6 May Elections: what to expect

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Several elections are set to take place across Britain on 6 May. Voting will take place for the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Parliament, London and Metro Mayors, London Assembly, Local Authorities and Police Commissioners.

With Covid lockdown restrictions still in place, the campaigns for each of these elections are far from ordinary and some of the issues that will impact who voters choose to cast their ballots for will also be far from ordinary.

Vuelio has teamed up with the Local Government Information Unit (LGIU) to provide a weekly bulletin with the latest news and updates, ones to watch and campaign information from the elections taking place across the country.

You can sign up to receive the weekly bulletin, starting on Wednesday 7 April, here.

Local Elections
In England, the 2021 local elections slated include over 150 local authority elections in hundreds of wards and divisions for both the delayed elections of 2020 and the scheduled elections of 2021, as well as:

  • Directly elected Mayors and Metro Mayor from 2020 and 2021
  • Parish Councils
  • By-elections
  • Neighbourhood Plan referenda
  • 40 Police and crime commissioner posts

Every single eligible citizen in England is due to be an elector in 2021. All areas are holding Police and Crime commissioner elections, except for Greater Manchester and London where these powers rest with the directly elected mayor. In many areas, electors will be voting on four or more different ballots.

This isn’t just about the sheer volume of decision making. It’s about choosing the people who will be deciding on vital services, dealing with social care in crisis, and making the tough choices as councils are struggling through an unprecedented financial crisis after a decade of unprecedented financial cuts. Local government is fundamentally about where people live and voters will be choosing the people who will help lead us to sustainable economic recovery as we emerge from the Covid crisis.

Scottish Parliament
In Scotland, 129 MSPs will be elected with the SNP hoping to regain the majority they lost in 2016. However, things have not been smooth sailing for the SNP with questions relating to the integrity of senior members of the party in the handling of the Alex Salmond scandal, all the way up to first Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon. Former leader of the SNP Alex Salmond has launched his new Alba Party and it will be interesting to see how much it can deliver on his ambition for a clear majority supporting Scottish independence.

Leader of the Scottish Conservatives Douglas Ross is putting efforts into creating a unionist alliance going into the election to combat the SNP and Alba, and Ross also seems willing to serve as both an MP and an MSP (providing he is elected). Anas Sarwar will have been the leader of the Scottish Labour Party for less than three months by the time the election comes around and has so far been unwilling to enter into any agreement with the Scottish Conservatives.

Ross, Sarwar and the Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats Willie Rennie all seem to be making a similar argument that now is the time for recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and the discussion of independence is a distraction.

Welsh Parliament
In Wales, 60 MSs will be elected and the initial campaign focus has been on judging how well the Welsh Government has handled the pandemic. First Minister of Wales and Leader of Welsh Labour Mark Drakeford has presented his plans as ‘honest and realistic’, as he has said Wales is not likely to return to normality in 2021.

The Welsh Conservatives are taking a different view and are campaigning to end social distancing restrictions earlier than suggested by Drakeford. The Welsh Conservatives will be hoping for similar success as in the 2019 General Election, where the Conservatives gained six seats in Wales at the expense of Labour.

The decision to build or not to build the M4 relief road will also play a part as a key campaigning issue, with the Welsh Conservatives pledging to build the road if they win in the election. Drakeford has previously said the plans cannot go ahead because of the cost and the impact on the environment.

London Mayor
In London, Sadiq Khan faces no shortage of opponents, the following candidates will be attempting to take his spot: Shaun Bailey (Conservative), Siân Berry (Green), Luisa Porritt (Liberal Democrats), Kam Balayev (Renew Party), Valerie Brown (Burning Pink), Peter Gammons (UKIP), David Kurten (Heritage Party), Mandu Reid (Women’s Equality Party) and Laurence Fox (Reclaim Party). Independent candidates include Brian Rose, Nims Obunge, Charlie Mullins, Winston McKenzie, Farah London, Max Fosh, Drillminister, Piers Corbyn and Count Binface.

Baily, Berry and Porritt are likely to present Khan with his sternest opposition. Porritt is campaigning on a platform of taking London forward with ideas such as converting office space into affordable homes and improving air quality in London.

Berry has run to be London Mayor twice, in 2008 when she got 3.2% of the vote and 2016 when she got 5.8% of the vote and came third. The Green’s are focusing on fairness and tackling inequality and are presenting themselves as an independent voice in politics that can often be dominated by the Conservatives and Labour. The Green’s may also seek to capitalise on those who have drifted away from Labour since Corbyn stopped being leader.

Despite numerous criticisms to the approach so far, Bailey seems set on basing the campaign on how Sadiq Khan has failed as Mayor and how he can give London the fresh start it needs. Interestingly, it seems as though both Khan and Bailey are blaming each other for crime in London; Bailey blaming Khan as he is the Mayor and Khan blaming Bailey as he was a special adviser on crime during David Cameron’s time as Prime Minister.

Keep up with all the latest election news from Vuelio and the LGIU.

embracing technology in a crisis opening slide

Embracing technology in a crisis

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This morning our head of marketing, Jake O’Neill, took to the virtual stage at Government Event’s Public Sector Crisis Comms Conference to talk about the importance of technology in both the strategy and delivery of crisis communications.

Chairing the event was Rachel Roberts, CEO and founder of spottydog Communications and CIPR President-elect 2021. Roberts opened the conference by discussing the importance of human relations in public relations and said that communicators need to keep at the forefront of their minds that what they say can affect people and make an impact on real lives, referencing the deaths of Dr David Kelly, Caroline Flack and Sophie Gradon, who were all thrust into the public eye.

Rachel also reminded the audience that comms needs to be the influencer in the organisation and make sure crises are handled with efficiency and consistency. She said the past 12 months has seen communications mark out their place in the boardroom and ‘we now need to cement this place’.

Echoing Rachel’s thoughts on keeping comms at the top table was Francis Ingham, director general of the PRCA. With the pandemic leaving plenty of legacies, some positive but many negative, Francis stated that a clear positive for the comms industry is that ‘we’ve recognised a simple truth, when so many things have closed down or been taken away, we’ve had to rely on our ability to communicate.’

He said that reputation has been key to withstanding the ongoing crisis, as an organisation’s most valuable asset is its reputation.

Francis highlighted the key takeaways for public sector comms from the pandemic:

  • Communications has found its seat at the top table and now needs to keep it.
  • The workplace has changed and this has had positive consequences for our industry, e.g. flexible working.
  • Collaborative working has been forced upon us and we’re better for it.
  • Internal comms has truly found its proper place and is important to every organisation.
  • We’ve become more inclusive in our comms and we need to remain so.
  • Our experience from the last year has taught us a lot around m/disinformation and while there’s still work to be done this will help us into the future.
  • The shift to digital media is accelerating.

With talk turning to the importance of upgrading digital skills in the industry, Jake’s session was very timely.

Using the unique insights from the recent PRCA Crisis Comms Conference panel Vuelio moderated, combined with in-house knowledge of PR and comms technology, Jake shared the reasons why tech is fundamental to comms. He explained that ‘technology underpins every aspect of how we engage with society and the core skills of a PR person rely on them being tech literate.’

As technology is fundamental to comms it’s also fundamental to crisis comms.

We’re now in an age of social media and, as such, a lot of things can look like a crisis when they are not. Giving the example of Jackie Weaver, Jake explained how this was not a crisis, rather it was an event, as everyone involved was aware of the video and the council members had uploaded it themselves.

Crises can come from multiple sources, not just social media, so it’s important to make sure the technology is in place to monitor, respond and manage the different platforms a crisis may occur. Using technology in this way can help identify what is a crisis, what is being said and which communities and audiences are saying it.

When it comes to using technology to respond to a crisis, it’s important to get the channel right. It’s not always necessary to publish a statement when a direct message would be sufficient, but the time has passed where organisations can stay silent on an issue thanks to social media.

Jake concluded that one of the most important aspects of a crisis is to evaluate what has happened and how the comms function responded. Using technology to log and keep a record of messaging and communication with stakeholders is an excellent way to review each crisis as no two crises are the same. Data is key to understanding a crisis and with the right technology you should be able to feed these insights back into your crisis management plan.

Find out more about technology best practice in communications with Vuelio.

Jane Latham

Feeling human at work in PR and communications

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This is a guest post from Splendid Communications‘ head of wellbeing Jane Latham about her ‘Feel Human at Work’ programme which aims to help staff ‘navigate life’s ups and downs with kindness’.

A few weeks ago, I was excited to relaunch my career at Splendid in a newly created role, Head of Wellbeing, having served as finance director for the previous nine years. This marked the culmination of a long journey of personal development, during which I had adopted a more mindful approach to living, and in so doing, found myself being naturally drawn into offering therapeutic support to those around me, both at home and work.

Having embraced the Human Givens approach to emotional health for as long as I can remember, it made sense for me to formalise this development by qualifying as a Human Givens therapist. Combining this approach with the Insights Discovery personality profiling methodology, along with my in-depth knowledge and love of Splendid, I have formulated a unique wellbeing programme called ‘Feel Human at Work’, incorporating a range of interactive workshops for all staff, as well as leadership training and one-to-one coaching. All of this aims to promote an open and inclusive culture of mental health and wellbeing across the business.

So, what is the Human Givens approach? As humans we are all born with a set of fundamental emotional needs, which at Splendid we define as the needs for security, control, status, headspace, belonging, teamwork, development and purpose. They can be thought of as rungs on a ladder of emotional health, as with Maslow’s famous hierarchy of needs. We also have a range of mental resources such as our instincts, memory and a lively imagination which can help us to get our needs met. These needs and resources are collectively the ‘Human Givens’. Emotional issues arise when, for various reasons, our needs are not being met in balance. Furthermore, the needs on the lower rungs must be met before we can fully focus on the higher rungs. Understanding and applying this simple yet powerful guiding framework helps to foster positive emotional health and wellbeing.

Meanwhile, the Insights Discovery methodology uses a simple four-colour model based on the psychology of Carl Jung to help us to understand our working style, strengths and the value we bring to the team. We are all a unique mix of Fiery Red, Sunshine Yellow, Earth Green and Cool Blue energies, which determines how and why we behave the way we do. Not only does this model help us to understand ourselves, but it also helps us to connect better with our colleagues, supporting more respectful, productive, and positive working relationships.

The Feel Human at Work programme will be rolled out over the coming year, to include a range of interactive workshops for all staff as well as leadership training and one to one coaching. A key theme is communication; learning how to adjust our behaviour to respect the emotional needs of others, and to bring out the best in the different personality-types we are dealing with. The aim is to equip everyone with the emotional intelligence to improve and strengthen their relationships with others both inside and outside the workplace.

There is also a strong focus on dealing with work-related anxiety, with the provision of a range of tools to develop emotional resilience; including breathing, relaxation and movement, mindfulness and visualisation techniques, various modalities of which I am qualified to teach. I am hoping to reintroduce regular live classes once we are back in the office, along with some other on-site wellbeing support initiatives. It is through the development of resilience that it becomes possible for us to freely express the Splendid values of passion and creativity.

Another key value at Splendid is collaboration, and with the support of the Splendid wellbeing team, I am currently developing a calendar of exciting activities and initiatives: watch this space for further news, but as an example, in Mental Health Awareness week, amongst other things, everyone will be learning some basic techniques in mental health frontline support.

Given last week was the first anniversary of us all working from home, I was really pleased to see in a recent staff wellbeing survey that the score for the statement ‘I feel part of the overall work community and accepted for who I am’ had increased over the last year and was now the joint highest score, along with ‘I feel proud that I work at Splendid’. I see this as a testament both to Alec and the senior team’s abiding passion for Splendid, and the people-first culture championed across the business. There were of course some lower scores too, especially around the need for a good work-life balance, and we are actively working on how to address these issues.

In summary, I believe I am building on strong foundations as I roll out this progressive wellbeing programme at Splendid, and I am looking forward to helping the team thrive as we re-emerge into the uncertainty of a post-Covid world. These may be strange and potentially unsettling times, but to end on a more philosophical note: life will always be full of ups and downs, and what really matters is how we choose to respond to these. One of the key lessons I have learned over the years is that, invariably, kindness is the answer, and it is often kindness towards ourselves that is most needed.

At the end of the day, we are all human.

For more on workplace wellbeing, check out our accessmatters session on avoiding workplace burnout with KDP Coaching’s Katie Phillips.

Five ways to improve social mobility in PR

5 ways to improve social mobility in PR

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There’s no denying that the PR industry has an inclusivity problem. Our latest accessmatter session focused on sociality mobility, with Sarah Atkinson from The Social Mobility Foundation explaining her work and how we can all do more to better our own industry when it comes to class.

Whether you’re someone who has come from the London-born, university-educated, middle-class-and-up background that makes up the biggest portion of the PR workforce and leadership level, or you’re from, well, anywhere else, here is some of Sarah’s advice for making a long-term career in PR a possibility for everyone.

1) Learn the terms and start asking questions
Low-income, disadvantaged, underrepresented, working class – if this isn’t your background, you might not be sure of the right words to use when having conversations around social, economic and class difference. If you’re from this background, you might not feel comfortable using these words as descriptors for yourself in a work environment.

But finding the words are important: ‘Use the right phrasing. ‘Low income’ is good, but it doesn’t cover everything,’ says Sarah. ‘Ask questions – in your family and in your network, did people go to university? Can people help you into industries?

‘We are working with very disadvantaged young people as part of our programmes at The Social Mobility Foundation. I do talk about ‘disadvantage’, and they’re comfortable with that. When I’m talking more broadly, I talk about class – I talk about “ordinary” people, actually. I’m talking about the general population with that; most of us.

‘Don’t worry about the language if it’s silencing you, though. Acknowledge social and cultural issues. Approach it with honesty and people will notice the intent and have faith in it.’

2) Ask if the recruitment process at your organisation is fair
Whatever level of the hierarchy you’re at, looking at or remembering your own recruitment process can help others coming through.

‘When it comes to recruitment, we ask employers at the start to analysis their recruitment process,’ says Sarah. ‘That’s critical in every organisation – if you’re automatically asking for degrees for jobs they’re not needed for, or if your process is one where people from low social economic backgrounds are being filtered out, that’s undermining any other efforts to be inclusive.’

3) Recognise that not everyone will be comfortable with working from home
Is the ‘new normal’ of working from home with no commute comfortable for you? It might not be the same for everyone you’re working with.

‘If we’re all in our home environment, and some are in nicer, or more comfortable situations, the levelling can be very false. Remembering that a virtual set up means everyone is more reliant on their domestic circumstances is really important,’ advises Sarah.

‘If we assume there’s equity in that, we’ll build in that inequity we’ve inherited. We need to assess any plan for the future and ensure that we’re understanding everyone’s set up and their needs. Make sure the plan is mindful and offer support.’

4) Be an advocate
Whether you’re working from a position of privilege and want to help others who don’t, or you want to help others from your similar backgrounds and circumstances to yours into the industry with you, you may be asking yourself, ‘What can I do as an individual to make a difference?’ Sarah says: advocate for others and yourself.

‘Look out for job descriptions that have ‘graduate preferred’ when it’s nonsense. Stand up and say it’s not acceptable when someone’s accent is mocked. Spot those things where not having enough money, or understanding of the culture, can make a difference – be an advocate.

‘Everyone, at every level, can be a mentor. It can be light-touch – taking someone under your wing, helping them with how to dress right for an interview. Or it can be something more structured like a mentoring scheme.

‘You don’t just need a mentor to get into a business. Making sure that networks are there for people from a low income background, that they’re supported and brought into a room – this is the thing that makes a difference.’

5) Be an ally
Is ‘banter’ regarding class/accent/pools of reference acceptable? Not always, not often.

‘In lots of environments, mild mockery may be intended as harmless ‘banter’, but the first thing to do is to stand up, to say “That’s not cool, that’s not what we do here”,’ says Sarah.

‘This is about a broader culture that the senior sets and reflects. The culture is rarely bound to one behaviour. I would assume that there is good intent and bad execution until you know different. Speak separately to the person taking the wrong approach, and also say to the person it happened to: “I don’t think that was okay”. You do two things with that; you may get a change… you may not, but you give the opportunity for people to get it right. And you’re being an ally to the person on the receiving end – it’s really important to show ppl that there is some recognition.

‘If the senior person wants to engage or learn, that’s a great opportunity to talk about social mobility… if they say ‘you’re a humourless fun sponge’ then it’s a signal of what you’re up against.’

Wherever you came from and wherever your ambition will take you in your career and in your life, being aware of what’s not fair will help to shape the PR industry for the better:

‘Once you start actively noticing issues around social mobility, you’ll notice how the world is shaped to benefit people who are more privileged. You’ll clock it,’ says Sarah.

‘When you’re alert, then you can start to have the conversations that help others to notice, too.’

Read the round-up of our accessmatters session with Sarah Atkinson from The Social Mobility Foundation here.

Weekly Economy Summary

COVID-19: Weekly Economy Summary – 25 March

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The Economy Summary is part of our Weekly COVID-19 Bulletin, sent every Thursday. You can sign up to receive your copy here.

The UK’s debt has reached a new high as Government borrowing hit £19.1bn last month as it continues to battle the coronavirus pandemic and the economic fallout of lockdown. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the public sector had borrowed more last month than during any other February since records began in 1993.

The debt owed by public bodies has increased by £333bn since the start of April, the first month of full lockdown in the UK. It brings the total debt to £2,131.3bn or around 97.5% of GDP, the ONS said.

Central Government bodies are believed to have spent around £72.6bn running their day-to-day activities in February, a rise of £14.2bn compared with February 2020. This came as the Bank of England’s (BOE) Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously to maintain the Bank Rate at 0.1%.

The BOE expects inflation to return quickly to its 2% target but has played down concerns about rising borrowing costs and fears of rapid inflation. The strong vaccine rollout, coupled with a lower fall to GDP in January than expected, have led to cautious optimism from the BOE regarding the overall economic outlook.

The BOE has also indicated it will likely revise its forecast for unemployment down to match the 6.5% peak figure forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility.

The UK unemployment rate, in the three months to January 2021, was estimated at 5.0%, 1.1% higher than a year earlier and 0.1% higher than the previous quarter. However, the bigger picture is one of stability in the last few months, after the labour market deteriorated through the autumn.

The furlough scheme has stopped the effects of lockdown feeding into falling employment in the latest months. In fact, the number of payrolled employees has now increased for three months in a row, although since February 2020, the number of payroll employees has fallen by 693,000.

While the headlines are encouraging, data again underlines the impact of the crisis on young workers. Payrolled employment in February was down 11% on pre-crisis among under 25s, compared to being down 1% among other age groups.

The Centre for Economic and Business Research released analysis of the cost of coronavirus to the UK economy. The report suggests that COVID-19 has been the predominant cause behind a £251bn reduction in the UK’s gross value added over the past year, a fall roughly equivalent in size to the entire annual output of the South East of England in pre-pandemic circumstances and nearly twice the output of Scotland.

Business confidence has returned to its highest level since 2018, with 65% of firms confident about their growth prospects over the next three years, according to the Santander Trade Barometer.

Weekly Health Summary

Covid-19: Weekly Health Summary – 25 March

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The Health Summary is part of our Weekly COVID-19 Bulletin, sent every Thursday. You can sign up to receive your copy here.

Anniversary of the first Covid-19 lockdown
In the week that marks a year since the first lockdown was announced in the UK, the Prime Minister spoke of the ‘epic endurance’ of the British people. Speaking at the Downing Street Press Conference he said: ‘For month after month our collective fight against Coronavirus was like fighting in the dark against a callous and invisible enemy, until science helped us to turn the lights on and to gain the upper hand’.

The Prime Minister gave his thanks for the efforts behind the vaccine roll-out as well as the ongoing effort of public sector workers including in the NHS, social care, education and the police.  

The Government is yet to confirm its plans to hold a public inquiry to the handling of the coronavirus pandemic, despite calls from the Opposition. During Prime Minister’s Questions this week, Opposition Leader Kier Starmer spoke of the ‘shocking’ numbers of people who have lost their lives to Covid-19. He said: ‘As soon as restrictions lift, there must be a full public inquiry, because that is the only way we can get to the bottom of the many mistakes that were made during the pandemic and find justice for those who have suffered so much.’

The Prime Minister said that there will be an inquiry into the lessons learned as soon as it is right to do so, when it won’t diverge the attention of the key officials involved.  

UK Health Security Agency
The Health Secretary Matt Hancock has announced that a new agency, UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), will be established in April 2021 to lead protection against future health threats. The UKHSA, which is to replace the short-lived National Institute for Health Protection, will become the UK leader for health security, providing intellectual, scientific and operational leadership at national and local level, as well as on the global stage.

The body is ran by Deputy Chief Medical Office, Dr Jenny Harries and will bring together the key elements of Public Health England with the Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC), and NHS Test and Trace. UKHSA will initially focus on the continued fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Responding to the announced, NHS Providers said: ‘We welcome further clarity from the Government on the new public health infrastructure. The pandemic has highlighted why it is so important to have long-term investment in public health services in recognition of the vital role they play in supporting overall health and wellbeing and building resilience in health protection’.

The new agency has also been welcomed by Cllr Ian Hudspeth, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, who said: ‘The UKHSA needs to be able to operate nationally as a global player to major health threats. This needs to be aligned with councils’ ability to react swiftly on the ground, using their local knowledge, expertise and skills.’ 

There have also been wider calls for clarity on the other areas of public health, surrounding the broader determinants of health, including from the Health Foundation who said: ‘While the focus now is on organising to make sure the country can respond better to a future pandemic, much more important in the long run is making sure that Public Health England’s existing function to improve the health of the population is strengthened, and commands more political focus and investment.’

Speaking at the Local Government Association Annual Public Health Conference 2021, Hancock suggested he would lay out wider public health reform plans in the coming days. 

The Coronavirus Act 
The Coronavirus Act will have its annual debate in Parliament today. Members are expected to keep the Act in place, but the Government has suggested the removal of some of the Act’s components. Most notably as part of the it’s one-year report, the Government has concluded that it will seek to end the controversial ‘Care Act Easements’ which relaxed the duties for local authorities to provide care.

In England, only eight local authorities (LAs) have used these powers, but not since 29 June 2020. The Government said that over the past year, support groups and the social care workforce have remained resilient under significant pressure, and continued to deliver their duties without the need to operate under easements.  

Adult social care
A report published by The National Audit Office today on adult social care has concluded that innovation and investment in the sector have been hampered by short-term funding and the lack of a long-term vision.

It said: ‘COVID-19 has focused attention on social care as never before. It has highlighted existing problems with social care and emphasised significant gaps in the Department’s understanding of the market’.

Responding to the report, Danny Mortimer, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said that the ‘pandemic has shone a harsh light on how fragile and severely under-resourced the country’s social care system has become after failures by successive Governments of all parties to act.’

He has called for the Government to rapidly deliver on its manifesto pledge to transform the sector. The Nuffield Trust said that the report has exposed the fundamental flaws and fragility of the social care provider market: ‘Organisations providing adult social care were struggling long before the pandemic took hold, with years of delay to any meaningful reform of the sector storing up the problems exacerbated by the pressure of Covid-19.’

accessmatters with Sarah Atkinson

accessmatters with The Social Mobility Foundation’s Sarah Atkinson

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‘Something isn’t working when talent still isn’t making as much of a difference as background. Whole communities can be left behind from success, from aspiration. PR is no exception.’

Sarah Atkinson from The Social Mobility Foundation joined us for our latest accessmatters session, which focused on social mobility – or the lack of it – in the UK, including the PR industry. Problems with diversity and social mobility in our sector are well-known by now, with CIPR’s State of the Profession highlighting issues with class and background, race and gender, year after year.

PRs are more likely to have completed a degree in comparison to the general public. They’re more likely to come from a background where their parents also undertook higher education. According to the numbers, there are twice as many PRs whose parents or guardians completed a university degree (or an equivalent) than those who received income support or free school meals during childhood.

For Sarah and The Social Mobility Foundation, change is long overdue: ‘We know there’s a race problem in PR, we know that there’s not enough people with disabilities working in the industry. Racial disadvantage is completely entwined with economic disadvantage.

‘Even if you went to a good university, you’re likely to earn less money if you come from a working-class background. And if everyone comes from the same background in PR, you’re going to have something missing when trying to engage the public.’

The Social Mobility Foundation works with young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to improve their confidence, give them the skills to ‘schmooze’ (of course those from working class backgrounds can schmooze just as well as those from middle class families when given the opportunity and experience, said Sarah during the session) and links with potential mentors and future employers give them the head-start they won’t have in comparison to many others at the beginning of their career journey.

What can those making the big decisions in PR do to help with welcoming (and keeping) those from disadvantaged, low-income or working-class backgrounds into the workforce? To start, recognise the problem.

‘It’s generally assumed that once you’re at work, your background doesn’t matter anymore, that it goes under the radar. If you actually come from a disadvantaged background, you damn well know it does matter,’ said Sarah.

‘There are two practical steps to start with – data and leadership. These things go together. We need to measure a baseline for the workforce with three key questions: did your parents go to uni? What school were you at at 14-years-old? And were you on free school meals? It’s not perfect, but it’s the best analysis we’ve got. You can start to measure whether we’re making change.

‘Leaders from privileged backgrounds may feel uncomfortable, might feel that they’re being patronising when talking about this. Make a clear personal commitment, and don’t say too much in the beginning.

‘People have to trust others to have the right intentions. If you come from a working-class background, you need to know it’s not going to matter in a negative way, to trust that positive things can happen.’

And when it comes to recruitment, Sarah urged that organisations start the right way: ‘Analyse the process – that’s critical in every company. If you’re automatically asking for degrees for jobs where they’re not needed, or if your process filters out those from low social economic backgrounds, that’s undermining any other efforts you make to be inclusive.

‘Very few employers are good at this when it comes to progression at the senior level,’ said Sarah. ‘It’s really hard to get there if you come from a low socio-economic background. If you’re there already, work with your employees and start focus groups – ask, have we got some unintended bias going on?

‘Because there’s getting in, and there’s getting on and you need to have something that addresses both.

‘The assumption can be that if you work on the ‘getting in’ part, your pipeline, it’ll all work out. But we know that’s not true from all the work we’ve done on gender – we’re still waiting for more women to reach the top spots.’

‘As a minority in the PR industry, you either have to hide it, if you can, or take it on as a ‘fun personality’. We’ve heard this from ethnic minorities and those from working class backgrounds – ‘It’s a burden of the work I have to do, I have to be this perfect person, or a comedy stereotype’.

‘It’s tough on people who have to do the work. If you aren’t one of them, be an ally.

‘The best thing we can do for social mobility is to talk about it more,’ believes Sarah.

For more from accessmatters, catch up with our previous sessions with KDP Coaching & Consulting’s Katie Phillips, Taylor Bennett Foundation’s Melissa Lawrence and Manifest’s Julian Obubo or check out the accessmatters hub.

 

PRCA Annual Perspective 2021

PRCA Ethics Council publishes its first Annual Perspective

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The PRCA Ethics Council has published its Annual Perspective to highlight ethical challenges facing PRs across the globe ahead of this year’s PRCA Virtual International Summit.

With an aim to spark reflection on purpose across the PR industry in regards to ethical practices, the free 26-page Annual Perspective features insight from 20 global leaders and is headed up by PRCA Ethics Council Chair David Gallagher FPRCA.

Key themes of the report include:

– West vs. East divide
– How PR professionals can aid in tackling misinformation and protecting the truth
– Reimagining culture in a post-COVID world
– Who-to-work-for dilemmas
– Building trust and accountability
– Avoiding purpose washing

‘It’s safe to say there’s no shortage of ethical challenges facing communicators right now,’ said PRCA Ethics Council Chair David Gallagher.

‘With misinformation swirling, trust in institutions declining, and businesses operating in new ways, it’s essential we put ethics at the front of the line. So many of us love the industry that we’re in and want to see it take a lead in building a better world. There are often no easy answers when confronting ethics in the real world. But I hope the different perspectives that are so generously shared by global leaders in this report will help drive a much-needed dialogue.’

Launched in May 2020, the PRCA Ethics Council has an aim to elevate ethical standards in PR and communications. It will host events, initiatives, and campaigns throughout 2021. Chair David Gallagher will present this report at the PRCA’s Virtual International Summit on 30 March.

CIPR post pandemic survey

CIPR launches pandemic sector survey

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The CIPR has launched a ‘PR post-pandemic’ sector survey in an effort to understand how public relations has changed during the global crisis as well as what the future may hold for the industry.

Open to CIPR members, non-members and those who have left the profession, the survey will gather data on information, from salaries to skill set, to pinpoint the potential challenges and opportunities coming up for practitioners.

Results of the survey will inform future updates to CIPR services and shape upcoming campaigns and policy change.

Those who wish to take part to aid in the snapshot of the experiences and predictions of PR professionals, organisations and the sector at large can do so here.

For a look back at the big trends and challenges of 2020 in PR, check out statistics from last year’s CIPR State of the Profession report.

Small Business Heroes

PRCA launches coaching programme for small businesses

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The PRCA has launched a free coaching programme for small business owners in need of advice for their communication strategies.

Running for an initial period of six months from 1 April to 31 October, the programme is led by the PRCA’s think tank, the PR and Communications Council, and will aim to support businesses across all sectors. Small business owners will be able to connect with experienced PR practitioners for one-to-one support with best practice comms strategies and engaging with target audiences.

Those who have minimal experience with PR, or who are looking for advice on internal and external communications, are encouraged to apply.

PR Council member and small business lead Liam Buckley said: ‘Small businesses account for 99% of the total business populations in the UK and US, employing millions, so their collective success and failures have a direct impact on our economies. We’re aware that marketing budgets are often the first to be cut back during times of crisis, so we want to step in to help those who are looking for PR support, but don’t quite know which way to turn.

‘It is more important than ever that small businesses understand how to communicate with their target audience, and we’d encourage them to step forward to take advantage of the free coaching sessions. Our expert PR coaches will gain an understanding of your business, identify your communications challenges and work with you to put an effective strategy in place.’

Find more information and apply on the landing page here. Deadline for entries is 12 April 2021.

Caroline from CAF and Emily from Parkinson's UK

‘Charities are stronger as one voice’ – The Great Covid Bounce Back for Charities?

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No sector has been left unscathed by the pandemic and the charity sector has faced multiple challenges impacting fundraising, comms, campaigning and supporter engagement.

In our recent webinar we spoke to Caroline Mallan, head of external affairs at the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) and Emily Sturdy, head of supporter engagement at Parkinson’s UK to find out how they’d adapted their fundraising and messaging over the past 12 months.

We started the conversation on an optimistic note and discussed the positives charities have taken from the last year, with both Emily and Caroline agreeing that innovation has been the most encouraging result to come out of the pandemic.

Using 2020 as a ‘catalyst for change’ at Parkinson’s UK, Emily talked about how they had been pushed to get more out of data and insights so they could better understand their supporters and where their digital presence is. Caroline echoed these sentiments and provided hopeful insight regarding the changing public perception towards charities. Previous research had shown falling trust levels but since the pandemic this has been more than reversed, especially towards local charities. Caroline said: ‘People have had a reminder of the role they play in their communities, helping friends, neighbours and relatives’.

The past 12 months have seen everyone change their way of life, whether it’s working from home instead of the office to getting au fait with video call technology, and these changes have been reflected in how charities work.

At Parkinson’s UK, they had to adapt quickly and be flexible to not only a new way of working but creating virtual events rather than in-person activities that they would ordinarily run.

CAF helped charities with their own adjustments, enabling them to survive, adapt and thrive, and have been able to offer large scale grant funded programs to charities which supports the need for digital transformation. Caroline shared insight into the types of applications they received from charities that had previously relied solely on face-to-face support, giving the example of a charity who now needed to provide mobile phones and data to their volunteers to ensure they could continue to reach the at-risk young people.

Caroline gave some hard-hitting stats around how the pandemic has changed how charities fundraise with half of charities saying they had to change their methods and, worryingly, two thirds of charities stating they do not fundraise online. Along with charities, CAF also surveys the general public and saw giving levels at the start of the pandemic were what they would normally see in November/December, with huge fundraising campaigns around Children in Need and the Poppy Appeal.

Emily spoke about how they had to adapt the story they were telling when their research changed, focusing on the services they were offering to people affected by Parkinson’s, such as increasing the capacity on their helplines so they could have longer conversations with more people. Research is now getting back into full swing and, as such, their messaging has adapted to reflect this, focusing on the aim of a treatment for Parkinson’s by the end of 2024.

It’s not only messaging that has had to change but also how charities fundraise. Emily explained how Parkinson’s UK found good digital functionality crucial so they could communicate their core message and make sure their supporters were aware of how Parkinson’s UK could help. The channels they used to fundraise pivoted and they saw success on Facebook donate as this is where the stories from their supporters and community were being shared.

Charities rely on campaigning and lobbying to effect change, and both CAF and Parkinson’s UK had to adapt their approach during the pandemic. Caroline spoke about the difficulties of getting the attention of the Government with Covid dominating the year but found a positive outcome was the renewed collaboration within the sector and the recognition that charities are stronger as one voice.

Emily agreed that their lobbying had changed and shifted from the Government to the supermarkets, to make sure vulnerable people could get priority delivery slots as well as lobbying to make sure they had access to social care and health services. Emily and Caroline were both in agreement that the charity community working together meant they were able to get stuff done.

As the conversation drew to a close, the discussion focused on the future and whether we’ll see a return to the pre-pandemic methods of fundraising or if these changes will stay.

Once again Emily and Caroline were in agreement that the future of fundraising is hybrid and we’ll see virtual events used alongside in-person activity. And in terms of content and campaigns, Caroline said the key is human connection, being able to show the impact of the donations and finding emotive ways to show the funds in action.

Watch the webinar in full here.

5 tips for running TikTok campaigns as part of your PR strategy

5 tips for running TikTok campaigns as part of your PR strategy

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TikTok, launched in 2018 when Douyin merged with Musical.ly, has grown to attract a user base of 17 million people in the UK alone – tempting numbers for PR teams looking for visibility and engagement for future campaigns.

If you find TikTok tempting but are yet to delve into creating content for the app, here is help with getting started (no dancing or sea shanties required) from CIPR’s introduction to TikTok for PR, comms and marketing professionals led by Access Intelligence’s Michelle Goodall, with tips from Zero Waste Scotland’s Claire Munro.

Watch the full video

1) Get to know the platform

‘Older professionals like me have lived through a time of explosion, of digital platforms and emerging behaviors,’ says Michelle Goodall. ‘We understand how to access them and build them into integrated marketing and PR strategies and campaigns.’ Incorporating TikTok into your PR toolkit is no different.

‘Strategists need to stay on top of all social media platforms used by young people and niche social apps breaking through, and TikTok has a credible, fast-growing mass audience’.

‘My advice,’ says Michelle, ‘is to look at the data when it comes to planning where to create social presences, experiences, content and ads.’

2) Capitalise on its difference from other social media platforms

While TikTok shares key components with other social networks (following people, sharing content, using hashtags and liking posts), its algorithm is where it differs. Based on content that TikTok considers will be successful, aligned to what you’ve engaged with in the past, its algorithm means that anyone or anything has the potential to go viral. And if you’re looking for the attention of that that younger, Generation Z, audience, TikTok is where you’ll find it.

Zero Waste Scotland, a publicly-funded organisation delivering all things recycling, reusing and repairing, made great use of TikTok campaigns as part of the award-winning ‘Scotland is Stunning – Let’s Keep It That Way’. Aiming to tackle the increase in littering in Scotland’s public spaces during lockdown, Claire Munro and her team needed to engage the right audience.

‘For our campaign, we had two key audiences – families and 18 to 34-year-olds,’ explains Claire. ‘We wanted to be creative about the channels we used – we didn’t just want to do a kind of traditional PR and media campaign which would probably reach the family audience but might miss out the vital 18 to 34s. So, we hit on TikTok.

‘As comms professionals, even if we don’t use these platforms ourselves, it’s our job to know what’s out there, to know who’s using it and know the power of it.’

3) Use TikTok as part of a larger strategy

TikTok is a platform for creativity, not so much for corporate messaging. Here is the place for video, use of trending hashtags, augmented reality and special effects, which may only be one element of your campaign.

Mainstream print titles and traditional journalists, niche-subject blogs and websites, and other social media platforms like LinkedIn, YouTube and Facebook can do the heavy lifting where TikTok can’t.

4) Find the right influencer

While Zero Waste Scotland wanted to make the most of TikTok, it felt advertising with the platform was still relatively untested. The way forward for them was to work with influencers – dedicated content creators with dedicated followings who can produce video that is proven to be popular.

Jared Rowan, aka littlestchicken, was the perfect fit for Zero Waste Scotland, who needed to engage a Scottish audience looking for entertaining content.

‘When deciding on an influencer, look at who their audience is and what kind of content they use,’ says Claire. ‘Does that marry up with your values and your objectives?’

5) Have fun

While dance challenges, sea shanties and memes are abundant on TikTok, educational and activist videos are also widely-shared. What they all have in common is a genuine approach – salesy doesn’t do so well. Any content created for TikTok as part of a campaign should take the same approach – have fun and be passionate about your topic and you’ll find your audience.

‘A preachy tone absolutely does not work with anyone – young audiences in particular,’ says Claire.

‘I would say, just go for it. And make sure you capture the learning, so you can do it again – even better next time.’

Sign up to watch the full video for an introduction to the basics of TikTok campaigns and how to make the most of the platform here.

For more on Zero Waste Scotland’s ‘Scotland is Stunning – Let’s Keep It That Way’ campaign, read our interview with Claire Munro on the campaign’s win at the 2020 Online Influence Awards.

Auditor image as the industry experiences a shake up

Audit sector reforms: Government publishes white paper

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Today sees the release of a wide-ranging package of reforms for the audit sector by the Government, in the form of a white paper called ‘Restoring trust in audit and corporate governance’.

Launching the document, Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said: ‘It’s clear from large-scale collapses like Thomas Cook, Carillion and BHS that Britain’s audit regime needs to be modernised with a package of sensible, proportionate reforms’ and ‘restoring trust in our corporate governance regime and encouraging greater transparency’ would ‘provide investors with clarity and certainty, cement the UK’s position as the best place in the world to do business, and protect jobs across the country’.

How did we get here?
The audit industry has come under increasing scrutiny over the last few years, with cases such as those mentioned by Kwarteng drawing public and political attention to the sector’s practices and its regulation.

The joint report on the Carillion collapse by the Commons Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and Work & Pensions Committees criticised the ‘Big Four’ audit firms. It noted that KPMG was ‘complacently signing off the directors’ increasingly fantastical figures’, Deloitte was ‘either unable to identify effectively to the board the risks associated with their business practices, unwilling to do so, or too readily ignored them’, EY provided ‘six months of failed turnaround advice’ and PwC had ‘benefited regardless of the fate of the company’, having advised Carillion and the Government prior to the collapse and served as its special managers subsequently. The Committees concluded that they had ‘no confidence’ in the sector’s regulator, the Financial Reporting Council.

These concerns have led to three reviews of the industry, whose findings today’s white paper reacts to:

  • In December 2018, Sir John Kingman’s Independent Review of the Financial Reporting Council It described the FRC as ‘an institution constructed in a different era – a rather ramshackle house, cobbled together with all sorts of extensions over time’ and called for it to be replaced by a new Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority.
  • In April 2019 the final report of the Competition and Markets Authority’s statutory audit market study proposed legislative change to improve competition in the sector in December 2018, including separating audit from consulting services and introducing a ‘joint audit’ system under which audits of FTSE350 companies would have to be conducted by two firms, one of which would be outside the Big Four.
  • In December 2019, the final report of Sir Donald’s Brydon’s Independent Review into the Quality and Effectiveness of Audit was published. Brydon called for ‘a fundamental shift in definition and approach’ and a ‘change in mindset’, noting that while ‘audit is not broken’, it ‘has lost its way and all actors in the audit process bear some measure of responsibility’. He stated that the central objective of his review was ‘making audit more informative to its users’.

What is proposed?

The 232-page document contains a wide range of detailed proposals, which stakeholders will be grappling with in the weeks to come. Key proposals include action to tackle the dominance of the ‘Big Four’ firms in the market. Large companies will be required to use a ‘challenger’ firm to conduct a meaningful portion of their annual audit and, if competition doesn’t improve, there could be a cap on the Big Four’s market share of FTSE350 audits.

There will be a new regulator, the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority (ARGA), replacing the Financial Reporting Council, with the power to impose an operational split between accountancy firms’ audit and non-audit functions to reduce the risk of conflicts of interest. It will be backed by legislation, funded by a mandatory levy and would have stronger powers to enforce standards. Audit and assurance professionals will be encouraged to work towards a new audit profession, rather than being a subset of the accountant profession. The definition of ‘Public Interest Entity’ will be widened to include very large non-listed companies, which will need to meet more stringent requirements.

Auditors and directors are to be given new reporting obligations on detecting and preventing fraud, and audit will be extended beyond companies’ financial reports to consider wider performance, such as on climate targets.

There are also a range of proposals to increase the accountability of directors of large companies, including fines and suspensions for the most serious failings and measures to reclaim directors’ bonuses in the event of these failings or company collapses. Large companies will also be required to be more transparent about their finances, not paying out dividends or bonuses when they could be facing insolvency, and being required to publish annual ‘resilience statements’ setting out how they are mitigating short and long term risks, such as climate change.

What has the reaction been?

Given the scale of the Government’s proposals, it’s clear that a lot of bodies in the sector will be taking their time to arrive at a detailed assessment of their implications. Nevertheless, they seem to have been broadly welcomed. Maggie McGhee, executive director of ACCA, said that the Government’s proposals contain ‘a lot to consider’ but her organisation’s initial response was ‘to welcome the depth and breadth of what is being proposed’. Michael Izza, ICAEW Chief Executive, said that ‘modernising corporate governance is a vital part of sustaining public confidence’ and urged the Government ‘to get on with implementation as quickly as possible’.

Deloitte has urged a wide range of bodies to give their input into the consultation, with UK managing partner Stephen Griggs noting that ‘only widespread input from across the business community will ensure audit and the whole corporate governance regime evolves to better meet society’s expectations’, and claiming the white paper ‘provides a significant opportunity to enhance the reputation of the UK as a leading capital market and strengthen its position in the global economy’.

This position was echoed by PwC, whose Chairman and Senior Partner Kevin Ellis said reform could make ‘the UK an even more attractive destination for foreign investment’ and ‘the views of a wide range of businesses, investors and other interested parties will be key’. KMPG agreed that the reforms would ‘demonstrate we are a fantastic country to invest in’ and welcomed the introduction of ‘a resilience statement, including Environmental, Social and Governance disclosures’.

Labour’s Shadow Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Secretary Ed Miliband said there were ‘real questions’ about the sufficiency of the measures. He said he welcomed proposals such as ‘tougher penalties for individual company directors where there are serious failings’ but regretted that some independent reform proposals had been watered down, including ‘mandatory joint audits between the big four and challenger firms’. He called for ‘a structural split between the audit and non-audit parts of business practises’ to remain an option.

What happens next?

The consultation on the proposals in the white paper is open until 8 July 2021. The Government says that responses to this will inform draft legislation to be laid before Parliament when time allows, while many measures not requiring legislation are being taken forward by the Financial Reporting Council. It notes that auditors and others have the scope ‘to take action on their own initiative’ in the meantime, such as on ‘defining and developing a new audit profession’.

Kwarteng claims that an ‘appropriate timetable’ will be followed to implement the plans given ‘the serious challenges that businesses are facing because of the pandemic’. The Government says its overall approach will be to quickly bring into effect measures that don’t ‘directly impact on businesses’ and to quickly commence ‘measures with significant impacts on those regulated by the new regulator’ (perhaps with phase in or transition periods), but to consider ‘measures with significant impacts on wider business’ for later commencement, a transition period or phasing in.

 

 

Weekly Health Summary

Covid-19: Weekly Health Summary – 18 March

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The Health Summary is part of our Weekly COVID-19 Bulletin, sent every Thursday. You can sign up to receive your copy here.

Vaccine roll-out
The Government has confirmed that more than 25 million people in the UK have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. This includes 95% of people aged 65 and over, and nine in 10 of those clinically extremely vulnerable.

The announcement comes as a letter from NHS England has said that health services should stop booking under-50s for their first-dose appointments for the whole of April. The letter explained that the move was necessary because of a ‘significant reduction in weekly supply’.  

However, speaking at the Downing Street Press Conference on Wednesday, the Health Secretary Matt Hancock praised the vaccination roll-out and confirmed that the Government is on track to offer the first dose of the vaccine to all over-50s by 15 April, as well as all adults by the end of July.

He confirmed that from Wednesday all people over 50 are invited to come forward and get their first Covid-19 jab. He also highlighted the importance of the vaccine rollout and showed data which demonstrates that after a first dose, protection against hospitalisation is around 80% and protection against death is around 85%.  

Professor Martin Marshall, Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners, has responded to the news of potential vaccine supply issues, he said: ‘This disruption to supply is disappointing and will understandably be frustrating for patients, as it will be to GP teams running vaccination sites who want to protect as many people as quickly as possible – but we continue to receive assurances that this delay is temporary, and the vaccination programme remains on target.’ 

Digitalisation of the health services 
The Health Foundation published research this week on the positives of the use of healthcare technology during the pandemic. It found that around three fifths of NHS users increased their use of technology to access care during the first phase of the Covid-19 pandemic and an overwhelming majority of these (83%) viewed their experience positively. However, when compared to traditional models of care, NHS users are not so favourable to the use of technology in health services. Notably, NHS users 55 and older reported slightly higher proportions of negative experiences with the digitalisation of the health services.  

The Health Foundation recommends that there should be more research on the use of the technology in the NHS to ensure quality in long-term digitalisation of services, and so that changes are user centred. They also call for a refresh of the NHS Long Term Plan to optimise the use of recent technological innovations to meet longer term quality and productivity goals.  

Today the Health Secretary confirmed more NHS hospital trusts would benefit from the Digital Aspirants programme. 32 more trusts will now join those already participating in the programme. Seven will get up to £6m each over the next three years. The rest will get £250k seed funding to help them develop business cases for further digital investment. 

Impact of Covid-19 on health services
A report published by the Institute for Public Policy Research this week claims that the ambitions of the NHS Long Term Plan risk being severely disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic without a significant funding boost. It has suggested a £12bn blueprint to ‘build back better’, and made recommendations including creating a sustainable workforce, greater funding for the NHS, upgrading digital care and reforming social care making it free at the point of use.  

Marking a year since the first Covid-19 lockdown was announced
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) published a report on the impact of the pandemic a year on from when the first lockdown was announced. Since March 2020 more than 140,000 people have now died with Covid-19 in the UK. The number of adults in critical care in hospitals was far higher than previous winters. In the last week of January 2021, more than 5,000 adult critical care beds a day were occupied in hospitals in England, compared with around 3,000 a day in the same week in 2020.

The report also highlighted the wider impacts of the pandemic, including on the labour market, unemployment, the economy, and crime.   

NHS Providers said that the report lays bare the terrible toll of Covid-19 and the ‘immense pressure’ on the NHS over the past year. 

Weekly Economy Summary

COVID-19: Weekly Economy Summary – 18 March

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The Economy Summary is part of our Weekly COVID-19 Bulletin, sent every Thursday. You can sign up to receive your copy here.

Office for National Statistics (ONS) data for January suggests that the economy was hit less by the renewed lockdown than expected. UK GDP is estimated to have fallen by 2.9% in January 2021 compared to the predicted 5%. The output approach to GDP shows that January’s level was 9% below that seen in February 2020 and was 4% below levels seen in October 2020 – the initial recovery peak. 

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said that January’s smaller than expected fall in GDP means that it now estimates a contraction of 2.4% in the first quarter of 2021. This would leave GDP in the first quarter of 2021 around 9% lower than its level in the last quarter of 2019, before the pandemic struck. 

Real-time data and NIESR analysis imply that GDP is likely to resume its growth in February and March, by 0.3% and 1.1% respectively, on the back of higher contribution from Government services and improving consumer confidence as infection rates come down. As a result, the first quarter of 2021 is likely to see a smaller contraction than widely anticipated. However, the pace of recovery from the second quarter will crucially depend on how the opposing effects of the vaccine roll-out and lifting lockdown affect the path of Covid-19, as well as how consumers and businesses react. 

Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said that the UK economy should recover to its pre-pandemic size by the end of this year. Speaking in an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme on Monday morning, Mr Bailey said the Bank was ‘not out of firepower’ in defending the economy as it recovers from the pandemic, adding that it was looking at ‘new tools’ which could include negative interest rates. However, he warned that new variants of the virus could still pose a risk to the economic recovery. The Bank of England governor also remarked that the economic effects of the pandemic had been ‘very unequal’, with women, ethnic minorities and the low-paid all disproportionately impacted.  

OBR committee member and former Bank of England deputy governor Sir Charlie Bean said last week to the Commons Treasury Committee that he does ‘not expect households to go out and blow [their savings] all within the next quarter or two’ but it will be ‘spread out over several years’. According to a recent report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research, UK households will go on an estimated £50bn spending spree once lockdown restrictions are lifted. It warned that ‘if interest rates are kept low, there is a real threat that inflation could rise rapidly above the Bank of England’s 2% target and be difficult to control.’ 

Laptop, glasses, coffee mug, mouse and face mask

One year on: How the pandemic has impacted influencers

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This post is by Slummy Single Mummy blogger Jo Middleton, exploring the impact the pandemic has had on the influencer industry.

Jo Middleton mummy blogger

A year ago this week, (or is it four? It feels like four years at least…), the UK entered its first lockdown. Nobody knew what to expect, how long it would last or what the impact would be on jobs, on whole industries and on our emotional well-being.

At first I wasn’t too worried. As a freelance writer and blogger at Slummy Single Mummy, self-employed now for over 12 years, I’m used to my income going through peaks and troughs. I have some savings – not a lot, but enough to mean I don’t need to rush out and sell the kitchen appliances at the first sign of trouble – and I’m good at holding my nerve when it comes to cash flow.

As one by one all of my existing blog projects were suddenly ‘paused’, (read ‘cancelled’ ultimately in most cases), and the tumbleweed rolled around my inbox, I lay in the garden reading Agatha Christie books and getting a suntan. ‘Give it a couple of months,’ I thought, ever the optimist, ‘and everything will be back to normal right?’

Wrong.

Instead here we are, one year down the line and, as a blogger and influencer, work is far from back to normal. No press trips, no events, no fun video projects where I have three weeks to learn Spanish and go on a date with a Spanish man called Marco. Nada.

The salt rubbed in the wounds is that I’ve not qualified for a single penny of financial support either. My earnings are over the cap and while as a single mum and sole breadwinner I’m definitely not rolling in disposable cash, apparently my average income means I should have made better pandemic provisions. Consider me told.

What I’ve found interesting though is how different brands and different influencers have responded. Campaigns have been switched up to focus on the joy of staying at home and I’ve seen a significant increase in approaches for projects around takeaways and alcohol. And while I’ve personally found it difficult to concentrate and hard to motivate myself, other bloggers have seized the opportunity of more free time to try new things and start new projects.

Take John Adams for instance, who blogs at Dad Blog UK. Pre-pandemic I’ve always admired John for his consistency and positive attitude. You just know that John works hard, and I was not surprised to learn that he was one influencer who has been using the last year productively.

John Adams

“Lockdown inspired me to do two things,’ John told me. “Number one, decades after leaving school, I started studying GCSE maths. It’s an exam I failed in my youth and it’s always bugged me. I sat exams in November and January and I’m just waiting for the results now.

“Number two, I launched a podcast called DadPodUK. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for ages so I produced a mini-series of eight episodes. To my amazement, those episodes were enough for me to get a Runner Up accolade in the inaugural Podcasting for Business Awards. This, despite the fact that early episodes were a bit ropey in places because I had no idea about recording audio, a skill I have rapidly taught myself.”

Admirable stuff right? There I was, signing up to an interior design course that I managed one module of, and John was resitting his maths GCSE. Not everyone though, (me included), has found it so easy to maintain that sense of drive and determination in the midst of such uncertainty.

So many influencers I’ve spoken to have told me that work just stopped in the early months of the pandemic. In an industry that can feel unpredictable at best, (I often wonder when someone is going to notice that I don’t have a ‘proper job’ and make me work as a plumber or something), we shouldn’t underestimate just how unsettling this was.

‘The first couple of months into the pandemic work basically stopped,’ says Fritha, aka Tiger Lilly Quinn, ‘which was worrying but not unexpected. I think like the rest of the world brands didn’t really know what lay ahead or what would be appropriate in terms of advertising. It’s been a slow climb back over the past year and our income has definitely taken a big hit.’

It has been the same for Donna from What The Redhead Said. Although Donna has normally remained upbeat, regular watchers of her Instagram stories will appreciate the subtle but clear correlation between the stress she’s feeling and the number of fudge recipes she creates. (I can vouch for the fudge recipes though – homemade slow cooker fudge has become just as much of a crutch for me during lockdown as I suspect it has for Donna.)

“Work for me vanished at the start of the pandemic,” says Donna. “I had a good three months where I earned next to nothing. I had a lot of work cancelled that involved content around days out, holidays and festivals. Influencers just stopped being able to promote huge chunks of everyday life literally overnight.

“I’ve seen a lot of influencers give up and go and get ‘proper jobs’ because trying to juggle a freelance career, sporadic income and family life is just too much. There’s a lot to be said for a guaranteed income during a pandemic and I can completely understand why some influencers have thrown in the towel.”

I can totally relate to this. After years of self-employment I took the huge step in November of taking a permanent, part-time job. Partly it was to have that regular income stream – the months of uncertainty had started to take their toll on my cash flow nerves of steel – but partly to address the issue of motivation.

In normal times I would work from a coworking space or cafe to break up the day and keep me focussed but with just the same four walls around me I was finding it increasingly difficult to find any structure or motivation at all. Making myself accountable to someone else has forced me to concentrate, if only for a few hours a day, and has helped to give me back a little of my pre-lockdown mojo.

Another consideration for influencers has been the type of content to post. We all want to be respectful of the difficult situations that people have been living through, but at the same time there’s clearly a huge appetite right now for any escapist.

I know in the early weeks of lockdown, (when I wasn’t sunbathing), I spent a lot of time walking in circles around the park listening to episodes of The Great Indoors podcast from Sophie Robinson and Kate Watson-Smyth from Mad About the House. That was pure escapism for me – escape from a world of uncertainty and greyness into a cosy, comforting and colourful landscape. I pictured myself under their duvets with them as they tried to record remotely with decent acoustics and their light-hearted positivity was a tonic.

Kate Watson-Smyth 2019 feature

I spoke to Kate about how she managed the balance between creating content that was fun but not overly frivolous.

“To start with I found it hard to decide on content,” says Kate. “It didn’t (and still doesn’t) feel right to keep talking about new stuff when people were worrying about how they were going to pay their bills.

“That said, it’s good to see that people are understanding the link between their homes and their well-being and mental health and are trying to make their homes work for them through their choice of colour and decor.

“Broadly speaking it’s a good time to be writing about interiors as interest is high (my blog had record-breaking numbers and engagement last year) and people want to know what they can do to make their homes both functional and attractive. For me that has all been good – all I ever set out to do with the blog was to encourage people to ask if they genuinely liked and needed what they were buying, so they wouldn’t make expensive mistakes and so their homes can support them and make them happy.”

So what’s the future looking like for influencers? Will we see a return to pre-covid levels of activity? I think so. Just over the last month I’ve noticed my inbox getting busier as brands adapt and start to look forwards. I think that having an exit plan has given everyone a bit of a light at the end of the tunnel and although it may take a while to get back to normal, there are surely going to be an awful lot of brands wanting to get themselves back on the radar and so plenty of opportunities for influencers to support that.

“A year later, my income levels are nowhere near where they were before the virus took hold,” admits Donna, “and it’s only now, a year after the initial lockdown, that I’m starting to receive a few tentative emails about reviewing hotels or going on press trips. Overall though  I’m starting to see brighter days ahead. I’m getting more emails, I have a few nice little campaigns lined up for the coming months and everyone just seems more willing to make plans and move forward once lockdown starts to ease.”

I agree with Donna – brighter days do feel like they’re ahead. And in the meantime, maybe I’ll just make one more batch of lockdown fudge.

people having a conversation on video chat

‘Speed dating’ for journalists and PRs

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Last month, to celebrate our partnership with Journo Resources, we held our first virtual ‘speed dating’ event for journalists and PRs. After putting a call out, we had four journos and four PRs take part in 15-minute ‘speed dates’.

The aim was for our PRs and journalists to network with each other and have quick, effective conversations, and if they were stuck for chat, everyone had been given some handy icebreaker questions.

We caught up with them after the event to get their feedback and here’s what they said:

Firstly, did you enjoy your ‘speed dating’ experience?

Rachael Davies, freelance journalist: I really liked it! It was lovely putting names to faces, instead of only talking with email accounts, etc. Especially during the pandemic, it’s nice to do a bit of face-to-face networking.

Daniel Puddicombe, freelance journalist: I did – it was a nice way to break up the day and make new connections, something which hasn’t happened a lot recently owing to the pandemic. The format of the event worked well – 10 minutes to get to know a stranger, see what you have in common and how you can help each other going forwards.

Were you surprised by anything your ‘dates’ told you about their job?

Jack Izzard, CEO, Rhizome Media: Yes. All the journalists I spoke to are freelance, and it was interesting to hear what their strike rate is when pitching story ideas to editors.

Rachael Davies, freelance journalist: I was surprised by how much research and stats they’re doing behind the scenes, and have encouraged them to share that more. I often get sent very people-focused stories, and rarely concrete data, but numbers can often be much more of a hook! I’ve got some interesting stats and research results to work with already from some of the PRs I’ve met.

Daniel Puddicombe, freelance journalist: Not really – everything made sense. I wouldn’t say it was surprising, but the event reminded me that there are so many sectors out there that I don’t really come into contact with, such as PRs that concentrate on ‘stunts’, so it was nice to see how the ‘other side’ works.

What do you think people misunderstand about PR/journalists?

Rachael Davies, freelance journalist: How much control we have over whether a story gets picked up! We can want something published or think that a story deserves telling as much as you, but editors and publications might have different ideas.

Jack Izzard, CEO, Rhizome Media: Journalists mistakenly think PR is easy. And that any hack who tires of PR can move seamlessly on to be a gravy train career in PR. Sadly this is not the case now; and I’m not sure it ever was. While many of the skills you require in journalism – the news sense, the speed and precision of writing – are very useful for PRs, a good PR will layer on many more skills. People skills, persuasion and multitasking – not to mention entrepreneurialism – are all invaluable too. These traits are what differentiate a so-so PR from a great one.

Daniel Puddicombe, freelance journalist: What makes a good story – in this respect, the event was very useful as I was able to say ‘these are the kinds of stories I like; how can your clients help?’, bounce ideas backwards and forwards. The chats also allowed the PRs to say ‘these are kind of stories we’re working on at the moment, would they be of interest?’, too, so it worked both ways.

If you could change one thing about PRs/journalists what would it be and why?

Jack Izzard, CEO, Rhizome Media: A thank you every now and again wouldn’t go amiss. PRs don’t expect medals from journalists, but if you’re a hack and a PR has spent all day running around trying to help you, a quick acknowledgement email is always appreciated. Even if you couldn’t use the material they sent, just a quick line to say whether it made it in or not would be great. Doing so will also remove the need for the PR to pester you with questions about where your piece is and is their client in it etc. No-one likes that.

Daniel Puddicombe, freelance journalist: Pitching irrelevant stories – thankfully none of the PRs I spoke to during the event did this – but as someone with very specific beats, I’m often sent press releases that I would never use. A classic example (and one that happens over and over again) is that I’m sent a press release about a new hotel or boat. I’ve never written about boats or hotels, but because I have written rail-related pieces, someone, somewhere (or more like an algorithm) has decided that because I’ve written travel-related pieces (about trains) I must therefore be interested in hearing about a new hotel. Ditto, the PRs that pitch stories about high-end hypercars when I cover the fleet and company car industry. I’m acutely aware poor PR targeting is a problem that every journalist faces though.

Rachael Davies, freelance journalist: Encourage them to be more direct, not putting gimmicky titles in their subjects or being too flowery. Short and to the point is always best.

Hopefully you’ve made some professional connections, do you think you’ll stay in touch?

Daniel Puddicombe, freelance journalist: I exchanged contact details with the three PRs I spoke to, so hopefully we’ll stay in touch going forwards.

Jack Izzard, CEO, Rhizome Media: Yes a couple might be useful.

Rachael Davies, freelance journalist: Definitely! Made a few contacts I definitely want to follow up on and even a few fledgling story ideas.

Thank you to all the PRs and journalists that took part. We hope to run the event again so if you’re a PR or a journalist who would like to get involved please email [email protected].

How to work with a charity partner

How to find charity partnerships

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With its reliance on awareness-raising events, in-person fundraising and support from those who have time, funds and energy, the charity sector has been immeasurably impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Help with increasing visibility in an overcrowded news space and inspiring those who have the capacity to support is where good PR can come in.

Sign up for our live webinar on 17 March 2021 at 11:00 GMT The great Covid bounce back for Charities? here.

Picking a charity for your agency to partner on a specific project, or for the longer-term, is a great way to live your purpose, give to good causes and support the charity sector at large. Where should you start?

Finding the right fit

‘It really did come down to the people for us,’ says Emma Roberts, PR manager for Dr.PAWPAW. When the skincare brand was looking for a new charity to partner with, the team found shared goals with the Teenage Cancer Trust.

‘The energy from the team there and even beneficiaries themselves has been incredible,’ says Emma of the experience. ‘They are constantly communicating with us and it really does make all the difference.’

Naturally, for a sector that’s powered by communication, comms is key. From the very start of a PR agency-charity partnership, transparency on what the shared aims are and what resources each side requires has to be clear. But before that, there’s connecting with your intended charity…

Beginning a partnership

For Red Lorry Yellow Lorry director of EMEA Hannah Patel, research and contacts in the industry were key. Previous experience working with charities as part of its PRoactive programme, which supports non-profit organisations and charities with tackling social mobility and diversity issues, also helped.

‘Most of our partnerships happened organically,’ says Hannah. ‘Our PRoactive programme has welcomed long-term partnerships that we’ve built over time, such as I Can Be, a think-tank turned charity which introduces 7 and 8-year-old girls from inner-city London schools to inspiring women in the workplace.

‘In 2020, we decided to expand the work we’re doing, but also offer pro bono support to other organisations too. To kickstart the process, we needed to define the offering by asking ourselves what skills and services might be of value and how much time we’d dedicate to each partner. We decided to create a small team of volunteers internally to drive the overall initiative and give it focus. We also asked the whole agency to contribute suggestions. The small team then selected a small handful of partners to approach. As a result, we’ve just started working with FemTech Lab – Europe’s first FemTech accelerator that helps rising stars in the space take their products to market – and we’re loving every minute of it!’

When choosing CALM as the preferred charity partnership for the Vuelio Online Influence Awards for 2020, previous work with the organisation helped, but shared goals were what made the partnership a perfect fit for the event, company at large and the industries the company works with.

‘Given the impact the pandemic has had on mental health across the comms, media and influencer industry – many of whom are self-employed, were furloughed or under increased financial strain – we wanted to support and partner with a charity that is doing amazing work in this field,’ says Access Intelligence Group Events Manager Rebecca Potts.

While Vuelio’s team-up with CALM was successful, first attempts at connecting with your chosen charities might not be. But don’t be discouraged, says Red Lorry Yellow Lorry’s Hannah: ‘It’s important to not get offended if the first potential partner you approach says no. Charities and non-profits get approached all the time by businesses wanting to ‘help out’, so it might not always be the right fit.’

Prepare to work with teams stretched to capacity

‘Having worked with several charities in my decade-long career in marketing, PR and social media, one thing that is apparent is that working in the charity sector is not a 9-5 job,’ says Little Seed Group’s Ellen Cole.

Flexibility and reactivity is required for work with a charity – especially in a time when their teams are likely smaller and busier than ever. There is also all of the necessary red tape…

‘Working with charities is extremely fulfilling – there’s nothing more motivating than knowing that your comms can make a life-changing impact. However, lots of charities are dealing with extremely sensitive issues and content – your team needs to be prepared to be able to handle comms in a sensitive manner, and to understand the appropriate tone of voice needed for the organisation. Also be aware that many charities are governed by boards – not all decisions can be made quickly and sometimes campaigns can take a long time to be signed off. Patience is a virtue – as is planning well-ahead,’ says Helen Creese, who has worked with charities regularly at Some Like It Social.

‘Be flexible,’ agrees Vuelio’s Rebecca. ‘Charity budgets are varied but often quite small. It depends on the charity, but teams can also be limited with a couple of people doing the job of a team in bigger organisations. Make sure you give them plenty of notice for any assets or content you require.’

Having less time is an occupational hazard for any charity contact you connect with – this is why help from a PR or comms agency is so valuable. ‘The majority of organisations which will find most value in your support are those who don’t have time to manage their own PR and comms in-house,’ says Hannah at Red Lorry Yellow Lorry.

‘There won’t always be a PR or marketing contact their side, so you’ll be working with people who have very busy day jobs with very little time for promotion or awareness raising activity. Don’t expect to be at the top of their priority list or expect the contacts to suddenly have a lot of extra time to dedicate to you and the PR programme you run for them. This doesn’t mean that they’re not grateful for the support, but just be self-aware enough to understand that things might take a little longer from time to time, and that the operational running of the organisation has to come first.’

Remember that any extra work and time is worth it

Finding a charity partnership, ensuring the work you’ll be doing is relevant and right for them and getting through to the right busy people is a challenge, but a worthwhile one.

‘Do it if you can,’ urges Emma at Dr.PAWPAW. ‘It’s a huge, core piece of our business now because we are in a position where we can but it hasn’t always been at the scale we give now. As soon as you can give back you should be. Apart from the obvious, that you’re helping people in need, it gives the team another thing to work towards and to support. When you see the results and see the people we are helping, all those stressful work days disappear. It makes it all worth it.’

Join CAF head of external affairs Caroline Mallan and Parkinson’s UK head of supporter engagement Emily Sturdy for discussion of the impact the pandemic has had on the charity sector as well as its path to recovery – sign up for the 17 March webinar The great Covid bounce back for Charities?.

For advice on helping local charities, read this guest post from Spike’s Andre Gwilliam.

For how charities managing to create inspirational campaigns on low budget (and how you can do the same), read advice shared by Tiny Tickers and The Wildlife Trusts here.

Weekly Health Summary

Covid-19: Weekly Health Summary – 11 March

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The Health Summary is part of our Weekly COVID-19 Bulletin, sent every Thursday. You can sign up to receive your copy here.

NHS Test and Trace

A report published by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on NHS Test and Trace (NHST&T) has argued that despite the ‘unimaginable’ cost, the scheme has failed to deliver on its central promise of averting another lockdown. The Committee argued it is hard to justify the cost of the scheme, which is over £37bn, after it found no clear evidence of the NHST&T’s overall effectiveness and its contribution to reducing Covid-19 infection levels.

The Committee Chair Meg Hillier said: ‘DHSC and NHST&T must rapidly turn around these fortunes and begin to demonstrate the worth and value of this staggering investment of taxpayers’ money…British taxpayers cannot be treated by Government like an ATM machine. We need to see a clear plan and costs better controlled.’

Labour said that the report shows the failures of the outsourced scheme and that it ‘underlines the epic amounts of waste and incompetence, an overreliance on management consultants, taxpayers’ cash splashed on crony contracts, all while ministers insist our NHS heroes deserve nothing more than a clap and a pay cut. The Conservatives’ wasteful obsession with outsourcing must end and contact tracing should be run by our public health teams.’

Although the Government is yet to respond to the report, the Prime Minister has recently praised NHST&T for its impact on getting children back into school and enabling the country to ‘cautiously and irreversibly’ reopen its economy. Also on Tuesday, the Health Secretary Matt Hancock praised the NHST&T team for successfully testing 1.5m people in one day.

NHS staff pay rise

The debate on NHS staff pay following on from their work during the pandemic has continued this week. This comes after last week the Government proposed a 1% rise in NHS staff pay, which Labour argues is actually a pay cut after inflation.

Speaking to the House of Commons on Wednesday, Labour Leader Kier Starmer said: ‘The mask really is slipping, and we can see what the Conservative party now stands for: cutting pay for nurses; putting taxes up on families. He has had the opportunity to change course, but he has refused to do so.’

NHS Providers called the pay proposal a ‘disappointment’ and said a real terms pay increase ‘would go some way towards recognising and rewarding the contribution and the sacrifices that the NHS workforce has made over the past year.’

The Government has repeatedly justified its decision; on Wednesday the Prime Minister highlighted that the Government has delivered a 12.8% increase in the starting salary of nurses over the last three years and has boosted nursing recruitment. An independent pay review will make a final recommendation for NHS staff pay in the coming months, until then, it is likely that this debate will rumble on.

NHS waiting lists 

NHS England data published this morning shows the full extent of the impact of the second coronavirus wave on non-Covid-19 health services. 4.59m patients were waiting to start elective care treatment at the end of January 2021, with 304,044 of these patients waiting over a year. Waiting times for cancer treatment have also increased.

Nuffield Trust highlighted that the NHS waiting list is now at the highest point since records began in August 2007. It suggested that although non-Covid activity has been higher than in the first wave, the pandemic response has slowed the stream of routine and it is likely that with referrals to GPs also falling in January, there is a hidden patient group not yet on the waiting list that will need treatment in the future. It calls for a plan to boost NHS capacity, with additional resources as the damage from the pandemic is likely to be felt in years ahead.

The Health Foundation also called for additional support for the NHS and staff. Dr Jennifer Dixon, Chief Executive of the Health Foundation, said: ‘The Government and NHS leaders will now need to be clear with the public about how they intend to deal with the backlog of unmet need, as well as achieve the ambitions to modernise care set out in the NHS long term plan. This will need significant investment at the next Spending Review, in particular if we are to see improvement on waiting lists and plugging staff shortages, which are holding back progress.’

Covid-19 vaccine

The roll out of the Covid-19 vaccine has successfully continued this week, with latest figures showing that over 22m people have had their first dose. The roll out is now reaching all people over 55 and those in the priority groups. 40,000 unpaid careers are also eligible for the vaccine from this week. The Health Secretary Matt Hancock recently said that the Government is on track to offer a first dose to the entire adult population by the end of July.

In a speech to the Global COVID-19 Vaccine Supply Chain and Manufacturing Summit, Hancock attributed the UK’s vaccine success to investing early into vaccine research and clinical trials around the world, as well as adopting an ambitious roll-out schedule.

Weekly Economy Summary

COVID-19: Weekly Economy Summary – 11 March

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The Economy Summary is part of our Weekly COVID-19 Bulletin, sent every Thursday. You can sign up to receive your copy here.

During last week’s Budget, the Chancellor tried to balance the support provided to the economy with the need to begin the work of fixing our public finances. As expected, the Chancellor extended existing support, such as the job support schemes, the Universal Credit uplift, business rate holidays and VAT cuts to reflect the cautious reopening of the economy set out in the roadmap.

While some argued that the Universal Credit uplift should have been extended beyond the six months announced, others welcomed the increase in generosity of the self-employed scheme. Given the different impact on different sectors of the economy, the targeted Restart Grants to the sectors worst hit by restrictions have been much welcomed by small firms in the hospitality industry with cash problems. The Chancellor also announced a new Recovery Loan Scheme that will provide lenders with a guarantee of 80% on eligible loans.

Further ahead, in April 2023, the rate of corporation tax paid on company profits will increase to 25% on profits over £250,000. To soften the blow, the Chancellor announced that for the next two years, companies can reduce their tax bill when investing via a ‘super deduction’ of 130% of the cost. He also froze income tax thresholds from next April for four years, which is considered a good way for the Government to raise revenue without causing economic distortion.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) thinks the economy will ‘bounce back’ in the near-term as restrictions are eased. The OBR expects growth to return from Q2 2021, with GDP forecast to reach pre-Covid levels earlier than previously expected and unemployment to be better than forecast.

When Commons Treasury Committee members talked about the huge stimulus package in the US and asked if the Chancellor did enough to stimulate growth, the OBR committee member and former Bank of England deputy governor Sir Charlie Bean explained that the size of the output gap is difficult to measure because the response to the pandemic has involved pushing down on both demand and supply in roughly equal measure. As the restrictions are eased, he expects both of them to come back.

In its central forecast, the OBR does not think there is that large a margin of spare capacity, the output gap is quite small, so it would not make sense to have a large demand stimulation. He mentioned that in respect to the Biden plan in the US, many economists who are generally in favour of greater use of fiscal policy think the size of the stimulus is far too big relative to the likely size of the output gap.

If you are considering supporting demand, it is not obvious that there needs to be substantial policy stimulus at this point. It might turn out that this is wrong, and that demand does not recover as quickly as supply, in which case it will be sensible for either the Bank of England or the Chancellor to add additional stimulus. But as things are at the moment, the margin of spare capacity is expected to be quite small during the reopening phase of the economy.

While the Financial Secretary to the Treasury previously said that if the economy is strong, they might not need to raise taxes to fix public finances, Sir Charlie Bean told MPs on the Commons Treasury Committee that the important thing here is not so much slightly faster growth next year but really the scarring assumptions. If they do not see a high level of scarring, then the same sort of fiscal consolidation is not needed in the medium-term. Equally, if the scarring turns out to be greater than they expect, potentially more consolidation will be required. OBR’s central assessment is 3% medium-term scarring, but that number could go either way.