"The evidence shows that something has to change. The social care sector in particular needs to receive proper support from central government and ensuring the integration of health and social care services and providing incentives to deliver improved outcomes over the long term, to ensure that it is properly equipped for the rising demand for its services and is able to give the support required to families and carers who may be looking after a loved one.
"Changes have been recommended to employment practices and pension schemes, but these do not address the core of the issue, which is that sufficient time has not been given to prepare for a situation that we know has been coming for decades. Flexible hours and retraining schemes will go some way to help the middle-aged build a sufficient nest egg for their retirement, however this does not address the funding and resource issue that health and social care organisations are facing, and will continue to face.
"The key message that has emerged from this report is that we need to plan ahead, and I hope that key decision-makers in central government will pay attention and act accordingly."
Aside from the COVID-19 pandemic, a key theme of 2020 has been diversity and inclusivity. This two-part update addresses this theme in detail
Covid-19 has resulted, on the whole, in a marked co-operation between contracting authorities and their suppliers as everybody focuses on maintaining delivery as far as possible.
Employment Tribunal rules in favour of claimants in minimum wage case – has the interpretation of “working time” changed?
As we enter a recession, we have been here before, and a key question is what did we learn and how can we benefit from that learning?
It is anticipated that as lockdown restrictions ease, and particularly with children and young adults returning to education, cases of meningitis will start to rise.
As we continue to emerge from lockdown measures and deal with local measures and the short and long term economic impact of Covid-19, local authorities will need to re-assess how services will be delivered for years to come.
The Government first announced plans for a shared ownership right to buy in October 2019. At the time the sector raised concerns about the impact the plans would have on housing associations ability to borrow. An election and a pandemic later the Government announced, during the CIH Housing Festival last week, the return of the right to shared ownership as part of its Affordable Homes Programme (AHP).
Two final pieces of the possession jigsaw have been published on 15 September 2020. Mr Justice Knowles’ working group on possession proceedings has issued its guidance on the “overall arrangements” for possession proceedings.
One change proposed by the Building Safety Bill is the introduction of a duty holder regime, which will see statutory responsibility for the safety of higher risk buildings placed on key individuals
Throughout this pandemic, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has been publishing various “Statements on Coronavirus” (Statements) which provide guidance on consumer rights during this time.
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