Brown O’Connor Communications Weekly Look Ahead - Week Commencing 23 March 2020

BOC-TwitterCardSet2_-03.jpg

COVID-19 Update

  • Schools across the UK will now close due to the pandemic. It is very unlikely schools will return before the end of the academic year with A Level and GCSE exams cancelled.

  • Health Minister Robin Swann announced on Thursday that testing capacity in NI will be expanded to around 800 tests a day, 880 nursing and midwifery students will be redeployed to clinical care, and 40 more ventilator units have been ordered.

  • Mr Swann has said that the worst case scenario in NI could be as high as 9000 deaths. He has urged the public to take seriously social distancing advice, a measure which he claims can help reduce the peak by around 50% and can reduce deaths by up to a third.

  • Community Pharmacy Northern Ireland (CPNI) has announced that planned industrial action has been halted to deal with the crisis, as pharmacists and the Department of Health have urged the public to treat healthcare workers with respect.

  • Thousands of jobs in the hospitality sector have already been lost as bars, restaurants and hotels struggle. Manufacturing has also been severely hit with job losses at O’Neill’s in Strabane, MJM Marine in Newry and Mallaghan’s in Dungannon expected imminently as orders dry up. Over 170 businesses in the North West have also been forced to close their doors.

  • The government announced a range of measures this week to support businesses. Finance Minister Conor Murphy announced there will be a rates ‘holiday’ for all businesses in NI between April and June, reducing rates by 25% in addition to any existing rates reliefs. Mr Murphy has also engaged with the Treasury to explore ways to support families and households throughout the crisis.

  • The First and deputy First Ministers also unveiled measures to support businesses. These include an immediate grant of £10,000 to all small businesses who are eligible for the small business rates relief scheme, and an immediate grant of £25,000 for larger businesses in retail, tourism and hospitality with a rateable value of between £15,000 and £51,000.

  • Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled a package of financial supports this week worth £330bn in total. NI received an extra £260m to support its responses to the outbreak. The Bank of England has also released £200bn in quantitative easing and cut interest rates to 0.1%.

  • Speaker of the NI Assembly, Alex Maskey MLA, has announced a series of restrictions on Assembly business and procedures. These include the suspension of Private Members Motions until further notice, the suspension of Ministerial Oral Questions until 13 May, holding only one plenary session per week, and MLAs have been asked to refrain from tabling written questions.

  • Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has warned that the Republic is at the centre of a “very significant economic shock”. Up to 140,000 people have already lost their jobs, with more expected. In a St Patrick’s Day address, An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said they expect cases to reach 15,000 by the end of March.

Forward Look

  • Economy Minister Diane Dodds MLA will brief the Stormont Economy Committee on Wednesday 25 March on the economic impact of COVID-19.

  • Major NI events have been postponed or cancelled including the Balmoral Show, the North West 200, Belfast Marathon, Belfast Film Festival, and BelTech.

  • The UK Government has outlined details of new emergency powers to contain the spread of the virus by publishing the Emergency Coronavirus Bill. It includes details for shutting down ports and airports; increasing the available health and social care workforce; banning large events and gatherings; supporting the food industry to maintain supplies and allowing workers to claim statutory sick pay from day one; and enabling the death management system to deal with increased demand.

  • All stages of the Coronavirus Bill will take place on Monday 23 March in the House of Commons.

  • Secretary of State for Northern Brandon Lewis MP will give evidence to the NI Affairs Committee for the first time since taking up the role on Wednesday 25 March.

Other Stories This Week

  • The European Central Bank has launched an emergency €750bn package to ease the impact of the pandemic and stabilise the euro. It will buy government and company debt across the eurozone, including that of troubled Greece and Italy.

  • Nobel Peace Prize laureate and peace activist Betty Williams has died. Ms Williams, who formed Peace People in 1976, died on Tuesday.

  • Only a small number of Troubles killings will receive “full-blown” investigations under a new approach to dealing with the past. The plan, announced by the UK Government on Wednesday, would see the vast majority of almost 2000 unsolved cases closed and prevented in legislation from ever being re-opened.

Consultations