Union criticises council’s ‘business as usual’ approach to coronavirus lockdown

A trade union official has criticised the “business as usual” approach at Brighton and Hove City Council hours before the start of the second national coronavirus lockdown.

GMB branch secretary Mark Turner said that he was concerned for staff, especially those most at risk of infection, and accused council chiefs of putting lives at risk.

But the Green council leadership said that they would “continue to support staff, pupils and parents as government inaction leaves the city vulnerable to covid-19”.

And they added that they were calling on the government to offer more assurances to schools ahead of the second lockdown – an area where Mr Turner was particularly critical.

He spoke out after a meeting today (Wednesday 4 November) with senior councillors and officers, saying: “We were given a local public health update highlighting the dramatic increase in covid-19 cases locally in Brighton and Hove, the south east and nationally.

“Despite those worrying statistics council officers informed us that – with the exception of the Brighton Centre, Royal Pavilion and Museums, registration services and leisure facilities under Freedom Leisure – the vast majority of services are intended to continue ‘business as usual’ with little care or consideration for the risks faced by employees of the council and the wider community.”

Mr Turner said: “In regards to the council workforce and those working in schools, the GMB pushed officials and councillors for some clear answers on any added protection to be offered to those considered clinically vulnerable and clinically extremely vulnerable.

“However unfortunately they refused to offer those assurances.

“The GMB raised queries with Councillor Phélim Mac Cafferty and his Green councillor colleagues on their position regarding schools given, nationally, the Green Party positon was that schools should be closed through this new ‘lockdown’ phase.

“But locally the Greens seem to have now distanced themselves from that position declaring they believe it is safe for schools in Brighton and Hove to remain open.”

The Greens said: “The Green Party is calling on the government to close secondary schools, colleges and universities as part of the lockdown across the whole of England in line with the science that’s been presented.

“Hand in hand with that needs to come provision from government for teachers to support young people with blended learning, resources to manage potential increases in mental health issues over this period and, frankly, a commitment to using this time to plan how to help our schools more long term, who are doing their level best to manage infection rates.

“To be one area with schools closed without that government resource could potentially do more harm than good whereas, if it was across the board and with the right investment, closures could contribute to saving a great many lives while maintaining a good standard of education.”

Mr Turner said: “Once again the council is in confusion and disarray at both officer and political level in regards to schools, council services, and staff – especially our most vulnerable members working in those areas.

“We could not get a straight answer from council officials today in regards to the health, safety and wellbeing of our members and importantly, the wider community.

“The GMB will be advising those members most clinically vulnerable and those still feeling unsafe to immediately seek support from line managers and head teachers insisting risk assessments are revised urgently to then determine whether they believe if it is truly safe for them remain in the workplace.

“The council has made the decision to close the Brighton Centre and marriage services, following government guidelines, but are still unable to make their minds up in regards to libraries and other services.”

The Greens added: “Green councillors have today spoken out ahead of the second lockdown period, beginning tomorrow, when schools, colleges and universities will remain open.

“All schools in the city continue to follow government guidelines – and the latest government announcement has made clear that schools across the country are to remain open to all students.

“However, Greens say the time is now for government to act to ensure school attendance and health of staff can be managed safely.

“While schools are working closely with the council’s public health team to keep covid-19 cases low, and governing bodies decide whether to open or close a school, Greens are calling for government to act on five concerns and have committed to working with partners and unions to review the safety of keeping education open.

“These concerns are

“Testing – To make the lockdown effective, schools need access to tests. Schools must be provided with regular access to rapid testing for both symptomatic and asymptomatic cases so they can get the answers they need quickly, understand the full picture and continue to provide the education our pupils need.

“Ventilation – We are not convinced that ventilation can be provided adequately over the winter period. Now the weather has turned, classrooms may become too cold to teach in very soon if the answer is keeping windows open.

“PPE (personal protective equipment) – Schools and colleges must get access to PPE funded by government. While guidance has been updated on the use of face coverings in corridors, the government should review whether it is appropriate for these to be used in secondary classrooms as well.

“Funding – School budgets are already incredibly stretched after 10 years of austerity. And the pressures of funding additional cleaning, and providing PPE, will mean they will struggle to balance the books this year. Currently schools are only able to claim funding for cleaning if they have a suspected coronavirus case but all schools, irrespective of cases, are increasing their cleaning to manage the spread of the virus.

“Exams – After months off school, pupils are not in a position to sit tests next year. Progress has stalled among many pupils, particularly the most vulnerable. We believe our children and young people should be given the chance to catch up by not putting them under undue pressure to sit stressful assessments. Government must cancel GCSEs, A levels and SATs now so schools have the clarity they need.”

Councillor Hannah Clare, who chairs the council’s Children, Young People and Skills Committee, said: “Our family of schools are continuing to manage the challenging circumstances of being told to keep schools open during a pandemic and are following the guidance given after so much preparation ahead of September.

“But without the assurances being met we are concerned about the risk to students, staff and the wider community. We are seeking assurances from government that they will help schools, colleges and universities by meeting these requests.

“Without them, this latest set of restrictions has the potential to leave education settings in the lurch as we go into winter, precisely at the time they are working to keep children and young people safe.

“Children and young people have been through one lockdown already this year with its negative effects on their mental health and education.

“We are mindful of the disproportionate effects on our most disadvantaged children. So we don’t take the idea of a second school closure lightly.

“But of course, we are constantly reviewing the situation and would support our schools and governing bodies in closing schools should we get to the point where they feel they need to close.

“We have also made it clear that we want to work with parents and schools to address concerns at what we know is a stressful time.

“As we’ve already said publicly, for example, we do not believe in ‘fines’ as an approach and we want to be clear that we will support decisions of local governing bodies around the management of local schools.

“We are listening to our public health experts and right now we are assured that our local schools are continuing to work hard and do all they can to ensure they are not settings with a high risk of transmission.

“The government must urgently answer the questions so many in our city will have about how our schools can be better supported so that students can receive the education they need and deserve.”