Health & Social Policy

These regulations extend the Pension Protection Fund’s rights as a creditor when co-operative and community benefit societies have a moratorium in place to protect them from creditor action. This would give the fund a greater say during restructuring discussions when societies are in financial difficulty. The Pension Protection Fund provides compensation for members of defined benefit pension schemes where their employer becomes insolvent. The regulations also revoke and replace previous regulations due to a drafting error.

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Department for Education has said it expects to see an increase in the number of apprentices being made redundant. The Government has laid regulations which would allow apprentices who are made redundant to continue to receive funding to complete their apprenticeship through an alternative provider.

These regulations make it an offence not to self-isolate if instructed to by certain local authority and health officials. This would apply to those who have tested positive for coronavirus or who have been in close contact with someone else who has tested positive. The regulations came into force on 28 September 2020 and the House of Lords is due to consider them on 14 October 2020.

Almost 200 Covid-19 vaccine candidates are currently being developed. However, only a tiny percentage of these will ever be mass-produced and distributed. Concerns around ‘vaccine nationalism’ have grown, as high-income countries pre-order hundreds of millions of vaccine doses. This article looks at this problem and examines what solutions are being put in place to ensure low and middle income countries receive adequate supplies of any successful Covid-19 vaccine.

The Social Security (Up-rating of Benefits) Bill is due to be considered in the House of Lords on 13 October 2020. It allows for particular state pension benefits to be reviewed and potentially increased, despite an expected fall in average earnings due to the coronavirus pandemic. The bill received cross-party support in the House of Commons, where it passed all its stages on 1 October 2020.

Catch up on social policy articles you may have missed from August and September 2020. This month we look at the early years workforce, and the challenges facing 'generation Covid'.

The Civil Procedure (Amendment No. 4) (Coronavirus) Rules 2020 make arrangements for how eviction court cases, which were temporarily suspended during the coronavirus pandemic, will proceed when the suspension is lifted on 21 September 2020. On 23 September 2020, the House of Lords is due to debate a motion to annul the rules.

The Covid-19 pandemic has had multiple effects on the lives of young people. These include worry for vulnerable family members and a change in normal routines. School closures have often exacerbated feelings of isolation and loneliness. Young people with existing mental health needs may have experienced a disruptive break in regular care as a result of the pandemic. This article examines the impact the pandemic has had on young people’s mental health, and what the Government’s response is.

The Fire Safety Bill is a government bill, and forms part of the Government’s response to the Grenfell fire. It seeks to clarify the scope of the Fire Safety Order 2005, specifically to ensure that the responsible person or duty-holder for multi-occupied, residential buildings must manage and reduce the risk of fire for the structure and external walls of the building, including cladding, balconies and windows; and for entrance doors to individual flats that open into common parts.

This instrument makes changes to planning regulations in England only. The regulations are part of the Government's economic renewal package in response to the coronavirus pandemic. This article looks at what these regulations do and the scrutiny that the instrument has received so far.

Children whose parents or guardians get certain benefits, and all children up to year 2, are entitled to a free school meal during term time. During the Covid-19 pandemic the Government introduced supermarket vouchers to cover the cost of a meal while the schools were closed. This scheme was extended into the Easter, May half term and summer school holidays. On 14 September 2020, Baroness D’Souza is due to ask the Government what assessment they have made of extending a programme of free meals and activities into all future school holidays.

The Jobseekers (Back to Work Schemes) Act 2013 (Remedial) Order 2019 makes changes to the Jobseekers (Back to Work Schemes) Act 2013. These changes are the result of decisions made in the courts on the act’s compatibility with the European Convention on Human Rights. This article looks at the court cases which led to the remedial order, ahead of its debate in the House of Lords on 3 September 2020.