COVID-19: Critical Workers

24 Mar 2020

Definition and potential impact upon BFPA Members

Dated: Monday the 23rd of March 2020

(Please note – this document and its contents are based upon the current information as of the above date. The current pace of change is such that it may become obsolete very fast and later readers are encouraged to check that it has not been superseded.)

BFPA members have asked whether or not there is yet clear guidance on the Governments definition of a ‘critical worker’. Apart from the obvious personal benefits to individuals with child-care and schooling issues, many are concerned that their workforce, particularly those with large numbers of mobile staff such as the distributor community, are keen to ensure that their staff are not exempt. The financial implications of the latter are self-evident and could have a profound impact on members income over the period of the pandemic. Chris Buxton and colleagues in both the BFPA and EAMA (the Engineering & Machinery Alliance), are working closely with Government to look after the best interests of members during this period.

A recent meeting with BEIS (the Department for Business, Enterprise and Industrial Strategy) was held on Friday the 20th of March. The content of this document is based upon the output of that meeting and other telephone conversations with associated Government officials.

BEIS were keen to point out from the outset, that at present, Government has no plans to take the country, (or indeed London), into ‘Lock-down.’ They also admitted that to some extent, the Government is in ‘fire-fighting mode’ and many decisions are being made essentially ‘on the hoof’ albeit with the best of intentions and in close consultation with the subject matter experts such as the Chief Medical Officer. Against this background, the staff responsible for specifically determining who is and who isn’t going to be determined to be ‘critical worker’, have not been selected. In other words, we do not yet have a target regulator or policy maker to whom we might direct any lobbying activities in the event that BFPA members are not satisfied with the ultimate jurisdiction. For now I shall remain in contact with the most likely candidates. (It is likely to be a combination of Number 10 and the Cabinet Office, with BEIS inheriting the responsibility for its implementation. The Treasury, the third element of the Whitehall triumphant, are currently preoccupied with the implementation of the £350B that was promised to support industry. This will be the subject of a separate communication which I shall issue this coming week.)

Currently, the whole subject of critical workers has revolved around the Education system and which children are off-spring of what might be determined to be critical worker parents. In effect they are trying to articulate which children are allowed to continue attending school and which must stay at home. This is a somewhat different take on who will be determined to be a critical worker in the event that the country goes into a near or total lock-down. As already stated, the Government claim that a total lock-down is unlikely and no official statement to this effect has yet been made. (It does beg the question as to why the number of troops on standby have been doubled to 20,000 and retired Police personnel have been asked to make themselves available but in fairness, there is also a massive logisitics challenge that has to be addressed.)

The important point here is that the DfE definition of critical workers should be regarded in a different context to what might ultimately be the criteria for wider industry. The latter has not yet been determined. Nevertheless, recognising that the DfE guidance is all that we have at present and that it is most probably going to form the basis of the general criteria for general industry when it is published, it is certainly worth BFPA members reviewing the criteria provided and assessing their suitability to be included under current definitions.

The guidance published at time of my meeting, (by the Cabinet Office and Department for Education), provides a list of roles that are considered to be those of “key workers”.

They are workers involved in:

Health and social care

Includes but is not limited to doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, social workers, care workers, and other frontline health and social care staff including volunteers; the support and specialist staff required to maintain the UK’s health and social care sector; those working as part of the health and social care supply chain, including producers and distributers of medicines and medical and personal protective equipment.

Education and childcare

This includes nursery and teaching staff, social workers and those specialist education professionals who must remain active during the COVID-19 response to deliver this approach.

Key public services

This includes those essential to the running of the justice system, religious staff, charities and workers delivering key frontline services, those responsible for the management of the deceased, and journalists and broadcasters who are providing public service broadcasting.

Local and national government

This only includes those administrative occupations essential to the effective delivery of the COVID-19 response or delivering essential public services such as the payment of benefits, including in government agencies and arms-length bodies.

Food and other necessary goods

This includes those involved in food production, processing, distribution, sale and delivery as well as those essential to the provision of other key goods (for example hygienic and veterinary medicines).

Public safety and national security

This includes police and support staff, Ministry of Defence civilians, contractor and armed forces personnel (those critical to the delivery of key defence and national security outputs and essential to the response to the COVID-19 pandemic), fire and rescue service employees (including support staff), National Crime Agency staff, those maintaining border security, prison and probation staff and other national security roles, including those overseas.

Transport

This includes those who will keep the air, water, road and rail passenger and freight transport modes operating during the COVID-19 response, including those working on transport systems through which supply chains pass.

Utilities, communication and financial services

This includes staff needed for essential financial services provision (including but not limited to workers in banks, building societies and financial market infrastructure), the oil, gas, electricity and water sectors (including sewerage), information technology and data infrastructure sector and primary industry supplies to continue during the COVID-19 response, as well as key staff working in the civil nuclear, chemicals, telecommunications (including but not limited to network operations, field engineering, call centre staff, IT and data infrastructure, 999 and 111 critical services), postal services and delivery, payments providers and waste disposal sectors.

 

As CEO of the Association, my view, (and it is only my view at this stage although unofficially, Government officials agreed with me), is that most BFPA members could make a very strong case for falling into several of the above categories. It is also the case that until further notice or a clear dictate from Government is announced, workers are able to self-assess against the criteria provided. I would expect that in the event that the COVID-19 outbreak becomes even more serious, we will receive a more robust statement but at the time of my meeting, none has been announced.

Another good thing that came out of the meeting was that I was able to remind officials of the importance of the supply chain in supporting the primary companies responsible for maintaining services. This recognition was re-enforced by a much appreciated note that I received from a member company over the weekend. Sellafield have confirmed to their supplier base that HMG have now determined that workers in the nuclear industry are “key workers” and that includes [those] in [the nuclear] Supply Chain. If you are directly or indirectly involved with [their] high hazard and retrievals work, you may fall into this category. This includes maintaining safety on [their] sites. This also includes essential site services such as security, catering, laundry etc.”

I have not yet seen or been informed of the official Government statement on the Nuclear sector although I have been told that they will not be making blanket statements about a given sector or even more specifically, (and not surprisingly), the members of any one trade association. Accordingly, the Sellafield communication may be their interpretation of the above DfE criteria. Either way, this would be an obvious case where the supply chain constitutes a critical element in the maintenance of essential services and adds power to the argument that many of our members would make regarding their own service offering.

As an aside, if members’ staff need to make a case that their children should be allowed a place at school, to enable them to continue working, I am told that they should secure a confirmatory note from their employer which can be presented to the Head of the School in question. The Government have also produced guidance for parents as follows:-

Parents whose work is critical to the COVID-19 response include those who work in health and social care and in other key sectors [recently announced.] Many parents working in these sectors may be able to ensure their child is kept at home. And every child who can be safely cared for at home should be.

Please, therefore, follow these key principles:

  1. If it is at all possible for children to be at home, then they should be.
  2. If a child needs specialist support, is vulnerable or has a parent who is a critical worker, then educational provision will be available for them.
  3. Parents should not rely for childcare upon those who are advised to be in the stringent social distancing category such as grandparents, friends, or family members with underlying conditions.
  4. Parents should also do everything they can to ensure children are not mixing socially in a way which can continue to spread the virus. They should observe the same social distancing principles as adults.
  5. Residential special schools, boarding schools and special settings continue to care for children wherever possible.

If your work is critical to the COVID-19 response, or you work in one of the critical sectors and you cannot keep your child safe at home then your children will be prioritised for education provision.

I trust that this information is of help to BFPA / BFPDA members and their employees. As your Association we will continue to monitor the situation and immediately inform you of any breaking news or developing Government policy as it emerges.

Chris Buxton
BFPA CEO

Tel.: 07787 400747
chrisbuxton@bfpa.co.uk

 

Author