O/T. The Government's handling of Covid

[Geoff Parkstone]

Good to see the governments got its priorities right, £2.6 million on a media centre in Downing Street to provide a more posh area to peddle lies and a derisory 1% pay rise for NHS staff which apparently they value!

Not often I agree with you Swale but the 2.6m spend at Downing Street is a total waste, but in terms of cash it wouldn't change the 1% by very much if it were spent on NHS wages.

The current spend on NHS wages must be at least 50 billion (was almost 48 billion in 2016-17). Thus your inferred comparison is disingenuous: tossing another 2.6 million at the NHS wage budget would maybe give every staff member an extra £1 each after tax per annum.

[AdiSalisbury]

Not often I agree with you Swale but the 2.6m spend at Downing Street is a total waste, but in terms of cash it wouldn't change the 1% by very much if it were spent on NHS wages.

The current spend on NHS wages must be at least 50 billion (was almost 48 billion in 2016-17). Thus your inferred comparison is disingenuous: tossing another 2.6 million at the NHS wage budget would maybe give every staff member an extra £1 each after tax per annum.

The numbers are important here for context. If we take that £50 billion assumption, 1% equates to (back of envelope non accountant calcs):

£500,000,000 Salary
£69,000,000 (assumed 13.8%) ER NIC
£15,000,000 (assumed 3%) ER Pension Contributions
Total cost: £584,000,000

...and that's before the additional cost of increased rates for overtime and allowances.

No small change, and not a salary budget I'd want to be handling! Put it this way, every 0.175% is worth just over a million £s. It's staggering, especially as there's no (direct) income to offset it.

[swaledale]

Your correct, though it was more an indication of the governments viewpoint than a direct comparison. The £22 billion spent on a not fit for purpose track and trace system might have made a dent though!

Also rumour has it that HMRC have accepted a 13% pay offer, not that I'm against paying the people who collect essential taxes well, but it does look a bit odd!

[Andy_Faber]

I’m not sure how you’ve reached that latter conclusion, AF, or what your evidence is.

There was a discussion on it on the BBC News channel early hours of Saturday (I checked the news out after a marathon watching of ‘the terror’ on BBC I player, I recommend it), there was a mixture of vox pops and studio/zoom non-party-affiliated ‘experts’ and the balance was 1% is better than other outcomes since Covid hit us. No stats which is why I said mood rather than banging out any numbers

[Geoff Parkstone]

Don't disagree with those figures Adi but don't forget tgat:

The incremental ERNI comes back to the government in order to fund such things as the NHS!

There will be an increased tax take and eeni of (say) 29% of grosscoming back to the government

[Geoff Parkstone]

Another interesting suggestion I've seen today is that, in order to help students catch up with contact time and teaching/learning the school day could be extended and the school holidays cut. The objective seems eminently sensible and could solve an issue that teachers have been highlighting throughout the pandemic.

I'm not sure how practical the longer hours per day would be but I can only imagine the squawking that will emerge from the teaching fraternity at having to give up some of their annual 16+ weeks holiday!!

And another intriguing thing. For my sins I listen to radio 4/4X - I know it's an age thing! Anyway last week I heard a repeat of a words based quiz from maybe 20 years ago, in which the contestants had to define various obscure seldom used words. One such word was "pandemic" which the panel struggled with but finally worked the meaning out.

Say what you like about education today, but most of the country's crop of 9 year olds could have answered that one correctly.

[ramAnag]

Another interesting suggestion I've seen today is that, in order to help students catch up with contact time and teaching/learning the school day could be extended and the school holidays cut. The objective seems eminently sensible and could solve an issue that teachers have been highlighting throughout the pandemic.

I'm not sure how practical the longer hours per day would be but I can only imagine the squawking that will emerge from the teaching fraternity at having to give up some of their annual 16+ weeks holiday.

‘16+ weeks holiday’ per year. Really? I’d love to know how you work that one out. Please do explain.

Also it might be an idea if, before you started banging on about extending the school day and cutting holidays, you took into account that most schools have remained open, albeit with a reduced ‘clientele’ in accordance with current legislation, throughout the lockdown.

I realise, of course, that you are ‘fishing’ and deflecting from the original issue but you might at least produce some semblance of fact.

[AdiSalisbury]

Ah yes, indeed. How much of that (say) 29% would go back to the NHS is another question I suppose, maybe we need another Olympics!

[MadAmster]

My wish for the day. That people who haven't worked as a teacher, actually bother to find out the facts about how much work a teacher does in the course of a year.

A teacher gets a salary. A fixed amount. If they take a day off in term time they get stopped (or used to at any rate) 1/260th of their salary. (5 days a week, 52 weeks a year). If they really got 16 weeks paid holiday a year and only worked 36, then a day off would cost them 1/180th of their salary (5 x 36).....

During term time, teachers (most of them in any case, there are a few who don't) work well in excess of 40 hours a week. They get no overtime payments for that extra work.

Take, for instance, the 6 week summer "holiday". It's not 6 weeks off for most teachers. After the last day of school there are still the odd things to be done. By the end of week 2 you've recovered from the rigours of the school year, some by the end of week 1. Then it's 2 or 3 weeks "proper" vacation and then you start the preparations for the new school year.

[AdiSalisbury]

My wish for the day. That people who haven't worked as a teacher, actually bother to find out the facts about how much work a teacher does in the course of a year.

A teacher gets a salary. A fixed amount. If they take a day off in term time they get stopped (or used to at any rate) 1/260th of their salary. (5 days a week, 52 weeks a year). If they really got 16 weeks paid holiday a year and only worked 36, then a day off would cost them 1/180th of their salary (5 x 36).....

During term time, teachers (most of them in any case, there are a few who don't) work well in excess of 40 hours a week. They get no overtime payments for that extra work.

Take, for instance, the 6 week summer "holiday". It's not 6 weeks off for most teachers. After the last day of school there are still the odd things to be done. By the end of week 2 you've recovered from the rigours of the school year, some by the end of week 1. Then it's 2 or 3 weeks "proper" vacation and then you start the preparations for the new school year.

There's a lot wrong with this statement. But I think you guys have been too easy a catch today for GP without me additionally winding you up further with "real world" working time and salary protocols (although this in itself may do the job - sorry!).

Anyway, back on subject, my real boss (the wife) has her vaccine this Saturday, so things are still moving forward in the Salisbury Boris fan club household!