The government has published the ‘COVID-19 Response – Spring 2021’, setting out the roadmap out of the current lockdown for England.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-response-spring-2021
The government has published the ‘COVID-19 Response – Spring 2021’, setting out the roadmap out of the current lockdown for England.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-response-spring-2021
Deadline 8th March 2021
From North East Lincolnshire Council:
The Local Authority is looking to engage the market through Preliminary Market Consultation (PMC) regarding a completely new concept for bespoke bereavement services for the local area.
The consultation will be through a questionnaire where we like to understand the views of the market on our proposed new way of working.
Bespoke bereavement services would see a catalogue of options being offered to the public and from this PMC we would like to achieve the following;
Preliminary Market Consultation (PMC) allows local authorities and other contracting authorities in the public sector to engage with a market.
Deadline 30th March 2021
Lincolnshire County Council, invitation for established Learning Providers to join the Adult Skills & Family Learning Open Framework, Reference PL.17.063, in addition to the Annual Call Off for existing Framework Providers to submit Delivery Plans to deliver ESFA Adult Education Funded provision in the 2021/22 academic year.
The Barratt Foundation is the new stand-alone body that represents Barratt Developments, including Barratt Homes, David Wilson Homes and Barratt London, across all of its charitable work.
The Foundation has a general charitable purpose, which means that it is able to donate to a wide variety of charities within the UK. However, the Foundation will look to provide support in some key areas, particularly through our national partnerships:
Have your say before 5 March 2021
From NCVO:
Volunteering Matters and NCVO are working in partnership to develop recommendations for a National Volunteer Passporting Scheme. Over the next six weeks we’ll engage with volunteer involving organisations, volunteer managers and volunteers. This will be to develop practical recommendations for Number 10 and the Department of Culture Media and Sport (DCMS). These recommendations will set out what would be needed to make this scheme effective and successful.
Your insights and ideas will be vital to make sure these recommendations support volunteers, charities and communities. There are several ways to contribute to this work, which are described at the end of this blog.
From UK Parliament:
Inquiry
On 8 April 2020, HM Treasury announced £750 million of funding support to help frontline charities continue to operate during the coronavirus outbreak.
On 20 May, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) and the Office for Civil Society announced that they were working across government to direct funds to voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations supporting government’s coronavirus response through activities delivering charitable purposes. DCMS stressed the urgency to distribute funds quickly and prioritise those charities most in need.
The Committee will question senior officials at DCMS and the Charity Commission on how well the funding has been distributed and whether it is achieving its objectives.
If you have evidence on these questions please submit it here by 6:00 pm on Thursday 08 April 2021.
the Good Practice Toolkit offers support and advice around volunteering for and with older people and people with dementia. This toolkit was created by Volunteering Matters project, Network Point Newcastle, commissioned by Newcastle City Council.
Within this toolkit they share their good practice and the good practice of the partners across the voluntary sector, providing practical examples.
Legal update 2104: 23/2/21 by Sandy Adirondack, reproduced here with thanks (to sign up to Sandy’s bulletin directly, please see bottom of page):
Pimlico Plumbers in London made national headlines in mid-January by saying all staff would have to be vaccinated against coronavirus – even though at that time vaccination was basically available only to care home residents and over-75s, very few of whom were likely to be employed by Pimlico Plumbers. (Though the company had also been in the news 15 years ago for having a 100-year-old van cleaner, reportedly the oldest employee in the UK and the oldest to run the London Marathon. He turned out maybe not to have been 100 and thus didn’t get into the Guinness Book of Records, but that’s a different story…)
Following the company’s high-profile announcement, many employers rushed to say they would implement “No jab, no job” policies. But this can be a high risk strategy, and Acas guidance on working safely during the pandemic says that employers should support staff in getting the vaccine, but cannot force them to be vaccinated. Even with the government’s new goal of all adults being offered vaccination by the end of July, it will be several months until vaccination is available to all age groups, so requiring all staff to be vaccinated could be age discrimination. Even when it is available to all age groups, a mandatory requirement could lead to claims for other types of discrimination, unfair dismissal, breach of human rights, and/or personal injury.
This update outlines legal and policy issues around making it mandatory for staff to have Covid-19 vaccination, and why it is likely to be legally much safer to encourage staff to be vaccinated, rather than require it. Unlike my usual updates it is structured around information resources, annotated to provide a very brief summary of what they cover. All of the guidance emphasises that as vaccination is rolled out – and even if an employer makes it mandatory – vaccination is not a substitute for other measures such as social distancing, face coverings, sanitising and hand washing, and these must be continued for the foreseeable future.
As background: The Public Health (Control of Diseases) Act 1984 s.45, as amended by the Health and Social Care Act 2008, authorises the government to make regulations to prevent, protect against, control or provide a public health response to the spread of infection or contamination in England and Wales, and to make regulations relating to international travel. S.45E of the Act explicitly states that such regulations must not include provision requiring a person to undergo medical treatment, which includes vaccination and other prophylactic treatment. Therefore the government cannot make vaccination mandatory, either for the general population of England and Wales or for specific sectors, without amending the legislation. I assume there is equivalent legislation for Scotland and Northern Ireland, but I don’t have capacity to look for it.
Nor is there any statutory or common law basis for an employer to require staff to be vaccinated, unless this is included in the contract of employment. An employer who wishes to implement a mandatory vaccination policy could include it in the contracts for new employees, but would need to ensure it would not give rise to claims of indirect discrimination. For existing employees, introducing a mandatory vaccination policy would require variation of the contract, or the employer being very confident that if they were challenged, the requirement for staff to be vaccinated would be seen by an employment tribunal or court as a “reasonable instruction”. Even if the requirement would be a reasonable instruction, the employer will have had to have made a realistic risk assessment, and considered alternatives such as the employee working from home.
In relation to reasonable instructions, Baker McKenzie solicitors say [see first item under Shorter resources, below], “The government has announced that the Covid vaccine will not be mandatory even for frontline workers in the NHS or care sector. Previous statements given by the prime minister and the minister for Covid-19 vaccine deployment are that the government will not endorse or approve any mandatory vaccination programme implemented by UK employers. Nor does mandatory vaccination form part of the HSE’s guidance on how to make the workplace Covid-secure. If there are less intrusive measurers to make the workplace Covid-secure (which we think will apply in most cases), a blanket policy of requiring vaccinations … will not be justifiable. Employers who discipline or dismiss employees for non-compliance may face unfair dismissal claims. This is particularly risky for certain categories, where there may be discrimination risks. There may be some exceptional cases where disciplinary action/unpaid leave may be justifiable, for example where the employee’s role requires them to travel and the host country requires prior vaccination. However, even then, the employer should consider whether the instruction is reasonable in the individual case.”
Most of the legal issues arising from the employer’s stance on vaccination (for example in relation to health and safety, data protection, potential claims for breach of contract, unfair dismissal or personal injury) apply in the same way throughout the UK. But discrimination law is different in Northern Ireland, and the rules relating specifically to coronavirus are devolved to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Gov.uk resources on coronavirus and vaccination include, where applicable, links to separate resources for other parts of the UK.
A further update in a couple of days will cover workplace testing for coronavirus.
——————————————————————————
ESSENTIAL RESOURCES
Gov.uk coronavirus hub
Always start on the Gov.uk coronavirus hub when looking for government guidance. The guidance is often spread among numerous separate webpages, which should be but often aren’t cross-referenced – so if you start with one webpage, it’s easy to miss others with essential and sometimes updated information. The relevant section on the hub will include all applicable pages, so starting there will reduce the risk of missing an important webpage. Where applicable there are separate links for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, either on the hub page or on individual webpages. The sections are:
Data protection and coronavirus information hub
Information Commissioner’s Office. The “Advice for organisations” section includes data protection guidance on Covid-19 testing and on vaccination.
Preparing for the Covid-19 vaccination: Guide for employers
CIPD, most recent update 15 February 2021 but will be regularly updated. Essential reading for all organisations, even if they are not considering requesting or requiring coronavirus tests or vaccination and even if they have only volunteers, with no employees. Covers:
——————————————————————————
SHORTER RESOURCES
From the approximately 40 articles I have read about coronavirus vaccination and the workplace, here are a few recommendations.
Mandatory vaccinations in the workplace: Key considerations for UK employers
Baker McKenzie solicitors, 20 February 2021. Colourful one-page PDF chart setting out the legal considerations and logistical challenges in trying to introduce a mandatory vaccination policy, including:
The articles below are shorter and less comprehensive than the CIPD briefing [under General resources, above] and are not a substitute for it, but are good starting points. The articles overlap and each provides answers to a series of questions, but they emphasise different issues. I have given very brief summaries of the answers, but my summaries must not be relied upon!
Covid -19 vaccinations: Key issues for employers
Stevens & Bolton solicitors, 5 February 2021. The next-to-last section, on record keeping, has more about data protection than the other articles.
No vaccine, no job? Can employers insist their staff take the Covid-19 vaccine?
Irwin Mitchell solicitors, 19 January 2021. The third and fourth sections have more about “reasonable instruction” than the other articles.
Covid 19 vaccinations: Key considerations for UK employers
Katten Muchin Rosenman solicitors, 8 February 2021. The third section has more about potential discrimination claims than the other articles.
Can employers require staff to have a Covid-19 vaccination? This one seems to be more open than the other articles to the idea of workplace mandatory vaccination, but still urges caution and taking legal advice before seeking to implement such a policy.
Hill Dickinson solicitors, 19 February 2021.
Vac to work, vac to play
Boyes Turner solicitors, 9 February 2021. Short article covering much the same as the above articles, but with a final section specifically about customers. This would also include service users, clients etc. It starts, “In respect of customers, as the right to access services as customer is not absolute, there would seem to be more scope in requiring vaccines in order to access certain venues and services. This is the case especially if the business considers the only way it can feasibly operate without being a vector of infection is to require customers to be vaccinated.” But it then mentions the risk of claims for discrimination in the provision of services etc. This is where government discussions about a vaccine passport will be relevant.
Anti-vaxxers and the new workplace divisions
CMP, 9 December 2020. “The clash in perspectives over the pandemic is more urgently felt and more affecting than Brexit ever was.” This thoughtful short article is not about vaccination as such, but about what organisations need to have in place to deal with Covid-related workplace tensions. These may arise not just in relation to vaccination, but also between those having to work no choice but to work face to face and those who can work from home, those having no choice but to work from home and those who can have the social contact of working face to face, those who are furloughed and are seen as being paid for not working, and similar issues.
To sign up for the legal updates email list or change contact details, contact Sandy on legalupdate@sandy-a.co.uk