I had a most reassuring conversation with the Chief Executive of West Berkshire Council today. He reported no known problems with protective clothing for West Berkshire social services. They have established a virus test centre in Newbury for key workers to use if they have symptoms or worries about their health or exposure to the disease.

He praised the work of community groups in Burghfield and Mortimer. There are some  money issues which I will take up with the government over social care and the distribution of the additional £1.6bn announced for Councils recently.

I thanked him and his staff for all the work they have put into social care, business grants and other requirements from the virus. I also join him in saying thank you to all the volunteers who are helping the community.

I am pleased that Parliament is to meet today and in the following days, with new rules encouraging  participation from remote locations. I had made an early request for our return, and am delighted the Speaker has been so active in securing a way of bringing it about.

In the meantime there have been various routes to make points to Ministers and to contribute to the policy debate, as I have been doing.

The Government has launched a new ‘support finder’ tool which will help businesses and self-employed people across the UK to quickly and easily determine what financial support is available to them.

For more details, please visit this link:
https://www.gov.uk/business-coronavirus-support-finder

The Government has produced an update to the specification for any manufacturers seeking to make ventilators.

For more details please visit this link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/specification-for-ventilators-to-be-used-in-uk-hospitals-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak?utm_source=284796da-db81-4c5e-b732-7a20710333bf&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate

If your business is able to support, please register that capability here:
https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus-support-from-business

The government has decided to continue the lock down for another three weeks. They are afraid that an early relaxation would allow the virus to spread more rapidly again, losing some or all the gains  seen in fewer patients going to hospital in recent days.

In response to past representations by myself and others  the government is now doing more work on a timetable for getting more people back to work. It is unfortunate  there may be no early arrival of a vaccine to protect the population in large numbers,  nor even an early medical agreement on a  treatment which makes it much more likely patients with severe cases on Covid 19 survive. For that reason  we need  to plan to live with the virus whilst still being  able to run our economy at a reasonable level of output with more people in jobs and more companies generating revenue than today.

I have suggested to the government that a back to work plan should encompass new ways of working with better protection for employees. Office based businesses could encourage much more homeworking, with limited numbers of staff in the main office observing social distancing. Factories and warehouses need to operate at levels that do not require staff to be close together, with additional automation where necessary. Any business staff in touch with the public should be given protective screens or personal protective clothing suitable to the risk level.

We should continue to give strong advice to at risk groups to stay at home, and do more to support them with remote technology to ensure deliveries and safe social contact. The protection of care homes needs more work. I supported moves to ensure all patients to be discharged from hospitals back to care homes should be tested . We need to  avoid introducing the virus into a home  through the return of a patient . I am pleased the government has now promised to do this.

Yesterday saw the Furlough scheme to subsidise employment which I have long championed open for claims. It is vital as many jobs as possible are saved by this means, to keep them in being until their employers can re open and afford the wages again. The self employed package still excludes some groups who deserve support and is still on the low side so I am asking the Treasury to look again at it.

Let us hope the positive trends in cases and deaths continues as a reward for the sacrifice many are making. On the latest figures too many people are still dying, but our death rate in relation to total population is still well below Belgium, Spain and Italy who have suffered particularly badly. The next few days are important. If the rate of death and of new patients to hospital continues to decline we should be able to start to relax controls. In the meantime I am conscious there are pressing needs like getting more dentists to work on emergency treatment, and tackling some of the backlog of medical appointments that were cancelled or delayed to make way for Covid 19 patients.

I would like to say another big thank you to all of you who have volunteered to help in so many ways. Some are delivering food parcels, some tackling loneliness of those staying at home alone, some are making protective clothing. I also wish to thank all who are going to work to care for people, to treat people in hospital, to provide us with food and to keep basic services and deliveries going.

Yours sincerely

John Redwood

I have received this update from HMRC:

Dear Sir John,

Employers in your constituency can now claim online for a grant for 80% of their furloughed employees’ salaries, up to a maximum of £2,500 per employee, per month, through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. This scheme will be open until the end of June 2020.

Before employers in your constituency claim, they need to:

• Read all the available guidance on GOV.UK before applying;
• Gather all the information and the precise calculations they need before starting their application. If they have a payroll provider, they will be able to help them with this;
• Employers can find out more in the calculation guidance where they can access a claim calculator. This will allow them to check their claim for most employees who are paid the same amount each pay period;
• Access our simple, step-by-step guide on GOV.UK for additional help.

To receive payment by 30 April, employers will need to complete an application by 22 April.

We expect to be very busy so we would ask that employers only call us if they can’t find what they need on GOV.UK or through our webchat service – this will leave our lines open for those who need our help most.

After employers have made a claim, they should:

• Keep a note or print-out of their claim reference number – they won’t receive a confirmation SMS or email;
• Retain all records and calculations for their claims, in case we need to contact them;
• Expect to receive the funds six working days after they apply, provided they claim matches records that we hold for their PAYE scheme. Employers should not contact us before this time.
• Ask their furloughed employees not to contact us directly – we will not be able to provide them with any information on individual claims.

HMRC will check claims made through the scheme and will act to protect public money against anyone who makes a claim using dishonest or fraudulent information. 

We also encourage all employers to protect their own credentials and please be aware of potential scammers and opportunist criminal activity.

I’d be very grateful if you could share this information with employers in your constituency. 

I wish you well at this challenging time, 

Jim Harra

First Permanent Secretary and Chief Executive, HMRC