It’s been another week where Boris Johnson’s government abruptly changed its mind on a major policy during the
Coronavirus pandemic.
Here’s a breakdown of all the about turns, back tracks and missed targets that have left the public frustrated. Housing evictionsOn Friday, the eviction ban was extended for four weeks. Ministers also decided landlords will have to give the majority of tenants six months’ notice to protect vulnerable renters hit by the coronavirus crisis from a winter eviction.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announced the move after charities warned there could be mass evictions around
Christmas and said tens of thousands of outgoing tenants could be unable to access affordable homes, prompting a “devastating homelessness crisis”.A-levelsAfter five days, education secretary Gavin Williamson on Monday finally admitted defeat and ditched the controversial A-level algorithm that had seen 100,000 students marked down.
Ministers announced they will allow for results to be based on teachers’ predicted grades for their students, rather than a “standardisation model” that saw the A-level grades of almost 40% of students downgraded from what they had originally been awarded.
It followed criticism from students and headteachers and complaints from dozens of Tory MPs, and came more than a week after the Scottish government was forced into its own U-turn after a backlash about the moderation system used there.Immigration health surchargeThe government eventually decided to waive heavily-criticised NHS fees being charged to migrant health and care workers on the coronavirus front line.
The government was due to hike the
immigration health surcharge from £400 to £624 this October, but in May said it will be scrapped as the Covid-19 crisis gripped the NHS.
The sum had been payable to all overseas workers to use the NHS and from this autumn would have seen a family-of-four hit with a bill as high as £2,500 a year. Free school meals England footballer Marcus Rashford was credited as playing a key part in forcing the Government to U-turn on its decision not to extend the children’s food voucher scheme into the summer holidays.
On June 16, Cabinet minister Grant Shapps said that free school meals are not normally extended to cover the summer period.
Yet a few hours later, No 10 backtracked on its stance, confirming that it would in fact extend the programme.
Speaking on Sky News the next day, health secretary Matt Hancock mistakenly praised “Daniel Rashford” for his campaigning efforts.Early return of schools In early May, Williamson set out the government’s ambition that all primary-age children in
England would have at least four weeks in school before the summer.
But on June 9, he said there was “no choice” but to scrap those plans amid concerns that the two-metre social distancing rule would make a full return impossible.
In August, the government said that its plans would be for all pupils, in all year groups, to return to school full-time from the beginning of the autumn term.
Schools will be required to have measures including enhanced cleaning procedures, more frequent hand-washing, and keeping pupils and family members with Covid-19 symptoms away, in place as they return.NHS contact tracing appA new NHSX app for contact tracing was announced by health secratary Matt Hancock on April 12, pledging that it would be “crucial” for preventing the transmission of coronavirus.
The app was trialled on the Isle of Wight with a view to it being rolled out more widely across the country in May.
However, on June 18, the government abandoned plans for its own app, instead allowing
Apple and
Google to take over the project.
On August 13, a trial of the new app was announced, again involving the Isle of Wight as well as NHS volunteer respondents in the UK.
However, as yet no date has been confirmed for a national rollout.Coronavirus testing targetOn April 2, Hancock set a goal of 100,000 coronavirus tests a day by the end of the month.
At the government’s daily briefing on May 1, Hancock said testing figures had hit 122,347 on April 30.
However, the figures included the number of home tests (27,497) that had been sent out as well as the number of tests sent out to satellite sites (12,872).
It suggested that the number of tests actually processed was closer to around 81,978 – short of the government’s target.Bereavement scheme to NHS support staffAfter criticism that care workers, cleaners and porters were being excluded from a Home Office scheme granting families of health workers indefinite leave to remain in the
UK if they die of Covid-19, the government announced an extension of the scheme on May 20.
The scheme had been introduced in April to help support families affected by the pandemic.
Home secretary Priti Patel said the extension would be “effective immediately and retrospectively”.Face coveringsFace masks become compulsory in shops and supermarkets in July, marking a U-turn on previous policy.
The move follows a weekend of confusion over whether ministers intended to make face coverings compulsory after
Boris Johnson said they were looking at “stricter” rules.From tomorrow, wearing a face covering will be mandatory in shops, supermarkets, shopping centres & transport hubs.It is vital that everyone plays their part by following this new guidance so we can #EnjoySummerSafely & defeat #coronavirus.— Matt Hancock (@MattHancock) July 23, 2020In the early days of the pandemic, ministers and the government’s scientific advisers repeatedly played down the value of face coverings, saying the evidence on the benefits was thin.
There were also thought to be concerns stocks could be diverted from the NHS at a time of intense pressure on the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) if the public were encouraged to wear them.Remote votingThe government was forced to row back on plans MPs to make them vote in person in the House of Commons in the early days of the pandemic.
Labour criticised the “shambolic” long queues MPs had to form to vote which were dubbed the “coronavirus conga”.
A hybrid system enabling parliamentarians to either attend the Commons in person or contribute to proceedings from afar via Zoom was put in place from the end of April before being halted in early June.Related... Evictions Ban Extended By Just 4 Weeks Despite Growing Fears Over Homelessness 5 Fibs You Were Told This Week Schools Minister Nick Gibb Defends Exams Algorithm As 'Good Model'