Virtual AGM – more than just a Zoom!
As plans are now underway for our AGM in October we can share a little more about the format we are using. We thought long and hard about AGM in the context of the Covid-19 crisis and were trying to find ways that we could allow all members the chance to attend (as our constitution demands) while keeping us all safe.
One way would have been to put on a hybrid event with some able to attend in person and others virtually. But a virtual event like this isn’t a Zoom or Teams meeting, our AGM needs to be interactive and to deliver on four elements: the formal business of accountability for the annual report and accounts, making policy by passing motions and constitutional amendments, professional input via speakers, professional sessions and fringe meetings and finally the opportunity to network and socialise. To deliver all of this virtually needs a professional infrastructure that has a cost attached to it similar to the cost of hiring a large venue for two days so this was simply out of our budget.
We did consider a fully in person event but numbers would be strictly limited for safety (completely at odds with the principle in our constitution that all can attend) and we would be at risk of having to cancel altogether if lockdown restrictions tighten. Some members would be excluded from participation due to their personal circumstances preventing them from travel or being in large groups (especially as many members have continued to travel to work and have contact with clients throughout lockdown) and we might have struggled to deliver all of the elements that members expect because of the need for social distancing and other safety measures.
The option we have decided on is a fully virtual event which will allow all members the chance to attend, regardless of their circumstances. We are convinced that the event will deliver all of the expected elements to members, just in a slightly different way! This won’t just be a really long Zoom or Teams meeting though, we are working with a professional event company who recently worked with the Civil Service on their Civil Service Live event. They will build a virtual event platform around our needs and members who register will be able to explore this before AGM to get familiar with it. The event hub will stream the live sections of AGM but also allow members to register for fringe meetings (we will have more than ever this year), networking sessions and professional sessions as well as exploring the exhibition space where many organisations will provide information, films, presentations, and more (an expanded version of the stalls we usually have).
When it comes to the interactive parts of AGM members will speak on motions, ask questions and vote via the virtual event platform. We will even have entertainment and socialising opportunities in the evening. We know that a fully virtual event will not be the same as our usual AGM and some members may be disappointed by that but the AGM team are working hard to make this virtual event as interactive, stimulating and social as it can be while keeping us all safe.
Some branches may want to arrange small gatherings of members locally (following all safety restrictions and guidance) to participate in particular parts of AGM, for example some of the networking or social elements or in advance of AGM to explore the event hub together. Where this is safe and sensible we encourage it, any members who cannot attend in person will still be able to attend fully remotely.
Our AGM is all about member participation and we must do all we can to make sure that is protected, despite the circumstances we find ourselves in. If you have an idea for a fringe meeting you would like to see or to run, or an organisation you think might be interested in exhibiting via our event hub please get in touch with Katie Lomas.
A letter from the Probation Minister, Probation Workforce Strategy and negotiations around the staff transfer from CRCs in 2021
We have received a letter from Lucy Frazer, Minister of State for Justice who has responsibility for Probation. We have quarterly meetings with the Minister but during the first half of this year we have met with her more frequently due to the Covid-19 crisis and the recent announcement about the future of Probation. The letter marks positive progress made in talks with HMPPS on various issues.
Over the past year we have been negotiating with HMPPS around the staff transfer and protections agreement that will apply to the transfer of staff from the CRCs in 2021. That work was ongoing when the new announcement was made last month and we have quickly changed approach to work on the basis of the new plan to transfer all core Probation work to NPS, always making the point that we believe all directly employed CRC staff should transfer to the NPS.
Negotiation is only half of the process and once we have gone as far as we can in those talks we will present the deal on offer to members and all CRC members will vote to accept or reject it. We hope to be in a position to do this very soon, members need to have the certainty as we all move into the next stage of Probation change and members in Wales who transferred to HMPPS in December 2019 have waited patiently since then to have their terms aligned. We keep details of negotiation discussions confidential until all sides agree we have reached the point that we will share them and we look forward to sharing the information very soon.
As part of the HMPPS project to fix Probation a new workforce strategy has been launched this week that introduces five objectives for the Probation Workforce. This strategy is promising and certainly reflects the commitment that HMPPS CEO Jo Farrar has made to focus on the people who work in Probation. It is yet to be seen if the resources and investment needed to implement this strategy will turn up, because fixing the Probation system will take far more than words.
NPS Pay
Of course a big part of workforce care is pay and we are all angry and frustrated at the failure of NPS to pay the promised progression due in April and you can be assured that we have shared these views with HMPPS. Payment of the progression due has been delayed by the need to follow Cabinet Office and Treasury rules and processes relating to pay before paying anything, even progression that is due. These processes have themselves been delayed by the December General Election but we are finally in a position to make a start. We issued our PAY CLAIM in March (Click for bulletin) and we will start negotiations on that in the coming weeks. Once we have gone as far as we can in those negotiations we will come out to members to share the detail and run a ballot for members to accept or reject it. Once a pay deal has been agreed it will be paid, along with the pay progression due. Both elements (progression and award) will be back paid to April 2020.
Napo HQ
--oo00oo--
Dear NAPO, UNISON, and GMB SCOOP colleagues
Dear NAPO, UNISON, and GMB SCOOP colleagues
DRAFT NATIONAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN NPS TRADE UNIONS AND MINISTRY OF JUSTICE
I am writing to thank you for your constructive engagement over the last year in our efforts to deliver positive reform of the Probation service.
This has been particularly important as we launch the Probation Workforce Strategy, which was shared with you earlier this week.
The strategy commits to investing in staff wellbeing, ongoing professional development and ensuring that probation is an excellent and rewarding place to work. You have been working hard with my officials on the details of a potential National Agreement which, if agreed, will give clarity to CRC staff on their arrangements upon transfer to HMPPS (NPS). By providing productive but robust challenge, you have helped ensure that we have the potential to reach the best outcome for our staff.
I am grateful for all your work with colleagues on the Probation Reform Programme to progress the negotiation to a place where there is content suitable for a ballot.
Should the work that you and my officials have put into the negotiations result in a positive ballot response, this will provide an important level of clarity for transferring staff well ahead of the transfer date. Whilst there will still be things to clarify and questions to answer, this will hopefully mark a significant and positive milestone for our staff.
I look forward to your continued contribution and engagement as we prepare to deliver these critical changes to the Probation service.
Yours sincerely,
Lucy Frazer QC MP
latest from HMPPS
ReplyDelete"Proposed release: 30 July 2020 9:30am
Cancellation date: 28 July 2020 10:04am
The release date has been changed
Previous date: 30 April 2020 9:30am
Reason for change: Suspension of Community Performance Quarterly, update to December 2019
As the demand increases for statistics and data to measure the impact of the COVID19 pandemic, the Ministry of Justice has changed its data gathering and release practices, focussing efforts on priority analysis and statistics to support front line offender management. In line with guidance from the Office for Statistics Regulation, the decision has been made to suspend this publication, Community Performance Quarterly, until July 2020 when full year performance for 2019/20 will be released. We will keep users updated of further changes via the Ministry of Justice publication release schedule.
Statistics release cancelled
The Community Performance Quarterly update to December 2019 is no longer going to be published as a separate publication, but all of the figures are included in the March 2020 update which is going to published on the 30 July 2020."
______________
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/905417/probation-workforce-strategy-report.pdf
________________________________________
HM Prison and Probation Service COVID-19 Official Statistics Data to 24 July 2020
Ministry of Justice Published 31 July 2020
The key findings in this release are:
• 44deaths since the start of the pandemic among HMPPS service users where COVID-19 was the suspected cause, of whom 23 were prisoners and 21 were probation service users. There have been no COVID-19 suspected deaths of service users since the week ending 29 May2020.
• 530 prisoners or children tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, across 85 establishments, almost all of whom were adults. The number of new confirmed cases has increased by fewer than 10 each week since 19 June 2020.
• 253 prisoners have been released under COVID-19 temporary release schemes, 11 of these occurred in the latest week.
____________
This from The Guardian, weirdly, makes sense:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/01/why-johnsons-tories-fell-for-a-tiny-sect-of-libertarian-provocateurs-rcp
"So much seems unusual about this Conservative government: its constant disruptiveness; its preference for rhetoric over functional policies; its mixture of brazen U-turns and cult-like discipline; its flirtations with the far right alongside leftwing-sounding plans to “level up”; its deadly reluctance to curtail small freedoms in a pandemic.
It’s common to attribute some or all of these tendencies to the idiosyncrasies of Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings, or the effects of Brexit, or the rise of rightwing populism. But there is a less noticed and more surprising factor at work, too. Today’s Tory government has adopted some of the style, rhetoric and preoccupations of a defunct radical sect, the Revolutionary Communist party (RCP)
This similarity is less surprising once you know that a former RCP member, Munira Mirza, is head of the Downing Street policy unit, and probably Johnson’s most important adviser after Cummings. In an article for Grazia magazine this year, Johnson called her “extraordinary”, “ruthless”, and one of “the five women who have shaped my life”. On Friday another RCP veteran, Claire Fox, was nominated for a peerage by the government.
Other RCP veterans, such as Frank Furedi, Mick Hume and Brendan O’Neill, are fixtures in the Tory press and its associated journal, the Spectator. For decades they’ve also organised a profusion of post-RCP organisations, including the magazine Living Marxism (later LM), the website Spiked, and the Institute of Ideas (now the Academy of Ideas), which runs political and cultural conferences with extensive corporate sponsorship and well-known participants."
https://bylinetimes.com/2020/07/31/lording-it-over-us-johnson-rewards-his-brexit-russian-peers/
DeleteThat Guardian article continued:-
DeleteJournalists have periodically probed the methods and motives of the ex-RCP network. Much less attention has been paid to why the Tory party and press have become so keen on them. What does the ascent of Mirza and her comrades tell us about modern Conservatism?
For a long time, Britain wasn’t ready for the RCP’s kind of politics. During the 70s and 80s the Conservatives already had their own aggressive, populist creed – Thatcherism. Yet as it ran out of steam, and the calmer but blander Blair era began, broadcasters who wanted rightwing controversialists to “balance” their shows discovered the RCP diaspora. During the 90s and 00s, programmes such as Question Time and The Moral Maze came to depend on Fox in particular.
The Tory press soon followed suit. They love to publish people from supposedly leftwing backgrounds who bash the left, and who use what seems like neutral logic to arrive at essentially rightwing conclusions. Both were RCP skills.
Eventually Mirza was noticed by the Conservatives themselves. In 2005, with the party long out of power and desperate for new ideas, she was hired by the rightwing thinktank Policy Exchange, which had recently been founded by would-be Tory radicals including Michael Gove and Nick Boles. “I sort of adore and am fascinated by Munira,” Boles recently told the website ConservativeHome. In 2008 another opportunity opened up for her, when Johnson, who was close to Policy Exchange, was elected mayor of London. Without much of a plan about how to govern, he hired Mirza as an adviser, then promoted her to deputy mayor for education and culture.
Former colleagues remember her as diligent and efficient – qualities Johnson lacks. Like Cummings, she revered modern technology and what he calls “normal voters”, and was keen to let people know she wasn’t a Conservative member. Yet beneath her measured manner and insistence that right and left were no longer meaningful categories, she appeared dogmatic in her dislike of liberal causes, such as multiculturalism, and leftwing institutions such as trade unions.
In 2016, Johnson stepped down as mayor, but the RCP network found another illiberal phenomenon it could get behind: Brexit. Last year Fox was elected as a Brexit party MEP. Spiked regards remainers with the same insatiable fury as the rightwing tabloids – which is one reason why its writers can move so easily between the two.
Last year, Mirza co-authored the Conservative manifesto. In its crude but effective repetitions, and its promises to “champion freedom of expression” and “unleash the country’s potential” by cutting red tape, there were clear echoes of the RCP network’s preoccupations and polemical style. When Conservatism is in a confrontational phase, as it is now, the relentlessness and conviction of ex-leftists can turn out to be very useful. Back in the 70s, one of Thatcher’s most valued advisers was a former Communist party activist, Alfred Sherman.
Even Mirza’s personal biography fits neatly with the themes of current Toryism. She is a working-class northerner from Oldham. One of its constituencies has a small Labour majority – another potential “red wall” target for the Tories. Meanwhile her immigrant background and contrarian views on racism – in 2017 she wrote on Spiked that institutional racism was “a perception more than a reality” – made her just the right person, in the government’s view, to set up its new commission on racial inequalities. If its conclusions are complacent – and Johnson’s record on race makes that quite likely – her Pakistani ancestry will provide cover.
Yet in other ways the relationship between the Tories and the RCP network has become trickier in recent months. Spiked hates the lockdown. “Cummings broke the lockdown?” wrote O’Neill recently. “Good. Welcome to the sensible minority, Dom.” Spiked also hates government campaigns against obesity, which it sees as state intrusion and “a war on the poor”. Covid-19 threatens to make such libertarian postures seem obsolete, or at least in need of adjustment. This week, one of the parts of northern England put back into partial lockdown was Mirza’s home town.
DeleteFormer colleagues predict she will try to soften such emergency measures. Johnson may be receptive. On Monday, he said his new anti-obesity drive would not be “excessively bossy or nannying”. Throughout the Covid-19 crisis, his emphasis on the “common sense” of individuals has echoed an argument often made on Spiked, that states should treat citizens as “grownups”.
Yet if the crisis worsens again, or the government’s poll ratings resume their early summer fall, then Mirza and her comrades may learn a hard lesson about the Conservatives. They often seek help from outside the party. Their relationship with the RCP tells us that, as orthodox Conservative values such as support for free-market capitalism have lost their broad appeal, the Tories have become less and less squeamish about where this help comes from.
But once these outside ideas and allies have been assimilated, or stop being useful, the Conservatives move on. From David Cameron’s coalition with the Liberal Democrats to Johnson’s more furtive dalliance with the RCP now, relationships with the Tories are not built to last.
https://covid19.who.int/
ReplyDeleteIn England & Wales alone, in the ten weeks ending 3 April & 12 June inclusive, just shy of 49,000 people died with a covid-19 related condition recorded on their death certificate.
Delete_____________________________________
31 July 2020: "Tens of thousands of people descended on beaches on the south coast of England on the hottest day of the year, prompting some local authorities to plead with people to stay away so that social distancing could be maintained.
While many parts of the north of England were facing a fresh lockdown, stretches of beaches at Bournemouth, Poole and Brighton were packed.
One sun-seeker, 18-year-old who was on the beach with a dozen friends, said she felt perfectly safe and didn’t feel she was putting anyone at risk. “We’re out here in the fresh air. People are a bit close but I don’t think there’s much of a danger”
Tom, who was on the beach with a group of school and college friends aged 17 and 18 who had travelled to Bournemouth on the train from Southampton, said: “It feels safe to me. I don’t know anyone who has had coronavirus. Until I do I don’t think it will feel real to me.”
_______________________________________
"Police were called to Portobello beach in Edinburgh after reports of a "large disturbance" on Friday. Officers turned up at the beach at about 15:00. More than 10 police vans and cars were at the scene.
Police were seen breaking up large groups of young people and taking alcohol from sunbathers.
The incident came as the first minister said there had been an increase in Covid-19 infections among people aged 20 to 40."
_______________________
"In King’s Lynn, traffic is queuing for six miles on the A149 Queen Elizabeth Way northbound before the A1076, with delays of up to 30 minutes reported."
___________
Boris Johnson: "We’ve made huge progress together.
I know we are going succeed and I know we are going to beat this – if each and every one of us plays our part."
You are right 123 Napo don't have national collective bargaining rights or the recognition to protect staff . They could not call for action at all nor would they when NPS renegade on any transfer plans. It is the same old same old Napo incompetence of leadership conning readers of a position they don't have. Wise up Napo.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how Napo could have agreed a workforce strategy in the absence of 1 workloads 2job descriptions 3 demands and volumes of staff grades and all weightings. The truth is they can't.
ReplyDeleteIf I remember rightly, the transfer of staff to CRCs originally was not done under TUPE law, which in itself is a European Union agreement, and likely to have no legal basis after the 31st of December anyway.
ReplyDeleteI can't recall exactly what the transfer process was, but I'm a bit confused when I read about the Union and staff protections after reunification.
I'm making an assumption, but I feel that employment laws that govern the transfer of staff from public office to private companies maybe very different then laws covering the movement of staff from private organisations into public office.
Maybe it would be helpful for the Union to inform people of the legal obligations the Government have (if, and very importantly they actually have any legal obligations), before talking about what they're busy negotiating?
I'm not union bashing, but I think there may be very different legal positions when transferring staff from public to private then there is the other way around.
I'd like to know if there is.
'Getafix
The transfer was a very canny business process whereby MoJ created shell companies, one for each CRC, in December 2013, e.g. West Yorks CRC:
Deletehttps://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/08802523/filing-history?page=3
Staff were transferred from Trusts to the CRCs in June 2014 while the MoJ retained ownership, and then when the CRCs were sold off the staff remained employed by the CRC, i.e. their employment didn't change, just the ownership of the CRC. No TUPE was required.
The national agreements for staff transfer arrangements from Trust to CRC were then torn up by the new CRC owners who said they had not been party to those arrangements.
The ONLY ruling the CRCs had to adhere to was not to make any redundancies within the first 7 months of taking ownership.
The Sodexo clearances began in September 2015 after assuming ownership on 1 Feb 2015.
Enhanced Redundancy was part & parcel of the staff transfer arrangements - signed off by NAPO - but the NNC had been disbanded by then and the MoJ sat on its hands saying nothing, even though the MoJ had funded the CRCs to pay staff redundancies based on the NNC calulations.
That money was simply handed over to the CRCs and they were allowed to do what they wanted with the estimated £80m provided by the Cabinet Office's mysterious Modernisation Fund. Staff who 'left' were paid a fraction of their entitlement.
Many had chosen the CRC based upon the Napo EVR arrangements only to lose up to 60% of what they had been promised.
Presumably the transfer back to NPS, i.e. to the civil service, requires TUPE - or whatever equivalent might replace it - because its a change of employer.
I wonder if the fact that the Justice Minister holding a Golden Share in each CRC makes any difference to staff transfer arrangements, e.g. might that mean the MoJ do, in fact, retain legal ownership of the CRCs?
The incompetence of the Napo general secretary came sharply into light once the the 7 month redundancy agreement he signed up to allowed crcs to sack our colleagues. The union agreed a dismissals on mass document while failing to navigate any protection. Yet again without proper authority it appears the unable and inept are batting for a second innings and run us out for cherry picking and sub standard pay and terms. By any agreement non consulted as yet won't be challenged or fit to protect.
DeleteHow much do we really love and cherish our children?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53621613
Pubs or "other activities" in England may need to close to allow schools to reopen next month, a scientist advising the government has said.
Prof Graham Medley told the BBC there may need to be a "trade-off", with the re-opening of schools seen as a "priority" for children's wellbeing.
It came after England's chief medical officer said the country was "near the limit" of opening up society.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/coronavrius-outbreak-north-england-lockdown-whittaker-ethnic-minorities-a9647706.html
ReplyDeleteSo while Whittaker, Boris & Hancock point fingers at BAME & Muslim communities, Ireland takes the lead:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-53615549
The holding of a major Muslim prayer service at an "iconic" Irish sporting venue has sent a message "to the whole world" that Ireland is a welcoming country, an Islamic leader has said.
About 200 Muslims gathered at Dublin's Croke Park stadium on Friday to celebrate the Islamic festival of Eid.
Croke Park is the headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA).
daily uk govt data covid-19 1 aug 2020
ReplyDeletenew cases reported - 771
new deaths recorded - 74
There don't appear to be any government graphs or datasets available to support this claim but I think the UK is currently experiencing a significant surge in cronyism and spitefulness.
A sports headline no-one could ever have dreamed of:
Delete"Stuart Bingham bemoans sanitised balls after struggling to beat qualifier"
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/hidden-coronavirus-killer-not-enough-18685240.amp
DeleteHope getafix doesn't mind a repost of his/her entry elsewhere from earlier today - its a post that shouldn't be missed:
ReplyDelete"Announcing it quietly, and hoping it will go unnoticed behind the media noise of Coronavirus and posible further lockdown, the Tories have launched a review into Judicial Review.
As its an independent review, it will be led by an ex Tory justice minister who will obviously have no party loyalties.
The purpose of the review is clearly to prevent the Government from being subjected to judicial scrutiny or challange.
We move ever closer to Torytopia and a dictatorship that can't be challanged.
https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/former-tory-justice-minister-to-chair-independent-jr-review/5105251.article
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-politics-53612232
'Getafix "
This is probably what Cummings has been getting involved in:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/01/uk-trident-missile-warhead-w93-us-lobby
Just been reading the following article in Inside Time about Covid19 and prisoners being released homeless and where and how accommodation is being sourced.
ReplyDeleteThe MoJ seem to want to keep everything very hush hush. But with further lockdowns almost now enevitable and prisoners still needing accomodation on release maybe the MoJs hush hush policy should form part of the investigation in the event of an SFO?
Someone couldn't get Joseph McCann into Approved Premises after identifying the risks he posed.
Would the hush hush policy see him being accommodated in the local Travelogue?
https://insidetime.org/whitehall-draws-a-veil-over-scheme-to-house-ex-prisoners-in-hotels/
'Getafix
DeleteThe officials’ briefing note to Frazer is dated May 14 and headed “Covid 19 – accommodation upon release”. It says the Treasury agreed on May 1 to fund accommodation for prisoners who were released during the pandemic on their normal release date, rather than through a special early release scheme, and who had no address to go to.
It says that each person can be supported for up to 56 nights at up to £65 a night, a total of £3,640 per individual. It adds that any damage caused to properties by the ex-prisoners would also need to be paid for out of the scheme, reducing the funding available to support others.
“Press office will work with policy officials to see whether a proactive announcement might be suitable, as this would allow us to get ahead of any potential criticism. If not, we will prepare robust reactive lines and a Q&A.”
A fascination divertimento for a wet Sunday:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/politics/commentisfree/2016/jul/05/the-tv-show-i-made-with-michael-gove-still-gives-me-nightmares
"The Covid Government continues to ignore its own documented misdemeanours, like a smoking assassin calmly walking away from an exploding building in a video game, having calmly paused to light a match on the stubble of a slaughtered opponent. As long ago as May 2016, when the fact-checking charity Full Fact pointed out that Michael Gove had lied about the EU wanting to ban kettles, he insisted his lies were not lies and doesn’t even seem to believe the basic idea of truth has any value."
DeleteStewart Lee, The Guardian
Andrew Rawnsley, Observer:
ReplyDelete"Allies of the prime minister report that he believes many voters will ultimately forgive the government’s mistakes, numerous though they were, on the way into the epidemic, when ministers were first confronted with a novel disease. The fear swirling around Number 10 is that the public will be much less tolerant of a resurgence, especially if it looks like the result of incompetence and recklessness....
... a significant resurgence will magnify the fact that Britain remains less well-equipped to deal with the virus than many other countries. There is no routine testing programme for the whole population, which it is credibly argued would be the most assured method of containing the virus. The limited test, trace and isolate regime to deal with outbreaks is not comprehensive, never mind the promised “world beater”, despite a £10bn price tag. After all the tragedies in care homes – “thrown to the wolves” according to a recent searing parliamentary report – that sector continues to struggle to access adequate supplies of reliable kits."
This pantomime government is using covid-19 & the perceived image of Johnson as a buffoon to seal innumerable deals out of sight, away from scrutiny & with apparent impunity. They will sacrifice whoever & whatever necessary in order to achieve their undisclosed aims.
ReplyDeleteThe pandemic has proved a godsend for this lot.
Anyone listen to Times Radio? Seems its the new conduit for policy announcements by the Times Government.
ReplyDeleteThey also now use The Sunday Telegraph:
Delete"Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Jenrick said that, under the new rules, land will be designated in one of three categories: for growth, for renewal and for protection.
And he insisted: "We are cutting red tape, but not standards."
New homes and hospitals will be granted "automatic" permission to be built as part of sweeping planning reforms in England, the housing secretary says.
Robert Jenrick announced a "permission in principle" will be given to developments on land designated "for renewal" to speed-up building.
"I am completely overhauling the system so we can build more good quality, attractive and affordable homes faster - and more young families can finally have the key to their own home," Mr Jenrick added.
________________________________________________
By extraordinary good fortune the struggling Mr Jenrick & his family have several homes and have benefitted from relaxation of local building regulations to enhance & develop them, even though the properties are in areas with protected characteristics which would otherwise prohibit such development.
Jenrick has clearly been today's 'duty minister':
DeleteReopening schools in September is an "absolute priority" for the government and it will be safe, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has said.
It comes after teaching unions called for clarity amid a rise in the number of coronavirus cases and the decision to pause lockdown easing in England.
"We have to get children back to school in September," said Mr Jenrick.
Schools are due to open in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to all pupils at the start of next term.
They closed in March, except to the children of key workers, but some reopened to certain year groups before the summer holiday.
However, unions have raised questions over the plans to reopen schools, after England's chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty warned the country is "near the limit" for opening up society.
________________________________
The Housing Secretary said that Parliament “needs to be” a safe space for young women to work after a former Tory minister was accused of rape by a former aide.
Robert Jenrick said he did not know the identity of the MP, who was arrested on Saturday after the Metropolitan Police received allegations of four separate incidents between July last year and January.
The man, in his fifties, is alleged to have assaulted a woman and forced her to have sex. The abuse allegedly took place during a relationship at addresses in London, including Westminster.
It comes days after Charlie Elphicke, the former Conservative MP for Dover, was convicted of two counts of sexual assault, including one against a parliamentary worker.
Asked whether he personally wanted to see the Tory whip removed from the MP under police investigation, the cabinet minister said: "We need to take allegations of this nature very seriously and I’m confident that the party is and will do."
________________________________________________
So no, you're not really that bothered are you Mr Jenrick. despite your empty words that "Parliament 'needs to be' a safe space for young women"; you'd rather let the alleged rapist come to work at the place where his victim worked, where those who were colleagues & friends of the victim probably still work, and where there are likely to be numerous other victims of other MPs.
Theresa May’s government faced criticism after removing the whip from Elphicke once allegations first emerged – in effect throwing him out of the party – only to return it before a crunch confidence vote.
DeleteIn the latest case, a fellow Conservative MP first raised the woman’s allegation with Mark Spencer, the chief whip, and Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of the House of Commons, after speaking to the alleged victim a month ago.
Questions will also be raised about the conduct of Spencer, who spoke to the woman directly but took no action, according to the Sunday Times.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/aug/02/tory-mp-arrested-on-charges-should-have-whip-withdrawn
daily uk govt covid-19 data 2 august 2020
ReplyDeletenew deaths recorded - 8
weekly deaths for w/e 2/8/20 = 449
new cases reported - 744
weekly cases for w/e 2/8/20 = 5,270
*** 14-day new cases figure = 9,906
UK total number of cases has doubled in last 98 days
https://ourworldindata.org/covid-cases#weekly-and-biweekly-cases-where-are-confirmed-cases-increasing-or-falling
1/8/20 league table for cases (world):
1. USA - 4.62m
2. Brazil - 2.71m
3. India - 1.75m
4. Russia - 845,443
5. South Africa - 503,290
11. UK - 303,952
12 Spain - 288,522
The Tories are LYING to us all.
DeleteHere's a jolly set of data from the renowned, respected and independent Johns Hopkins University which helps unravel some of the lies:
https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/mortality
United Kingdom
confirmed cases - 305,562
recorded deaths - 46,278
ratio case:fatality - 15.1%
deaths per 100,000 population - 69.60
That places the UK as having the third most deadly outcome to date per 100k of population, and the second highest rate of deaths relative to the number of cases.
Do NOT believe the Johnson Government's bluster. They are killing UK citizens at a higher rate than most other countries with their shit we-are-the-elite ideology of fill-yer-boots while they let the frail, the vulnerable & generally everyone else die or become impoverished in any number of ways.
Renting a property? They're allowing landlords to re-start evictions.
Furloughed? They're ending furlough while lining their own & their chums' pockets.
Previously homeless? They're ending the funding for the temporary homeless support scheme. Jenrick alone could probably offer accommodation for 50 homeless in his portfolio.
Oh Look! Its Boris's world-beating testing system
Delete"Govt abandons care home testing pledge
Prof Cummings wrote to local authority leaders to inform them that "previously advised timelines for rolling out regular testing in care homes" were being altered because of "unexpected delays".
Tests for residents and staff was meant to have started on July 6 but will now be pushed back until September 7 for older people and those with dementia - according to The Sunday Times.
The delays were revealed in a leaked memo published in the newspaper written by Professor Jane Cummings, the government's adult social care testing director."
Downing Street is being accused by Labour of flouting Whitehall rules to hire a new White House-style spokesperson to host daily government press conferences on live TV.
ReplyDeleteA new special adviser is being recruited to reply to questions from journalists including rebuffing criticisms from opposition politicians.
But the special advisers’ code of conduct stipulates that politically appointed staff cannot speak publicly or engage in political controversy.
The Cabinet Office is aware that the rules will be interpreted at the discretion of Boris Johnson.
Labour has criticised the move, amid concern that Dominic Cummings is dropping the previous practice of asking ministers to answer for government policy.
The shadow Cabinet Office minister, Rachel Reeves, told the Guardian: “Once again, this government is showing its willingness to play fast and loose with the rules when it comes to Boris Johnson’s closest advisers. And once again, they are showing contempt for the most basic requirements for accountability.
“Elected politicians answerable to parliament should be delivering the government’s messages; not well-paid appointees accountable to no one but the prime minister.”
Is Boris Johnson really Britain's Trump?
Cas Mudde
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The job advert placed on the Conservative party’s website has led to speculation that the government is hoping to employ a broadcaster who may already be well known to the public.
“Special advisers are now left without security of employment, can be dismissed almost at will by the PM and are under the direct management of Dominic Cummings. These changes are not about effective government, but more effective control for No 10,” he said.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/03/nation-mourns-covid-19-dead-boris-johnson-triumphalism
ReplyDeleteNot content with withholding the gestures of respect to pandemic victims, the government goes one step further and transfers the blame for their deaths on to various convenient targets. Last week Britain’s black and ethnic minority communities were accused of “not taking the pandemic seriously” by a Tory MP. Johnson, himself the epitome of irresponsibility when he boasted about shaking hands with coronavirus patients, refused to condemn the comments. In the same breath with which it sows such discord, the government appeals for a national unity that it claims can only be achieved through pressing on, through going back to the pub on “ super Saturday”, through eating out to help out.
Brexit Govt continues to reward their Brexit chums
DeleteThe political communications company behind the Conservative party’s controversial 2019 digital campaign strategy received a £3m government contract to work on Covid-19 messaging without a competitive tender and is now negotiating with the Cabinet Office for more work, the Guardian and openDemocracy can reveal.
Topham Guerin, founded in 2016 by two young New Zealanders, Sean Topham and Ben Guerin, specialises in producing images and videos for social media and has worked for a number of rightwing political parties.
It was behind two Tory election campaign stunts that recieved widespread criticism: renaming the official Conservative party Twitter account “factcheckUK” during the leaders’ debate, and setting up a website presented as Labour’s manifesto.
An investigation by the Guardian and openDemocracy found that on 17 March, shortly before the UK went into lockdown, Topham Guerin was contracted by the Cabinet Office to work on the government’s public communications.