Markus Andrews

Significant disruption to education could still happen this academic year, according to a government minister. Nick Gibb told the education select committee that the government is “trying to avoid” this situation.Children no longer have to isolate after coming into contact with a Covid case, unlike during the last academic year.Hundreds of thousands of students were off school as they were self-isolating as the summer holidays approached.Dr Caroline Johnson, a Tory MP, said during Tuesday’s education select committee: “If you now get coronavirus, you have to isolate for 10 days, which is a maximum of eight days missing school. You’re unlikely to get it a second time.“And then, the children who have been in close contact no longer have to isolate.”She asked whether Mr Gibb believed – given this change and estimates around half of children have already had Covid – there was “going to be any significant disruption to children’s education” this academic year. “I think so,” he replied. “I think there could be. And that is what we are trying to avoid.”The schools minister said: “The figures that you cite about the proportion of children you already have the antibodies is correct.” “That still leaves the other half of the … four million 12 to 15 year olds who don’t have those antibodies, who may contract the virus, who may then be off school.”Also at Tuesday’s committee, MPs heard how the government and England’s exam regulator will set out contingency plans this autumn in case exams have to be cancelled again next year.Ian Bauckham, the interim chair of Ofqual, said there were plans for a joint consultation this autumn to put forward proposals for what should happen if the “unthinkable” happens and exams are disrupted for the third year in a row amid the Covid pandemic.But Mr Gibb insisted the government does not want to cancel exams.“​​We do know that teachers and the school sector does want details of the contingency because they want to know what data they might or might not need to collect should the worst happen and we end up having to cancel exams,” he said. More

The government has given polluters the green light to dump raw sewage into rivers and the sea as Brexit and Covid disrupt normal water treatment. Some businesses have found it more difficult to get hold of water treatment chemicals because of supply chain disruption at ports blamed primarily on Britain’s departure from the EU.The Environment Agency this week said companies struggling to get hold of the treatment chemicals would be allowed to “discharge effluent without meeting the conditions” of their permits, which normally require water to be treated.Rolling shortages have hit different parts of the UK economy since the government took the country out of EU’s customs union and single market – imposing new border bureaucracy on importers and exporters.The ending of free movement and the creation of new red tape on doing business with Britain’s largest trading partner has also exacerbated a shortage of lorry drivers, with the logistical nightmare compounded by coronavirus. Water treatment is the latest sector to be hit, following concerns last week about a blood tube shortage hitting the NHS and reports of intermittent shortages in supermarkets across the country.In a statement released on Monday, the Environment Agency said: “Normally, you need a permit under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 to discharge treated effluent from a waste water treatment works (WwTW) to surface water or groundwater. Permits contain conditions that control the quality of the effluent you can discharge.”You may not be able to comply with your permit if you cannot get the chemicals you use to treat the effluent you discharge because of the UK’s new relationship with the EU, coronavirus (COVID-19), [or] other unavoidable supply chain failures, for example the failure of a treatment chemical supplier.”If you follow the conditions in this regulatory position statement (RPS) you can discharge effluent without meeting the conditions in your permit. You must get written agreement from your Environment Agency water company account manager before you use this RPS.”Companies should “resume use of chemicals to treat effluent as soon as is practicable”, the agency said. The regulatory relaxation will last until at least the end of the year, with an extension possible. Of the three grades of waste water, low risk and medium risk will be allowed to be dumped into rivers and seas, but the highest risk will not.Amelia Womack, deputy leader of the Greens told The Independent: “Our rivers are already appallingly polluted: water companies discharged raw sewage in UK rivers no fewer than 400,000 times last year.”The public were rightly horrified by this failure of the Environment Agency to take action and clean up our waterways”“Now, are seeing more pollution being sanctioned as a result of the failure of Government.“This is a failure of their understanding on how our country’s most basic infrastructure works and using our environment as a dumping ground rather than addressing the root causes of the problem.”To prevent further Brexit chaos and undermining of environmental protections, the government must work to mend supply chains and work to cooperate rather than trying to look ‘tough’.”A spokesperson for the Department of the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs said the change was “strictly time-limited and there are robust conditions in place to mitigate risks to the environment”.The spokesperson said that the “most sensitive and high-risk watercourses will not be affected and any company planning to make use of this short-term measure must first agree its use with the Environment Agency, which will be checking compliance”.The government on Monday announced it would be indefinitely extending grace periods with the EU in order to delay the introduction of even more extensive bureacracy, which was set to come into effect later this year. More

Boris Johnson has refused to rule out further tax rises during the current parliament just hours after flouting an election manifesto pledge not to hike national insurance.Tackled repeatedly at a press conference — alongside the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, and health secretary Sajid Javid — the prime minister failed to give assurances further increases in tax would not follow.It comes after Mr Johnson revealed national insurance payments would rise 1.25 percentage points from April 2023 in order to pump £12 billion a year into the NHS and social care.Asked whether he could rule out further tax rises before the end of the current parliament, Mr Johnson attempted to insist “all fiscal matters” were for the chancellor and the Treasury.“There are not many people in the Conservative Party or indeed in government, who are more dedicated to cutting taxes where we can than the three people standing before you today,” he said.“But we face a reality which is that the fiscal position has changed radically from the one we found ourselves in 2019.”Pressed again, the prime minister only said: “I certainly don’t want any more tax rises this Parliament.“If you want me to give that emotional commitment, of course that’s the case,” he added. “But there’s a formality in these things, which is that fiscal matters are revered for the chancellor in Budgets.”Elsewhere in the press conference, the prime minister admitted the move to hike national insurance to fund an overhaul in social care would break a key commitment made at the 2019 general election.Asked about the implications of breaking manifesto pledges, Mr Johnson said he had to “take a judgement, make a choice, about what I think is the higher priority”.“I think that what the people of this country will want after what we’ve all been through is honesty and fairness and rationality about the situation.” He said that meant not leaving “the burden to mount up for future generations”.Standing alongside the prime minister, Mr Sunak added: “There is no perfect way to raise money. I am not going to pretend that there is. We have set out why our approach, this new health and social care levy, is the best way to do it.“It means we can do it on a UK-wide basis because we are a Government that believes in the Union and the strength of the Union – doing it this way allows us to make sure that is a reality.”The chancellor also said the measures “ensures we get a wide as possible participation” and added: “There is no perfect or easy way to do it but I think there is a compelling case to do it.” More

PM Boris Johnson has announced a UK-wide national insurance (NI) hike from next April to pay for health and social care reforms.The controversial policy has drawn widespread criticism – with many MPs, three former Tory chancellors and think tanks saying that it is yet another compulsory tax on working people and businesses.The Conservative Party had pledged in its most recent manifesto, in 2019, that it will not raise the rate of income tax, VAT or NI.Now, Mr Johnson insists NI must be increased to tackle a health and social care backlog caused by the Covid pandemic, adding that it would be “irresponsible” to raise funds via “higher borrowing and higher debt”.He said that the levy will be ringfenced to be spent only on health and social care.Who will pay the increased NI?If the plan is approved, employees, the self-employed, and employers would have to pay the increased tax of 1.25 per cent on NI contributions.This would include people in work who are over the state pension age, who don’t currently pay NI.The government said that 6.2 million people earning less than a threshold of £9,568 will not pay the levy.When will it be paid?If approved by MPs, the policy is to take effect from the next financial year, in April 2022.At first this will be as a 1.25 per cent increase in NI. Then in April 2023, NI will return to current rates and a new health and social care tax of 1.25 per cent will be introduced.How much would it cost me per year?Downing Street said that a typical basic-rate taxpayer earning £24,100 will contribute around £180 more in NI in 2022-23, while a typical higher-rate taxpayer earning £67,100 will contribute £715 more.Someone on a £50,000 salary could see their annual NI contributions rise by more than £500.The additional contributions will be listed separately on payslips.How much is it expected to raise?The government hopes that the NI hike will raise about £12bn a year.How will the NHS and social care benefit?The money is expected to fund an extra 9 million NHS checks, scans and operations to catch up on the pandemic backlog, as well as help the health service focus on innovation.Social care will receive a smaller proportion of the funds, around £5.3bn in 2022-23 and another £5.3bn in 2024-25.What about Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?The devolved nations will receive an additional £2.2bn in additional health and social care spending from the levy.When are the plans to be finalised?MPs are expected to vote on the proposal tomorrow (Wednesday 8 September).Anything else?Mr Johnson’s government was also criticised for breaking a second manifesto pledge in the space of one day.Ministers said that the “triple lock” guarantee on state pensions will be temporarily scrapped for a year from April.The Tory manifesto promises that the state pension will increase each year, in line with whichever is the highest out of the rising cost of living, according to the Consumer Price Index’s measure of inflation, increasing average wages, or 2.5 per cent.The government has also said that, from October 2023, nobody will pay more than £86,000 for their social care – regardless of their assets.The public purse will fully cover the cost of care for those with assets under £20,000, and contribute to the cost of care for those with assets of between £20,000 and £100,000.The announcement comes ahead of chancellor Rishi Sunak’s spending review for 2022-23 that will be revealed on 27 October alongside an autumn Budget. More

Care organisations have attacked Boris Johnson’s rescue plan, as he refused to say whether local councils will receive the funding boost they desperately need.Twice, in the Commons, the prime minister ducked questions about how much of the £36bn to be raised from his National Insurance hike will flow to town halls – who provide social care.Over three years, the NHS will receive around £25bn and the devolved governments £6bn, leaving only £5.4bn to be spent on social care by 2025.But that cash is to fund the new £86,000 cap on anyone’s lifetime care bills, enabling wealthy homeowners to pass on their properties to their children – leaving councils in the dark.Phillip Anderson, head of policy at the MS Society, supporting people with multiple sclerosis, said: “Sadly, today’s announcement has not been worth the wait.The plan for a care cap was “welcome”, but overlooked 1.6 million people “with unmet care needs, including one in three people affected by MS”.“It is also very difficult to see how this funding could tackle huge issues such as quality of care, workforce, and informal carer support, without taking much-needed funds back out of the NHS,” Mr Anderson warned.Edel Harris, chief executive of the learning disability charity Mencap, said: “Today’s announcement won’t be enough to fix the crisis that is happening right now.“People who need care are missing out, others are having their support cut and some are being asked to pay towards their care which they simply can’t afford.”And Richard Kramer, chief executive of the disability charity Sense, said: “Once again, the social care system is treated as the ‘Cinderella’ service to the NHS.“Will the money really find its way back into social care after 2025? We need a commitment from government that this money will be ring-fenced, or we will never find our way out of this crisis.”Mike Padgham, chairman of the Independent Care Group, described Mr Johnson’s announcement as a “damp squib” and said he feared the extra funding would get swallowed up by the NHS.“It’s not clear how the money is going to be ring-fenced for adult social care so it gets to local authorities on the frontline,” he told The Independent. “It’s not clear how the money is going to be ring-fenced for adult social care so it gets to local authorities on the frontline.”“The cap and the floor is good, but what about pay in the sector? The government couldn’t be more out of touch about what we’re facing. There is nothing in the plan to address the staffing crisis. We desperately need to boost pay in the social care sector so we can recruit more people.”The Alzheimer’s Society praised Mr Johnson’s “historic” commitment to finally ending the decades-long social care crisis, on which MPs will vote on Wednesday.But, said director of research Fiona Carragher: “The government must ensure a fair and sustainable system of social care which provides the very best quality care and support now and in the future.”The published document for the strategy, entitled ‘Our plan for health and social care’ reveals that councils will have to wait until “later in the autumn” to discover what they will receive.In the Commons, the prime minister was asked: “When will the money go to local authorities?”, but declined to say, answering: “It’s all in the plan.” More

The Scottish government will “restart” work on a plan for Scottish independence after it was put on hold by the Covid pandemic, Nicola Sturgeon has said.The first minister and SNP leader said she intended to deliver a second referendum before the end of 2023 and promised Scots a “detailed prospectus” on how an independent Scotland would work.Boris Johnson’s government remains firmly opposed to granting indyref2, but Ms Sturgeon claimed a democratic mandate for a second vote was “beyond question”.Setting out her government’s programme for the year ahead, the SNP leader said was determined to give Scots another say on separation once the Covid recovery was under way. “Our aim is that it will be in the first half of this parliament, before the end of 2023,” Ms Sturgeon told MSPs at Holyrood on Tuesday.She added: “I can confirm that the Scottish government will now restart work on the detailed prospectus … The case for independence is a strong one and we will present it openly, frankly and with confidence and ambition.”Ms Sturgeon’s announcement follows eyebrow-raising remarks by one of her economic advisers, who said that it could take decades to stabilise Scotland’s economy from disruption in the event of a “yes” vote a second independence referendum.Mark Blyth – professor of international economics at the Watson Institute of Brown University in Rhode Island – told the Foreign Press Association that independence could be “Brexit times ten” because of Scotland’s deep economic ties to the UK.Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross accused Ms Sturgeon of putting indyref2 “ahead of our recovery,” adding: “The fact that this government cannot park its obsession … tells us everything we need to know about Nicola Sturgeon and her priorities.”Meanwhile, the first minister confirmed the Scottish government will introduce legislation for a National Care Service north of the border, describing it as “the most significant public service reform since the creation of the NHS”.Funding for social care will increase by £800m over the five years of this parliament. The first minister also confirmed plans for free “wraparound” childcare for low-income families aimed at helping more parents get back into work.The Scottish child payment, a £10 a week benefit which goes to help hard-up families, will be doubled to £20 a week as “early within the life of the parliament as possible”, the first minister added.The programme for government is the first of the new administration following a co-operation agreement between the SNP and Scottish Greens, formalising a majority in support of independence at Holyrood.Ahead of the Cop 26 conference in Glasgow in November, Ms Sturgeon said tackling the climate emergency remained a “moral and economic imperative” – outlining plans for the decarbonisation of one million homes by 2030.She went on to pledge £1.8 billion over the next five years to make “homes and buildings easier and greener to heat” and £3.5bn over the period to help build an additional 110,000 affordable homes.Ms Sturgeon also announced that controversial reforms to gender recognition will go ahead. The Gender Recognition Bill plans to reduce the time it takes for transgender people to get a certificate recognising their gender to six months.Applicants would first have to live as their acquired gender for a minimum of three months before seeking a gender recognition certificate, with a further three-month period of “reflection” required before it can be confirmed.The SNP leader said: “It will make the existing process of gender recognition less degrading, intrusive and traumatic.”She also confirmed that a bill would be brought forward to pardon miners convicted of offences in Scotland during the bitter strike action of 1984 and 1985. “I hope this will bring closure to those convicted, their families, and the communities affected,” she said.Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said Ms Sturgeon’s programme for the years ahead lacked ambition. “This isn’t good enough, it isn’t bold enough and it won’t do enough. It’s a tired and rehashed programme from a party that’s clearly run out of big ideas.” More

The government has suspended the pension “triple lock” for a year, citing the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.Work and pensions secretary Therese Coffey said the state pension would not increase in line with earnings in 2022-23 as had previously been pledged.The policy is the second broken Tory manifesto promise to be announced by the government on Tuesday, following Boris Johnson’s announcement that he will raise taxes.Under the triple lock the state pension raises by 2.5 per cent, the rate of inflation, or the rate in increase of earnings – whichever is highest.But the rate of increase in earnings will not be taken into account this year, Ms Coffey said, because it was too high and a “statistical anomaly” caused by coronavirus measures.Describing an expected 8.8 per cent increase in earnings as “an irregular statistical spike in earnings over the appraisal review period”, she said: “At a time when we have made tough decisions to restore the public finances which have impacted working people, such as freezing income tax personal thresholds at current levels, this would not be fair.”Setting aside the earnings element is temporary and only for one year. This means we can and will apply the triple lock as usual from next year for the remainder of this Parliament in line with our manifesto commitment.”Shadow work and pensions secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the government’s policy was “more a triple let-down than a triple lock”.”The Government’s case which is that the furlough data and the pandemic have produced a statistical aberration that has to be considered by us alongside the other decision made today, which also breaks the promises in the Conservative manifesto,” he said.”And of course we know the promise on international aid was also broken before the recess, it’s more a triple let-down than a triple lock.”Mr Reynolds added: “I reject the presentation of this issue as a source of intergenerational tension or unfairness because we all have an interest in ensuring there is a decent state pension in future. We should never present increased longevity as a problem.” More

MPs will vote on Boris Johnson’s plan to hike National Insurance to rescue the NHS and social care just 24 hours after the proposals were revealed, in a bid to crush Tory opposition.As expected, payments will rise by 1.25 per cent from next April, to pump £12bn a year into services – breaking a Tory manifesto pledge and, critics say, punishing the young and lower-paid.To counter that charge, working pensioners will also pay what will be called a new “health and social care levy” – which will be listed separately on pay slips, from April 2023.And business owners and investors will also pay a new dividend tax of 1.25 per cent, after criticism that only workers and companies paying them are being hit.But, although the plan is billed as one to end the social care crisis, only about £2.6bn a year will go into care, with the vast majority to try to prevent NHS waiting lists hitting a feared 13 million patients.Lifetime care payments will be capped at £86,000 from October 2023, a much higher figure than the £35,000 proposed by Sir Andrew Dilnot in a shelved study, a full decade ago.No-one with assets below £20,000 will pay any social care costs – but, although a “floor” of £100,000 for escaping bills was expected, people with assets up to that amount will contribute.In the Commons, Mr Johnson pointed to the unforeseeable impact of the Covid pandemic on waiting lists as the reason for having to break his vow not to hike taxes.“We must now help the NHS to recover, to be able to provide this much-needed care,” he told MPs.And, pointing to the dividend tax as proof of the plan’s fairness, the prime minister said: “We will be asking better off business owners and investors to make a fair contribution too.”Just moments after the statement, Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Commons leader, said MPs would be asked to vote on the proposals on Wednesday – authorising the creation of a health and social care levy.But Keir Starmer ripped into the broken manifesto pledge, saying: “Read my lips: the Tories can never again claim to be the party of low tax.”And the Labour leader attacked the use of National Insurance to find the money, branding the new levy “a tax rise on the young, supermarket workers and nurses”.He challenged Mr Johnson to guarantee that the NHS waiting lists backlog would be wiped out by the next election, expected in 2024 – a guarantee the prime minister refused to give.The Institute for Fiscal Studies pointed out the £12bn-a-year tax increase was on top of £25bn of tax hikes already in the pipeline – making the overall rise of 1.5 per cent of national income the “highest in peacetime”.Mr Johnson conceded the broken pledge, telling MPs: “I accept this breaks a manifesto commitment – which is not something I do lightly. But a global pandemic was in no-one’s manifesto.”Strikingly, the statement focused first on rescuing the NHS – not on social care – with the amount to be delivered quickly for better care services unclear.The £5.4bn for care, over the two years between 2023 and 2025, is to fund the new cap and enable wealthy homeowners to pass on their properties to their children.However, the coupling of better funding for the NHS and care makes it much harder for Tory opponents to oppose the package, in a vote set to be held within days to prevent unrest growing.Before the announcement, Red Wall’ Conservatives had joined with One Nation and Thatcherite MPs to demand a rethink. More