Chief-Exec.com – Making Information Valuable

Enquiry over £150m of worthless facemasks
The National Audit Office is to investigate government contracts for protective equipment awarded at the height of the pandemic amid an outcry over the decision to spend more than £150 million on unusable facemasks. The Times revealed yesterday that about 50 million masks bought without a tender process from Ayanda Capital, a London-based investment company with no experience of government contracts, had been deemed unusable for frontline healthcare workers. The government has admitted during legal proceedings that concerns about the safety of the masks meant that they could not be used under current NHS requirements. It has now emerged that the NAO is to launch an investigation into PPE contracts after Labour demanded an inquiry. The Times, August 7

Pressure on Rishi Sunak to extend furlough
Rishi Sunak, the UK chancellor, will on Friday come under renewed pressure to avert a wave of autumn job losses, after the Bank of England warned unemployment would remain high and output below pre-pandemic levels until at least the end of next year. Mr Sunak, who is visiting Scotland, will face demands from the Scottish National party to extend until 2021 the furlough scheme that has supported 9.5m jobs, with Ian Blackford, SNP leader in Westminster, warning it would be a “grave mistake” to end the programme in October. The chancellor admitted there was “hardship ahead for many people” as the recession bites, but said “most reasonable people” would understand his decision to end his job furlough scheme in October. Financial Times, August 7

UK govt pledges £355m to cushion NI businesses
The UK government has announced a £355m package to cushion Northern Ireland businesses from the costs of trading with the rest of the UK because of Brexit. Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, said on Friday that £200m would be spent on a trader support service to help firms handle new bureaucracy to move goods across the Irish Sea, turning the government into a de facto customs agent for traders. A further £155m will be spent on digital technology to streamline processes required by the new internal border created by the Northern Irish protocol, part of the Brexit deal that aligns the region to the UK customs territory and the EU customs code. It means all businesses sending goods to the region from Great Britain will have to make formal declarations for the first time. First details of the new trading conditions across the Irish Sea emerged last month, with businesses obliged to complete customs, security and transit forms on all goods being transported to Northern Ireland. The Guardian, August 7

Anger rises as BA cuts start to bite
Thousands of long-serving cabin crew at British Airways are expected to find out on Friday whether or not they will be made redundant. Many of those who remain will suffer steep pay cuts, and significant changes to their terms and conditions. Other workers such as engineers, ground crew and office staff are also expected to hear whether they have a future at the airline over the coming days. British Airways says more than 6,000 staff across the business have applied for voluntary redundancy. The airline has begun culling employee positions as part of a major cost-cutting drive, which it insists is vital to ensure its long-term survival. But the way in which it has done so has provoked deep resentment among a large proportion of its workforce – and threats of industrial action. BBC news, August 7

Trump gives US groups 45 days to stop dealing with TikTok and WeChat
Donald Trump has given US companies 45 days to stop dealing with ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, and WeChat, the messaging platform owned by Tencent, as he stepped up a campaign to clamp down on apps that he described as a threat to economic and national security. Mr Trump issued two executive orders decreeing US businesses would no longer be able to work with the Chinese groups after the grace period. The move came as Microsoft negotiates to buy TikTok, a popular short-video app, ahead of a September 15 deadline set by Mr Trump. One US official said the 45-day window would “give Microsoft and other interested purchasers time to reach a deal with TikTok’s owners that adequately addresses the national security concerns posed by the app” … Earlier on Thursday, the Trump administration issued recommendations that Chinese firms listed on US stock exchanges be delisted unless they provided US regulators with access to their audited accounts. Financial Times, August 7

Facebook founder sees wealth hit $100bn after TikTok rival launch
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has seen his personal wealth rise to $100bn (£76bn) after the launch of a new short-form video feature. On Wednesday, Facebook announced the US rollout of Instagram Reels, its rival to controversial Chinese app TikTok. Facebook shares rose by more than 6 per cent on Thursday. Mr Zuckerberg holds a 13 per cent stake in the company. He joins Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Microsoft’s Bill Gates in the exclusive so-called ‘Centibillionaire Club’. Technology bosses have been in the spotlight recently as the size and power of their companies and their personal fortunes continue to grow. Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Google have been among the biggest benefactors of coronavirus lockdowns and restrictions as more people shop, watch entertainment and socialise online. Mr Zuckerberg’s personal wealth has gained about $22bn this year, while Mr Bezos’s has grown by more than $75bn, according to Bloomberg. BBC news, August 7

More appeals allowed against A-level grades
Thousands more pupils could get the right of appeal over their A-level grades next week after a key concession by the exam regulator. Schools will have greater scope to challenge results on behalf of entire year groups after the move by Ofqual. Exams were cancelled this year and teachers had to provide grades for each child and put them in ranked order within the class. These grades could be changed by exam boards according to the school’s previous performance. For example, if a teacher gave large numbers of pupils an A* in English but no pupil had reached better than a C grade in previous years they could be marked down. Previously, the only way a grade could be challenged this year was on a technical ground such as the wrong personal information being submitted. Now schools that have made rapid improvements, or have outstanding year groups, can appeal. Pupils cannot challenge grades themselves. The Times, August 7

Johnson to slash red tape in planning revolution
Boris Johnson is to limit the power of local politicians to block building developments in the biggest reform of the planning system for 70 years. The proposals, to be published today, aim to trigger a construction boom that would swiftly provide homes, hospitals and schools. The prime minister has promised to rejuvenate the economy with a “build, build, build” strategy. Councils are to be given up to three and half years to designate areas for growth, renewal or protection. Once agreed, however, local politicians will have little or no say over specific applications that fit the rules. Ministers insist that residents will be consulted over how land is designated and on “design codes” to ensure that new buildings fit in. They are braced, however, for opposition from councils, especially Tory-controlled local authorities. Requirements for developers to provide affordable housing are to be relaxed. The Times, August 6

Safety concerns halt use of 50m NHS masks
Fifty million face masks bought by the government in April will not be used in the NHS because of safety concerns. The government says the masks, which use ear-loop fastenings rather than head loops, may not fit tightly enough. They were bought for healthcare workers from supplier Ayanda Capital as part of a £252m contract. Ayanda says the masks meet the specifications the government had set out. The government says its safety standards process is “robust”. It also emerged that the person who originally approached the government about the deal was a government trade adviser who also advises the board of Ayanda. But he told the BBC his position played no part in the awarding of the contract. BBC news, August 6

Downturn less severe than feared – BoE
The UK economy faces a less severe downturn but slower recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Bank of England. The Bank expects the economy to shrink by 9.5 per cent in 2020. While this would be the biggest annual decline in 100 years, it compares with an initial estimate of a 14 per cent contraction. However, the Bank warned that the jobs market recovery would take longer as it held interest rates at 0.1 per cent. In its first official forecasts since the pandemic hit, the Bank said it expects the economy to grow by 9 per cent in 2021, and 3.5 per cent in 2022, with the economy expected to get back to its pre-Covid size at the end of 2021. This compares with growth estimates of 15 per cent and 3 per cent respectively, in a scenario set out in May. Unemployment is expected to peak at 7.5 per cent at the end of this year when government-funded support schemes come to an end. BBC news, August 6

Almost half of UK charities for world’s poorest set to close in a year
Nearly half of the UK’s small charities working with the world’s poorest people expect to close within the next 12 months due to lack of financial support, a survey has found. Despite most of them seeing a spike in demand for their services during Covid-19, 15 per cent of the charities will be forced to shut their doors within the next six months, and 45 per cent within a year, according to data from the Small International Development Charities Network. The pandemic – predicted to force one in 10 UK charities into bankruptcy by the end of 2020 – has delivered a triple whammy to smaller overseas charities, according to SIDCN. British charities working abroad have not been eligible to apply for the UK government coronavirus community support fund, and many British funders have amended their giving criteria to donate to projects based solely in the UK. The Guardian, August 6

Amazon passes on tax rise to small firms
Amazon has been accused of “opting out” of fair taxes after passing on a levy on tech giants to small businesses. The digital services tax was introduced in April to tackle online companies that pay little UK tax and level the playing field with high street shops. Multinational tech companies pay a 2 per cent levy on revenues made online from UK users. Amazon, valued at $1.5 trillion, has told UK businesses using its services to sell products that it will increase its fees by 2 per cent. Some said they would have to pass on the cost to consumers. The Times, August 6

Pompeo: broader crackdown on China apps
Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, has threatened a broad crackdown on Chinese tech companies with access to American data, including barring an unspecified number of the country’s apps and limiting its cloud computing groups that operate on American soil. The threatened restrictions also include blocking Chinese telecoms companies from carrying international US calls and doing more to protect undersea cables. Mr Pompeo called on US software makers not to allow their apps to be pre-installed on Huawei handsets or appear in the company’s app store. However, he did not say when or how the US would escalate its actions against Chinese technology companies. One big US tech company said it was “too early to speculate” on which Chinese apps might be involved, or what the enforcement mechanism would be, until the administration’s threats had hardened into action. Financial Times, August 6

Google deletes 2,500 China-linked YouTube channels over disinformation
Google says it has deleted more than 2,500 YouTube channels tied to China as part of its effort to weed out disinformation on the video-sharing platform. The Alphabet-owned company said the channels were removed between April and June “as part of our ongoing investigation into co-ordinated influence operations linked to China.“ The channels generally posted “spammy, non-political content,” but a small subset touched on politics, the company said in a quarterly bulletin on disinformation operations. Google did not identify the specific channels and provided few other details, except to link the videos to similar activity spotted by Twitter and to a disinformation campaign identified in April by social media analytics company Graphika. The Guardian, August 6

Ryanair faces Italian ban over Covid rules
Italian authorities have threatened to ban Ryanair from operating in the country amid fears the airline is breaching coronavirus rules. The country’s civil aviation authority, Enac, said last night that it was considering suspending the Irish budget airline’s permit for “repeated violations of the Covid-19 health regulations currently in force and imposed by the Italian government to protect the health of passengers”. Sources at Enac told Italian media that the airline’s breaches include cabin crew failing to enforce the wearing of masks by passengers and sufficiently stagger disembarkation. There are said to be particular concerns about passengers rushing to remove cabin baggage from overhead lockers upon landing. The regulator said that if the airline fails to make changes it may be able to operate at only 50 per cent capacity. If “further non-compliance” is witnessed the airline will be stripped of its right to operate, it said. The Times, August 6

MPs say lack of early UK quarantine helped to accelerate pandemic
The UK government’s decision to maintain loose border controls in the early months of the pandemic “accelerated” the spread of coronavirus, MPs have concluded in a new report. The Commons home affairs select committee said on Wednesday that the government’s decision not to impose quarantine rules increased the number of “imported” infections and saw “many more” people contract the virus. As the pandemic spread, Britain remained in a small club of nations that failed to match the tighter borders and stringent quarantine rules on arriving travellers that had become common in other countries. The committee concluded that “thousands of people with Covid-19 arrived in or returned to the UK in February and March”. In late January, people returning to the UK from Covid-19 hotspots such as the Chinese city of Wuhan were quarantined in officially designated accommodation. A programme to identify and manage airport passengers with symptoms was also launched. But the policy changed in mid-March when the government shifted its focus to delaying rather than containing the virus’s spread. Financial Times, August 5