Petrol supply issues
Retailers and hauliers say the government's plan to offer temporary visas to foreign lorry drivers will not solve supply chain issues. The transport secretary said there is ‘plenty of fuel’ in the refineries and 47 storage centres, but ‘the Royal Haulage Association triggered panic buying by reporting a shortage of heavy goods vehicle drivers. To limit disruption before Christmas the Government will give temporary visas to 5,000 lorry drivers, encourage HGV licence holders back into the industry, and use MOD examiners to increase testing for new drivers. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-58698998 These measures will not fix the short-term problems caused by panic buying, so the business secretary said 150 soldiers will be delivering fuel. The managing director of fuel supplier Portland Fuel said the UK was over the worst of the situation and that sending in the army would ‘generate more panic’.
Furloughing ends, new support fund announced
The UK's economy grew 5.5% between April and June as spending surged after lockdowns. However an investment and markets analyst said, ‘Any hope that the end of the furlough scheme would solve the supply chain crisis is likely to be wishful thinking. There will be a big mismatch of skills and experience between those leaving furlough and the jobs on offer.’ Jess Pitman was furloughed from her job organising trips abroad to raise money for charities, but travellers cancelled when Covid hit. The company's payroll has reduced from 27 to 5. Furloughing has finished, and Jess will return to work part-time, topping up her income with freelance work. To counteract furlough finishing, a £500m Household Support Fund will provide a lifeline for those who might struggle to keep up with their winter bills for food and utility. Local councils will give the grants to cover essential costs.
Move to online worship a loss, not a gain
A ‘deep-seated dissatisfaction’ with online worship has been identified by year-long research by two universities. They state, by almost every measurement, the experience of pandemic online rituals are perceived as less meaningful, less communal, less spiritual, less effective, and so on.’ The report concludes, ‘Our research revealed both considerable innovation in, and deep-seated dissatisfaction with, digital worship during the pandemic. There have been positive developments and adaptations which will strengthen religious life in the long term, but for most people the move to online ritual has been a loss, not gain.’ It notes, however, that there is an appetite for religion online for those seeking out new communities, experiences, and modes of worship’. Also an online survey of 604 religious leaders and congregation members notes that human connection is more important to congregants than technical quality; worshippers preferred interactive Zoomover streaming video. Online-offline hybrid seems likely to be the way forward.’
NHS Highland pays millions to bullied staff
In 2018 a group of senior clinicians at NHS Highland reported that a culture of bullying had existed for at least a decade. They described a ‘practice of suppressing criticism, which emanated from the very top of the organisation’ and led to a culture of ‘fear and intimidation’ which has had a detrimental effect on staff. John Sturrock QC found there were hundreds of people who had experienced bullying. A review was contacted by 340 people from most departments, services, and occupations. Over 280 had face-to-face meetings or made written submissions of bullying experiences. Staff said they had not felt valued, respected or supported in carrying out ‘very stressful work’. In 2021 NHS Highland expects to pay £3.4m in settlements to current and former staff who experienced bullying. Whistleblower Brian Devlin said the scale of settlements so far was ‘heartening’, but he had heard that some bullying still continues.
