| |
Government's daily press conference
The press conference was chaired by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak. (20th April 2020)
The Government reported the latest coronavirus figures – 386,044 people have been tested, of whom 124,743 have tested positive. 17,971 people are currently in hospital with coronavirus and there have been 16,509 deaths in hospitals.
The Government acknowledged the international challenge of obtaining sufficient amounts of personal protective equipment (PPE) and confirmed that they are working hard to obtain the PPE required by the NHS and social care. The Government are receiving shipments regularly and are working to resolve the delayed Turkish PPE shipment as soon as possible.
It was confirmed that HMRC opened the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme at 8am today and by 4pm 140,000 firms had applied. The firms who submitted applications today should receive funds within six working days. The link to the online portal can be found here.
The Chancellor announced a new £1.25 billion coronavirus package to protect firms driving innovation in UK. The package includes a £500 million loan scheme for high-growth firms, called the Future Fund, and £750 million of targeted support for small and medium sized businesses focused on research and development.
The slides and datasets to accompany today’s coronavirus press conference are available to view online.
|
|
|
| |
Local government funding
The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government has announced that local authorities in England will receive a further non ring-fenced £1.6 billion to help them to deal with the immediate impacts of coronavirus. Allocations have not yet been announced.
The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government’s speech from the Government’s press conference on Saturday (18 April), in which he announced the additional funding, is available online.
|
|
|
| |
Letter to local government workforce
The Secretary of State for Housing, Local Government and Communities, Robert Jenrick, has written to all local government officers to thank them for working to support their communities during coronavirus.
|
|
|
| |
Care homes
Public Health England has published guidance for care home staff on how to work safely during this period. The guidance includes information on the correct use of PPE.
|
|
|
| |
Education
The Department for Education has updated guidance for education settings and local authorities about children supported through social care, with education, health and care (EHC) plans or identified as vulnerable by their school or local authority. New guidance has also been issued on risk assessments for settings that are managing children and young people with an EHC plan during the coronavirus outbreak. Additionally, the Department has updated the information for parents and carers about the closure of schools and other educational settings. It has also added information on online resources and remote learning to the guidance on actions for schools. This is alongside new guidance for parents on how best to support their child’s education and development.
Guidance has been published on funding and financial support available for education, childcare and children’s social care organisations.
The Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson’s speech from the Government’s press conference on Sunday (19 April) on the Government’s response to the outbreak of coronavirus and the support for vulnerable and disadvantaged pupils is available online. As part of the package, it was announced that vulnerable and disadvantaged young people will receive free laptops and tablets to help make remote education accessible.
The education enterprise, The Oak National Academy, has launched today. The enterprise which was backed by government grant funding will provide 180 video lessons each week. The BBC has also launched its own education package across television and online platforms.
|
|
|
| |
Local death management
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has issued statutory guidance for local authorities on Schedule 28 to the Coronavirus Act, which provides new powers for local authorities and government to support the resilience of local death management systems.
|
|
|
| |
Funerals
Public Health England has issued further guidance for those managing or organising funerals during the coronavirus pandemic. The guidance details exceptions to the stay at home advice to allow families and friends to attend funerals and say goodbye to loved ones.
The Local Government Minister, Simon Clarke, has written to all local authorities to ask them to work with faith groups and funeral directors to develop safe, sensitive and innovative ways for funerals to take place.
|
|
|
| |
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
The Government has announced that Paul Deighton, London 2012 Olympics Chief Executive, has been appointed to coordinate the end-to-end process of design through to manufacture of PPE for frontline health and social care staff.
The Public Health guidance on considerations for acute PPE shortages has been updated. It aims to highlight the sessional use and reuse of PPE where there are severe shortages of supply.
|
|
|
| |
Testing
Professor John Newton, national coordinator of the UK coronavirus testing programme, has warned against the purchase of unapproved antibody testing kits. Unapproved tests could be misleading, providing inaccurate or inconsistent results, potentially putting those tested and those around them at risk.
The Department of Health and Social Care has issued a privacy notice on testing for critical workers and their household members which outlines how personal data is collected and used when participating in the testing programme, as well as further information about the programme itself.
|
|
|
| |
Social care
The Social Care Institute for Excellence has issued coronavirus advice for social care, including guides for those supporting autistic adults and adults with learning disabilities during the coronavirus pandemic.
|
|
|
| |
Volunteers in Hampshire
The County Council and its partners are extremely grateful to the many people who have volunteered their time and resources to support Hampshire’s vulnerable residents in an unprecedented response to the coronavirus pandemic. Many residents continue to provide informal support to friends, family members and neighbours. Others have joined with local charities and community groups or have signed up to the Royal Voluntary Service NHS scheme. Others continue to give generously through fundraising and donations.
Working with local partners, the County Council is doing its best to ensure that the goodwill of residents is put to good use - volunteers who have offered or registered their support will be contacted when needed. The health and safety of volunteers remains paramount and all those serving should be encouraged first and foremost to look after their own health and wellbeing, follow volunteering guidance and take breaks.
|
|
|
| |
Care homes
Local guidance to support care homes in preventing and managing COVID-19 outbreaks has been developed by the County Council’s Public Health team and has been shared with local providers. The guidance brings together key points from several pieces of national guidance in a concise format.
|
|
|
| |
Supporting Hampshire's economy
Hampshire County Council’s Economic Development team is working with partners to engage with and support Hampshire businesses during the coronavirus pandemic. The team is currently focusing efforts on supporting local businesses in interpreting and accessing the various forms of government support available. More details about the support available for businesses, including funding support schemes for businesses, can be accessed here.
|
|
|
| |
Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PPC) grants
The Hampshire PCC has launched a new fund for groups working to support communities who need additional equipment or expenses covered during the coronavirus pandemic. The COVID-19 Keeping Communities Safer Fund will provide grants of up to £500 to existing voluntary groups, informal community groups established in direct response to coronavirus, Parish and Town councils and schools. The funding available will be allocated based on the information provided in the short application form.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
