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Ministers are thought to have decided to wait until after the half-term break to decide if they will enforce so-called plan B Covid restrictions.
Measures under consideration include restricting household mixing indoors this winter, as data modelling suggests that working from home and mandatory mask wearing might not be enough to avoid an increase in hospital admissions.
The UK reported 263 deaths on Tuesday, a higher number than any day since 3 March, however the government will wait another two weeks before making its final decision on the matter, The Independent understands.
It comes amid a damning report by MPs, which concludes the NHS Test and Trace system cost taxpayers “eye-watering” sums of money and “has not achieved its main objective” of letting people return to a normal live.
The programme was rapidly set up in May last year, with the objective of testing the nation and tracing contacts of positive cases. But a report from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said, among other findings, the programme failed to “achieve its main objective to help break chains of transmission and enable people to return towards a more normal way of life”.
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Budget’s ‘optimism’ boosted by projected post-Covid growth
Chancellor Rishi Sunak will hail a “new age of optimism” in his Budget amid predictions he will have more money than expected to spend due to a fast bounce-back from Covid.
Mr Sunak is set to strike an upbeat tone as he talks up building a “stronger economy of the future”, with the promise of rising wages, cash for the NHS and investment into regional transport projects.
His spending plans are likely to be bolstered by forecasts of faster growth than predicted in the spring as the economy roars back into life since the lifting of coronavirus restrictions, according to analysts.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), the independent body whose forecasts guide Budget spending, is expected to up its growth outlook for 2021, cut its unemployment prediction and pencil in lower borrowing thanks to higher tax receipts.
The EY Item Club, a UK economic forecasting group, believes the OBR will hike its gross domestic product (GDP) forecast for 2021 to growth of 7 per cent from the 4 per cent forecast at the last fiscal statement in March. It also predicts the OBR will slash its estimate for how much the pandemic has scarred the economy to as low as 1 per cent, which could boost the government’s fiscal position by £25bn a year by 2025.
The Times said the GDP growth figures, matched with “favourable” employment figures, could give the Chancellor another £20bn to £30bn extra to spend.
Sam Hancock27 October 2021 08:10
Budge optimism boosted by projected post-Covid growth
Chancellor Rishi Sunak will hail a “new age of optimism” in his Budget amid predictions he will have more money than expected to spend due to a fast bounce-back from Covid.
Mr Sunak is set to strike an upbeat tone as he talks up building a “stronger economy of the future”, with the promise of rising wages, cash for the NHS and investment into regional transport projects.
His spending plans are likely to be bolstered by forecasts of faster growth than predicted in the spring as the economy roars back into life since the lifting of coronavirus restrictions, according to analysts.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), the independent body whose forecasts guide Budget spending, is expected to up its growth outlook for 2021, cut its unemployment prediction and pencil in lower borrowing thanks to higher tax receipts.
The EY Item Club, a UK economic forecasting group, believes the OBR will hike its gross domestic product (GDP) forecast for 2021 to growth of 7 per cent from the 4 per cent forecast at the last fiscal statement in March. It also predicts the OBR will slash its estimate for how much the pandemic has scarred the economy to as low as 1 per cent, which could boost the government’s fiscal position by £25bn a year by 2025.
The Times said the GDP growth figures, matched with “favourable” employment figures, could give the Chancellor another £20bn to £30bn extra to spend.
Sam Hancock27 October 2021 08:10
Test and Trace cost taxpayer ‘eye-watering’ sums of money
NHS Test and Trace has cost taxpayers “eye-watering” sums of money and “has not achieved its main objective” of letting people return to a normal live , a damning report by MPs has concluded.
The programme was rapidly set up in May last year and spearheaded by Baroness Dido Harding, with the objective of testing the nation and tracing contacts of positive cases. But a report from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the scheme was “muddled” and a number of the aims of the programme have been “overstated or not achieved”.
The failures come despite the programme being given the equivalent of 20 per cent of the NHS’s entire annual budget – £37bn over two years, writes Joe Middleton.
Sam Hancock27 October 2021 08:03
Ministers delay plan B decision by two weeks
Ministers will not make a decision on Covid-19 restrictions for two weeks until the impact of half-term on infections can be seen, The Independent understands.
The UK reported 263 deaths on Tuesday, a higher number than any day since 3 March at the tail end of the second wave, when 315 were reported.
It comes amid an increasing clamour from experts and politicians to impose measures, including social distancing, as soon as possible. Labour has leant its backing to imposing plan-B measures and called on the government to enact it without “dither and delay”, reports our economics editor Anna Isaac.
Sam Hancock27 October 2021 08:00
Good morning, and welcome to The Independent’s rolling Covid coverage. Stay tuned as we bring you the latest statistics and updates to do with the pandemic.
Sam Hancock27 October 2021 07:56
