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Covid

Instead of Eat out to help out...

40 replies

Rhianna1980 · 22/08/2020 08:53

I believe gov has miss-used the placement of help to get the economy back up and running. The subsidy for restaurants with the eat out go help out Scheme, is a waste of money to patch things up temporarily.
The money should have gone to schools to help them create a safer CV19 environment to reduce virus outbreaks and closures and reduce the chances of families to have to self isolate and then we are back to square one where the economy is suffering again.
No CV19 money or help has been granted to schools. Which is shocking. It’s as if they have been forgotten about. Schools are the WEAK LINK in all this.
It makes me furious that money has thrown at an industry to patch it up short term, but
this industry is ultimately affected by any school CV19 outbreak looking long term.
They aren’t not treating the problem, they are patching up the symptoms.
The country is high in debt, the money should have been used wisely, but instead they used to party all summer, now winter is coming...
PS I don’t blame anyone who used the scheme to enjoy a cheaper nice meal to encourage them to go out before I get flamed at on here.

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TeddyIsaHe · 22/08/2020 08:54

This is the Tories though, they don’t care about schools because they don’t make money. We’ve known this for 10 years, I don’t know why it’s a surprise now.

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Purplequalitystreet · 22/08/2020 09:05

I'm not a Tory, but I totally get why this scheme is in place. The amount of (mostly working class) people who will end up unemployed is scary if nothing is done to help the hospitality industry.

I have no idea why people are turning this pandemic into an economy vs schools argument. You do realise that if the economy is destroyed no amount of money poured into education will help a lot of children find a job? It's about balance.

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middleager · 22/08/2020 09:25

I've used the scheme. In honesty, this is from a selfish point of view, not altruistic in terms of helping the hospitality industry workers.
(I figure I'll be paying it back for the next xx years so I want my half price pizza).

I feel the same OP, re schools. I'm furious too.

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IloveJKRowling · 22/08/2020 09:31

Yes, the lack of funding for schools is scandalous and is the epitome of cutting off your nose to spite your face. They'll end up with greater costs when schools seed coronavirus outbreaks which force lockdowns. It would be far more economically prudent to invest in schools so that we keep infection low and the economy can remain open.....

I've written to my MP. He hasn't replied but would still recommend people do the same - the more of us that point out the utter idiocy of expecting schools (alone among any other workplace) to open pretty much as normal is worth pointing out. And the utter idiocy of schools (unlike restaurants or furloughed staff) not getting funding.

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Welikebeingcosy · 22/08/2020 09:33

I like the opportunity to get half price Burger King. It makes me feel like I'm on holiday in a cheap tourist resort and can eat lunch out three times a week. Not that I do, because I have a 15 month old and don't always want to go out, but it's nice that the option is there.

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Rhianna1980 · 22/08/2020 09:35

@Purplequalitystreet it is not about school versus economy . It’s the opposite, they affect each other.
If schools don’t open safely, the economy starts to fall apart again no matter how much more money they pour into any industry.
If the hotspots where loads of people meet like schools don’t control the spread of the virus, no amount of money will save restaurants etc. Its like pouring water in a sieve.

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Iwantacookie · 22/08/2020 09:43

The torys are never going to put any money into schools just lie about doing it instead.

I think the eat out to help out was good but it only helped one sector of the economy. I think they're other idea of giving everyone x amount to spend would of been better. The support could of then been spread out across all sectors because people would of been choosing where to put their money.

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BikeTyson · 22/08/2020 09:44

I have no idea why people are turning this pandemic into an economy vs schools argument. You do realise that if the economy is destroyed no amount of money poured into education will help a lot of children find a job? It's about balance.

This. If the government wanted to put money into schools they could. They’re choosing not to, it’s not a zero-sum game at the moment.

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Mashingthecompost · 22/08/2020 10:01

I am not an expert, but a friend pointed out that there were people getting furlough on massive wages, who could have taken a cut and used a portion of the profits to keep things going instead of being propped up by the government. This hasn't been mentioned much where I've been looking (but I avoid these threads mostly tbf). I think it's not one vs the other, I think the govt screwed themselves by pandering to the big election funders and ran out of cash, so had to stop the scheme and get people spending. Proportionally, that will have cost way more than this scheme.

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Letseatgrandma · 22/08/2020 10:04

I completely agree, OP.

What’s daft is that the government will spend money on campaigns to persuade parents that schools are COVID free and children never transmit, but won’t spend money on doing anything to mitigate risk.

Staff and children will get sick, schools will close, parents will be understandably cross and I expect the press will blame the teachers.

When it was the government not putting a penny into education that caused it.

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MereDintofPandiculation · 22/08/2020 10:06

I am not an expert, but a friend pointed out that there were people getting furlough on massive wages, who could have taken a cut and used a portion of the profits to keep things going instead of being propped up by the government. There was a cut-off point for government support for furlough pay. So the people on massive wages on furlough would have been only part subsidised by government.

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MaryBerrysBomberJacket · 22/08/2020 10:15

I had discussion with my Tory voting parents 2 days ago. They are still aghast that schools have been no extra money and the handling in general. One of my daughters managed to get my mum to admit she is embarrassed about voting for them actually! We have used the scheme a few times to eat out and see some family because once schools open I will be seeing no-one outside my household. I teach in a massive secondary school with over 2000 students; no way am I risking my extended family with this.

I'm still uncomfortable about my own two (Y10 and Y12) going back, and have offered them the option of staying home if they like. Thankfully they are excellent students and the eldest is doing Sciences like me, so I'm not worried about that. We have already agreed that if they don't feel like their school is doing what it can in terms of COVID security they can work from home. Sadly, the mortgage depends on me being at school.

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CeibaTree · 22/08/2020 10:16

I don't think schools should have been prioritised instead of propping up the hospitality industry, but as well as. Not every working adult in the UK is affected by schools reopening or not, if the economy doesn't start to recover soon, school closures won't be a problem for those parents who lose their jobs anyway.

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Rhianna1980 · 22/08/2020 10:30

@CeibaTree I agree that not every adult in the hospitality industry has a school child but I strongly disagree that they (the hospitality industry ) won’t be affected if local lock downs kick in or even worse another national one kicks.
Also, assume this scenario: employee A doesn’t have kids in school but employee B and C have had to go home because their kids’ school had to shut and to self isolate. Employee B and C might be infected from their kids and might have passed it on to the childless employee.
Point is: we are all linked in together somehow and the virus loves that, so we need to strong infection control in big hubs like schools.

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CherryPavlova · 22/08/2020 10:37

I think people with sufficient money to eat out usually should show more morality and humanity than the government and use the saved money to but food for foodbanks.
I think the government has decided to prioritise their own voters and appease the masses as a popularist act that detracts from their serious failings.

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IWantAPetUnicorn · 22/08/2020 10:40

The lack of school funding generally is appalling. The lack of extra funds for even increased cleaning due to coronavirus is a scandal.

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CeibaTree · 22/08/2020 10:42

[quote Rhianna1980]@CeibaTree I agree that not every adult in the hospitality industry has a school child but I strongly disagree that they (the hospitality industry ) won’t be affected if local lock downs kick in or even worse another national one kicks.
Also, assume this scenario: employee A doesn’t have kids in school but employee B and C have had to go home because their kids’ school had to shut and to self isolate. Employee B and C might be infected from their kids and might have passed it on to the childless employee.
Point is: we are all linked in together somehow and the virus loves that, so we need to strong infection control in big hubs like schools.[/quote]
I didn't just mean the hospitality industry in terms of not having school aged children, but working adults in general across all sectors of the economy. But I agree with you that schools should have had specific government funding too - my point is that funding shouldn't have been instead of funding the hospitality industry as your OP suggests, but as well as. As you say we are all linked together.

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Rhianna1980 · 22/08/2020 11:30

@CeibaTree we are on the same page I agree with you . The reason why I said “help should be diverted to schools instead of the hospitality industry” is because they keep saying we are short on money, we have a big debt etc. So if there’s only a certain amount of money to be spent to help out during this crisis, prioritising help for the sectors that need the most help should kick in.


Helping schools stay open safely will directly affect the rest of the economy long term, however, helping the pub down the road for a month will only help short term for example.

While schools don’t make money, having all kids back in schools safely will bring back a healthy looking economy.
The gov is only patching things. Schools have been forgotten about.

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IloveJKRowling · 22/08/2020 12:03

What’s daft is that the government will spend money on campaigns to persuade parents that schools are COVID free and children never transmit, but won’t spend money on doing anything to mitigate risk.
Staff and children will get sick, schools will close, parents will be understandably cross and I expect the press will blame the teachers.
When it was the government not putting a penny into education that caused it.


This, and for people who get very ill they'll be more than cross. I hope they sue.

Criminal to put money into a PR campaign that could go to schools. I might do a FOI to find out how much it cost....

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IceCreamAndCandyfloss · 22/08/2020 12:15

Schools have been forgotten about

Funding wise I would agree.

However there have been so many parents just wanting the schools to open so they don’t have to do any schoolwork or have the childcare. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen quotes that the children will be fine but many don’t stop to think of the staff, vulnerable family members or children who were shielding. People could have campaigned for safe opening rather than everyone back.

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Fifthtimelucky · 22/08/2020 13:20

I think the eat out to help our scheme has been useful to help keep people in the hospitality industry employed and to encourage the rest of us back out.

There was additional funding for schools up to July - the amount depended on the size of the school but it was up to £75,000 for schools with over 1,000 pupils and £25,000 for those with 250 pupils or fewer. They could use it to pay for coronavirus related costs like additional cleaning.

I haven't seen any announcement about any additional funding for the new academic year though.

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PJ6M · 22/08/2020 14:39

The eat out to help out thing is a drop in the ocean. We're hurtling towards abject economic, ecological and social disaster. We have been for years.

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CoffeeandCroissant · 22/08/2020 15:46

Yes, in terms of government spending it's a drop in the ocean. £10 billion spent on a centralised track and trace system for England only (which wasn't particularly good, never mind "world beating", hence the move to more localised t and t). £15 billion spent on PPE, etc.

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IWantAPetUnicorn · 22/08/2020 17:10

@Fifthtimelucky sorry but that isn’t true. Schools could only get additional funding in exception circumstances and only after they had used up all of their original budget. The additional cleaning funding was only available where there was a confirmed case of Covid in a pupil or member of staff.

Hardly any schools will have been able to access this exceptional funding.

The devil is in the detail: www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-financial-support-for-schools/school-funding-exceptional-costs-associated-with-coronavirus-covid-19-for-the-period-march-to-july-2020

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Fifthtimelucky · 22/08/2020 23:04

The guidance suggests schools could access the funding if they had a suspected case of Covid, not just a confirmed case, but I accept that all schools might not have been able to get extra help.

I definitely know of one primary school that accessed it. It also saved a substantial amount of money last year because of Covid, because it didn't incur lots of expenses it had expected to incur. Anecdotal, obviously, and I know all schools are different, but that school cannot be unique in being financially better off as a result of Covid.

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