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Government press conference - Tuesday 5 May
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The press conference was chaired by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Dominic Raab.
The Government confirmed that later this week the Prime Minister will update the country on the measures and decisions that will be taken to protect the NHS, to safeguard the economy and to avoid the risk of a second peak. The Government urged citizens to prepare to adjust to a new normal, with new safe new ways to work, travel and interact.
The work that is being carried out by the UK Government and partners to tackle cyber-crime was outlined. The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the US Department of Homeland Security have issued a joint alert exposing malicious cyber campaigns targeting international healthcare and medical research organisations involved in the coronavirus response. The NCSC has also produced practical advice for individuals and organisations on how to deal with Covid-19 related malicious cyber activity.
The slides and datasets from the conference are available to view online.
As of 5pm on 5 May, the total number of lab-confirmed cases was 194,990. The daily number of lab-confirmed cases was 4,406. The total number of COVID-19 associated deaths was 29,427, with 693 new deaths reported on the day. The data is available to view online.
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Bounce Back Loan Scheme
HMRC has announced that more than 69,000 Bounce Back Loans worth over £2 billion have been approved during the first 24 hours of the scheme. The seven largest lenders received a total of more than 130,000 Bounce Back Loan Scheme applications on the first day of the scheme (4 May).
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Business rates
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has announced that a revaluation of business rates will no longer take place in 2021 to help reduce uncertainty for firms affected by the impacts of Covid-19.
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Household waste recycling centres (HWRCs)
The Local Government Minister, Simon Clarke, and Environment Minister, Rebecca Pow, have written to councils urging them to re-open household waste recycling centres where it is safe to do so, while managing social distancing requirements. The letter also highlights the additional guidance published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs yesterday (5 May).
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Children's social care services
The Department for Education has updated the guidance for children's social care services to reflect the temporary changes made in the Adoption and Children (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020.
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Dairy farmers
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has announced that a new fund will enable dairy farmers to access up to £10,000 each to help them overcome the impacts of Covid-19.
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Insurance industry
The Government Actuary's Department has continued to issue online advice and guidance about the insurance industry to other parts of government, during the coronavirus pandemic.
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Businesses seeking to help voluntary organisations
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has issued guidance for businesses seeking to offer services, funds and volunteers to voluntary, community, and social enterprise organisations during the pandemic. This should be read alongside the how to help safely guidance and the NCVO volunteering guidance.
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5G
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has confirmed that there is no evidence of a link between 5G and Covid-19. Such theories have been rejected by scientific experts in the World Health Organisation and Full Fact, a UK-based independent fact checking charity. People are reminded to use the SHARE Checklist to help spot false or misleading content before sharing online posts about Covid-19 to help stop the spread of false or misinformation.
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Universal credit
The Department for Work and Pensions has reported that since the pandemic began, around 1.8 million claims have been made to Universal Credit and almost 700,000 advance payments made.
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Testing
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has announced that a new biological reagent is now available that will help laboratories to set up and develop accurate diagnostic tests for Covid-19.
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Verifying deaths
The Department of Health and Social Care has published guidance which clarifies the existing practice for verifying deaths outside of hospitals and provides a framework for safe verification of death during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Manufacturing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
The Office for Product Safety has Standards has published guidance for new small-scale manufacturers of Covid-19 PPE.
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Community deaths
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has issued the updated weekly deaths report up to week ending 24 April, which includes deaths in care homes.
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Attendance in education and early years settings
The Department for Education has published new data showing how many children and teachers attended education and childcare settings since 23 March.
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Online forum for councillors
The Local Government Association (LGA) has launched a new online forum for councillors. It is designed to be a space for councillors to raise and discuss a variety of topics ranging from specific service areas, leadership and personal development, to community tools and techniques.
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Household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) to reopen
Hampshire County Council has announced that all of Hampshire’s 24 HWRCs, alongside the City Depot site in Southampton and the Paulsgrove facility in Portsmouth, will open on Monday 11 May for those who cannot store waste safely at home. The HWRCs will open under temporary revised daily opening hours of 10am – 4pm. Several new measures will also be in place to ensure the safety of staff and the public, including: restrictions on the number of vehicles permitted to access the site at any one time; security staff; new parking arrangements; and the re-use sale areas will remain closed.
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Cabinet meeting - 15 May
Hampshire County Council’s Cabinet will meet ‘virtually’ on Friday 15 May, following careful consideration of how meetings may be properly facilitated in line with the new regulations and the County Council’s Constitution. The papers for the meeting have been published today and are available to view online. Cabinet will review a report summarising the steps the organisation has taken to protect Hampshire during the Covid-19 outbreak.
The public meeting will be broadcast on the County Council’s YouTube channel, as was previously the case for Cabinet and Council meetings. Details of any further meetings will be added to the online calendar of meetings when they are available. Press release is on the County Council’s website.
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Thanks to Hampshire County Council's schools
In the House of Commons, during Education Questions, the Secretary of State for Education thanked teachers, support staff, social workers and Hampshire County Council for ensuring schools have stayed open for vulnerable children. The praise was received in response to a question from Flick Drummond MP.
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School attendance
Schools, early years educators and nurseries in Hampshire remain open to look after children of key workers and vulnerable children. The number of children in education settings fluctuates daily. Last Thursday (30 April) there were 5,551 children of statutory school age in schools, which equates to 3.1% of the school age population. 25% of children with a social worker are attending school.
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Hampshire's services for children with special education needs and disability (SEND)
The findings of a joint review of SEND services provided within Hampshire by the County Council, schools and the NHS in March 2020 show that the support is leading to good outcomes for children and young people. The report acknowledges areas for improvement for which a clear strategy and plan of action is in place to drive improvements. The Executive Member for Education and Skills, Councillor Roz Chadd, has confirmed such activity has remained on track throughout the response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Social distancing this bank holiday weekend
The County Council is urging residents to stay at home this weekend to help further prevent the spread of Covid-19. Simon Bryant, Director of Public Health for Hampshire County Council, notes that the overwhelming majority of local residents continue to observe the stay at home message, but a small, increasing number, are travelling unnecessarily and going out when they don’t need to. Press release to be issued on the County Council’s website.
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New Forest - Rural Business Resilience Fund
The Solent LEP, in partnership with New Forest District Council and Natural Enterprise, have launched a new Rural Business Resilience Fund for businesses in the New Forest. Match-funding grants for capital expenditure of up to £2,500, will be provided to rural, small and medium-sized businesses which are looking to develop alternative ways of working during the pandemic.
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Rapid Response Mentoring Programme
Solent LEP are working with Be the Business to bring their new Rapid Response Mentoring Programme to the Solent area. The programme has been designed by Be the Business to help support business owners through the pandemic. Solent SMEs with six or more full time employees and an annual turnover of at least £1m can access the knowledge and expertise of a senior corporate mentor for free. More senior business mentors are currently being sought from across the area – to apply to become a mentor or mentee see here.
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Virtual VE celebrations
Hampshire County Council is reminding residents that at 10:30am on Friday 8 May, all are invited to join the live screening of our specially produced video. It commemorates the 75th anniversary of VE Day with personal reflections and a special performance from the Military Wives Choir and will be on the County Council’s social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube), as well as on the County Council website.
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