Support 100 years of independent journalism.

  1. Spotlight
15 July 2020updated 26 Jul 2021 1:04pm

Spotlight Leader: A flexible response to the crisis

The government must be creative in its support for big and small businesses alike.

By Spotlight

On 4 July, while people across England were readying themselves to go out for “Super Saturday”, there was one part of the country that was staying decidedly more sober. At the end of June, Health Secretary Matt Hancock had urged residents of Leicester to “stay at home as much as you can”. The area had 135 cases of the coronavirus per 100,000 people, three times as many as the next highest city.

Not only were bars, restaurants and hairdressers to remain shut, non-essential shops that had been allowed to reopen in the Midlands city on 15 June were ordered to close again. On 2 July, local schools also closed to all but vulnerable children and key workers’ families. An announcement on whether the UK’s first full local lockdown will continue is expected on 18 July.

The UK is not alone in taking this approach. Localised lockdowns have been imposed as far afield as Australia, and as close to home as Germany, in a bid to contain Covid-19 and get struggling economies back on their feet. But for companies and their staff, this creates impossible uncertainty. The climate is tough as it is, but how can you build back at all, let alone better, if you don’t know for certain that you will be able to operate?

Following Rishi Sunak’s recent summer statement, shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds suggested a potential solution: flexible furlough. The job retention scheme, which is due to be wound up in October, has spent £27.4bn supporting 9.4 million jobs to date in the UK. “We need a strategy for the scheme to become more flexible, so it can support those businesses forced to close again because of additional localised lockdowns,” Dodds said in parliament. “There is still time to avoid additional floods of redundancy notices.”

Such flexibility would ensure longer-term support for hard-hit sectors of the economy, as well as geographic areas seeing spikes of the disease. It would enable businesses to plan ahead. For those able to work from home, flexibility has been the byword of the coronavirus era. For many firms, whether shifting to online services or takeaway pints, the ability to be flexible has helped them weather the economic storm. The government should respond in kind.

Select and enter your email address Quick and essential guide to domestic and global politics from the New Statesman's politics team. The New Statesman’s global affairs newsletter, every Monday and Friday. Your new guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture each weekend - from the New Statesman. A weekly newsletter helping you fit together the pieces of the global economic slowdown. A newsletter showcasing the finest writing from the ideas section, covering political ideas, philosophy, criticism and intellectual history - sent every Wednesday. The New Statesman’s weekly environment email on the politics, business and culture of the climate and nature crises - in your inbox every Thursday. Sign up to receive information regarding NS events, subscription offers & product updates.
  • Administration / Office
  • Arts and Culture
  • Board Member
  • Business / Corporate Services
  • Client / Customer Services
  • Communications
  • Construction, Works, Engineering
  • Education, Curriculum and Teaching
  • Environment, Conservation and NRM
  • Facility / Grounds Management and Maintenance
  • Finance Management
  • Health - Medical and Nursing Management
  • HR, Training and Organisational Development
  • Information and Communications Technology
  • Information Services, Statistics, Records, Archives
  • Infrastructure Management - Transport, Utilities
  • Legal Officers and Practitioners
  • Librarians and Library Management
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • OH&S, Risk Management
  • Operations Management
  • Planning, Policy, Strategy
  • Printing, Design, Publishing, Web
  • Projects, Programs and Advisors
  • Property, Assets and Fleet Management
  • Public Relations and Media
  • Purchasing and Procurement
  • Quality Management
  • Science and Technical Research and Development
  • Security and Law Enforcement
  • Service Delivery
  • Sport and Recreation
  • Travel, Accommodation, Tourism
  • Wellbeing, Community / Social Services
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
THANK YOU

This article is from our recent Spotlight report on business continuity. Click here to see the full supplement.

Content from our partners
Musidora Jorgensen: Sustainability is good for business
How to navigate the modern cyber-threat landscape
Supporting customers through the cost of living crisis

Topics in this article :