Without a long-term plan to solve care’s staffing crisis, the sector will remain many thousands of employees short.
Jon Richards
Pay is key to turning around the staffing emergency.
Winter is coming and the virus is staging a comeback.
Unsafe practices and inappropriate arrangements to cover for teachers aren’t the way to protect education.
Public service workers were already under huge strain to maintain services and Omicron absences have ratcheted the pressure to new levels.
It’s not too late for ministers to introduce additional measures to protect pupils, staff and their families before Christmas.
Many have reached a point where they simply can’t afford to stay in the job they love.
The government’s alarming approach abandons children to a highly transmissible virus spreading at a record pace through schools
Face coverings in schools have only been in place for a few weeks. Lifting this measure before the impact on transmission in schools has had time to be assessed would be rash.
Workers worry measures to keep them safe aren’t up to the job
Head of local government Jon Richards looks back at the latest Westminster U-turn – this time, after a legal challenge to its unfair plans
Everyone wants schools to reopen fully but they must be safe
New report paints a stark picture of the fear and anxiety
Many are already on the brink financially
Government appears more concerned with headline grabbing