On Friday, the Prime Minister outlined his plan to further ease lockdown, particularly that employers should seek to return employees to work, and his hopes for a more significant return to normality by Christmas. I wanted to take this opportunity to let you know that following a discussion at SMT this morning we will not be making any immediate changes, rather keeping to our approach outlined on 10 July and will of course keep this situation under constant review.
From August 1, the Government is changing its advice that people should work from home where possible. Instead, employers will be given more discretion to bring staff back to workplaces if it is safe to do so. That could mean continuing to work from home, which is one way of working safely and which has worked for many employers and employees. Or it could mean making workplaces safe by following Covid secure guidelines. Whatever employers decide, they should consult closely with their employees, and only ask people to return to their place of work if it is safe.
Advice to avoid public transport if possible has also been modified, effective from 17 July, with the Government now saying that anyone can use public transport at any time, although people are still encouraged to consider active travel options such as cycling and walking wherever possible.
Schools, nurseries and colleges will be open for all children and young people on a full-time basis from September. While there is also positive news about conferences and business events, which could return in October if pilot projects prove that this can happen safely.
Further easing of lockdown is welcome and we are all keen to return to the way of life we knew before, there remains, however, a significant risk from COVID-19 and it is important that people continue to protect themselves and others from the spread of coronavirus.
This is the view of the Government’s Chief Medical Officer, Chris Whitty, and is echoed by the Government’s Chief Scientific Officer, Sir Patrick Vallance, who warns that there remains a ‘very high probability’ of a second wave of the virus as winter approaches, maintaining that working from home is still the best option where possible to maintain physical distancing.
I had already shared with you our decision that those who are able to work from home will continue to do so for the rest of the year. Where necessary for the provision of face-to-face services, we will continue to work towards ensuring that further centres can safely re-open and you can refer to the safety measures we have put in place here.
This remains our approach and there will be no change to our guidance for staff at this time. Not least given so many of us are still trying to strike a difficult work-life balance with added parenting or caring responsibilities to manage.
However, I know this is a challenging time for us all and there are many of us who need and would like the opportunity to meet with colleagues, even on an ad hoc basis. Next week I will provide an update with more detail about how we can start to once again use some of our space to enable face-to-face team meetings, which I know will be welcome news.
Finally, I’d like to again thank you all for your unstinting efforts during this period and I know for many this has become like sprinting a marathon. This is something we all need to recognise and manage as we have been at this for 4 months and I dare say few of us were in training for this type of marathon pre-Covid. In next week’s email I will also return to this theme.