Policy and Intelligence Newsletter - 27 October, 2020

The articles below have been drawn together by the policy and analytical community within the Council. 

Covid-19

• As of 25 October, 2,105 people in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly have tested positive for Covid-19. Over the last seven days, 171 people in the Duchy have tested positive, at a rate of 30 per 100,000 population: this contrasts with 201 positive tests per 100,000 people across the whole of England. A total of 145 people in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly have sadly died within 28 days of a positive test for Covid-19, with no fatalities in the last week.

• The Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, has said that modelling suggests between 53,000 and 90,000 people in England are being infected with Covid-19 each day, a far higher number than people testing positive via the NHS Test and Trace system.

• 17 regions are in Tier 2 (high) of the new three-tier alert system for England, according to the most recent Government information, updated 24 October. Four regions – Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Liverpool City and South Yorkshire – are in Tier 3 (very high), meaning that pubs, bars and indoor sports facilities are closed for approximately 7 million people. Guidance has been issued for residents of those areas to avoid travelling outside the vicinity. Cornwall remains in Tier 1 (medium).

• Charities and local businesses across Cornwall and England have announced they will provide free food during half-term to children who usually qualify for free school meals. Pressure is growing on the Government to reverse its decision not to provide food vouchers for children from low-income households during the holidays, following the high-profile campaign led by footballer Marcus Rashford.

• The most recent Government Statistics on NHS Test and Trace (8-14 October) show that positive Covid-19 test results have risen sharply since the end of August. Turnaround times have lengthened for in-person swab tests under Pillar 2 (for the general population) although the average distance that people have to travel for an in-person test has slightly declined. 40% of the close contacts of people who have tested positive for Covid-19 were not reached by NHS contact tracers.

Brexit

• Intensified daily trade talks between the UK and EU have resumed in London, with agreement still to be reached on state aid rules (the extent that governments can legally support businesses), fishing rights and enforcement mechanisms. The UK’s transition period out of the EU will end on December 31 this year.

Economy

• The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak MP, has announced changes to the Government’s Job Support Scheme – which will replace the furlough scheme from next month until the end of April 2021. The revised scheme will require businesses to contribute 5% of employees’ pay for unworked hours; the Government will pay 62%; and 33% will not be paid. At least 20% of employees’ typical hours must be worked to qualify. Self-employed people will be eligible for grants of up to 40% of their previous earnings. Local Authorities in Tier 2 areas will be able to allocate grants of up to £2,100 per month to hospitality and leisure businesses, rising to £3,000 per month in Tier 3 regions. 

• The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick MP, has allocated an additional £919 million of non-ringfenced funding to Local Authorities in response to financial pressures generated by Covid-19. Cornwall Council is due to receive nearly £46 million of this funding across four tranches. Support worth £100 million is to be made available for Council-run leisure centres across England, with each area receiving at least £100,000 – although funding allocations are still being decided by Government departments.

• The Government will not be carrying out its planned three-year Comprehensive Spending Review, due to the economic uncertainty caused by Covid-19. A one-year review will instead be announced in November. The Chair of the Local Government Association, Cllr James Jamieson, commented that a single-year settlement “makes it incredibly difficult for [Councils] to plan how to provide the local services…communities rely on”.

• A new report by The Health Foundation has found that almost 300,000 people were turned down for benefits between March and July this year. The majority of claims were rejected because of ineligibility, mainly because claimants or their partners were earning too much or because their savings were above the £16,000 threshold. Half of those rejected were graduates, while another third had worked in professional or managerial roles. 

Education

• 99.7% of state schools across the country are fully open, a slight drop from 99.8% last week, while attendance in all state schools has dropped slightly to 89.2%, from 89.8% last week. The number of children attending early years settings has risen to 761,000, compared to 753,000 last week. (This data relates to 9 - 15 October, the most recent period available.) As a snapshot, on 15 October, 46% of state-funded secondary schools and 16% of state-funded primary schools reported that they had one or more pupils self-isolating due to contact with a potential Covid-19 case within the school.

Social Care

• The House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee has published a report on funding social care and the caring workforce, arguing that the sector must immediately receive investment of £7 billion to stave off “market collapse”. Some care providers are withdrawing services from clients who are funded by local authorities, focusing on those who can afford to fund their own care. The report also notes the “extraordinary sacrifices” made by carers during the Covid-19 pandemic, and urgently calls for “appropriate pay, professional career structures and parity of esteem with NHS [workers]”.

Charities and Equality

• Healthwatch Cornwall recently surveyed 1,800 local people on the impact of Covid-19 and lockdown. Respondents spoke of the impact of isolation and separation from family on mental health and well-being, often reporting greater loneliness, declining motivation and exacerbation of existing mental health issues. A minority of the people replying to the survey had positive impacts to report, focusing on the benefits of homeworking, reduced travel time and “having a break from the usual pressures”.

• Save the Children and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation have found that 38% of families receiving Universal Credit “had to rely on” assistance from charities for food or children’s clothing in August and September. 60% of respondents to a new survey said that they had gone into debt in the same period, while 50% reported being in rent arrears or behind on bills.

• The National Association for Youth Justice has released a report on issues affecting children in custody in 2020. Measures to curb the spread of Covid-19 in Young Offender Institutions included halting visits from families, lawyers and social workers, as well as a reduction in the minimum time that children had to legally be out of their rooms each day: 1.5 hours, compared with a 14-hour minimum before the pandemic. The report also found that the overrepresentation of Black and Minority Ethnic children in custody has worsened over the last ten years, with more than 50% of children in custody now coming from a BAME background.

Consultations and Campaigns

• Ofsted are seeking views on proposed changes to the way it inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass). Alterations would be effective from February 2021, and include a requirement for Cafcass to complete a self-evaluation. Deadline 11/11/2020.

• The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) are calling for opinions on proposals to extend the Warm Home Discount scheme from 2021 to 2022, along with more minor changes. Deadline 11/11/2020. Relatedly, the BEIS Committee will examine the Government’s Building and Heat Strategy in November. 

• The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) plans to introduce a new duty for local authorities to support victims of domestic abuse in safe accommodation, as part of the Domestic Abuse Bill. MHCLG are seeking views on the allocation of funding to local authorities relating to this new duty. Deadline 13/11/2020. 

• The Local Heritage List campaign has funding available to create county-wide registers of historically significant buildings and monuments. It is encouraging expressions of interest from local authorities keen to take part in the campaign. Deadline 13/11/2020.