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Hampshire County Council: Coronavirus (COVID-19): Edition 58

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Parent Category: Notice Board
Category: Coronavirus COVID-19
Last Updated on Wednesday, 03 June 2020 19:54
Published on Wednesday, 03 June 2020 19:44
Written by Parish Clerk
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Government press conferences - 29 - 31st May

  
     
 
     
 

On Sunday 31 May, the press conference was chaired by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick. The Government announced that Clinically Extremely Vulnerable people who were asked to shield can, from Monday 1 June, spend time outdoors with members of their own household or, if they live alone, with one person from another household. The Government will review the shielding measures again in mid-June. The work which has been undertaken to support rough sleepers was also outlined.

 

On Saturday 30 May, the press conference was chaired by the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Oliver Dowden. The Government announced that new guidance has been published allowing competitive sport to resume behind closed doors from Monday 1 June, but only when it is safe to do so. A reasonable number of remaining Premier League games will be available on free to view television.

 

On Friday 29 May, the press conference was chaired by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak. The Government outlined the emergency programmes which have so far supported business and workers throughout the pandemic. It was confirmed that as lockdown restrictions are eased these programmes will adapt. Also confirmed was that the furlough scheme will continue until October, but in August employers will be asked to pay National Insurance and employer pension contributions. In September, employers will be asked to contribute 10% of the furlough grant, and in October 20% of the grant. The Government also announced that the flexible furlough scheme will be introduced from 1 July. In addition, the self-employment income scheme will be extended, with applications opening in August for a second and final grant worth 70% of income.

 

The press conference slides and datasets are available to view online: 31 May, 30 May and 29 May.

 

As of 4pm on 31 May, the total number of lab-confirmed cases was 274,762. The daily number of lab-confirmed cases was 1,936. The total number of Covid-19 associated deaths was 38,489, with 113 new deaths reported on the day. The data is available to view online.

  
     
 
     
 

National context

  
     
 
     
 

Coronavirus outbreak FAQs

The Government has updated the set of frequently asked questions on what you can and can’t do during the Covid-19 pandemic to reflect the easing of some restrictions.

  
     
 
     
 

Social distancing

The guidance on staying alert and safe has been updated (social distancing) to reflect new guidance on activity outside the home, visiting friends, returning to school and shielding.

  
     
 
     
 

Local Government

Guidance for local councils was updated with new links to information on the NHS test and trace service.

  
     
 
     
 

Green spaces

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has issued new advice on using green spaces safely. The guidance includes information on respecting other people and the natural environment and advice to land managers and landowners.

  
     
 
     
 

Sport and recreation

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has published guidance for the public, providers of outdoor sport facilities, elite athletes, personal trainers and coaches on the phased return of sport and recreation.

 

It has also issued the ‘stage three’ guidance for elite and professional athletes to resume competitive sport safely behind closed doors from 1 June.

  
     
 
     
 

Shielding

The Department of Health and Social Care has updated guidance on shielding and protecting people defined on medical grounds as extremely vulnerable, to bring it in line with changes to the regulations which come into force on 1 June.

  
     
 
     
 

Services for people who use drugs or alcohol

The guidance for commissioners and providers of services for people who use drugs or alcohol has been updated.

  
     
 
     
 

The R number in the UK

The Government Office for Science updated the reproduction number (R) on 29 May to 0.7 - 0.9. R is the average number of secondary infections produced by one infected person.

  
     
 
     
 

Testing

The Department of Health and Social Care has updated the guidance on Covid-19 tests with information on the new courier collection process for care homes.

 

It announced that the UK reached the 200,000/day test capacity target on Saturday 30 May, including capacity for 40,000 antibody tests a day.

 

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has announced that  it is asking providers of laboratory-based Covid-19 antibody testing services using capillary blood collected by a finger-prick, to temporarily stop providing this service until home collection of this sample type has been properly assessed and validated for use with laboratory tests.

  
     
 
     
 

Renting

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has updated the guidance on renting for landlords, tenants and local authorities to reflect amended regulations and changes to wider government and public health advice.

  
     
 
     
 

Government support schemes

The Government has updated the guidance on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (furlough scheme) with information about how the scheme is changing.

The guidance on the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme has also been updated with information on the extension of the scheme.

  
     
 
     
 

Taxation of Covid-19 support payments

HMRC has launched a consultation on draft legislation to introduce rules on the taxation of Covid-19 business support grants. The consultation closes on 12 June.

  
     
 
     
 

Social security

The Social Security Advisory Committee has written to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the statutory scrutiny undertaken on a number of regulations which was brought forward as part of the Government’s response to the outbreak of Covid-19 in the UK.

  
     
 
     
 

Marine development sector

The Marine Management Organisation has announced that it has launched a guide for the marine development sector which outlines the range of support available.

  
     
 
     
 

SAGE minutes

The Government Office for Science has published the minutes from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) meetings 1 to 34, up until the beginning of May.

  
     
 
     
 

Dentistry

The Chief Dental Officer has written to all dental practices in England to outline the next steps for the delivery of NHS dental services, as the NHS moves into the second phase of the Covid-19 response. The letter asks all dental practices to commence opening from Monday 8 June for face to face care, where the necessary infection prevention and control and PPE requirements are in place.

  
     
 
     
 

Farms

The Rural Payments Agency has updated the guidance for farmers, landowners and rural businesses to reflect farm visits and inspections are re-starting this week.

  
     
 
     
 

Special educational provision

The Secretary of State for Education has issued a second notice to modify section 42 of the Children and Families Act 2014 (the duty to secure special educational provision and health care provision in accordance with an EHC plan). This modifies the duty on councils to secure or arrange special educational provision and on health commissioning bodies to arrange health provision in accordance with EHC plans, so that they can discharge this by using their ‘reasonable endeavours’. The new notice applies from 1 June 2020 to 30 June 2020.

  
     
 
     
 

School attendance

The Secretary of State for Education has issued a second notice to disapply offences for non-attendance in schools during the coronavirus outbreak. It temporarily disapplies offences relating to the failure of parents to secure regular attendance at school of a registered pupil. Parents will not be prosecuted or receive a criminal conviction by not sending their children to school.

The new notice applies from 1 June to 30 June 2020.

  
     
 
     
 

Local authority funding

The Local Government Association (LGA) is calling on the Government to provide certainty over ongoing Covid-19 funding. The LGA’s analysis of May’s returns shows that the extra Covid-19 costs and losses of income incurred by councils in March, April and May, amounted to £3.2 billion. This has been met in full by the two tranches of emergency funding provided by government to councils so far, however local authorities could need £6 billion more to cover the costs of coping with the pandemic during this financial year.

  
     
 
     
 

Local context

  
     
 
     
 

Schools

Attendance at schools, by children in priority year groups who are returning today varies from school to school. In some cases, around 90% of the children in specific years have returned to school, while in other cases around 50% of year group is attending, alongside the children of key workers and vulnerable children in other year groups.  The initial feedback from schools received by the County Council, suggests that children are pleased to be back and excited to see their friends.

  
     
 
     
 

Hampshire Household Waste Recycling Centres

Hampshire County Council will be establishing a pre-booking system from mid-June for residents to access Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) to manage demand and reduce queuing traffic. The system will allow for between 25 - 30,000 visits per week and people will be able to book several days’ ahead. The new pre-booking system will be operating at all Hampshire HWRCs from mid-June.  Full details on how to book will be available towards the end of this week. Until the pre-booking system is up and running, additional customer liaison officers are being deployed to HWRC sites where queuing traffic is causing safety issues or obstructions.

  
     
 
     
 

'Making History' project

Hampshire County Council is inviting residents to be a part of a rare history project with Hampshire Archives and Local Studies and Wessex Film and Sound Archive, documenting how lives have changed during the months of living through a global pandemic. The ‘Making History’ project  is welcoming written, audio or video accounts of life during and after the pandemic. Photographs can also be submitted as well as leaflets, posters, newsletters or similar items issued by Hampshire organisations such as local government, schools, businesses and voluntary or community organisations. Register your interest in taking part in Making History by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

A parallel project - ‘Making History: Making Movies’ - is seeking film content that reflects people’s experience of life generally in 2020. Five minutes of film (edited, or a straight 5 minutes) can be submitted, to form part of this larger two-year project to showcase the work of amateur filmmakers from 1920 to the present day. 

  
     
 
     
 

Hampshire Music Service

Throughout June, Hampshire Music Service is inviting musicians to join the daily Tuning in Challenge. The thirty-day challenge sets a different musical activity each day that can be enjoyed by children and adults.

  
     
 
     
 

Bus safety signs

Hampshire County Council is working to post the below informative signs about safe bus travel during the pandemic at 3250 bus stops (out of the c. 5000 active stops in Hampshire). At the 600 busiest bus stops, pavement waiting areas will be created with social distancing markings.  These will be painted during the next couple of weeks.

  
     
 
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