Ruislip & Eastcote & Northwood Gazette
Getting back in the office a balancing act
WE are all aware that the government is currently calling on people to return to working from their offices and other workplaces.
I fully commend the work that so many businesses across London have done to make their workplaces Covid secure.
Transport for London are also working harder than ever to sanitise their services and protect commuters.
For those who are going back, it is vital that you continue to wear a mask, maintain social distancing and wash your hands regularly.
We can only fight Covid if we all play our part and take the necessary precautions.
However, we also must be realistic about how many people can return to work – and be clear that working and going to the office are not the same things.
So many people have been, very successfully, working from home over these past months.
We have to acknowledge that in order to protect all of us from Covid, the idea of going back to normal is simply not possible.
We need to strike a balancing act between people gradually returning to work, and not forcing too many people back too quickly.
We also need to find ways to support the economy whilst working from home – from things as simple as ordering take out, to pro
grams like the Mayor’s Pay It Forward scheme.
We also need the government to be doing more to protect the economy – from extending the furlough scheme to stepping in to provide support for sectors that are particularly struggling because of Covid.
It is also vital that the government sorts out its track and test system.
It is ridiculous that Londoners are being offered Covid tests as far away as the Isle of Wight.
I fully support the calls from the Mayor of London for the government to deliver a functional and accessible track, test and isolate system.
Alongside those who are returning to the office, school children are returning to the classroom this month.
In May, after eight weeks of discussions, the government provided a £1.6 billion emergency funding deal for TFL after their revenue dropped by 90% due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
At a plenary meeting last week, the London Assembly passed a motion calling upon the mayor to continue to lobby the government to reverse this policy.
It has been out in the open for a while that the government shoehorned in this condition in the final days of the negotiations, forcing TfL to accept the deal in front of them or risk going bust.
Thousands of young Londoners from the poorest families, and particularly those from BAME communities, will be hit the hardest by the suspension of the Zip Card.
It remains to be seen how ministers plan to successfully implement this policy, even in its now delayed and watered-down format.
The chorus of calls from young students, parents and charities for the government to cut its losses and perform a full U-turn on this cannot be ignored any longer.