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The number of NHS staff off sick in London has more than doubled in a week, rising from 1,900 on Saturday 18 December to 4,700 on Sunday 19 December. If the rate continues, one in three staff in London could be off by the end of the year. The absences come as official figures show that a third of NHS workers are yet to get the booster jab and reports say that entire hospital units could shut because of staff leaving in protest at compulsory vaccinations for NHS staff from April 2022.
Numbers of absences are rising 30% per week, outpacing the increase in COVID-19 patients in London's hospitals. Patricia Marquis, the Royal College of Nursing’s England director, warns that the situation nationally could be "catastrophic" if staff absence levels continue to rise. NHS England insisted that 80% of the current eligible workforce have had their booster jab as of Saturday but this is behind the 93.7% and 90.9% of those who have had their first and second doses.
NHS Providers, which represents NHS leaders, said it called for a fully-funded workforce plan long before the winter. Chris Hopson, its chief executive, also cited the situation at one hospital trust in England where 40 midwives were refusing to get jabbed as “one representative example” of potential hospital unit closures that could be faced in the near future due to patient safety concerns, after the Government compelled NHS staff in England to be vaccinated or lose their job.
Source: The Telegraph, 19 December 2021
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The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has found that councils in the most deprived parts of England will gain more from the provisional local government finance settlement than those in more affluent areas. The analysis finds that the most deprived tenth of councils are projected to see core spending power increase by 4.9% in real terms versus 3.8% for the least deprived tenth.
The IFS also says that the 4.1% real terms increase in total core spending power, which depends on councils raising council tax to the highest possible threshold, is £0.2bn more than projected in October’s Spending Review, which “councils will welcome”. However, the institute notes that while core spending power in 2022-23 will be 2.1% higher in real terms than in 2015-16, it nevertheless represents a 2.2% real-terms drop over the same period when measured per person, due to population growth, and is “much lower than back in 2010 prior to austerity commencing”.
The IFS also says that the local government finance system is becoming “increasingly out of date”, as shown by allocations from 2013-14 used to allocate funding in 2022-23. It therefore welcomes the government’s pledge to “commit to work with local government and other stakeholders to complete and consult on [the fair funding review] over the coming months”. However, it raises concerns over the smaller increases in overall funding planned for 2023-24 and 2024-25.
Source: LGC, 17 December 2021
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An investigation by The Jakarta Post has found that exploitation by the tobacco industry has contributed to the loss made by Indonesian tobacco farmers in recent years. The investigation found that tobacco farmers have been losing money, amidst bad weather, as middlemen who buy the harvest from farmers have remained relatively unaffected. Farmers say that the hierarchical system leaves tobacco farmers with no choice but to accept the prices that they are offered.
Under the current system, powerful tobacco graders award farmers’ tobacco samples crops a grade from A to F, with F denoting the highest typical quality. Even more desirable leaves can get grades of G or H. One farmer said that grade F tobacco could fetch as much as Rp 100,000 per kg (£5.26) but grade A tobacco would typically only fetch up to Rp 17,000 (£0.89) to Rp 20,000 per kg (£1.05). Farmers say that they have used the testing system for decades, but this year the pricing had changed. One farmer reported being paid half the value for his Grade F tobacco leaves.
Farmers say that middlemen continue to take commission fees from their profits amidst lower prices, leading to the loss being made. To grow tobacco, farmers have to spend large sums upfront – one farmer spent Rp 15 million (£788.65) to grow and process his most recent crop, excluding wages he paid employees, but only made Rp 10 million (£525.74) for the sale of his harvest. The farmer said that the prices paid for tobacco leaves began to fall in 2013 and that he now plans to grow other crops such as corn and vegetables which do not require such a large initial outlay.
Source: The Jakarta Post, 20 December 2021
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China’s disciplinary watchdog the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) has revealed details of how Pan Jiahua, former head of the discipline inspection team dispatched by the Government watchdog to the China Tobacco Corporation, was fired as he was suspected of using “shadow companies” to illegally profiteer from ties to the tobacco industry.
The revelation, published in the magazine The China Discipline Inspection and Supervision, claims that Pan Jiahua, who served as head of the discipline inspection team of the CCDI with oversight for the China Tobacco Corporation from January 2005 until November 2012, abused his position to seek benefits for owners of private tobacco businesses, to take overseas trips sponsored by tobacco firms, and to arrange jobs for relatives and friends in the tobacco industry. The CCDI claims that Pan Jiahua accepted huge sums of industry money to secure business interests.
Source: Global Times, 19 December 2021
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The Economist argues that the New Zealand Government’s aims – especially to reduce the disproportionate rate of Maori smokers – are “laudable” but argues that the ban on smoking for future generations, and a host of related policies, must acknowledge that they come with risks.
The piece considers proposals to cut the amount of nicotine in cigarettes. It argues that lower nicotine levels could make smokers want to smoke more, pushing them to illicit sources for high-nicotine cigarettes. Considering the ban, the piece likens its possible effects to those of prohibition in the US or “the war on drugs” where the market moves underground and supplies become illicit and unregulated. It notes that a tenth of the tobacco consumed in 2019 in New Zealand was illicit.
The piece maintains that “it is appropriate to restrict smoking, and to tax cigarettes stiffly, as most rich countries do, to discourage consumption” but that “prohibition is a step too far”, suggesting that, like alcohol, smoking is one of “all sorts of evils” that should be tolerated.
Source: The Economist, 17 December 2021
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