts we have made as a country over the past two years we can now deal with it in a very different way, moving from government restrictions to personal responsibility.

So we protect ourselves without losing our liberties – and maintaining our contingency capabilities so we can respond rapidly to any new variant.

Mr Speaker, the UK was the first country in the world to administer an approved vaccine, and the first European nation to protect half our population with at least one dose.

And having made that decision to refocus our NHS this Winter on the campaign to Get Boosted Now, we were the first major European nation to boost half our population too.

And it is because of the extraordinary success of this vaccination programme, that we have been able to lift our restrictions earlier than other comparable countries, opening up last summer, while others remained closed, and keeping things open this winter, when others shut down again, making us one of the most open economies and societies in Europe, with the fastest growth anywhere in the G7 last year.

And while the pandemic is not over, we have now passed the peak of the Omicron wave, with cases falling, hospitalisations in England now fewer than 10,000 and still falling, and the link between infection and severe disease substantially weakened.

Over 71 per cent of all adults are now boosted in England, including 93 per cent of those 70 and over, and together with the treatments and scientific understanding of the virus we have built up, we now have sufficient levels of immunity to complete the transition from protecting people with government interventions to relying on vaccines and treatments as our first line of defence.

As we have throughout the past two years, we will continue to work closely with the Devolved Administrations as they decide how to take forward their own plans, and today’s strategy shows how we will structure our approach in England around four principles.

First, we will remove all remaining domestic restrictions in law.

From this Thursday, 24 February, we will end the legal requirement to self-isolate following a positive test, and so we will also end self-isolation support payments, although Covid provisions for Statutory Sick Pay can still be claimed for a further month.

We will end routine contact tracing, and no longer ask fully vaccinated close contacts and those under 18 to test daily for seven days.

And we will remove the legal requirement for close contacts who are not fully vaccinated to self-isolate.

Until 1 April, we will still advise people who test positive to stay at home. But after that, we will encourage people with Covid-19 symptoms to exercise personal responsibility, just as we encourage people who may have flu to be considerate to others.

Mr Speaker, it is only because levels of immunity are so high and deaths are now, if anything, below where you would normally expect for this time of year, that we can lift these restrictions.

And it is only because we know Omicron is less severe, that testing for Omicron on the colossal scale we have been doing is much less important, and much less valuable in preventing serious illness.

We should be proud that the UK established the biggest testing programme per person of any large country in the world.

But this came at a vast cost.

The Testing, Tracing and Isolation budget in 2020-21 exceeded the entire budget of the Home Office.

It cost a further £15.7 billion in this financial year, and £2 billion in January alone at the height of the Omicron wave.

We must now scale this back.

From today, we are removing the guidance for staff and students in most education and childcare settings to undertake twice weekly asymptomatic testing.

And from 1st April, when Winter is over and the virus will spread less easily, we will end free symptomatic and asymptomatic testing for the general public.

We will continue to provide free symptomatic tests to the oldest age groups and those most vulnerable to Covid.

And in line with the practice in many other countries, we are working with retailers to ensure that everyone who wants to can buy a test.

From April 1st, we will also no longer recommend the use of voluntary Covid-status certification, although the NHS app will continue to allow people to indicate their vaccination status for international travel.

And Mr Speaker, the government will also expire all temporary provisions of the Coronavirus Act.

Of the original 40, 20 have already expired, 16 will expire on 24 March, and the last 4 relating to innovations in public service will expire six months later, after we have made those improvements permanent via other means.

Second, we will continue to protect the most vulnerable with targeted vaccines and treatments.

The UK government has procured enough doses of vaccine to anticipate a wide range of possible JCVI recommendations. And today we are taking further action to guard against a possible resurgence of the virus, accepting JCVI advice for a new Spring booster offered to those aged 75 and over, older care home residents, and those over 12 who are immunosuppressed.

The UK is also leading the way on antivirals and therapeutics, with our AntiVirals Task Force securing a supply of almost 5 million – more per head than any other country in Europe.

Third, SAGE advise there is considerable uncertainty about the future path of the pandemic, and there may of course be significant resurgences.

They are certain there will be new variants and it’s very possible those will be worse than Omicron.

So we will maintain our resilience to manage and respond to these risks, including our world-leading ONS survey, which will allow us to continue tracking the virus in granular detail, with regional and age breakdowns helping us spot surges as and where they happen, and our laboratory networks will help us understand the evolution of the virus and identify any changes in characteristics.

We will prepare and maintain our capabilities to ramp up testing.

We will continue to support other countries in developing their own surveillance capabilities, because a new variant can emerge anywhere.

And we will meet our commitment to donate 100 million vaccine doses by June, as our part of the agreement at the UK’s G7 summit to provide a billion doses to vaccinate the world over the next year.

In all circumstances, our aim will be to manage and respond to future risks through more routine public health interventions, with pharmaceutical interventions as the first line of defence.

Fourth, we will build on the innovation that has defined the best of our response to the pandemic.

The Vaccines Task Force will continue to ensure the UK has access to effective vaccines as they become available, already securing contracts with manufacturers trialling bi-valent vaccines, which would provide protection against Covid variants.

The Therapeutics Task Force will continue to support seven national priority clinical trial platforms focused on prevention, novel treatments and treatment for long-Covid.

We are refreshing our biosecurity strategy to protect the UK against natural zoonosis and accidental laboratory leaks, as well as the potential for biological threats emanating from state and non-state actors.

And building on the Five Point Plan I set out at the United Nations and the agreements reached at the UK’s G7 last year, we are working with our international partners on future pandemic preparedness, including through a new pandemic treaty, an effective early warning system or Global Pandemic Radar, and a mission to make safe and effective diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines available within the first 100 days of a future pandemic threat being identified.

And we will be hosting a global pandemic preparedness summit next month.

And Mr Speaker, Covid will not suddenly disappear.

So those who would wait for a total end to this war before lifting the remaining regulations, would be restricting the liberties of the British people for a long time to come.

This government does not believe that is right or necessary.

Restrictions pose a heavy toll on our economy, our society, our mental wellbeing, and the life chances of our children.

And we do not need to pay that cost any longer.

We have a population that is protected by the biggest vaccination programme in our history.

We have the antivirals, the treatments, and the scientific understanding of this virus, and we have the capabilities to respond rapidly to any resurgence or new variant.

And Mr Speaker it is time to get our confidence back.

We don’t need laws to compel people to be considerate of others.

We can rely on that sense of responsibility towards one another, providing practical advice in the knowledge that people will follow it to avoid infecting loved ones and others.

So let us learn to live with this virus and continue protecting ourselves without restricting our freedoms.

And in that spirit, I commend this Statement to the House.

PM statement at Covid press conference

The Prime Minister gave a press conference on the plan to live with COVID-19

Good evening, when the pandemic began, we had little knowledge of this virus and none about the vaccines and treatments we have today.

So there was no option but to use government regulations to protect our NHS and save lives.

But those restrictions on our liberties have brought grave costs to our economy, our society, and the chances of our children.

So from the outset, we were clear that we must chart a course back towards normality as rapidly as possible, by developing the vaccines and treatments that could gradually replace those restrictions.

And as a result of possibly the greatest national effort in our peacetime history, that is exactly what we have done.

Thanks to our brilliant scientists.

Thanks to the extraordinary men and women of our NHS and to every one of you who has come forwards to get jabbed and get boosted – the United Kingdom has become the first country in the world to administer an approved vaccine, and the fastest major European nation to roll out both the vaccines and the booster to half our population.

We have emerged from the teeth of the pandemic before many others, retaining one of the most open economies and societies in Europe and the fastest growth in the G7 last year.

And while the pandemic is not over, we have passed the peak of the Omicron wave, with cases falling, and hospitalisations in England now fewer than 10,000 and still falling, and so now we have the chance to complete that transition back towards normality, while maintaining the contingencies to respond to a resurgence or a new variant.

As we have done throughout the past two years, we will continue to work with the Devolved Administrations as they decide how to take forwards their own plans.

In England, we will remove all remaining domestic restrictions in law.

From this Thursday, it will no longer be law to self-isolate if you test positive, and so we will also end the provision of self-isolation support payments, although Statutory Sick Pay can still be claimed for a further month.

If you’re a fully vaccinated close contact or under 18 you will no longer be asked to test daily for seven days.

And if you are close contact who is not fully vaccinated you will no longer be required to self-isolate.

Until 1 April, we will still advise you to stay at home if you test positive.

But after that, we will encourage people with Covid symptoms to exercise personal responsibility, just as we encourage people who may have flu to be considerate towards others.

It is only because levels of immunity are so high and deaths are now, if anything, below where you would normally expect for this time of year that we can lift these restrictions.

And it is only because we know Omicron is less severe, that testing for Omicron on the colossal scale we have been doing is now much less valuable in preventing serious illness.

We should be proud that the UK established the biggest testing programme per person of any large country in the world.

But its budget in the last financial year was bigger than the Home Office – and it cost – the testing programme cost – £2 billion just last month alone.

So we must scale back and prioritise our resources for the most vulnerable.

From today, staff and students in most education and childcare settings will no longer be asked to undertake twice weekly asymptomatic testing.

And from 1st April, we will end free symptomatic and asymptomatic testing for the general public.

But we will continue providing free symptomatic tests to those at the highest risk from Covid.

And in line with the practice of many other countries, we are working with retailers to ensure you will always be able to buy a test.

We should be clear the pandemic is not over and there may be significant resurgences.

Our scientists are certain there will be new variants and it’s very possible that those will be worse than Omicron.

So we will continue to protect the most vulnerable with targeted vaccinations and treatments and we have bought enough doses of vaccine to anticipate a wide range of possible JCVI recommendations.

Today this includes a new Spring booster, which will be offered to those aged 75 and over, older care home residents, and those over 12 who are immunosuppressed.

We will also retain disease surveillance systems and contingency measures which can ensure our resilience in the face of future waves or new variants.

And we will build on the innovations that defined the very best of our response to the pandemic, including continuing the work of the Vaccines Task Force, which has already secured contracts with manufacturers trialling new vaccines which could provide protection against new variants.

Today is not the day we can declare victory over Covid, because this virus is not going away.

But it is the day when all the efforts of the last two years finally enabled us to protect ourselves while restoring our liberties in full.

And after two of the darkest grimmest years in our peacetime history, I do believe this is a moment of pride for our nation and a source of hope for all that we can achieve in the years to come.

Thank you very much.

REACTION:

Responding to the statement from the Prime Minster on the Government’s ‘Living with Covid’ strategy, which includes the removal of free Covid-19 tests for the public from 1 April in England, Dr Chaand Nagpaul, BMA council chair, said: “Today’s announcement fails to protect those at highest risk of harm from Covid-19, and neglects some of the most vulnerable people in society.

“We recognise the need, after two years of the pandemic, to begin thinking about how we adjust our lives to manage living alongside Covid-19, but as the BMA has persistently said the decision to bring forward the removal of all protective measures while cases, deaths and the number of people seriously ill remain so high is premature.

“Living with Covid-19 must not mean ignoring the virus all together – which in many respects the Government’s plan in England seems to do.

“On the one hand the Government says it will keep monitoring the spread of the virus, and asks individuals to take greater responsibility for their own decisions, but by removing free testing for the vast majority of the population on the other, ministers are taking away the central tool to allow both of these to happen.

“Far from giving people more freedom, today’s announcement is likely to cause more uncertainty and anxiety.

“Crucially, it will create a two-tier system, where those who can afford to pay for testing – and indeed to self-isolate – will do so, while others will be forced to gamble on the health of themselves and others.

“Covid-19 has already disproportionately impacted those on lower incomes, in insecure employment and from ethnic minorities. This move threatens to exacerbate these health inequalities.

“People will want to do the right thing, and not knowingly put others at risk if they are infected, but how can they make such a judgement if they have no way of knowing if they’re carrying the virus or not? This is especially important for those who come into contact with people who are at much greater risk of becoming ill with Covid-19, such as elderly relatives or those who are clinically vulnerable.

“Providing free tests to clinically vulnerable people – and only once they develop symptoms and are potentially very unwell – but not providing any free tests to friends or family who come into contact with them is completely illogical, as the priority should be protecting them from infection in the first place. The same goes for care home staff, who will only be tested if they have symptoms, by which time they could have passed on the virus to vulnerable residents.

“There must also be urgent clarity around testing provision for NHS workers. People visit hospitals and surgeries to get better, and not to be exposed to deadly viruses, and the continuation of testing for healthcare workers is invaluable in protecting both staff and patients.

“That plans are underway for a new booster programme is sensible but we must not – as we have continued to state – rely solely on vaccination to protect the nation. The necessity for further boosters underlines that Covid-19 will continue to present a challenge for healthcare services and wider society for potentially many years to come. And while the Prime Minister talks about Omicron resulting in a mild illness for most, others will still become very unwell with Covid-19, and an estimated more than one million people continue to live with long-Covid – themselves needing ongoing care.

“As part of ‘learning to live with Covid’, protections must be maintained for the most vulnerable, including the provision of enhanced face masks, and clear guidance for both patients and clinicians.

“Meanwhile, all people must be financially supported to do the right thing, and the removal of self-isolation payments, and then access to statutory sick pay in a months’ time, is incredibly concerning, as it will mean people cannot afford to stay at home if they are unwell. In healthcare settings, enhanced infection prevention measures – including mask-wearing for patients and enhanced PPE for staff – must remain, while in the longer-term premises are in desperate need of improvements, such as higher standards of ventilation, to limit the spread of infections.

“And with such a planned scale back of free testing, it is imperative that the Government keeps its commitment to continue other surveillance methods, including the ONS infection survey1, and to not hesitate to act on worrying surges of infections or new dangerous variants.”

Responding to today’s ending of Covid restrictions, Morgan Vine, Head of Policy and Influencing at older people’s charity Independent Age, said: “We know that many people aged 65 and over are worried about the upcoming relaxation of Covid restrictions, particularly the ending of self-isolation.

“We are concerned that this sudden change in direction of public safety is likely to increase anxiety among older people, and even cause some to shield themselves and limit daily activities.

“Our research revealed that the challenges faced by those in later life due to the pandemic have worsened many people’s mental health with many people we spoke to expressing fear at catching the virus in public settings. If the requirement to isolate is removed at the same time free lateral flow tests for most age groups stop, this fear is likely to increase as is the likelihood of coming into contact with someone who has Covid.

“Recent polling showed that a majority (56%) of older people thought isolating should always be a requirement for somebody who has tested positive for Covid, and a further 27% said it should at least be a requirement for the next few months.

“It’s essential that older people are able to live their daily lives safely. Now the government has announced the relaxation, it must clarify how it plans to protect those in later life from the virus.”

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will lay out Scotland’s response when she addresses the Holyrood parliament this afternoon.

So Boris Johson urges ‘personal responsibility’? Yes, Boris ‘Partygate’ Johnson – the great leader who would not even follow the rules he wrote himself? Oh, the irony! It really would be funny it it wasn’t quite so serious. #covid #gieyetheboak

They think it’s all over: Boris Johnson set to sweep away Covid regulations in England

Living with Covid doesn’t mean ignoring it, says BMA ahead of PM announcement

Prime Minister Boris Johnson says his latest “living with Covid” recovery plan will return people’s freedom as he prepares to scrap the legal duty to self-isolate in England.

The prime minister will meet the Cabinet later this morning before updating parliament on his plans this afternoon.

Mr Johnson said the end to restrictions would “mark a moment of pride as we begin to learn to live with Covid” – despite serious concerns being expressed by health professionals.

Health organisations have warned that Johnson’s determination to sweep away Covid regulations are premature.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO ‘FOLLOWING THE SCIENCE’?

Responding to calls from NHS leaders for free Covid tests and self-isolation rules to continue ahead of the UK Government’s Living With Covid Strategy announcement today, Dr Chaand Nagpaul, BMA council chair, said: “It’s clear that we will have to learn to adjust to the reality of Covid-19.

“However, the BMA agrees with NHS leaders that living with Covid doesn’t mean ignoring its continued harm to many, and must not result in removing protections to some of the most vulnerable in our society. 

“Scrapping all restrictions and allowing the infection to spread in an unmonitored and unfettered manner would be damaging to the health of millions, including for those who go on to suffer Long Covid symptoms.

“Without access to free testing for the public or a legal requirement for the sick to self-isolate, protecting others from illness and surveillance of the disease and its prevalence vanishes; we won’t know where outbreaks are happening, whether they are circulating among more vulnerable populations, and this means local public health teams will be lacking key information to be able to respond effectively to Covid outbreaks in their local areas.

“Charging for tests  will only discourage people from checking if they have Covid, especially if their symptoms are mild enough for them to continue socialising and mixing with others.  

“Currently, case rates remain exceptionally high. When Plan B measures were introduced in December, there were 7,373 patients in hospital in the UK. While rates are now falling, the latest figure sits at 11,721. The ONS also estimates that around 1 in 20 people in England were infected last week, and there continues to be significant work absence due to Covid. 

“The decision to remove all restrictions is not based on current evidence and is premature. It clearly hasn’t been guided by data or done in consultation with the healthcare profession. 

“As the BMA has previously warned, Covid poses a serious risk to public health as well as NHS capacity if cases are allowed to spread rapidly again. Living with Covid-19 doesn’t mean ignoring it. As well as keeping free testing and self-isolation measures, it’s vital that the ONS infection survey carries on, and that local authorities are supported to contain outbreaks with necessary restrictions. 

“This is particularly important for protecting the vulnerable, and Government must ensure that these groups are allowed to live as normal a life as possible as the pandemic subsides. This means giving them access to free FFP2/3 masks where required so they can protect themselves, and providing healthcare professionals with clear, clinical guidance to advise them and other patients in the community.

“Healthcare settings are places which people attend to get better not to get sick, so it would be totally wrong to remove the protections in healthcare settings that currently exist, such as mask wearing, without discussion with healthcare workers and without evidence to support it.

“Only yesterday, the World Health Organisation released updated guidance for contact tracing and quarantine, saying in its report that any interruption or shortening of these measures will increase the risk of onward transmission.

“Of course, we all want to see a time when measures are no longer needed. However, relaxing them must be done sensibly, based on data, and gradually, in consultation with the profession, and not at the cost of public health or our already-stretched NHS.”

Leaving it up to individuals and employers to decide on isolation periods will place health care staff and patients at risk, the Royal College of Nursing has warned.

the government is expected to confirm plans to end the legal requirement to self-isolate following a positive COVID-19 test, in a move described as signalling the end of the pandemic.

But the pandemic is far from over for health care staff, and the lack of clarity and guidance on isolation rules going forwards could put our members and their patients at risk.

By “passing the buck” to nursing staff and employers to decide when to work if staff fall sick with COVID-19, the government is leaving the way open to increased infection rates and yet more pressure on an already overworked NHS.

The RCN is calling for the government to produce a specific plan for nursing staff working in health and social care which supports them when unwell.

RCN General Secretary & Chief Executive, Pat Cullen, said: “Ending the legal requirement to self-isolate following a positive test is a big leap in the dark. The government has yet to present any scientific evidence to support its plan.

“The public messaging around this is very mixed and unclear: with any other highly infectious disease you would be expected – and supported – to stay away from work if you caught it, yet with COVID-19 we’re being told you should learn to live with it. This doesn’t add up.

“Health and social care isn’t like other sectors – staff treat some of the most vulnerable in society whose wellbeing, and their own, mustn’t be put at risk.”

The RCN also stresses that nursing staff must continue to have access to free lateral flow tests for their and their patients’ sake amid reports they could be scrapped.

Despite advice and warnings from a range of health professionals the Prime Minister seems determined to take the gamble and sweep away Covid regulations, however, and whatever is decided in England will have an impact on public health in the other nations of the UK.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is expected to announce the Scottish Government’s response tomorrow.

UK’s travel rules relaxed from today

  • from 4am this morning (11 February) all testing requirements removed for eligible fully vaccinated arrivals and only a simplified passenger locator form needed, ahead of half term holidays
  • arrivals who do not qualify as fully vaccinated will only need to take a pre-departure test and a PCR test on or before day 2 after they arrive in the UK
  • changes come as children aged 12 to 15 in England can now prove their vaccination status or proof of prior infection for outbound travel with the digital NHS COVID Pass

Major changes to the UK’s coronavirus (COVID-19) travel rules have come into force today (4am, 11 February 2022). This will make international journeys cheaper and easier for passengers ahead of the half term.

The relaxation in requirements is thanks to the success of the UK’s vaccine and booster rollout. It means that eligible fully vaccinated travellers arriving in the UK no longer need to take any COVID-19 tests – resulting in the UK having one of the most free-flowing borders and open societies in Europe.

Eligible fully vaccinated travellers are, therefore, only required to fill out a simplified passenger locator form, confirming their vaccination status, travel history and contact details.

Also, from today, arrivals who do not qualify as fully vaccinated will only need to take a pre-departure test in the 2 days before they depart for the UK and a PCR test on or before the end of day 2 after they arrive in the UK, as well as completing the passenger locator form. These passengers will not need to self-isolate on arrival and will only need to do so if they test positive.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “The UK has eased international travel measures for COVID-19 and now has one of the most free-flowing borders in the world – sending a clear message that we are open for business.

“As our travel sector rapidly recovers, and we accelerate towards a future where we want travel to remain open for good, these rule changes coming ahead of half term are good news for families, businesses and the travel sector.”

Determined to make travel cheaper and easier for families, the decision to remove testing requirements could save the average family around £100.

Since 3 February 2022, children aged 12 to 15 in England can demonstrate their vaccination status or proof of prior infection via a digital NHS COVID Pass for outbound travel. This makes it easier to travel to countries that require proof of vaccination or prior infection in order to access venues or services, including museums, restaurants and cafes.

By the end of February, people will also have an extra day to fill out the passenger locator form before travelling.

Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said: “As we learn to live with COVID-19, we are taking a balanced approach to opening up international travel and removing all tests for people who have played their part and have been vaccinated.

“Thanks to the millions of people who have come forward for their COVID-19 jabs, we are one of the most boosted countries in Europe and are able to take these steps today.”

As the government goes one step further to reopen the travel sector, the UK will be reconnecting with key global markets, and from today will accept vaccine certificates from an additional 16 countries and territories including China and Mexico. This will bring the total list to over 180 countries and territories worldwide.

VisitBritain CEO Sally Balcombe said: “Britain’s tourism industry is ready to welcome international visitors, we know there is pent-up demand for travel and our priority is to build back visitor spending as quickly as possible, competing hard for international visitors who contribute billions to our economy.

“Our £10 million global GREAT Britain marketing campaign is already rolling out across our major overseas markets, showing that Britain is packed full of fresh and exciting experiences to come and enjoy today.

“This year’s landmark events including HM The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, the Commonwealth Games and the ground-breaking ‘Unboxed’ events across the UK, set to be global tourism draws, also present exciting and timely opportunities to highlight experiences that visitors can only have here, and to promote our warm welcome and creativity to the world.”

With more people travelling overseas, the government is continuing to remind everyone that travelling abroad is still different and countries may change their own rules at short notice.

All travellers are encouraged to check FCDO travel advice for the latest entry requirements and COVID-19 rules for their destination beforehand.

Sean Doyle, Chairman and CEO of British Airways, said: “It’s great news that restrictions are being lifted in time for families to get away for a much-needed break this half term.

“We’ve seen a boost to bookings directly as a result of lifting restrictions and customers can now travel, safe in the knowledge that they won’t be burdened by expensive and unnecessary testing to return to the UK. We hope that other countries will soon catch up with the UK’s pragmatic approach.”

Sophie Dekkers, Chief Commercial Officer of easyJet, said: “We’ve continued to see pent-up demand each time restrictions are removed and UK bookings increased following the welcome reduction of travel restrictions, which has been sustained in recent weeks with a further boost from the removal of all testing by the UK government.

“We have been encouraged to see strong late bookings in the lead-up to half term, which is a key time for many of our customers, with thousands set to enjoy a long-awaited family break and we can’t wait to welcome more customers back on board in the coming days.”

Andrew Flintham, Managing Director for TUI UK, said: “The recent changes to travel, particularly the removal of testing for everyone is who double vaccinated, is a huge leap forwards in getting travel back to normal.

“There remains a huge pent-up demand for international travel and we’ve seen strong and sustained booking patterns since the announcement as customers look to go abroad with ease and without the added expense of testing.

“As a result, bookings for February half term and Easter holidays are comparable to 2019, with Mexico, Dominican Republic, Cape Verde and the Canaries the most popular destinations. And we expect this summer to be stronger than 2019 for the UK market.”

Mark Tanzer, Chief Executive of ABTA – The Travel Association, said: “Today’s changes are a big step forward for the outbound travel industry and holidaymakers, and a recognition of the importance of travel to people’s lives and to the UK economy.

“Travel rules have been holding people back from taking a foreign break, so these changes should serve as a boost to consumer confidence, leading more people to plan and book their overseas trips.

“There are still steps people need to take when heading abroad and ABTA travel agents and tour operators are on hand to guide travellers through the process.”

While the red list will continue to remain on standby as the first line of defence against future variants of concern arriving from abroad, the government is looking to replace the hotel quarantine policy with other contingency measures including home isolation – provided a sufficiently robust digital solution to ensure compliance with home isolation can be found.

Further details will be set out on this later in the spring.

Who pays the State Pension in an independent Scotland?

An article by the Fraser of Allander Institute

The latest skirmish in the economics of independence wars relates to the state pension. Specifically, which government would pay State Pensions in an independent Scotland. Ian Blackford maintains that the UK government will pay the State Pension to Scottish residents who qualify for a UK state pension through their pre-independence national insurance contributions (NICs).

But state pensions are not paid for from a “pot” that individuals build up during their working lives. Instead they are paid using money from today’s taxes and borrowing – a pay-as-you-go scheme. Since individuals have no ownership rights over their past contributions, the UK Government can change the qualifying rules for state pensions as its sees fit.  

Recent and proposed increases in the qualifying retirement age are examples of it such rule-changes. The State Pension is simply a benefit that UK government could reduce, or even, in principle, eliminate.

This pay-as-you-go aspect might seem to negate any commitment of the UK government to pay the State Pension in an independent Scotland – even to pensioners who contributed NICs and other taxes to the UK government during their working lives.

The UK government could argue that the tax and NICs made by Scottish residents were used to pay for public services that they previously enjoyed. Under this view, the Scottish Government would become responsible for paying the state pensions of qualifying Scottish residents from its own revenues post-independence.

But this is not the whole story. UK government pays State Pensions to those who retire abroad (providing that they have made sufficient qualifying NICs). Therefore if the UK government pays the State Pension to an individual living in, say, France, it would seem inconsistent for it not to pay the State Pension to an individual with a similar NICs record living in an independent Scotland[i].

It is this point that the SNP is now using to argue that the responsibility for paying the State Pension in an independent Scotland – for those who have sufficient NI contributions – would fall to the UK government.

The UK government is likely to argue that succession – and the transfer of a significant share of the UK’s tax base to the Scottish government – constitutes an unprecedented change in circumstances that renders comparisons with the treatment of individuals under current state pension policy irrelevant. It would expect the Scottish government to make a reasonable contribution to the costs of the State Pension in Scotland.

The issue would therefore become a matter for wider negotiations around the division of assets and liabilities in general, and reciprocity agreements for social security more specifically.

The UK has social security agreements with many countries. These stipulate how state pensions will be calculated when individuals have made contributions in more than one country. Similar agreements between the UK and an independent Scotland will be necessary to deal with individuals retiring post-independence who have made NI contributions in both Scotland and the UK.

The UK had such agreements with EU countries before Brexit, and maintained similar arrangements in the Trade and Co-operation Agreement between the UK and EU. The UK also has social security agreements with other countries, including the US and Australia.

There would clearly be pressure on an independent Scotland to make such an agreement with the remaining UK. The absence of an agreement would be an impediment to cross-border trade with potentially harmful economic effects.

In the post-independence long run, as those who have paid NICs to the UK government die off, the cost of supporting the state pension in Scotland will unambiguously fall on the Scottish Government.

In the short run, the Scottish government might refuse to contribute to these costs, but if it did so, there would be implications for the broader settlement. This final agreement is impossible to anticipate though it is worth noting that there is no arbitration procedure for the break-up of a state, in which case the outcome will likely depend on which party has most to lose by a failure to agree.

In summary, the question of which government would be liable for the State Pension in an independent Scotland is both more complex and more uncertain than either ‘side’ might claim.

And it likely cannot be resolved in isolation from other questions.

[i] The question of citizenship in an independent Scotland is immaterial to this analysis. Under current state pension rules, it is NICs rather than citizenship that determines eligibility. Thus whether an individual in an independent Scotland has Scottish, UK or dual citizenship (or any other nationality) would not under current policy influence eligibility for the state pension.

The Fraser of Allander Institute (FAI) is a leading economy research institute based in the Department of Economics at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.

This article first appeared in The Herald

Online safety law to be strengthened to stamp out illegal content

Bill strengthened with new list of criminal content for tech firms to remove as a priority

  • List includes online drug and weapons dealing, people smuggling, revenge porn, fraud, promoting suicide and inciting or controlling prostitution for gain
  • New criminal offences will be added to the bill to tackle domestic violence and threats to rape and kill
  • Flagship UK laws to protect people online are being toughened up with new criminal offences and extra measures to force social media companies to stamp out the most harmful illegal content and criminal activity on their sites quicker.

Digital Secretary Nadine Dorries has announced extra priority illegal offences to be written on the face of the bill include revenge porn, hate crime, fraud, the sale of illegal drugs or weapons, the promotion or facilitation of suicide, people smuggling and sexual exploitation. Terrorism and child sexual abuse are already included.

Previously the firms would have been forced to take such content down after it had been reported to them by users but now they must be proactive and prevent people being exposed in the first place.

It will clamp down on pimps and human traffickers, extremist groups encouraging violence and racial hate against minorities, suicide chatrooms and the spread of private sexual images of women without their consent.

Naming these offences on the face of the bill removes the need for them to be set out in secondary legislation later and Ofcom can take faster enforcement action against tech firms which fail to remove the named illegal content.

Ofcom will be able to issue fines of up to 10 per cent of annual worldwide turnover to non-compliant sites or block them from being accessible in the UK.

Three new criminal offences, recommended by the Law Commission, will also be added to the Bill to make sure criminal law is fit for the internet age.

Digital Secretary Nadine Dorries said: “This government said it would legislate to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online while enshrining free speech, and that’s exactly what we are going to do.

“Our world leading bill will protect children from online abuse and harms, protecting the most vulnerable from accessing harmful content, and ensuring there is no safe space for terrorists to hide online.

“We are listening to MPs, charities and campaigners who have wanted us to strengthen the legislation, and today’s changes mean we will be able to bring the full weight of the law against those who use the internet as a weapon to ruin people’s lives and do so quicker and more effectively.”

Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “The internet cannot be a safe haven for despicable criminals to exploit and abuse people online.

Companies must continue to take responsibility for stopping harmful material on their platforms. These new measures will make it easier and quicker to crack down on offenders and hold social media companies to account.”

The new communications offences will strengthen protections from harmful online behaviours such as coercive and controlling behaviour by domestic abusers; threats to rape, kill and inflict physical violence; and deliberately sharing dangerous disinformation about hoax Covid-19 treatments.

The UK Government is also considering the Law Commission’s recommendations for specific offences to be created relating to cyberflashing, encouraging self-harm and epilepsy trolling.

To proactively tackle the priority offences, firms will need to make sure the features, functionalities and algorithms of their services are designed to prevent their users encountering them and minimise the length of time this content is available. This could be achieved by automated or human content moderation, banning illegal search terms, spotting suspicious users and having effective systems in place to prevent banned users opening new accounts.

New harmful online communications offences:

Ministers asked the Law Commission to review the criminal law relating to abusive and offensive online communications in the Malicious Communications Act 1988 and the Communications Act 2003.

The Commission found these laws have not kept pace with the rise of smartphones and social media. It concluded they were ill-suited to address online harm because they overlap and are often unclear for internet users, tech companies and law enforcement agencies.

It found the current law over-criminalises and captures ‘indecent’ images shared between two consenting adults – known as sexting – where no harm is caused. It also under-criminalises – resulting in harmful communications without appropriate criminal sanction.

In particular, abusive communications posted in a public forum, such as posts on a publicly accessible social media page, may slip through the net because they have no intended recipient. It also found the current offences are sufficiently broad in scope that they could constitute a disproportionate interference in the right to freedom of expression.

In July the Law Commission recommended more coherent offences. The Digital Secretary today confirms new offences will be created and legislated for in the Online Safety Bill.

The new offences will capture a wider range of harms in different types of private and public online communication methods. These include harmful and abusive emails, social media posts and WhatsApp messages, as well as ‘pile-on’ harassment where many people target abuse at an individual such as in website comment sections. None of the offences will apply to regulated media such as print and online journalism, TV, radio and film.

The offences are:

A ‘genuinely threatening’ communications offence, where communications are sent or posted to convey a threat of serious harm.

This offence is designed to better capture online threats to rape, kill and inflict physical violence or cause people serious financial harm. It addresses limitations with the existing laws which capture ‘menacing’ aspects of the threatening communication but not genuine and serious threatening behaviour.

It will offer better protection for public figures such as MPs, celebrities or footballers who receive extremely harmful messages threatening their safety. It will address coercive and controlling online behaviour and stalking, including, in the context of domestic abuse, threats related to a partner’s finances or threats concerning physical harm.

A harm-based communications offence to capture communications sent to cause harm without a reasonable excuse.

This offence will make it easier to prosecute online abusers by abandoning the requirement under the old offences for content to fit within proscribed yet ambiguous categories such as “grossly offensive,” “obscene” or “indecent”.

Instead it is based on the intended psychological harm, amounting to at least serious distress, to the person who receives the communication, rather than requiring proof that harm was caused. The new offences will address the technical limitations of the old offences and ensure that harmful communications posted to a likely audience are captured.

The new offence will consider the context in which the communication was sent. This will better address forms of violence against women and girls, such as communications which may not seem obviously harmful but when looked at in light of a pattern of abuse could cause serious distress. For example, in the instance where a survivor of domestic abuse has fled to a secret location and the abuser sends the individual a picture of their front door or street sign.

It will better protect people’s right to free expression online. Communications that are offensive but not harmful and communications sent with no intention to cause harm, such as consensual communication between adults, will not be captured. It will have to be proven in court that a defendant sent a communication without any reasonable excuse and did so intending to cause serious distress or worse, with exemptions for communication which contributes to a matter of public interest.

An offence for when a person sends a communication they know to be false with the intention to cause non-trivial emotional, psychological or physical harm.

Although there is an existing offence in the Communications Act that captures knowingly false communications, this new offence raises the current threshold of criminality. It covers false communications deliberately sent to inflict harm, such as hoax bomb threats, as opposed to misinformation where people are unaware what they are sending is false or genuinely believe it to be true.

For example, if an individual posted on social media encouraging people to inject antiseptic to cure themselves of coronavirus, a court would have to prove that the individual knew this was not true before posting it.

The maximum sentences for each offence will differ. If someone is found guilty of a harm based offence they could go to prison for up to two years, up to 51 weeks for the false communication offence and up to five years for the threatening communications offence.

The maximum sentence was six months under the Communications Act and two years under the Malicious Communications Act.

Professor Penney Lewis, Commissioner for Criminal Law, said: “The criminal law should target those who specifically intend to cause harm, while allowing people to share contested and controversial ideas in good faith.

“Our recommendations create a more nuanced set of criminal offences, which better protect victims of genuinely harmful communications as well as better protecting freedom of expression.

“I am delighted that the Government has accepted these recommended offences.”

Further talks on fiscal reform

Clarity needed on Barnett consequentials

During yesterday’s session of the Joint Executive Committee (JEC) with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury Simon Clarke, Finance Secretary Kate Forbes outlined some of the challenges needing to be addressed as part of the forthcoming joint review of the Scottish Fiscal Framework.

Chairing the meeting in London, Ms Forbes highlighted the need for further collaboration on fiscal flexibility, including consideration of further financial powers as part of the forthcoming Fiscal Framework review.

The meeting follows the UK Government’s Council Tax Energy Rebate announcement and the consequential funding for the Scottish Government.

The Spring Budget Revision has also been published showing that the Scottish Government has spent almost £15 billion on measures to respond to COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. It represents the final decisions made in the Scottish Government budget allocations for this financial year despite the challenges due to late notification of consequentials.  

 

Speaking following the JEC, Ms Forbes said: “I have had a constructive conversation with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury this afternoon, where there was a frank exchange of views on what is quickly required from the Fiscal Framework Review and the need for further fiscal flexibility for Scotland.

“Our experiences of dealing with both the health and economic impacts of the pandemic and supporting those struggling with the cost of living crisis clearly demonstrate how difficult it is to take actions we deem vital without sufficient fiscal powers and often with late notice or lack of engagement when further funding is coming.

“This has been proven once again today. Whilst I will always welcome funding, the net change to our budget isn’t clear yet  – we are awaiting urgent clarity on this from the Treasury and how it will impact our final settlement for the current year.

“As the First Minister has said, we will pass on the full consequential funding to support people struggling with the current costs of living. Council Tax is already lower in Scotland and our current support such as the single Council Tax Reduction Scheme protects 470,000 lower income households.”

And the UK Government’s take on yesterday’s meeting:

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Simon Clarke held talks with the Scottish Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy Kate Forbes yesterday to discuss the upcoming review of the Scottish Government’s Fiscal Framework.

The ministers agreed they were close to finalising arrangements for an independent report on the Scottish Government’s Block Grant Adjustment arrangements which will inform the review.

They shared the ambition to get this first stage launched as soon as possible.

The Chief Secretary and Cabinet Secretary also agreed that the Fiscal Framework review should be guided by principles set out in the Smith Commission agreement. They discussed the importance of several principles, including fairness and consistency, as well as the need to have a framework that is implementable, sustainable and operates effectively in practice.

Both ministers expressed a desire to avoid unnecessary delays to starting the Fiscal Framework review, and agreed to continue a dialogue and joint preparations for the review while the independent report is underway.

Ministers also discussed financial impacts relating to the income tax personal allowance.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Simon Clarke said: “Today was an enjoyable and productive meeting. We are working closely with the Scottish Government and engaging in regular discussions on the Fiscal Framework review, making good progress on our approach to the Scottish Government’s future finances.”

Poverty organisations call for 6% increase to benefits

Prices are rising at the fastest rate in 30 years, and energy bills alone are expected to rise by 50% in April. We are all feeling the pinch but the soaring costs of essentials will hurt low income families, whose budgets are already at breaking point, most.

There has long been a profound mismatch between what those with a low income have, and what they need to get by. Policies such as the benefit cap and benefit freeze have left many struggling. Families are still reeling from the £20 cut to Universal Credit last October. And, though benefits will increase by 3.1% in April, inflation is projected to be 6% by then. This means yet another real terms cut to incomes.

The government must respond to the scale of the challenge. Immediate targeted protection to prevent serious hardship is essential, but short-term support will not be enough in the face of ongoing inflation.

The government should increase benefits by 6% in April and ensure support for housing costs increases in line with rents. All those struggling, including families affected by the benefit cap, must feel the impact.

Much more is needed for levels of support to reflect what people need to get by. But, in taking these first steps, the government will prevent the gap from getting wider and lay the foundation to further strengthen our social security system that protects us from poverty.

Signed by:

Alison Garnham, Chief Executive, Child Poverty Action Group

Graeme Cooke, Director of Evidence and Policy, Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Emma Revie, Chief Executive, The Trussell Trust

Imran Hussain, Director of Policy & Campaigns, Action for Children

Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director, Age UK

Sarb Bajwa, Chief Executive, British Psychological Society

Joseph Howes, CEO, Buttle UK

Leigh Elliott, CEO, Children North East

Laurence Guinness, Chief Executive, The Childhood Trust

Paula Stringer, CEO, Christians Against Poverty (CAP)

Niall Cooper, Director, Church Action on Poverty

James Plunkett, Executive Director of Advice & Advocacy, Citizens Advice

Derek Mitchell, Chief Executive, Citizens Advice Scotland

Dr Ruth Patrick, Principal Investigator, Covid Realities research programme

The Disability Benefits Consortium

Anna Feuchtwang, Chair, End Child Poverty Coalition

Victoria Benson, CEO, Gingerbread

Graham Whitham, Chief Executive Officer, Greater Manchester Poverty Action

Sabine Goodwin, Coordinator, Independent Food Aid Network

Jess McQuail, Director, Just Fair

Sophie Corlett, Director of External Relations, Mind

Nick Moberly, CEO, MS Society

Jane Streather, Chair, North East Child Poverty Commission

Satwat Rehman, CEO, One Parent Families Scotland

Dr Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah, Chief Executive, Oxfam GB

Peter Kelly, Director, The Poverty Alliance

Dan Paskins, Director of UK Impact, Save the Children UK

James Taylor, Executive Director of Strategy, Impact & Social Change, Scope

Thomas Lawson, Chief Executive, Turn2us

Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson, Director, The Women’s Budget Group

Katherine Hill, Strategic Project Manager, 4in10 London’s Child Poverty Network

Ofgem: Energy price cap to increase by £693 from April

“We know this rise will be extremely worrying for many people, especially those who are struggling to make ends meet”

  • Record increase in global gas prices sees energy price cap rise of 54%
  • Ofgem knows this rise will be extremely worrying for many people
  • Customers struggling to pay their energy bill should contact their supplier to access the help available

The energy price cap will increase from 1 April for approximately 22 million customers. Those on default tariffs paying by direct debit will see an increase of £693 from £1,277 to £1,971 per year (difference due to rounding). Prepayment customers will see an increase of £708 from £1,309 to £2,017. 

The increase is driven by a record rise in global gas prices over the last 6 months, with wholesale prices quadrupling in the last year.

It will affect default tariff customers who haven’t switched to a fixed deal and those who remain with their new supplier after their previous supplier exited the market.

The price cap is updated twice a year and tracks wholesale energy and other costs.

It stops energy companies from making excessive profits, ensuring customers pay no more than a fair price for their energy.

The price cap allows energy companies to pass on all reasonable costs to customers, including increases in the cost of buying gas.

Since the price cap was last updated in August, the current level does not reflect the unprecedented record rise in gas prices which has since taken place.

Under the price cap mechanism, energy companies will be allowed to pass on these higher costs from April when the new level takes effect.

This is because energy companies cannot afford to supply electricity and gas to their customers for less than they have paid for it.

Over the last year, 29 energy companies have exited the market or been put in special administration in the wake of soaring global gas prices, affecting around 4.3 million domestic customers.

Jonathan Brearley, chief executive of Ofgem, said: “We know this rise will be extremely worrying for many people, especially those who are struggling to make ends meet, and Ofgem will ensure energy companies support their customers in any way they can.

“The energy market has faced a huge challenge due to the unprecedented increase in global gas prices, a once in a 30-year event, and Ofgem’s role as energy regulator is to ensure that, under the price cap, energy companies can only charge a fair price based on the true cost of supplying electricity and gas. 

“Ofgem is working to stabilise the market and over the longer term to diversify our sources of energy which will help protect customers from similar price shocks in the future.”

Ofgem will tomorrow announce further measures to help the energy market weather future volatility by increasing financial resilience and have the flexibility to respond so that risks are not inappropriately passed on to consumers.

This follows measures announced in December.

The further measures include enabling Ofgem to update the price cap more frequently than once every 6 months in exceptional circumstances to ensure that it still reflects the true cost of supplying energy.

Help available for customers:

  • If customers are struggling to pay for energy bills, they should contact their energy supplier as soon as possible. Depending on their circumstances, customers may be eligible for extra help with their energy bills or services, such as debt repayment plans, payment breaks, emergency credit for prepayment metered customers, priority support and schemes like the Winter Fuel Payment or Warm Home Discount rebate.
  • Breathing Space Scheme: This is a scheme to give households time to receive debt advice and find a solution to sort out their debt problems. Breathing space will last for 60 days as long as applicants remain eligible during which time all creditors who have been included will be informed and must stop any collection or enforcement activity. Once the breathing space ends, creditors will be able to collect the debt in the usual way. Call the National Debtline on Freephone 0808 808 4000 or visit www.nationaldebtline.org
  • The Citizens Advice consumer service can provide advice on how customers can resolve problems with their energy provider. You can contact Citizens Advice via webchat, or by calling 0808 223 1133. For complex or urgent cases, or if a person is in a vulnerable situation, they may then be referred onto the Extra Help Unit. 

2. Ofgem will announce further measures tomorrow including:

  • Introducing an uplift in the wholesale cost allowance in the price cap: after reviewing the evidence, Ofgem has decided that the existing price cap methodology did not appropriately account for the additional wholesale energy costs energy companies have incurred during the current price cap period following the unprecedented scale of wholesale energy prices and volatility. This adjustment represents less than 10% of the overall price cap increase.
  • Changing licence conditions to give Ofgem the more flexibility to change the price cap level if needed in between the regular six-monthly cap updates: Ofgem has set ourselves five tests which mean we will only expect to use the power in exceptional circumstances.
  • Further reforms to the price cap from October: In December we set out three options to make the price cap more robust to high and volatile wholesale energy costs while preserving as far as possible the benefits of the price cap for consumers. The consultation published tomorrow will include all three options, with quarterly updates as our preferred option

Breakdown of costs in the energy price cap

Dual fuel customer paying by direct debit, typical energy use (GB £)

Dual fuel customer paying by direct debit, typical energy use

*Network costs: The main driver of this increase is the recovery of Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR) levy costs (£68). A supplier acting as a SoLR can make a claim for any reasonable additional, otherwise unrecoverable, costs they incur. These levy claims are paid to energy companies by the distribution network companies and recovered from consumers via their charges.

5. The charts below show the wholesale prices that are used to determine the wholesale cost allowance within the price cap from spring 2018 ahead of the introduction of the price cap in January 2019.

Wholesale costs make up the majority of a customer’s bill. An efficient supplier will purchase energy for their customers on the wholesale market in advance of when they need to supply that energy.

This purchasing strategy is reflected in how the wholesale allowance is calculated within the price cap. We observe the forward-looking energy contracts that energy companies typically purchase over time and combine these to determine the wholesale cost allowance within the price cap.

We do this twice a year when we update the price cap in August for the winter period (October – March) and in February for the summer period (April – September) based on the price of these forward-looking energy contracts over the previous six months.

The fixed horizontal line shows the average wholesale cost allowance for each 6 month price cap period based on the price of the relevant forward looking energy contracts (the jagged line).

The recent spike in the prices of relevant forward looking energy contracts over the last 6 months can be clearly seen. The scale and pace of wholesale price increases has resulted in a big increase in the wholesale cost allowance for the price cap level for summer 2022.

Wholesale gas price costs in the energy price cap

Pence per therm

Wholesale gas price costs in the energy price cap

Wholesale electricity price costs in the energy price cap

Pounds per megawatt hour

Wholesale electricity price costs in the energy price cap

Data sets behind these graphs are proprietary and can be sourced from ICIS.

Chancellor’s statement – Energy Price Cap

Statement, as delivered by Chancellor Rishi Sunak, on 3 February 2022:

Mr Speaker,

The UK’s economic recovery has been quicker and stronger than forecast.

In the depths of the pandemic, our economy was expected to return to its pre-crisis level at the end of 2022.

Instead, it got there in November 2021 – a full year earlier.

Unemployment was expected to peak at nearly 12%.

Instead, it peaked at 5.2% and has now fallen to just over 4% – saving more than 2 million jobs.

And with the fastest growing economy in the G7 this year…

Over 400,000 more people on payrolls than before the pandemic…

And business investment rising…it’s no wonder Mr Speaker, that borrowing is set to fall from £320bn last year …

… the highest ever peacetime level …

… to £46bn by the end of this Parliament.

As we emerge from the depths of the worst recession in 300 years, we should be proud of our economic record.

The economy is stronger because of the plan we put in place; because of the actions we took to protect families and businesses.

And that plan is working.

But for all the progress we are making – the job is not yet done.

Right now, I know the number one issue on people’s minds is the rising cost of living.

It is the independent Bank of England’s role to deliver low and stable inflation – and the Governor will set out their latest judgements at midday today.

And just as the government stood behind the British people through the pandemic…

… so we will help people deal with one of the biggest costs they now face – energy.

The energy regulator, OFGEM, announced this morning that the energy price cap will rise in April to £1,971 – an increase of £693 for the average household. Without government action, this would be incredibly tough for millions of hardworking families. So the government is going to step in to directly help people manage those extra costs.

Mr Speaker,

Before I set out the steps we are taking, let me explain what’s happening to energy prices, and why.

People’s energy bills are rising because it is more expensive for the companies who supply our energy to buy oil, coal, and gas.

Of the £693 increase in the April price cap, around 80% comes from wholesale energy prices.

Over the last year, the price of gas alone has quadrupled.

And because over 85% of homes in Britain are heated with a gas boiler, and around 40% of our electricity comes from gas, this is hitting households hard.

The reasons gas prices are soaring are global.

Across Europe and Asia, a long, cold winter last year depleted gas stores.

Disruption to other energy sources like nuclear and wind left us relying more than usual on gas during the summer months.

Surging demand in the world’s manufacturing centres in Asia…

… at the same time as countries like China are moving away from coal…

… is further increasing demand for gas.

And concerns about a possible Russian incursion into Ukraine are putting further pressure on wholesale gas markets.

And so prices are rising.

Mr Speaker,

The price cap has meant that the impact of soaring gas prices has so far fallen mainly on energy companies.

So much so, that some suppliers who couldn’t afford to meet those extra costs have gone out of business as a result.

It is not sustainable to keep holding the price of energy artificially low.

For me to stand here and pretend we don’t have to adjust to paying higher prices would be wrong and dishonest. But what we can do is take the sting out of a significant price shock for millions of families … by making sure the increase in prices is smaller initially and spread over a longer period.

Mr Speaker,

Without government intervention, the increase in the price cap would leave the average household having to find an extra £693.

The actions I’m announcing today will provide, to the vast majority of households, just over half that amount – £350.

In total, the government is going to help around 28 million households this year.

Taken together, this is a plan to help with the cost of living worth around £9bn.

We’re delivering that support in three different ways.

First, we will spread the worst of the extra costs of this year’s energy price shock over time.

This year, all domestic electricity customers will receive an upfront discount on their bills worth £200.

Energy suppliers will apply the discount on people’s bills from October.

With the government meeting the cost in full.

That discount will be automatically repaid from people’s bills in equal £40 instalments over the next five years.

This is the right way to support people while staying on track with our plans to repair the public finances.

And because we are taking a fiscally responsible approach, we can also provide more help, faster, to those who need it most – the second part of our plan.

We’re going to give people a £150 Council Tax rebate to help with the cost of energy, in April – and this discount won’t need to be repaid.

And I do want to be clear with the House that we are deliberately not just giving support to people on benefits.

Lots of people on middle incomes are struggling right now, too – so I’ve decided to provide the council tax rebate to households in Bands A to D.

This means around 80% of all homes in England will benefit.

And the third part of our plan will provide local authorities with a discretionary fund of nearly £150m…

… to help those lower income households who happen to live in higher Council Tax properties…

… and households in bands A-D who are exempt from Council Tax.

We’re also confirming today that we’ll go ahead with existing plans to expand eligibility for the Warm Home Discount by almost a third…

… so that 3m vulnerable households will now benefit from that scheme.

And that’s not all we’re doing to help vulnerable households.

We’re providing £3bn over this Parliament to help more than half a million lower income homes become more energy efficient, saving them on average £290 per year.

Increasing the National Living Wage to £9.50 an hour in April, a pay rise of over £1,000 for 2 million low paid workers.

And providing an effective tax cut for those on Universal Credit, allowing almost 2 million households to keep an average of £1,000 per year.

The payment through energy suppliers will apply across England, Wales and Scotland.

Energy policy is devolved in Northern Ireland, with a different regulator, and the government does not have the legal powers to intervene.

So we will make sure the Executive is funded to do something similar, with around £150m for Northern Ireland through the Barnett formula next year.

And because the Council Tax system is England only, total Barnett consequentials of around £565m will be provided to the devolved administrations in the usual way.

Mr Speaker,

I know that some in this House have argued for a VAT cut on energy.

However, that policy would disproportionately benefit wealthier households.

There would also be no guarantee that suppliers would pass on the discounts to all customers.

And we should be honest with ourselves: this would become a permanent Government subsidy on everyone’s bills.

A permanent subsidy worth £2.5 billion every year – at a time when we are trying to rebuild the public finances.

Instead, our plan allows us to provide more generous support, faster, to those who need it most, providing 28m households with at least £200, and the vast majority receiving £350.

It is fair, it is targeted, it is proportionate – it is the right way to help people with the spike in energy costs.

Mr Speaker,

Today’s announcements are just one part of the government’s plan to tackle this country’s most pressing economic challenges.

A plan for growth – with record investments in infrastructure, innovation and skills.

A plan to restore the public finances – with debt falling by the end of this Parliament.

A plan to cut waiting lists and back the NHS with £29bn over three years and a permanent new source of funding.

And, with the measures I’ve announced today – a plan to help with the rising cost of energy with £350 more in the pockets of tens of millions of hard working families.

That’s our plan to build a stronger economy – not just today but for the long term.

And I commend it to this House.

Commenting on the energy cap rise, interest rate rise and the Chancellor’s measures to address the cost of living crisis, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “The Chancellor’s announcement is hopelessly inadequate. For most families it’s just £7 a week and more than half must be paid back.

“It’s too little, it’s poorly targeted, and it’s stop gap measures instead of fixing the big problems.

“Britain needs a pay rise. The best way to help families is to get wages growing again. But this government has no plan to end pay misery.

“Ministers should be getting urgent help to families that need it most through raising universal credit. And we need a windfall tax on the excessive profits from North Sea gas to cut bills and boost investment in affordable energy.”

Responding to today’s announcements on energy costs and the cost of living, Katie Schmuecker, Deputy Director of Policy and Partnerships for the independent Joseph Rowntree Foundation said:  “The Chancellor has offered cold comfort to families in poverty, who are already rationing what they can spend on essentials such as heating and food.

“These families are now expected to find at least half of the eye watering increases in energy bills, when many are already getting into debt to keep their houses warm and food on the table.  

“Three quarters of those who can claim the enhanced support are not in poverty. Meanwhile inflation is set to rise at more than double the rate of benefits. This support will not get people through the next few months and it will not protect those most at risk of hardship. 

“People in poverty are hit hardest by all these pressures because our social security system is simply not offering adequate support, and until that changes they will continue to be exposed to every economic shock. 

“The Chancellor has made his choice, the harder choices will now be coming for those who still can’t afford essentials for themselves and their families.”

 University of Birmingham’s Harriet Thomson on the rise of energy price caps: “This news comes at a time when families across Great Britain have already been facing years of rapidly increasing energy prices, as well as chaotic energy market conditions with the collapse of around 20 energy supplies since January 2021 alone.

“Just last month, ONS data found that 2 in 3 adults said their costs of living had gone up in the past month, with 79% of those attributing blame to gas and electricity prices.

“We know from the extensive body of existing evidence on this topic that lower income households will be disproportionately hit by the price cap increase, risking pushing millions more into a situation fuel poverty.

“This will have serious consequences for physical and mental health, social isolation, and educational attainment, with households forced to make difficult everyday decisions over whether to ‘heat or eat’.  

“Moreover, these price increases are likely to push more people into using risky and/or polluting alternative energy sources, such as DIY candle heaters that have been linked to house fires, burning scrap wood and other flammable materials, and digging up peat. As well as the obvious risks to human life, these approaches will also exacerbate climate change.

“It’s clear that energy companies are reeling from the potent combination of cash flow reductions due to pandemic-related economic pressures on families who are building up more energy debt, and the global gas crisis.

“But the answer is not to burden households with yet more costs. The energy market is broken and needs radical reform – now is the time for the UK government to show ambition and commitment to the nation by investing in deep retrofits of our old and leaky housing stock, and to rollout decentralised renewable energy systems at scale.”

Gove: Levelling Up invitation to ‘join forces for the common good’

The Secretary of State for Levelling Up Michael Gove has written to the First Ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland following the publication of the Levelling Up White Paper.

In the letters the Secretary of State for Levelling Up:

  • discusses the publication of the Levelling Up White Paper
  • calls for the First Ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to work with the UK government to overcome shared challenges

The Scottish Government is yet to respond.

LEVELLING UP: REACTION

Responding to the publication of the levelling up white paper, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “If we don’t level up at work, we won’t level up the country. 

“But the government has failed to provide a serious plan to deliver decent well-paid jobs, in the parts of the UK that need them most. 

“Insecure work and low pay are rife in modern Britain. And for far too many families hard work no longer pays.  

“With the country facing a cost-of-living crisis, working families need action now to improve jobs and boost pay packets – especially after more than a decade of lost pay.  

“Ministers should have announced a plan to get real wages rising – starting with a proper pay rise for all our key workers and the introduction of fair pay deals for low-paid industries. 

“And they should have delivered the long-awaited employment bill to ban zero hours contracts – as well as new, meaningful investment in skills and good green jobs of the future. 

“Without a plan to deliver decent work up and down the country, millions will struggle on, on low wages, and with poor health and prospects.” 

Recent polling published by the TUC found the British public’s number one priority for levelling up is more and better jobs.  

The TUC polling, conducted by YouGov, reveals that the most popular priority for levelling up, chosen by one in two Britons, is increasing the number and quality of jobs available.   

Increasing the number and quality of jobs is popular across the political spectrum. Half (49 per cent) of those who voted Conservative in the 2019 general election picked it as their top priority, along with more than half of Labour voters (56 per cent) and Lib Dem voters (54 per cent). 

Matthew Fell, CBI Chief Policy Director, said: “The Levelling Up White Paper is a serious assessment of the regional inequalities which have hamstrung the UK’s economic potential for generations.

“It offers a blueprint for how government can be rewired and an encouraging basis for how the private sector can bring the investment and innovation to start overcoming those deep-rooted challenges, and power long term prosperity for every community, wherever they live.

“The picture it paints of a reinvigorated 2030 UK can inspire public and private sector partners to unite on shared missions for improving health, wealth, growth and opportunity across the country.

“Crucially, it accepts the CBI view that business-driven economic clusters – enabling every region and nation to build its own unique competitiveness proposition – can be a catalyst which brings levelling up ambitions to life.”

University of Birmingham’s John Bryson on the Levelling Up announcement: “The UK has always suffered from uneven development and this is reflected in all measures of well-being – from salaries to place-based differences in mortality rates and morbidity.

“There is no country on this planet that does not suffer from some form of uneven place-based outcomes. The implication is that any attempt to remove place-based uneven outcomes will and must fail. The policy outcome might mean some alteration in the extent or degree of unevenness, but unevenness will continue to persist.

“No political party will be able to develop effective solutions to create a level playing field. Nevertheless, this does not mean that policies should not be designed to support and facilitate some form of more even development. However, the outcome will still be the persistence of uneven outcomes.  

“The key to any levelling-up agenda is to accept that every place is different and that there are multiple alternative place-based pathways; London can never become Newcastle and Newcastle can never become London.

“The levelling-up agenda needs to be positioned around a debate that is not based on closing the gap between the richer and poorer part of the country, but instead must be framed around facilitating place-based responsible inclusive prosperity.

“This must be the focus as any policy targeted at economic growth can never be sustainable. The levelling-up policy initiative ultimately must be designed to encourage inclusive carbon-light lifestyles. One implication is that levelling-up might also require some degree of levelling-down.” 

Campbell Robb, Nacro chief executive said: “We know tackling poverty and inequality is key to levelling up. For over 50 years Nacro has been embedded in communities helping some of our nation’s most vulnerable people through our housing, education, and justice services.

“We see a huge amount of unmet need in our country. We need radical change to the systems that support people and significant funding to address this need, not just ambitions and slogans.

“Until there is right support, opportunity, and funding in place for everyone to succeed regardless of the circumstances, we cannot truly claim to be levelling up”

Torsten Bell, Chief Executive of the Resolution Foundation, said: “We now know what levelling up is – George Osborne plus New Labour.

“The White Paper is all about combining the devolution of the former Conservative Chancellor, with the bigger and more activist state focused on deprived areas of the last Labour government.

“There is a strong case for both. Whether they can be delivered very much remains to be seen.”

Responding to the publication of Government’s Levelling Up the United Kingdom White Paper, Social Mobility Commission Chair Katharine Birbalsingh and Deputy Chair Alun Francis said: “We welcome the publication of the Levelling Up White Paper, and the fact that it gives a clear framework to address disparities between regions and communities.

“These communities are full of talented individuals and we must do everything we can to empower them to thrive. Each of the missions the paper sets out are hugely important, and it is crucial that checks and balances are in place to ensure that local government bodies, both existing and new, are held to account for their delivery.

“The Commission has been clear that social mobility must be a core objective of levelling up. We are pleased to see that equipping young people with the tools they need to succeed in life is at the heart of this strategy, and that it includes measures that can contribute to social mobility through every stage of a young person’s journey, from early childhood through education, training and employment.

“The missions are aspirational and pose the right questions, but are also hugely ambitious. The test will be in the detail and the implementation – not just boosting skills, but which skills will be taught and how; not just aiming for essential literacy and numeracy, but defining the most effective ways to achieve them.

“Ultimately, levelling up will be judged on how well it creates opportunities in places they did not exist before. A key test will be how we help those with the fewest opportunities find decent work – this is not just about stories of rags-to-riches. More still needs to be done to stimulate the creation of much-needed quality private sector jobs in the most deprived areas.

“As the Social Mobility Commission we stand ready to work with the government to flesh out that detail, advise on the best ways to make these missions a reality, and ensure that levelling up empowers people up and down the country to stand on their own two feet.”

Finally, after months of delays, the levelling up White Paper is out! So was it worth the wait?

Levelling Up White Paper leaves low paid workers behind

As the TUC has argued, you can’t level up without levelling up at work. In-work poverty, driven by the prevalence of low-paid and insecure work, is sky-high in every region and nation of the UK. This reflects the fact that low-paid sectors, such as retail and social care, are major employers in every area of the country (writes TUC’s JANET WILLIAMSON).

And more and better jobs is the public’s top priority for levelling up, with recent polling for the TUC conducted by YouGov finding that increasing the number and quality of jobs is seen as a priority for levelling up by one in two people from right across the political spectrum. Does the White Paper deliver this?

The White Paper sets out 12 missions – or aims – spanning living standards, R&D, transport, digital connectivity, education, skills, health, well-being, pride in place, housing, crime and local leadership. There is not a specific mission on work, but the living standards mission is “By 2030, pay, employment and productivity will have risen in every area of the UK, with each containing a globally competitive city, and the gap between the top performing and other areas closing.”

So, what is the plan for achieving this?

In a nutshell, it is to grow the private sector and improve its ability to create new and better paid jobs. There are five strategies to support this aim, all of which fall under a typical ‘industrial strategy’ umbrella: improving SME’s access to finance; boosting institutional investment, including from the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) and the recently established National Infrastructure Bank; attracting foreign direct investment and using trade policy, in particular freeports, to boost investment; improving the diffusion of technologies and innovation; and supporting and growing the manufacturing sector.

There are some important questions to be answered in relation to some of these strategies; for example, it is vital that the LGPS is invested in the long-term interests of its members, without its funds being diverted towards other purposes. And each deserves proper examination in its own right.

But what they have in common is that all of them aim to create a better distribution of well-paid and highly skilled jobs around the country. This is needed – but what about the jobs that people are already in? There is no plan to address inequality within the labour market and nothing to level up work that is low paid and insecure.

The experience of London shows that the prevalence of high-paid jobs does not automatically lead to rising incomes for the wider community. Indeed, London has the highest rate of in-work poverty in the country, with people in low-paying service sector jobs priced out of housing and local amenities.

To level up, we must tackle low pay and insecurity head on, and focus on those sectors that need it most.

We need to strengthen the floor of employment protection for all workers by raising the minimum wage and tackling zero hours contracts. And the government should lead by example, giving public sector workers a proper pay rise and reversing the devastating cuts that public services have suffered in the last decade. Decent jobs should be a requirement of all government procurement, so that the power of government is used to drive up employment standards.

But we also need to change the way our economy works to hardwire decent work into business models and economic growth. Relying on the private sector to level up without changing how it works will fail. We need corporate governance reform to rebalance corporate priorities and give working people a fair share of the wealth they create. And we need a new skills settlement to give working people access to lifelong learning accounts and a right to retrain.

Levelling up at work means addressing the imbalance of power in the workplace

Working people need stronger rights to organise collectively in unions and bargain with their employer. Collective bargaining promotes higher pay, better training, safer and more flexible workplaces and greater equality – exactly what we need to level up at work. Unions should have access to workplaces to tell people about the benefits of unions, following the New Zealand model.

And to level up we must tackle entrenched low pay and poor conditions within sectors head on, bringing unions and employers together to set sectoral Fair Pay Agreements for low paid sectors, starting with social care.

Creating new and better jobs is important; but this Levelling Up White Paper has left those in low paid, insecure work behind.

Levelling Up: More than a slogan?

Government finally unveils ten year plan that ‘will transform UK’

  • Twelve bold national levelling up missions, given status in law, will shift government focus and resources to Britain’s forgotten communities throughout 2020s
  • Biggest shift of power from Whitehall to local leaders in modern times announced – every part of England to get ‘London style’ powers and mayor if they wish to
  • Starting gun fired on decade-long project to level up Britain, with radical new policies announced across the board
  • Domestic public investment in Research & Development to increase by at least 40% across the North, Midlands, South West, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland

Today (2 February 2022) the Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove will unveil the government’s flagship Levelling Up White Paper. This document will set out a plan to transform the UK by spreading opportunity and prosperity to all parts of it.

The White Paper will set out a complete ‘system change’ of how government works that will be implemented to level up the UK.

At the heart of this new way of making and implementing policy will be 12 ‘bold, national missions’ – all quantifiable and to be achieved by 2030.

These missions (in full below) are the policy objectives for levelling up, and thus form the heart of the government’s agenda for the 2020s. They will be given status in law in a flagship Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill.

These missions will be cross-government, cross-society efforts. The first mission, for instance, will see pay, employment, and productivity grow everywhere, and the disparities between the top and worst performing areas narrow. This is the first time a government has placed narrowing spatial economic disparities at the heart of its agenda before.

The Research & Development (R&D) mission will see domestic public R&D investment outside the Greater South East increase by at least 40% by 2030, with these funds leveraging a huge increase in private investment in these areas too.

By 2030, other missions will see:

  • the rest of the country’s local public transport systems becoming much closer to London standards
  • the large majority of the country gain access to 5G broadband
  • illiteracy and innumeracy in primary school leavers effectively eliminated – focussing the government’s education efforts on the most disadvantaged parts of the country

Other missions will see: hundreds of thousands more people completing high quality skills training every year, gross disparities in healthy life expectancy narrowed, the number of poor quality rented homes halved, the most run down town centres and communities across the country rejuvenated, a significant decrease in serious crime in the most blighted areas, and every part of England getting a ‘London-style’ devolution deal if they wish to.

The UK government will do whatever it can to achieve these missions. Government’s resources, energy, and focus throughout the 2020s will be re-oriented around achieving them – and thus squarely focussed on helping the people and parts of the country most struggling. Whilst the missions are UK-wide ambitions, in the many instances where they are driven by devolved policy levers, the UK government wishes to work hand in hand with the devolved governments to achieve them.

The missions will be underpinned by a suite of public metrics to track progress and monitor the evolution of spatial disparities. The UK government will legislate such that it has a statutory duty to publish an annual report updating the public on the progress of these missions, with a new Levelling Up Advisory Council including members such as Sir Paul Collier, renowned economist at Oxford’s Blavatnik’s School of Government, providing further support and constructive analysis.

Other parts of the ‘system change’ include: all policy across Whitehall being aligned with the levelling up agenda and therefore subject to spatial analysis, and a transformation of the government’s approach to data and evaluation – with a new independent body created to improve transparency of local government performance.

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said: “The United Kingdom is an unparalleled success story. We have one of the world’s biggest and most dynamic economies. Ours is the world’s most spoken language. We have produced more Nobel Prize winners than any country other than America.

“But not everyone shares equally in the UK’s success. For decades, too many communities have been overlooked and undervalued. As some areas have flourished, others have been left in a cycle of decline. The UK has been like a jet firing on only one engine.

“Levelling Up and this White Paper is about ending this historic injustice and calling time on the postcode lottery.

“This will not be an easy task, and it won’t happen overnight, but our 12 new national levelling up missions will drive real change in towns and cities across the UK, so that where you live will no longer determine how far you can go.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “From day one, the defining mission of this government has been to level up this country, to break the link between geography and destiny so that no matter where you live you have access to the same opportunities.

“The challenges we face have been embedded over generations and cannot be dug out overnight, but this White Paper is the next crucial step.

“It is a vision for the future that will see public spending on R&D increased in every part of the country; transport connectivity improving; faster broadband in every community; life expectancies rising; violent crime falling; schools improving; and private sector investment being unleashed.

“It is the most comprehensive, ambitious plan of its kind that this country has ever seen and it will ensure that the government continues to rise to the challenge and deliver for the people of the UK.”

‘Huge shift of power’ from Whitehall to local leaders

The UK government recognises that if it tries to level up the UK alone, it will fail. That is why the White Paper will detail the largest devolution of power from Whitehall to local leaders across England in modern times.

The government recognises the strong local leadership mayors like Andy Street, Ben Houchen and Andy Burnham have shown, and wishes to replicate this success across England.

Fundamental to this ‘devolution revolution’ will be a new model for England with more mayors for those areas that want one.

The UK Government will invite the first 9 areas to agree new county deals and seek to agree further MCA deals, extending devolution across England. The first 9 areas invited to begin negotiations will be Cornwall, Derbyshire & Derby, Devon, Plymouth and Torbay, Durham, Hull & East Yorkshire, Leicestershire, Norfolk, Nottinghamshire & Nottingham, and Suffolk.

The White Paper announces negotiations for a new Mayoral Combined Authority deal for York and North Yorkshire and expanded Mayoral Combined Authority deal for the North East, as well as negotiations for ‘trailblazer’ devolution deals with the West Midlands and Greater Manchester to extend their powers – with these deals acting as blueprints for other Mayoral Combined Authorities to follow.

By 2030, every part of England that wishes to have a ‘London-style’ devolution deal will have one.

The local devolution mission is relevant in England only, but the wider policy programme will see decentralisation of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to local areas in Scotland and Wales.

‘Radical new policy’ to level up announced

The White Paper represents a long term plan to transform the UK, but it also sets out the first steps the government is taking to achieve this:

Boosting pay and productivity, especially in places where they are lagging

  • To contribute towards domestic public investment in R&D outside the Greater South East increasing by at least 40% by 2030, the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) have committed to invest at least 55% of their domestic R&D funding outside the Greater South East by 2024/5. Commitments to increase public investment have been made by DHSC, MOD, DfT and Defra. For instance, the Department for Health and Social Care will be increasing their medical research investment outside London, Oxford and Cambridge.
  • The White Paper also announces 3 new Innovation Accelerators, major place-based centres of innovation, centred on Greater Manchester, the West Midlands, and Glasgow-City Region. These clusters of innovation will see local businesses and researchers in these areas backed by £100 million of new government funding to turbo-charge local growth, learning from the MIT-Greater Boston and Stanford-Silicon Valley models.
  • The document further sets out the government’s intention to mobilise £16 billion of the Local Government Pension Scheme for investments in local projects – recognising that too much at present is invested outside the UK.
  • The government will fund ambitious plans for bus improvements in areas where this can make the most impact, including the mayoral city-regions, Stoke-on-Trent, Derbyshire and Warrington.

Spreading opportunities and improving public services, especially where they are weakest

  • 55 Education Investment Areas (EIAs) will be designated in local authorities in England where school outcomes are currently weakest. These areas, 95% of which are outside London and the South East, will benefit from intensive investment and support. This will ensure the worst off schools of the North, Midlands, South West and East of England receive the most support over this decade. They will be supported by the Department for Education (DfE) offering retention payments to schools in these areas ensuring they can retain the best teachers. And will be prioritised for new specialist sixth form free schools that will ensure talented children from disadvantaged backgrounds have access to the highest standard of education this country offers.
  • Local Skills Improvement Plans will be rolled out with funding across England, giving local employer bodies and stakeholders a statutory role in planning skills training in their area, to better meet local labour market needs.
  • The government will set out its strategy to tackle the core drivers of health inequalities through a new White Paper on Health Disparities published this year.
  • Recommendations will be taken forward from Henry Dimbleby’s review towards a National Food Strategy. DfE will work with the Food Standards Agency to pilot measures to ensure greater compliance with the school food standards. The government will pilot the Community Eat Well programme, enabling GPs to prescribe exercise and healthy food.

Restoring local pride

  • The government will support 20 of our towns and city centres, starting off with Wolverhampton and Sheffield, undertaking ambitious, King’s Cross-style regeneration projects, transforming derelict urban sites into beautiful communities. This work will be spearheaded by Homes England, which will be repurposed to, in addition to its existing functions, regenerate towns and cities.
  • The ‘80/20 rule’ which leads to 80% of government funding for housing supply being directed at ‘maximum affordability areas’ – in practice, London and the South East – will be scrapped, with much of the £1.8 billion brownfield funding instead being diverted to transforming brownfield sites in the North and Midlands. The Metro Mayors will be allocated £120 million of this funding.
  • The government will announce a plan that for the first time ever, all homes in the Private Rented Sector will have to meet a minimum standard – the Decent Homes Standard. Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions will further be abolished, ending the unfair situation where renters can be kicked out of their homes for no reason. We will consult on introducing a landlords register, and will set out plans for a crackdown on rogue landlords – making sure fines and bans stop repeat offenders leaving renters in terrible conditions.
  • Home ownership will be boosted due to a new £1.5 billion Levelling Up Home Building Fund being launched, which will provide loans to SMEs and support the UK government’s wider regeneration agenda in areas that are a priority for levelling up.
  • The government will further commit to building more genuinely affordable social housing. A new Social Housing Regulation Bill will deliver upon the commitments the government made following the Grenfell tragedy in 2017.
  • The White Paper will commit the government to significantly increasing cultural spending outside the capital, and commit that 100% of the Arts Council England funding uplift agreed at the latest Spending Review will be spent outside London.
  • A new National Youth Guarantee will be launched so that by 2025 every young person in England will have access to regular out of school activities, adventures away from home, and opportunities to volunteer.
  • A review of the Community Ownership Fund will occur so that more fans can take control of their vital local assets such as football club grounds. A £230 million investment in grassroots football will be delivered, with funding this year to deliver 850 pitches in England alone with further funding to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
  • £44 million will be unlocked from the Dormant Assets Scheme to support charities, social enterprises, and vulnerable individuals. With a consultation on the best causes for a further £880 million later this year, which will include a community wealth fund, youth and social investment.
  • The White Paper will announce 68 more local authorities to be supported by the High Streets Task Force to transform their town centres.
  • The government will give local authorities the power to require landlords of empty shops to fill them if they have been left vacant for too long.
  • £50 million from the Safer Streets Fund will be invested every year to give Police and Crime Commissioners, local authorities, and also certain civil society organisations in England and Wales the resources they need to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour.
  • To ensure those who transgress repair the damage they cause, £93 million will be invested in scaling up the amount of unpaid work that offenders to around 8 million hours per year – 1.75 million hours higher than any time since records began in 2015. Police officers will also gain the power to deal with noise nuisance.
  • Building on investment from the 10-year Drugs Strategy, the government will work intensively with the local authorities of 10-20 areas most affected by prolific neighbourhood crime.

Empowering local leaders

In addition to the policies announced above, such as offering a ‘London-style’ devolution settlement to every part of England:

  • Announcing for the first time a new devolution framework which sets out a clear menu of options for places in England that wish to unlock the benefits of devolution, whether that is moving towards a London-style transport system to connect people to opportunity, improving local skills provision, or being able to act more flexibly and innovatively to respond to local need.
  • The £2.6 billion UK Shared Prosperity Fund will be decentralised to local leaders as far as possible, with investments set to regenerate communities, boost people’s skills, and support local businesses.
  • A commitment to vastly simplify the local growth funding landscape to allow local leaders to drive tangible, visible change in their communities.

Stephen Phipson, Chief Executive of Make UK, said: “Manufacturers will enthusiastically embrace this strategy which is a vital building block in spreading growth to all parts of the UK.

“The sector has a significant presence in exactly the areas which need levelling up and is playing a vital role in delivering high value skills. While there is substantially more to be done, this focus on skills and innovation, together with an emphasis on infrastructure and place, is the right starting point and one that industry will back.”

The 12 Missions to Level Up the UK

1. By 2030, pay, employment and productivity will have risen in every area of the UK, with each containing a globally competitive city, with the gap between the top performing and other areas closing.

2. By 2030, domestic public investment in Research & Development outside the Greater South East will increase by at least 40% and at least one third over the Spending Review period, with that additional government funding seeking to leverage at least twice as much private sector investment over the long term to stimulate innovation and productivity growth.

3. By 2030, local public transport connectivity across the country will be significantly closer to the standards of London, with improved services, simpler fares and integrated ticketing.

4. By 2030, the UK will have nationwide gigabit-capable broadband and 4G coverage, with 5G coverage for the majority of the population.

5. By 2030, the number of primary school children achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and maths will have significantly increased. In England, this will mean 90% of children will achieve the expected standard, and the percentage of children meeting the expected standard in the worst performing areas will have increased by over a third.

6. By 2030, the number of people successfully completing high-quality skills training will have significantly increased in every area of the UK. In England, this will lead to 200,000 more people successfully completing high-quality skills training annually, driven by 80,000 more people completing courses in the lowest skilled areas.

7. By 2030, the gap in Healthy Life Expectancy (HLE) between local areas where it is highest and lowest will have narrowed, and by 2035 HLE will rise by 5 years.

8. By 2030, well-being will have improved in every area of the UK, with the gap between top performing and other areas closing.

9. By 2030, pride in place, such as people’s satisfaction with their town centre and engagement in local culture and community, will have risen in every area of the UK, with the gap between the top performing and other areas closing.

10. By 2030, renters will have a secure path to ownership with the number of first-time buyers increasing in all areas; and the government’s ambition is for the number of non-decent rented homes to have fallen by 50%, with the biggest improvements in the lowest performing areas.

11. By 2030, homicide, serious violence, and neighbourhood crime will have fallen, focused on the worst-affected areas.

12. By 2030, every part of England that wants one will have a devolution deal with powers at or approaching the highest level of devolution and a simplified, long-term funding settlement.

WHAT’S IN IT FOR SCOTLAND?

The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Michael Gove, will write to the leaders of the devolved administrations to invite them to work together to deliver for people across the UK.

Proposals will include using the new structures created in the landmark Intergovernmental Relations Review to drive collaboration to overcome geographical disparities and the creation of a new body to share evidence and analyse success in devolved policy areas across the UK.

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said: “I welcome the publication of the Levelling Up White Paper and urge the Scottish Government and local partners to work closely with us improving lives across Scotland.

“Initiatives such as the Glasgow City-Region becoming an Innovation Accelerator, unlocking access to a share of £100 million of new funding, will help Scotland continue its vital role in keeping the UK at the forefront of global science and research.

“Thanks to locally led partnerships working closely with the UK Government, the region will become a major innovation cluster delivering high end jobs. This, along with the UK Government’s commitment to invest £20 billion research and development budget outside the Greater South East of England, is great news for Scotland and the wider UK as we deliver on our levelling up commitments.”

Amongst the UK-wide policies the UK Government will drive are:

  • A 40% increase in domestic public investment in R&D outside the Greater South East of England by 2030. The Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) have committed to invest at least 55% of their domestic R&D funding outside the Greater South East by 2024/5.
  • Decentralisation of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to local areas in Scotland and Wales.
  • Nationwide gigabit-capable broadband and 4G coverage across the UK and 5G coverage for most of the population.