Evening summary
- Gavin Williamson confirmed the government intends for all children to return to school in September. The education secretary said advice for schools on planning their full reopening in September would be published in the next two weeks. Class sizes could increase from 15 to normal sizes, but he didn’t confirm whether the current 2 metre social distancing rule would be relaxed. A £1bn Covid catch-up plan was pledged to help with catch-up lessons and tutoring for children.
- The coronavirus alert level across the UK was downgraded to level 3. Level 3 signifies the virus is still in general circulation but cases aren’t rising exponentially. Williamson said the R number remains unchanged on last week and is still between 0.7 and 0.9.
- More than 1,000 people died every day in the UK for 22 consecutive days during the peak, Guardian analysis revealed, in stark contrast with the daily tolls announced by the government. With a record of 1,445 deaths on 8 April, when government figures that day suggested the number was 881, ministers have been accused on downplaying the UK’s official death toll massively.
- Black men are three times more likely to die of Covid-19 than white men, according to ONS figures. The study, which covered deaths in hospitals and in the community between 2 March and 15 May, found black men had the highest mortality rate from the disease. Among black men of all ages the death rate was 256 per 100,000 people, compared with 87 deaths per 100,000 for white men.
- South Asians are most likely to die in hospital with Covid-19, a study found. This was found to be the case even when factors like obesity were taken into account.
- Another 173 fatalities were recorded across all settings, bringing the official UK Covid-19 death toll to 42,461.
That’s it from me today. Thank you all for reading along and getting in touch throughout the day, your contributions and messages are greatly appreciated.
If you would like to continue following the Guardian’s coverage of the pandemic, head over to the global live blog for the worldwide picture.
The number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 among prisons in England and Wales continues to rise, Ministry of Justice figures shows.
As at 5pm on Thursday, 505 prisoners had tested positive for the coronavirus across 81 prisons, a rise of 0.4% in 24 hours, while there were 984 infected staff across 105 prisons, a rise of 0.4% in the same period.
There are around 79,600 prisoners across 117 prisons in England and Wales, and around 33,000 staff working in public sector prisons.
At least 23 prisoners and nine staff are known to have died, as well as one prison escort driver and one NHS trust employee working in a secure training centre.
UK ministers accused of downplaying Covid-19 peak after revelations that more than 1,000 people died every day for 22 days
My colleagues Rob Booth and Pamela Duncan report that ministers have been accused of playing down the gravity of the coronavirus pandemic after it emerged that more than 1,000 people died every day in the UK for 22 consecutive days – in stark contrast with daily tolls announced by the government.
Here is the full story.
Q. Do you agree with the PM that it’s crucial that teachers draw up catch-up plans for pupils before the summer?
Williamson says he is in complete agreement.
All schools are being asked to be getting in touch with children to encourage and invite them into schools, have face-to-face time and understand their learning needs in terms of catching up, he says.
Q. Do you want teachers to work this summer to help pupils catch up?
Williamson says one of the schemes in the catch-up plan is to have children coming into schools over the summer.
Schools need to tailor their plan for their children, he adds.
And that’s it for today’s press conference.
Q. Will your plan for schools take into account what to do if there’s a second wave?
Williamson says they have to carefully consider every eventuality.
Q. What countries would you like to see the UK have air bridges with, and are you concerned that Portugal (a potential one) is seeing a spike in cases?
Williamson says he hopes people will take up the opportunity to visit beautiful resorts around the UK over the summer.
The transport secretary continues to have discussions about the air bridges issue and will report back when ready to do so, he adds.
Q. Do you think children should be taught more about Britain’s colonial past and slavery, and will you change the curriculum to ensure this?
Williamson says the national curriculum covers the issue of the British empire and this nation’s rich history.
It’s important children learn the good and the bad, he says.
We should be proud of our rich history because time again this country has changed things for the better around the world, he says.
Q. Do you think there’s more that needs to be done in schools to tackle racism, and what?
Williamson says tolerance and respect have to be the cornerstone of everything this country does and teaches.
Q. Will you support making personal tutoring for the poorest children a permanent initiative to drive up standards?
Williamson says the evidence suggests that 2 hours a week for 12 weeks of tutoring can deliver 5 months worth of catch-up for the most disadvantaged pupils.
They’ll be looking at how to continue to build on evidence-based initiatives that deliver outcomes, he adds.
Q. What proportion of state schools are actually doing interactive learning on things like Microsoft Teams? It’s incredibly low and isn’t that a problem?
Williamson says schools have provided amazing support to children.
Q. Are you committing to all state-school children going back every day full-time - not on rotation - in September and is this now government policy?
Q. Is getting rid of social distancing altogether a possibility or other measures, e.g. new buildings and teachers, in order to fulfil the PM’s pledge?
Williamson says he is signed up to bringing every child back.
He adds he wants to consult closely with the sector before guidance and plans are issued.
Q. Private schools have been able to do interactive video lessons. Why hasn’t this been possible in any state school?
Williamson says this is an important issue and he wants a long-term plan for state schools to do what private schools can.
He says over 12m lessons have been downloaded and a £100m investment into laptops has been made to roll out to some of the most disadvantaged children and making sure they have internet access to support their learning.
Q. Northern Ireland has already done this, why are we waiting?
Williamson says he wants to see all pupils return full-time in September and claims England is much further ahead than Northern Ireland because nursery, reception, year 1, 6, 10 and 12 are able to come back.
Further guidance will be published in the next two weeks so schools have time to prepare for the next phase, he adds.
Q. Why have early years and colleges been excluded from this £1bn plan when they were led to believe otherwise?
Williamson says they’re going to continue to work closely to see how they can support those sectors.
Q. How will you bring schools back full time when there is still any social distancing?
Q. Now that we’re in level 3, is the 2-metre rule going to be relaxed?
Williamson says he wants all children to return to school as quickly as possible.
The number of infections decreasing is a positive sign, he says. Protective measures will have to be put in place to ensure that schools are safe and further guidance will be issued in the next two weeks, he adds.
A review of the 2-metre rule is being undertaken and will be reporting back to the PM and cabinet to make a decision, he says, but for that he can’t give an exact date.
Q. But schools are saying that even with 1 metre, they wouldn’t be able to get every pupil back every day of the week.
Williamson says bubbles of 15 children have created a protective environment, and these could be expanded to include the whole class.
Updated
Bryn from Northallerton asks when the government will make its new advice for shielding in England available.
Williamson says this advice will be put out in the coming weeks.
Updated
Louise from Stoke-on-Trent asks what the government will do to make coronavirus testing an easier and less intimidating process for children.
Williamson says the government is taking steps to ensure better testing for children.
Schools will have the discretion to tailor this funding towards their particular needs and the needs of their children, he says.
The plan also includes a £350m national tutoring programme to increase access to high-quality tuition for disadvantaged young people, he adds.
Government launches £1bn catch-up plan for pupils in England
The next part of recovery is to roll out the catch-up plan for all children, he says.
An entire generation can’t be allowed to lose out on their education or accept lower expectations for them, he says.
A £1bn catch-up plan will be launched, and will include targeted support for those from disadvantaged backgrounds who are most at risk from falling behind because of the disruption, he announces.
As part of the package will be a universal catch-up premium worth £650m for all state school children in England to help make up for lost teaching time, he says.
Updated
'We will bring all children back to school in September', Williamson says
Williamson now turns to schools.
He thanks teachers, childcare and support staff for welcoming children back to learning environments.
All children in all year groups will be brought back to school in September, he says.
He says he understands many parents’ anxiety about this but safety measures including protective bubbles will be put in place.
The R remains unchanged from last week at between 0.7 and 0.9, Williamson says. We want to keep this below 1, he adds.
The education secretary is speaking now.
The Covid alert level has moved from level four to three as recommended by the UK’s CMO’s, Williamson says.
In all four nations, there’s been a steady decrease in cases, but the pandemic is not over. Localised outbreaks are likely to occur, he says.
This morning the UK COVID-19 alert level was lowered from Level 4 to Level 3.
— Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) June 19, 2020
It is critical that you continue to wash your hands and keep a safe distance from others.
Read the latest NHS advice:
➡️ https://t.co/xSoOI6zprL pic.twitter.com/o8efdKGES0
Gavin Williamson's press conference
With pressure growing on Boris Johnson’s government to reduce the 2 metre social distancing rule to 1 metre in schools in England, the education secretary Gavin Williamson will lead this afternoon’s press conference.
Today the prime minister said “watch this space” as he reaffirmed there would be further changes to the 2 metre distancing rule in schools “as the science allows”, and as a result of the coronavirus transmission rate reducing. Johnson said he wants children of all ages in England to return to school on a five-day-week basis in September.
Black men in England and Wales three times more likely to die of coronavirus than white men
My colleague Niamh McIntyre reports that the ONS has found that black men in England and Wales are three times more likely to die from Covid-19 than white men.
The study, which covered deaths in hospitals and in the community between 2 March and 15 May, found black men had the highest mortality rate from the disease. Among black men of all ages the death rate was 256 per 100,000 people, compared with 87 deaths per 100,000 for white men.
When comparing death rates for younger males between nine and 64 years of age, the discrepancy was even starker, with black males more than four times more likely to die than their white counterparts.
When researchers adjusted for population density, socio-demographic factors and region, they found black men were still twice as likely to die as white men, while for black women the risk was 1.4 times higher.
The full story is here.
UCL is to dename spaces and buildings named after two prominent eugenicists, Francis Galton and Karl Pearson.
Victorian scientist Francis Galton coined the term eugenics and endowed UCL with his personal collection and archive along with a bequest for the country’s first professorial chair of eugenics. Karl Pearson was the first holder of this chair.
The university will contextualise the decision to dename buildings and spaces with plaques or signs that communicate this decision and the reasons underlying it, linked where appropriate to other contextual material elsewhere in UCL or online.
The university said it made the the move as one step in a range of actions aimed at acknowledging and addressing UCL’s historical links with the eugenics movement. It follows a series of recommendations made by members of the Inquiry into the History of Eugenics at UCL, which reported earlier this year.
UCL’s president and provost Prof Michael Arthur said acknowledging and addressing the university’s “problematic history” was important, as was making conscious decisions not to “celebrate these ideas or the figures behind them”.
He said:
This is an important first step for UCL as we acknowledge and address the university’s historical links with the eugenics movement.
This problematic history has, and continues, to cause significant concern for many in our community and has a profound impact on the sense of belonging that we want all of our staff and students to have.
Although UCL is a very different place than it was in the 19th century, any suggestion that we celebrate these ideas or the figures behind them creates an unwelcoming environment for many in our community. I would like to pay tribute to members of our community who have campaigned tirelessly on this issue – particularly our students union.
I am also clear that this decision is just one step in a journey and we need to go much further by listening to our community and taking practical and targeted steps to address racism and inequality.
It comes amid the growing conversation about the role of place names, statues and other monuments in “decolonising” public history, given fresh impetus by the Black Lives Matter movement which has seen the toppling of a statue of slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol and Oxford’s Oriel College vote to take down its statue of the Victorian imperialist Cecil Rhodes.
The full news release is here.
Updated
Coronavirus infections fall across UK by between 4% and 2% a day, but could be increasing in London
The rate of spread of the coronavirus infection across the UK is shrinking, new figures published by the government show.
For the UK as a whole, the current growth rate is minus 4% to minus 2% and the estimate of the reproduction number, referred to as R, remains at 0.7 to 0.9.
Until the figures were published for the first time today, the government had only been giving details of the R value of the disease - the average number of people an infected person is likely to pass it on to.
R estimates do not indicate how quickly an epidemic is changing and different diseases with the same R can result in epidemics that grow at very different speeds.
Neither measure - R or growth rate - is better than the other but each provides information that is useful in monitoring the spread of a disease, and experts say each should be considered alongside other measures of the spread of disease.
For the NHS England region, the R value is 0.7 to 0.9, and the growth rate is minus 4% to minus 1%. The R values and growth rate for the following regions are:
- East of England: 0.7-0.9, minus 6% to minus 1%
- London: 0.7-1.0, minus 5% to plus 1%
- Midlands: 0.8-1.0, minus 4% to 0%
- North East and Yorkshire: 0.7-0.9, minus 5% to minus 1%
- North West: 0.7-1.0, minus 4% to 0%
- South East: 0.7-0.9, minus 5% to minus 1%
- South West: 0.6-0.9, minus 6% to 0%
It is most likely that the estimates are somewhere towards the middle of this range.
Last week, the South West of England had the highest R value range at 0.8 to 1.1, while the East of England had the lowest at 0.7 to 0.9.
London, the Midlands, the North West and the South East have R values of 0.8 to 1.0, and the North East and Yorkshire are at 0.7 to 1.0.
Figures this week show the R value in the South West has dropped below 1.0, meaning it no longer has the highest value.
Further 173 fatalities recorded, bringing UK death toll to 42,461
The DHSC said 42,461 people had died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK as of 5pm on Thursday. That is a rise of 173 from 42,288 the day before.
The government figures do not include all deaths involving Covid-19 across the UK, which is thought to have passed 53,000.
The DHSC also said in the 24-hour period up to 9am on Friday, 169,600 tests were carried out or dispatched, with 1,346 positive results.
Overall, a total of 7,433,114 tests have been carried out and 301,815 cases have been confirmed positive.
The figure for the number of people tested has been “temporarily paused to ensure consistent reporting” across all methods of testing.
As of 9am 19 June, there have been 7,433,114 tests, with 169,600 tests on 18 June.
— Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) June 19, 2020
301,815 people have tested positive.
As of 5pm on 18 June, of those tested positive for coronavirus, across all settings, 42,461 have sadly died.
More info:
▶️ https://t.co/xXnL3FU15k pic.twitter.com/jkxbyXBiEy
The former Labour education secretary, Ed Balls, has said the UK government needs to get children in England back into school and blames the delay, in part, on problems with the track and trace system.
Speaking to the BBC’s World at One, Balls said it is “very hard to persuade parents that children are safe…unless you get the track and trace system really working, build the confidence…”
He added:
My advice to the secretary of state is this is time for some leadership… Too many head teachers and teachers at the moment are not feeling that they understand the plan going forward.
Balls urged the education secretary, Gavin Williamson, to come up with two plans: one based on re-opening schools with social distancing measures in place and a second based on forming “bubbles” of full classes.
While he welcomed today’s funding announcement from the government, Balls warned against further delays in schools reopening:
The divides are going to grow…there’s only so much you can do with remote learning. We need to get our children back into school.
NHS England said a further 46 people in hospitals have died, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in that setting in England to 28, 221.
There has been one further death of someone who has tested positive for Covid-19 in Northern Ireland, bringing the total number of deaths recorded by the Department of Health to 544 - a toll that primarily focuses on fatalities within hospitals.
There were also three new confirmed cases of the virus announced on Friday, taking the total there to 4,866. Full details here.
Public Health Wales said a further four people had died after testing positive for Covid-19, taking the total number of deaths in Wales to 1,475. The total number of cases there increased by 31 to 15,001.
The latest number of confirmed cases of Coronavirus in Wales has been updated.
— Public Health Wales (@PublicHealthW) June 19, 2020
Data dashboard:
💻 https://t.co/zpWRYSUbfh
📱 https://t.co/HSclxpZjBh
Find out how we are responding to the spread of the virus in our daily statement here: https://t.co/u6SKHz0zsG pic.twitter.com/u6xFchqL93
Good afternoon everyone! I’m Lucy Campbell, back from lunch. Please continue to get in touch as I work to share any news tips, comments or suggestions for our coverage. Your thoughts are always welcome.
Email: lucy.campbell@theguardian.com
Twitter: @lucy_campbell_
Updated
Among those welcoming the decision to lower the UK alert level is a welcome development is Professor Costas Milas at the University of Liverpool, who has also just co-authored new research based on pooled information from Covid-19 deaths in more than 20 countries and which finds that early and stringent action is crucial to saving lives.
He tells us: “At the same time, face masks can potentially replace the costly, in economic terms, national lockdown without significantly heightening the epidemic peak.”
“In other words, making face masks compulsory can potentially be an effective alternative to a future national lockdown should a second spike of the virus occur occur. In my view, this will also justify a move from two metres social distancing down to 1metre.”
Updated
A large number of schools in Northern Ireland will not be able to return to full-capacity teaching in September, the Education Minister has said.
Peter Weir’s comments come amid concern expressed by some school leaders at the suggestion from Stormont that most pupils will be returning to full-time education in the autumn.
Weir said he anticipated that children would only return to the classroom on a part-time basis “in quite a large number of schools”.
In a separate development, Weir confirmed that the executive would be providing the 12 million required to continue financial support for families eligible for free school meals over the summer.
On Thursday, First Minister Arlene Foster said the powersharing executive’s decision to reduce the social distancing measure to one metre for pupils would allow attendance patterns in schools to return to “close to normality”.
Changes likely to be made to social distancing - Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson has said changes were likely to be made to social distancing regulations as a result of the coronavirus transmission rate reducing.
“What you’ve got to look at is the overall incidence in the country as a whole and there is no question it is coming down,” said the prime minister, when speaking to broadcasters at a school in Hemel Hempstead.
“A couple of weeks ago I was saying it would be one in 1,000 (who have Covid-19), probably now it is one in 2,000, perhaps a bit less - one in 1,760 or so.
“So it is really diminishing among us all and that’s the most important thing. That will allow us, as the alert level comes down, to start making some progress, as I’ve said, on our plan and on social distancing measures.”
“So when we go forward to July 4, which is the next big stage in the plan, we hope there will be more guidance out very, very shortly that will help people, help businesses, help hospitality to prepare for that and how to implement social distancing in a safe way, while also enabling people to go back to shops, hospitality, restaurants and everything else.”
Updated
Watchdog investigates possible overcharging for hand sanitiser
The competition watchdog has launched an investigation into suspected price gouging by four pharmacies and convenience stores for overcharging shoppers for hand sanitiser during the coronavirus pandemic.
Stocks of hand sanitiser were among the first items the British public cleared off the shelves as the pandemic took hold in the UK. The Competition and Markets Authority, which announced the investigations, has previously identified hand sanitiser as the product with the biggest price hike.
“The investigations relate to suspected charging of excessive and unfair prices for hand sanitiser products during the coronavirus pandemic,” the CMA said.
“This investigation is at an early stage and no assumptions should be made that competition law has been infringed. The CMA has not reached a view on whether there is sufficient evidence of an infringement of competition law for it to issue a statement of objections to any of the parties under investigation.”
Updated
The Foreign Office has been urged by a cross-party group of British MPs to intervene to secure the safety of three prominent Gulf human rights activists thought to be at risk from the coronavirus outbreak in prisons.
The signatories include Peter Bottomley, the father of the house, and Caroline Lucas, the Green party MP.
Brendan O’Hara MP, the chair of the all-party group on democracy and human rights in the Gulf, said: “With Brexit fast approaching, it is paramount that human rights are at the centre of UK foreign policy. The government has too often turned a blind eye to the plight of imprisoned human rights defenders in the Gulf and with Covid-19 now posing an unprecedented imminent threat to their lives, it is time to take a stand and call for their immediate release.”
The family of one of the three activists, Loujain al-Hathloul, a women’s rights campaigner in Saudi Arabia, say they have not heard from her for a month. She has been held in Saudi Arabia’s maximum security al-Ha’ir prison complex near Riyadh for more than two years.
After a dip in cases in Saudi Arabia at the beginning of June, the number of new daily cases this week reached record levels of 4,919. Total deaths are 1,139.
Concern is also being expressed for Ahmed Mansoor, who was handed a 10-year sentence by the United Arab Emirates for “insulting the rank and reputation of the UAE and their symbols” and “disseminating false information to damage the United Arab Emirates’ reputation abroad”.
Despite successive hunger strikes, he has been held in solitary confinement and is said to have neither a bed nor access to water.
The third activist for which concern has been expressed is Abduljalil al-Singace, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in Bahrain for criticising the government.
Updated
As people of Bangladeshi heritage grapple with trauma as data shows they are dying at twice the rate of white people, the Guardian’s Nazia Parveen has written this piece after speaking to experts and people in the community.
Saidul Haque Saeed, a community worker in Birmingham, told her the blame lay firmly on decades of inequality within clinical commissioning, where the health needs of smaller population groups have consistently and historically not been met.
He said:
What Covid-19 has done is to lay this inequality, this postcode lottery in health, bare overnight. This deadly disease has been able to carve its way quite easily through those communities where there has been inaction and ignorance of their health needs. The problem of years of a community’s health needs not being met are now coming to roost.
Updated
Boris Johnson said it was “absolutely” his intention that children of all ages should be able to return to school by the autumn on a five-day-a-week basis.
The prime minister told broadcasters during a visit to a Hertfordshire school: “Let me be very clear – I want a world in which, as far as possible, provided we can make classrooms safe and I think we can, I want every child, every pupil, every student, back in September. I’m sure we can get it done.”
He added:
We have to start thinking of a world in which we are less apprehensive about this disease.
Yes it has been a horrible shock for the country and for the world, and I think the British people have worked incredibly hard to drive it down.
But we are starting to make some real progress with test and trace, with treatments for the disease, and I hope, as we go forward into the autumn, people will be much, much more confident.”
This is Ben Quinn picking up the liveblog again now.
Updated
This is breaking from Sky News
Prime Minister Boris Johnson says "watch this space" when asked if the two-metre social distancing rule will be reduced to one-metre in schools
— Sky News Breaking (@SkyNewsBreak) June 19, 2020
And here is the clip.
PM tells @SamCoatesSky “watch this space” on 2m rule in schools @SkyNews pic.twitter.com/yacYisPGCk
— Ali Fortescue (@AliFortescue) June 19, 2020
Nicola Sturgeon has insisted the Scottish public needs to keep socially distancing by 2 metres as she adopted a new “stay safe” slogan and a five-stage acronym, FACTS, designed to drum home the steps people should take as the lockdown eases in Scotland.
The first minister is continuing to enforce the strictest lockdown measures in the UK, Sturgeon urged people to remember FACTS. Tapping the side of her temple during today’s coronavirus briefing, she said:
Get that into your head and just remember that.
She said the letters stood for face coverings in enclosed spaces; avoid crowded places; clean hands and surfaces regularly; 2-metre distancing; and self-isolate and book a test if you have symptoms.
NS: "And those measures are:
— The SNP (@theSNP) June 19, 2020
·Face coverings in enclosed spaces
·Avoid crowded places
·Clean hands and surfaces regularly
·Two metre distancing; and
·Self isolate and book a test...if you have symptoms."
She confirmed people faced being fined if they failed to wear face coverings on all public transport from Monday, including taxis, buses, trains and ferries, but was unable to immediately give the details.
Pressed on how that would be policed if ScotRail staff would not be issuing fines, Sturegon said the police could be involved.
Rules will be enforced if they have to be enforced.
Updated
All non-essential shops in Wales will be able to reopen from Monday as long as they can comply with social distancing measures, Mark Drakeford has confirmed.
The housing market will also resume on Monday, when restrictions on some outdoor activities will be lifted.
Private prayer in places of worship with social distancing can also take place from Monday, with childcare facilities available on a phased basis to support people returning to work.
Those in the tourism and visitor sectors are being asked to plan to welcome people from 6 July, when the “stay local” requirement is due to be lifted, the first minister said.
Hairdressers should use the next three weeks to prepare for services to resume by appointment only, with safeguards in place, he told a press conference in Cardiff.
Drakeford said owners of self-contained holiday accommodation - where guests have sole use of a kitchen and bathroom - should use the next three weeks to prepare to reopen.
This includes hotels and bed and breakfasts with en-suite rooms, and which provide room service meals, as well as caravan parks with “entirely self-contained” accommodation.
Businesses can take bookings for the week beginning 13 July but this will have to be at their own risk.
Dr Natalie Byrom, a legal researcher and author of government reports, has warned that the failure to adopt data collection programmes is preventing the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) from tackling racial inequalities in the criminal justice system.
Although the MoJ has welcomed her reports, Byrom, who is director of Research at The Legal Education Foundation (TLEF), fears that without implementing the recommendations any new Downing Street-led inquiry into racial inequality will be ineffective.
In a series of tweets, Byrom pointed out that “successive studies have been unable to recommend effective action as a result of” inadequate data.
It is slightly frustrating to hear on @BBCr4today that commentators think "we have the data" to enable us to tackle racial disparity. In relation to the justice system- we really truly don't. Successive studies have been unable to recommend effective action as a result of this.
— Dr Natalie Byrom (@NatalieByrom) June 16, 2020
HM Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) has been provided with detailed proposals for collecting equalities data on court cases but needs to be resourced to deliver effective remedies to problems, she urged.
The MoJ’s £1bn court modernisation programme provides an opportunity for data collection systems to be built into digital platforms but solutions are not yet being adopted, Byrom said.
She told the Guardian:
They are reforming the entire justice system. If we miss the window of opportunity then that chance will be gone for years. We are still awaiting a timetable for implementing our proposals.
The government is rightly saying it wants to tackle racial disparities but the only way to do this is to collect the basic data to tell you if and where they are occurring. Unless you collect the data and record the outcomes, you can’t understand what is happening.
Updated
Attacks on emergency services workers have soared by almost a quarter since last year, driven by coronavirus-related attacks and violent incidents during protests, figures suggest.
Provisional data from all 43 territorial forces in England and Wales shows an 18% drop in overall crime, excluding fraud, in the four weeks to 7 June, compared with the same period last year.
But assaults on emergency services workers rose by 24% amid a string of coughing or spitting attacks, where Covid-19 has been used as a threat, as well as disorder during protests triggered by the death of George Floyd in the US.
A National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) report published on Friday said:
These offences are recorded in relatively low volumes and it is thought the 24% rise may be driven by increases in common assaults on police constables, including suspects spitting on officers while claiming to be infected with Covid-19.
The latest rise follows an increase of 14% reported last month and will include some assaults related to disorder in the wake of public protests in early June.
The NPCC said crime rates are creeping back up towards last year’s levels as coronavirus restriction of movement measures are relaxed.
Previous figures released during the lockdown showed a 28% fall for the four weeks to 12 April, and a 25% decrease for the four weeks to 10 May, compared with the same periods last year.
But there has been an 8% rise in domestic abuse incidents in the latest four-week period compared with last year, and up from 4% in the month to 10 May.
Not all incidents result in a crime being recorded and police chiefs believe the increase could be explained by victims being able to report abuse more easily as lockdown restrictions ease.
NPCC chairman Martin Hewitt said:
The rise in domestic abuse incidents is concerning. Our message to victims is to contact us, we will help you. You’re not alone - confidential support is also available from many charities and specialist services.
Assaults on emergency workers who do crucial work for the good of us all are deplorable. This is an offence and those caught will be prosecuted with the support of the Crown Prosecution Service.
A total of 2,470 patients have died in Scotland after testing positive for coronavirus, up by six from 2,464 on Thursday, Nicola Sturgeon said.
Speaking at the Scottish government’s virtual coronavirus briefing, the first minister said 18,104 people have tested positive for the virus in Scotland, up by 27 from 18,077 the previous day.
There are 904 people in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19, a decrease of 25 in 24 hours. Of these patients, 19 were in intensive care, down by four.
A new bill allowing Scotland to align its laws with EU environment and fisheries legislation after the Brexit transition is being tabled in the Scottish parliament, alongside plans for a new enforcement body.
Michael Russell, the Scottish constitution secretary, said the UK withdrawal from the European Union (continuity) (Scotland) bill would give ministers the discretionary power to ensure devolved legislation from Holyrood kept pace with EU law.
It would set up a new agency, Environmental Standards Scotland, charged with ensuring councils and public bodies complied with environmental laws and investigating failures to do so.
The bill replaces the EU continuity act which was declared unlawful, in parts, by the UK supreme court, and is designed to bolster Nicola Sturgeon’s pro-EU credentials while the UK government under Boris Johnson forces Brexit through. Europe will be a key battleground in the May 2021 Scottish elections, when Sturgeon is expected to restate her determination to stage a second independence referendum.
Russell said:
It is completely unacceptable that Scotland has been taken out of the EU but this bill will enable us, in devolved areas at least, to ‘keep pace’ with Europe, when appropriate and practicable to do so.
Ross Greer, for the pro-independence and pro-EU Scottish Green party, said the bill was flawed. It did not require ministers to adopt EU environmental law and standards, and left that discretionary, while the new agency was not independent.
It would be led by a government appointee and it was unclear how it would sit along existing regulators, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and Scottish Natural Heritage, both of which already enforce EU law.
Greer said:
We’ve already seen how the Tories appear to have abandoned their promise to stop cheap chlorinated chicken being imported from America. The need for strong commitments to protect standards is urgently needed.
Updated
The Foreign Office’s most senior civil servant will not oversee the new-look department when it assumes control of the Department for International Development (Dfid).
According to a government spokesman, Sir Simon McDonald has told Foreign Office and Dfid staff on Friday morning he “fully respects a decision” for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), as it will be known from the autumn, to have a new permanent secretary.
The prime minister announced the new “super” department in the Commons this week, closing Dfid after 23 years.
McDonald told staff:
I fully respect that decision. In any case I shall have completed five years as PUS (permanent undersecretary) in the FCO at the end of August.
I believe passionately that FCDO is the right move for our future overseas effort; the FCO’s merger with Dfid is the culmination of my time here.
But a new effort needs new leadership. Whoever [that is] will take on a simply wonderful job.
Updated
South Asian people most likely to die in hospital with Covid-19 – study
South Asians are most likely to die of Covid-19 after being admitted into hospital in the UK, even when factors including obesity are taken into account, the biggest study of its kind has found.
Data from 30,693 people admitted to 260 hospitals found a 19% increased risk of death from coronavirus for those with south Asian backgrounds compared with white people. Experts behind the study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, said 40% of the south Asians in the group had diabetes – a “significant factor” in their increased risk of death.
The researchers, from the University of Edinburgh, concluded:
Ethnic minorities in hospital with Covid-19 were more likely to be admitted to critical care and receive IMV [intermittent mandatory ventilation] than whites, despite similar disease severity on admission, similar duration of symptoms, and being younger with fewer comorbidities.
South Asians are at greater risk of dying, due at least in part to a higher prevalence of pre-existing diabetes.
The full story is here.
Updated
Updated
Responding to new analysis of the latest ONS figures, which suggests Muslim males have the highest rates of death involving Covid-19 among all religious groups, with a risk of dying that is 2.5 times higher than males who have no religion, Harun Khan, the secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain said:
Today’s ONS figures confirm what Muslim communities, academics and healthcare professionals have been saying for months: that we are dying of Covid at disproportionate rates, and that the root cause of this must be addressed in order to prevent the further unnecessary loss of life.
Yet, the UK government continues to obfuscate the problem, denying the role institutional racism plays in creating health inequalities, failing to tailor public policy to the needs of different communities and overseeing the excess deaths of British Muslims.
Muslim males have the highest rates of death involving Covid-19 among all religious groups, with a risk of dying that is 2.5 times higher than males who have no religion, new analysis suggests.
The age-adjusted mortality rate for Muslim males in England and Wales during the first few months of the coronavirus outbreak was 198.9 deaths per 100,000 people, and for females 98.2 deaths per 100,000.
By contrast, those identifying with “no religion” - based on responses in the 2011 Census - had the lowest rate of death involving Covid-19, with 80.7 deaths per 100,000 males and 47.9 deaths per 100,000 females.
The figures have been published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and cover deaths that occurred in England and Wales between 2 March and 15 May.
They suggest the risk of dying from Covid-19 is higher among those identifying as Muslims, Jewish, Hindu and Sikh than other religious groups.
Those who identified as Jewish at the time of the 2011 Census showed an increased risk of a death involving Covid-19 compared with the Christian population.
Jewish males had a mortality rate of 187.9 deaths per 100,000, which was roughly twice the risk of Christian males (92.6 deaths per 100,000). For Jewish females, the rate was 94.3 deaths per 100,000, compared with 54.6 deaths per 100,000 for Christian females.
Here is a Twitter thread from the ONS on the findings on Covid mortality and religious groupings:
Our provisional analysis of death registrations shows variation in the rate of death involving #COVID19 by self-identified religious groups (including "No religion"), as reported at Census 2011.
— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) June 19, 2020
Our data cover the period 2 March to 15 May 2020 https://t.co/H1CG7UIJQG
Responding to the findings, ONS head of life events Nick Stripe said further data and analysis is needed to understand the excess risk:
For the most part the elevated risk of certain religious groups is explained by geographical, socio-economic and demographic factors and increased risks associated with ethnicity.
However, after adjusting for the above, Jewish males are at twice the risk of Christian males, and Jewish women are also at higher risk. Additional data and analyses are required to understand this excess risk.
Religion is not recorded on somebody’s death certificate, so the ONS used information from the 2011 Census to determine religious group and other demographic factors.
The analysis was restricted to those aged nine and over, because children under nine would not have been born at the time of the last Census.
The rate for Hindu males was found to be 154.8 deaths per 100,000 people, while for Sikh males it was 128.6. For Hindu females the rate was 93.3, and for Sikh females it was 69.3.
Keeling also told the PA news agency the move was “expected and is justified by the current epidemiological situation”, but warned that it is “not a time for complacency”.
Our model-based assessment of the outbreak shows that cases are now at levels comparable with early March (before the lockdown began) and are continuing to fall, albeit slowly.
The move to level three is a direct consequence of the public’s response to the social-distancing advice, but does not imply that these efforts should be relaxed. We cannot afford to lose the gains that have been made in controlling this outbreak.
Matt Keeling, the professor of populations and disease at the University of Warwick, said the change in alert level was justified by the latest evidence, which showed the number of cases were at levels comparable with early March and were continuing to fall slowly.
The move to level 3 is a direct consequence of the public’s response to the social-distancing advice, but does not imply that these efforts should be relaxed.
The move to level 3 is not a time for complacency. There is still the prospect of a second wave if controls are relaxed too quickly and the reproductive number (R) rises above one.
The latest snapshot infection survey, from the Office for National Statistics, estimates that 33,000 people in the community in England had Covid-19 at any one time between 31 May and 13 June, roughly the same number as the previous week’s figures.
Last week, the R value, which measures transmission rates, was hovering just below 1 across the UK.
A brief recap: The UK’s chief medical officers have agreed to downgrade the coronavirus alert level from four to three after a “steady” and continuing decrease in cases in all four nations.
However, localised outbreaks of Covid-19 are still “likely” to occur, the advisers warned, and the virus remains in general circulation.
But the downgrading - recommended by the Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC) - means transmission of coronavirus is no longer considered to be “high or rising exponentially”.
England’s Prof Chris Whitty, Northern Ireland’s Dr Michael McBride, Scotland’s Dr Gregor Smith and Wales’ Dr Chris Jones agreed with the JBC’s recommendation.
The easing of lockdown measures in England at the beginning of June caused concern as the Covid-19 alert level remained at four - which the government previously said would mean restrictions remaining in place.
There was then confusion over whether the JBC was up and running, and what role it would play in setting the alert level.
The Covid alert levels system was announced by Boris Johnson in his televised address to the nation on 10 May. He said he was establishing the JBC to run the alert system, which is similar to that used to establish the terrorist threat.
It has five tiers from level one to five based on the spread of Covid-19 through the country. Level three is when the epidemic is in general circulation and gradual easing of restrictions can take place.
This is from the Spectator’s James Forsyth
UK moving from Covid alert level 4 to 3, with the support of the chief medical officers. Suggests that the lockdown easings have, so far, had no negative health effects
— James Forsyth (@JGForsyth) June 19, 2020
This is the Tory former home secretary Amber Rudd welcoming the “good news” that the UK’s CMO’s recommended the coronavirus alert level to be lowered from 4 to 3.
As with monitoring of the terrorist threat level (by JTAC) this independent expert assessment is the best arbiter of risk, uninfluenced by Gov preference. It’s good news: https://t.co/2H6D7BxKuc
— Amber Rudd (@AmberRuddUK) June 19, 2020
The Queen has sent a message of support to the British Chamber of Commerce, of which she is patron, as some businesses hit by the coronavirus pandemic begin to reopen.
As Patron of the British Chambers of Commerce @britishchambers,
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) June 19, 2020
Her Majesty The Queen has sent her warmest best wishes and support to business communities throughout the UK, Commonwealth and around the world. pic.twitter.com/wo41xj9zku
Good morning! I’m Lucy Campbell, taking over the blog for the rest of the day. As I work, please do feel free to get in touch with any news tips, comments or suggestions for our coverage. Your thoughts are always welcome.
Email: lucy.campbell@theguardian.com
Twitter: @lucy_campbell_
There’s been a mixed reaction to the news about the threat level reduction, which is likely to pave the wave for further easing of lockdown rules.
Dr Charlotte Houldcroft, a Cambridge University-based scientist working on virus evolution, characterised it as moving from “hot to medium on the Covid peri-peri scale”.
But there is also widespread concern, with some people asking if it is the right time while significant numbers are still losing their lives each day.
Updated
Matt Hancock hails 'big moment' for UK as Covid-19 alert level lowered from 4 to 3
Reacting to the UK CMOs’ decision to lower the UK’s alert level from level 4 to level 3 , the health secretary, Matt Hancock, said: “The UK moving to a lower alert level is a big moment for the country, and a real testament to the British people’s determination to beat this virus.
“The government’s plan is working. Infection rates are rapidly falling, we have protected the NHS and, thanks to the hard work of millions in our health and social care services, we are getting the country back on her feet.”
It’s worth noting the government’s five alert levels:
Level 1 Covid-19 is not known to be present in the UK
Level 2 Covid-19 is present in the UK, but the number of cases and transmission is low
Level 3 A Covid-19 epidemic is in general circulation
Level 4 A Covid-19 epidemic is in general circulation; transmission is high or rising exponentially
Level 5 As level 4 and there is a material risk of healthcare services being overwhelmed
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Coronavirus threat level should be reduced from 4 to 3, say medical Officers
UK chief medical officers have recommended that the Covid-19 alert level should be reduced from 4 to 3, meaning the epidemic is in general circulation but transmission is no longer “high or rising exponentially”.
The CMOs for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland said in a statement that it did not mean the pandemic was over but there had been a “steady decrease” in all four parts of the UK.
It said: “The Joint Biosecurity Centre has recommended that the Covid-19 alert level should move from level 4 (a Covid-19 epidemic is in general circulation; transmission is high or rising exponentially) to level 3 (a Covid-19 epidemic is in general circulation).
“The CMOs for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have reviewed the evidence and agree with this recommendation to move to level 3 across the UK.
“There has been a steady decrease in cases we have seen in all four nations, and this continues. It does not mean that the pandemic is over. The virus is still in general circulation, and localised outbreaks are likely to occur.
“We have made progress against the virus thanks to the efforts of the public and we need the public to continue to follow the guidelines carefully to ensure this progress continues.”
Updated
On the face of it, the 12% jump in retail spending last month fits with the notion that the economy will bounce back quickly from Covid-19 once the lockdown restrictions are fully lifted.
May’s rise occurred even before non-essential stores were allowed to start trading in some parts of the UK on 15 June, so the increase appears consistent with the idea of a V-shaped recovery: an initial fall as the country went into lockdown in late March; an 18% drop in April when the quarantining was at its most intense; then a much stronger pick-up than expected in May.
There are, though, reasons to be just a little bit cautious. For a start, retail sales volumes in the three months to May – a better guide to the trend – were still a whopping 14% lower than in the three months to February, the last period in which spending was not pandemic affected (read on).
People in England with learning disabilities have called on the government to make its coronavirus guidelines easier to understand, with some “absolutely terrified” they may find themselves on the wrong side of the law.
Campaigners say that while accessible information has been provided on certain topics during lockdown, it has been arriving up to two weeks later than the regular releases, leaving some people feeling like “second-class citizens”.
Dr Karen Parry is chief executive of Inclusion North, which works towards inclusion for people with a learning disability or autism and their families, said the group chose to produce their own accessible documents due to the delay in distribution from the government.
“That just says that people who need an accessible version are like second-class citizens,” Parry told the PA news agency.
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The first minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, has been contrasting her administration’s approach to contact tracing after the UK government was forced to abandon a centralised coronavirus tracing app.
In @scotgov we made a decision not to design and build our Test and Protect system around an untested app. That decision was criticised by some - but I think it’s been vindicated now. https://t.co/Nwh7MzoL2l
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) June 19, 2020
Updated
The risk of dying from Covid-19 is higher among those identifying as Muslims, Jewish, Hindu and Sikh than other religious groups, according to more new analysis published today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The highest mortality rate of deaths involving Covid-19 were in the Muslim religious group, with 198.9 deaths per 100,000 males and 98.2 deaths per 100,000 females.
By contrast, those with “no religion” – based on responses in the 2011 Census – had the lowest rate of death involving Covid-19, with 80.7 deaths per 100,000 males and 47.9 deaths per 100,000 females.
The figures, which are for England and Wales, are based on deaths that occurred between 2 March to 15 May and which were registered by 29 May.
Updated
Senior EU figures have poured cold water over Boris Johnson’s hopes of securing a Brexit deal over the summer.
France’s Europe minister, Amélie de Montchalin, told Europe I radio on Friday: “We will not yield to this deadline pressure, this final sprint that Britain wants to impose on us in the hope we will cave in. We do not want a deal for the sake of having a deal.”
After meeting EU leaders on Monday, the prime minister said there was “no reason why we shouldn’t get this done in July”. Senior EU diplomats, however, have cast doubt on No 10’s hopes of securing an outline deal in the summer. “We don’t expect negotiations to really get off the ground before the beginning of September and also only if we see that the United Kingdom will go towards a more realistic approach,” said a senior EU diplomat from a traditional British ally.
Brussels insiders are also seeking to play down expectations that the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, will broker a deal in the autumn.
The sceptical approach to the No 10 timetable is matched in the European parliament, which voted on Thursday by a large majority in favour of a tough negotiating position.
David McAllister, the German MEP, who chairs the EU-UK co-ordination group, said: “If the UK now definitely doesn’t want to extend the transition period we need a ready legal text by 31 October so we’d better get cracking.”
The German MEP sat in on EU leaders meeting with the PM on Monday, when Johnson urged the group to “put a tiger in the tank” of stalled talks. EU officials and MEPs have said they are ready to intensify talks, but not at any price.
McAllister said: We’ve got four months and a couple of days left so let’s go let’s put some tiger in the tank, but indeed we need to know in which direction the car will drive.”
Updated
A bit of good news meanwhile
Hard to express my joy and gratitude right now as I completed my Philosophy, Politics and Economics degree at Oxford. I don’t know what’s ahead. For now, it will be Netflix, reading and sleep. 😴 pic.twitter.com/AUxN55cUAf
— Malala (@Malala) June 19, 2020
Additional borrowing "still worthwhile" to boost economy - IFS
Additional borrowing now that boosts the economic recovery would still be worthwhile, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, which has just released some instant analysis of the ONS borrowing figures.
Compliance with the #COVID19 lockdown – and fiscal giveaways – led to central government borrowing £144 billion in cash terms in April and May 2020, close to the @OBR_uk’s scenario projection.
— IFS (@TheIFS) June 19, 2020
🔍 Our analysis of today's @ONS public sector finances figures. pic.twitter.com/5GQrsR7HoG
Isabel Stockton, a research economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said:
“This year will see a record increase in government borrowing, most likely pushing it to its highest level since the second world war. Even so, with current low interest rates, additional borrowing now that boosts the economic recovery would still be worthwhile.”
“The future health of the public finances will depend greatly on the strength of the subsequent recovery. But once we are through the immediate crisis and the economy reaches a new normal, we will be left with elevated debt.”
“At that point a mix of some tax rises alongside an acceptance that higher debt will need to be managed carefully for decades to come seems the most likely outcome.”
Updated
Wales opens to holiday-makers and day-trippers
Holidaymakers and day-trippers will be able to head to Wales from next month, the country’s first minister has announced.
Mark Drakeford said that the country’s five-mile travel restriction would be lifted from 6 July as long as coronavirus was still under control at that point.
In a surprise announcement on Friday morning, he said the tourism industry should prepare to reopen self contained accommodation.
Non-essential shops will open on Monday in Wales and Drakeford called on people to behave in a socially responsible way and not crowd together outside and inside stores.
Updated
South Asian people most likely to die after Covid-19 hospitalisation - study
South Asian people are the most likely group to die from Covid-19 after being admitted to hospital across the UK, according to a new study.
Data from 30,693 people admitted to 260 hospitals found a 19% increased risk of death with coronavirus for those who were south Asian compared with white people.
Experts behind the study at the University of Edinburgh said 40% of the south Asians in the group had diabetes – which was a “significant factor” in their increased risk of death.
The data was taken from hospitals in England, Scotland and Wales from February 6 to May 8, with patient follow-up to May 22.
The study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed or published in a medical journal, included 1,388 people of south Asian background (5% of the total group), 266 who were east Asian (1%), 1,094 who were black (4%), 2,398 who were other ethnic minority (8%) and 25,547 who were white (83%).
Ethnic minorities were younger and more likely to have diabetes (type 1 and type 2) but had fewer other underlying health conditions such as chronic heart disease or dementia than people who were white.
The researchers concluded: “Ethnic minorities in hospital with Covid-19 were more likely to be admitted to critical care and receive IMV (ventilation) than whites, despite similar disease severity on admission, similar duration of symptoms, and being younger with fewer comorbidities.
The research comes as a delayed report into the reasons why black, Asian and minority ethnic people (BAME) are disproportionately contracting and dying from Covid-19 has increased pressure on the government to act immediately to address the problem.
The Public Health England (PHE) review, based on stakeholder engagement with more than 4,000 people, says historical racism may make BAME individuals less likely to seek care when needed or, as NHS staff, to speak up when they have concerns about personal protective equipment (PPE) or increased risk.
Updated
Two in five adults in the UK feel lonelier under the lockdown amid the tight limits it has placed on social contact, new research has revealed.
Survey results by the British Red Cross paint a stark picture of Britain as a society where a substantial minority lack regular face-to-face interaction and feel alone and uncared for.
In a survey of 2,000 adults that was representative of the population, the charity found that 28% worried that no one would notice if something happened to them.
Even more – 33% – said they feared that their feelings of loneliness would get worse in the years ahead.
“The coronavirus crisis is exposing how a lack of meaningful connections can increase feelings of loneliness, and many people fear they will become lonelier in the future,” the British Red Cross said.
Pressure for the 2-metre physical distancing rule to be relaxed also looks like it’s being kept up today.
Robert Halfon, the Conservative MP for Harlow and chair of the education select committee, has told BBC’s Today programme that he “strongly welcomes” plans for tuition for the most disadvantaged pupils and hopes that schools in England can “move to social distancing of less than 2 metres” before September.
Updated
Retailers saw a much-needed boost in sales last month compared with the record lows in April as lockdown turned thriving high streets into ghost towns, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Sales volumes in May jumped 12% compared with the previous month, although they were still down 13.1% versus February, before the full impact of the coronavirus pandemic was felt.
There’s a lot more detail about that on the Guardian’s Business Live blog as well as analysis and other coverage of today’s ONS releases.
The schools minister, Nick Gibb, was unable to confirm whether a contract had been signed between the government and Google and Apple to develop the contact-tracing app.
Asked if a deal to develop the app had been completed with the tech giants, the school standards minister told Sky News: “Well, that’s a matter for [health secretary] Matt Hancock.
“He’s working with Google and Apple, I don’t know the details of the contracts that they have.”
He added: “What I do know is that we are working with Google and Apple to iron out these problems with the system to make it robust and accurate in how it tracks and traces.”
In its report today, the Times said sources at Apple claimed they were no informed of the announcement or consulted about the plan to work together.
“We don’t know what they mean by this hybrid model. They haven’t spoken to us about it,” a source said.
Apple was also said to have queried the claim that its model was less accurate at measuring distance than the government’s own NHSX model.
“It is difficult to understand what these claims are as they haven’t spoken to us. But the app has been downloaded by 6 million in 24 hours in Germany, the Italians have had it going since Monday, the Dutch government and Irish government have it, and there has been no issue about proximity detection.”
Updated
Asked this morning about the government’s abandonment of its own contact tracing app in favour of a design by Apple and Google, schools minister, Nick Gibb, said that there was no point rolling out a system that then fails.
“We want to have ambitious plans to track and trace, and that’s what the app is about, but it has to be properly tested,” he added.
“There’s no point in rolling out a system that then fails because what you’re asking people to do when they’re contacted by the tracers is to self-isolate and you have to be able to trust the information.”
No mention of the system by a government figure would be the same without that familiar baking mantra and, sure enough, Gibb added: “The app was almost like the cherry on the cake.
“It’s a sort of more sophisticated extra layer on top of the track and trace, but it has to be able to operate properly.”
Work started in March as the pandemic unfolded, but despite weeks of work, officials admitted on Thursday that the NHS app only recognised 4% of Apple phones and 75% of Google Android devices during testing on the Isle of Wight.
That was because the design of Apple’s iPhone operating system is such that apps quickly go to sleep when they are not being used and cannot be activated by Bluetooth – a point raised by experts and reported by the Guardian in early May.
Updated
An estimated 4.5 million people – three times the size of the NHS workforce – have been forced to become unpaid carers for sick, older or disabled relatives by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to research.
Charities say the huge increase – a result of support services being withdrawn – has happened behind closed doors.
There were already an estimated 9.1 million unpaid carers before the outbreak. The research comes after it was revealed that more than 100,000 people doing unpaid caring for older, disabled or seriously ill relatives had been
forced to use food banks since start of the pandemic.
The increase, say experts, has profound implications for society. More than 70% of the new, unpaid carers, the majority of whom are women, many already living in poverty, said the responsibility was the source of significant stress and that they were deeply concerned about how they would cope as the lockdown eased.
Updated
Local authority officials and teachers have been calling this morning for more detail on the government’s £350m in subsidies for a one-year national tutoring programme.
A bit more has been coming from schools standards minister, Nick Gibb, who said schools in England will be able access the fund “at their discretion” to help children catch up on missed work.
Speaking on Sky News, he added that the government wants to ensure no pupils face any long-term detriment to their education as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
He said: “Schools have done a brilliant job in providing online lessons for children, providing them work while they’re at home.
“But nothing beats children being back in the classroom in terms of the quality of the education and we want to make sure that no child loses out, or has any long-term detriment to their education as a consequence of this crisis.
“So that’s why we’re allocating this huge sum of money, £650m to schools to use at their discretion, to ensure that every child can catch up over the course of the next academic year.”
Updated
The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has said that the figures confirm the “severe impact” which coronavirus is having on the UK’s public finances.
“The best way to restore our public finances to a more sustainable footing is to safely reopen our economy so people can return to work.”
Updated
Government borrowing to hit £55.2bn - ONS
Government borrowing in May is predicted to have hit £55.2bn – nearly nine-times higher than in the same month a year ago, according to figures released this morning by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The figure is slightly lower than the £62.1bn of borrowing in April, according to the ONS, although the organisation also revised down that figure by £13.6bn to £48.5bn on Friday.
Debt levels at the end of May were 100.9% of gross domestic product (GDP), the first time that debt as a percentage of GDP has exceeded 100% since the financial year ending March 1963, the ONS added, standing at £1.95 trillion – up £173.2bn in May 2019.
The BBC’s economic’s editor has more:
May UK public finances - £55.2 billion borrowed - 9x last year, highest monthly borrowing on record (since 1993)
— Faisal Islam (@faisalislam) June 19, 2020
Public Sector Net Debt is at 100.9% of GDP - first time since the early 1960s
April’s deficit revised down £14bn to £48.5bn pic.twitter.com/j2dxLZxj1o
Updated
English schools to get £1bn to help pupils catch up
Subsidised tutoring being offered through a new government programme from September is likely to cost state schools £12-an-hour in the scheme’s first year, compared with the £50-an-hour usually charged by the private providers involved.
The programme will come via an extra £650m provided to schools in England to help pupils catch up on teaching missed during the coronavirus lockdown since March, as part of a £1bn package.
Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, will announce the funding on Friday, which will also include a separate £350m in subsidies for a one-year national tutoring programme – as revealed by the Guardian – to help the most disadvantaged children in their education by offering low-cost tuition for schools to purchase.
“This package will make sure that every young person, no matter their age or where they live, gets the education, opportunities and outcomes they deserve, by spending it on measures proven to be effective, particularly for those who are most disadvantaged,” Williamson said
“The plan will be delivered throughout the next academic year, bringing long-term reform to the educational sector that will protect a generation of children from the effects of this pandemic.”
Updated
Good morning and welcome to the Guardian’s live blog coverage of the coronavirus pandemic in the UK.
Education and the question of how to get children back to school once again takes centre stage today as the government steps up its efforts to convince the public that it has a plan to get on top of one of the most concerning societal impacts of the lockdownt.
Overnight, the government said it would give an extra £650m to schools in England to help pupils catch up on teaching missed during the coronavirus lockdown since March, as part of a £1bn package.
Meanwhile this morning, the Office for National Statistics is due to release its latest picture of how the British economy has been battered by the pandemic. New borrowing data for last month was also expected to show how the national debt is being loaded up
At noon, a view of the state of public sector finances will be published by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). I’ll be covering that along with a range of other developments with colleagues. You can reach me on Twitter at @BenQuinn75.
Updated
