Dominic Cummings
I am still receiving many communications regarding Dominic Cummings. My thoughts are set out in this article. Please see here for a selection of quotes to give you an impression of the correspondences that I have been reading over the past few days.
Housing Priority
A constituent has been in touch to ask about housing priority. They received an automated letter saying their priority was ending. I checked with Leeds City Council who said -“I can advise that the letter received is an automated letter alerting applicants to request a priority extension. Due to the current suspension of the choice based lettings system Housing Leeds have taken the proactive decision to extend applicants priority awards, we are currently compiling a list of 4500 priority awards which we will commence working through in the forthcoming weeks. In order to keep applicants updated with our actions a message will be posted on the CBL website.
Government should put local government Directors of Public Health in the lead for contact tracing. This should be a priority over a centralised, outsourced, call centre focus run by external providers such as Serco. GPs are the backbone of local health services. They should be able to request home tests and the Government should provide them with the PPE and swabs to test patients. It is crucial that we integrate primary care into a locally-led test, trace and isolate regime. The government should provide capacity for widespread, regular community testing. Everyone showing symptoms should be able to access a test within 24 hours, and testing must also include people not showing symptoms. Health care workers, care staff, care home residents and other key public servants must be the priority for regular screening. As well as increasing capacity, testing must be faster and easier for people to access. Experts have suggested 50,000 or more would be most effective. The Government must base testing on what each local area needs. We must scale this up to succeed, including seeing whether some of the three quarters of a million NHS volunteers can play a role in their local area.
Stimulus for the tourism industry needed
As many of you know, I am the new Shadow Minister for Tourism and Heritage. I have been consulting with industry bodies, businesses and workers over the past weeks to fully understand the implications of Covid-19 on the sector. I thank travel weekly for allowing me to set out what I believe to be the right steps to save UK tourism.
Support for the self-isolating
The Government should spell out the support for those who will need to self-isolate in the coming months. Ministers should arrange local facilities, such as hotel rooms, for those who need to isolate away from family. This strategy will have a big impact on our lives. People need clarity to understand how this will work and what government will need of them. This also means having a responsive system designed to reflect the diverse community needs, such as language. The Government promised to launch the NHS app in mid-May. This is now running late. More countries such as Germany and Singapore are now moving to the Apple/Google-based system. This approach has the benefit of better privacy and better functionality. To protect the public, we must provide all key workers with necessary PPE. It is also vital that all public spaces are deep cleaned and sanitised, and we must ensure all public venues have adequate hand sanitiser. Since the UK entered lockdown, well over 100,000 people have travelled into the UK without quarantining. Quarantine for all UK arrivals should start immediately without further delay. Social care services must have support from local public health teams and local clinicians. Despite promises from the government, care homes still do not have named clinicians to support them with care of their residents.
Headingley Councillors in Food Drive
Please find below post regarding a food drive by the Headingley Councillors
**Headingley & Hyde Park, Food Bank Donation drive**? Rainbow Junktion have been doing a phenomenal job for our… Posted by Headingley & Hyde Park News on Wednesday, 27 May 2020
Parents and Carers
Three young people in Leeds have provided the voiceovers for a NHS singalong nursery rhyme. The rhyme encourages parents and carers to access care when their children fall ill or get injured. Other young people and their families can record their own version and share them on Twitter (@NHSLeeds) or Facebook. (facebook.com/NHSLeeds) You can share this message using this Facebook post or Twitter.