Coronavirus in Yorkshire: Government must act to protect workers and businesses

As the UK responds to the Covid-19 challenge, people are the first priority. So the measures to expand and ease access to sick pay and benefits are vital to protect people’s health and livelihoods.

The Chancellor’s actions on business rates, emergency funds and loans will help ensure firms can weather the storm, especially smaller firms. Larger firms may also need support as the situation develops.

Covid-19 will bring new challenges daily, which will need to be resolved at speed. Today’s impressive economic response should now evolve with business insight to become as agile as our approach to public health.

While the response to Covid-19 is urgent, it is very good to see this Budget’s focus on innovation and infrastructure. The Chancellor has listened to many calls from CBI members, with decisive action on vital long-term issues.

The significant uplift in R&D funding, creation of a UK version of ARPA, a fundamental review of business rates and spending promises on infrastructure will all bring real benefits to people, business and communities.

The Chancellor has set out some powerful incentives to get businesses investing, increasing the R&D tax credit and the Structures and Buildings Allowance. The £5bn of new export loans will encourage the best of UK business to look to new global markets.

The next few months will bring opportunities for the Government to make major decisions they have understandably had to put to one side today. Some gaps still need to be filled in around skills, energy efficiency and powering the UK’s low-carbon future.

Overall, this Budget is a powerful signal to firms at home and abroad that the UK can and will manage the immediate challenges and long-term opportunities in parallel.

From: Manuel Cortes, General Secretary, TSSA.

Transport workers are receiving different advice from different companies – and in some cases even within the same company – about what action to take in the event of suspected or actual illness.

There is concern over managing attendance procedures and how they are being applied. Clearly, if someone is told to self-isolate they should not then be penalised by their employer for doing so in the interest of public health, yet this is the case in the rail and bus industries.

Our privatised transport system is not conducive to swift and coordinated responses.

There is apparently no consistency across the public transport network in how transport workers will be treated if they fall ill.

Companies where employees work side by side with transport workers employed by another company are being treated differently, leading to confusion and frustration.

In terms of passenger and employee safety, we applaud the first steps taken by Transport for London to enhance cleaning and disinfectant. But there is apparently no coordination, oversight or central guidance from the Government.

Public transport could play a major role in combating the spread of coronavirus but we need a coordinated response and some common guidance in place.