NEWS SPECIAL
COVID-19 UPDATE FOR ALL THE LATEST CORONAVIRUS NEWS, HEAD TO WWW.SLRMAG.CO.UK/CATEGORY/NEWS/
BUDGET DATE SET The Scottish Government has announced that its budget will be published on 28 January 2021. Finance Secretary Kate Forbes revealed the date last week following the UK Government’s decision to postpone its Autumn Budget until an unspecified date in the new year. Forbes said the UK government’s decision would cause “significant difficulties”.
HMRC ON HUNT Companies that made claims under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme but didn’t keep proper records will be the first to be investigated, says Blick Rothenberg. HMRC is investigating widespread fraud and is looking into thousands of claims.
CLEAN GIVEAWAY JJ Foodservice is giving families that need help with the cleaning free bundles of anti-bacterial spray, washing up liquid and laundry products. The giveaway is taking place on JJ’s Facebook and Twitter pages in partnership with DCS Group, which looks after many of the leading household cleaning brands.
ABUSE ‘HAS GOT WORSE’ DURING PANDEMIC A NEW SURVEY OF OVER 2,000 RETAIL WORKERS HAS FOUND THAT
R
THREE-QUARTERS SAY ABUSE HAS GOT WORSE DURING THE PANDEMIC.
etail trade union Usdaw unveiled the shocking results of a new survey on Monday to mark the launch of Respect for Shopworkers Week. Interim results from over 2,000 retail staff across the UK show that so far this year: Q 76% say abuse has been worse than normal during the Covid-19 pandemic, Q 85% of shopworkers have experienced verbal abuse, Q 57% were threatened by a customer, Q 9% were assaulted.
Paddy Lillis (pictured), Usdaw General Secretary, commented: “Yet another Usdaw survey shows that some people have responded to this appalling pandemic by abusing shopworkers. At a time when we should all be working together to get through this national crisis, it is a disgrace that staff working to keep food on the shelves are being abused.”
STUDENT TESTING PROGRAMME UNVEILED Thousands of students in Scotland will be tested for coronavirus under plans to allow those wishing to return home at the end of term to do so safely. Further and Higher Education Minister Richard Lochhead outlined the measures being taken by colleges and universities to support the safe return of up to 80,000 students ahead of the winter break. The plans include a widespread Covid-19 testing scheme, which is expected to be rolled out by the start of December. Enabling easy access to testing for students with Covid-19 symptoms has already proved to be effective in controlling outbreaks. Now Scottish students will be included in a UK-wide initiative to test some asymptomatic students prior to the end of term.
10 I SLRMAG.CO.UK / ISSUE 31 / WEDNESDAY 18TH NOVEMBER 2020
