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For all its seaside delights, Margate in Kent is one of the most deprived parts of the UK. Amid the cost of living crisis, many families are struggling to make ends meet.

Falling ill can become a headlong plunge into poverty – as Kyra Lloyd, a 25-year-old shop assistant, discovered when she began experiencing agonising pain in her ankle and she was left unable to stand.

“I started getting some very horrible, horrible pains. My foot was completely swollen, I couldn’t move.”

Doctors told Kyra the metalwork holding her bones together since a childhood fracture had snapped – and without surgery she could end up permanently in a wheelchair.

During the long wait for treatment she was signed off work. But statutory sick pay barely covered half her rent – let alone any other living expenses.

“I’m in so much debt now because of it,” she says.

“I have about £3,000 in debt from borrowing from people and getting loans because I just couldn’t afford to live. I couldn’t pay my rent. It’s just not enough.

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It’s embarrassing to ask people when you can’t even afford to eat.

“I ended up having just gravy and bread for dinner because I just couldn’t afford it – the question was do I have a roof over my head or food? No one should have to choose.

“Even things like washing your clothes… I was having to wash them in the bath at one point because I just couldn’t afford to use that much electricity. It’s so difficult. It’s not right.”

Kyra has now recovered and has a new job, but she’s constantly worried about the pain coming back.

“Every time I feel a slight twinge in my foot, I think – I can’t afford to go back on sick pay, I can’t afford another surgery. It’s a huge stress.”

Christopher Balmont
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Statutory sick pay will only cover a quarter of Christopher Balmont’s normal income

Christopher Balmont, 57, has been working as a head chef in a restaurant for more than a decade. His partner is unable to work as she cares for their daughter, who has special educational needs.

Earlier this week, he was signed off work with depression and anxiety. Statutory sick pay will only cover a quarter of his normal income – and the stress of how to pay the bills is making his condition worse.

“I don’t sleep, I feel anxious most of the time, and this makes me even more anxious,” he says.

“I’m worried about the whole situation and the amount you get. I would have thought it would be more. I haven’t had to claim it before, so it’s just a bit of a shock. And I had no choice. If I had a choice I’d be at work.

“It’s not just me that’s suffering from my illness, it’s my family as well.”

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While around half of workers are offered more generous levels of sick pay by their employers, a third are only entitled to the legal minimum.

What is statutory sick pay and how does it work?

Statutory sick pay is currently £109.40 a week, which works out at around a third of the minimum wage.

It is only paid from the fourth consecutive day of illness – during COVID this was temporarily changed so workers were entitled to support from day one, but that stopped last year.

Your employer does not have to pay if your average weekly earnings are less than £123 a week.

This means two million of the country’s lowest paid workers receive no sick pay at all – a situation which particularly affects those in jobs like cleaning, caring and security where zero-hours contracts are common and staff often work shifts for multiple employers. Self-employed people are not covered either.

In 2019, the government pledged to improve and expand statutory sick pay to cover all low-paid workers for the first time.

The idea was strongly supported in the resulting public consultation, with 75% of respondents in favour, including large and small employers. But during the pandemic that promise was abandoned.

Research on minimum income standards

Matt Padley, from Loughborough University’s centre for research in social policy, has calculated the impact of falling ill and relying on statutory sick pay in the light of his research on minimum income standards.

He and his team produce the annual minimum income standard calculation, which determines the weekly budget needed by households to maintain a socially acceptable standard of living in the UK.

For a single person living outside London that figure in 2022 was £489.20 a week.

Under statutory sick pay, a worker’s earnings are less than 25% of what they would need just to meet that minimum standard.

In the first week of illness, when payment only begins from the fourth day, that figure is 10%.

Within a month, a single adult previously on average earnings of £630 a week would face a shortfall of £1,230 – in three months, it’s £3,862.

“Without any other support from the state, all workers receiving statutory sick pay or no sick pay would fall well short of what they need for a minimum socially acceptable standard of living,” Mr Padley says.

That equates to more than 12 million people.

People are being forced onto benefits system

The campaign group Safe Sick Pay, a coalition of charities and trade unions, is calling for statutory sick pay to be increased in line with the minimum wage, for all employees to be covered, and for payments to begin on the first day of illness.

“Currently if these workers fall sick, they either have to go into work sick – making their condition worse and potentially infecting other people – or they stay at home and do the right thing, but then they’re left unable to pay the bills,” says campaign director Amanda Walters.

She argues low rates of statutory sick pay are forcing people onto the benefits system – as levels of support are significantly higher.

“If you fall sick and you only get the legal minimum sick pay then very quickly you’re going to fall out of the workforce, going onto benefits and to universal credit. And the longer you’re on universal credit, the harder it is to get back into the workforce.

“That is why we want to see a link between those that are sick and their employer not pushing them onto universal credit.

“A lot of these people want to remain in work. They don’t want to go onto universal credit. And at the moment, the current system is costing the taxpayer £55bn.”

‘Sick pay reform is overdue’

Encouraging people to return to employment after a period of long-term sickness was a key priority of the chancellor’s “Back to Work” budget in March.

But statutory sick pay was not mentioned, and some senior Tories, including former cabinet minister Sir Robert Buckland, argue sick pay reform has to be part of the strategy.

Robert Buckland
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Sir Robert Buckland is calling for sick pay reform

“Now’s the time for action,” he says.

“We’re talking about hundreds of thousands of people who, through no fault of their own, might get ill and who end up staying off work for longer because of the disincentives that are caused at the moment by the lack of reach of statutory sick pay.

“We need a range of measures to combat economic inactivity and lack of productivity. And it seems to me that a reform to stop sick pay is overdue.

‘A win-win for employers’

“It’s not just a compassionate move, it’s a common-sense move. It’s a pro-business move. It’s a productivity enhancing move.

“It’s a win-win for employers, because at the moment there’s a disincentive to even announce any illness at all, and that can lead to further problems down the line. And very often longer-term absence is disastrous for small employers who really get hit hard by that.”

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said the government has a “strong track record” of getting people off benefits and back into work, and that the number of people who are economically inactive is going down.

“We are implementing a range of initiatives supporting disabled people and people with health conditions not just to start, but to stay and succeed in work,” they added.

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Ryanair urges EU chief to ‘quit’ over air traffic strike disruption

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Ryanair urges EU chief to 'quit' over air traffic strike disruption

The boss of Ryanair has told Sky News the president of the European Commission should “quit” if she can’t stop disruption caused by repeated French air traffic control strikes.

Michael O’Leary, the group chief executive of Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers, said in an interview with Business Live that Ursula von der Leyen had failed to get to grips, at an EU level, with interruption to overflights following several recent disputes in France.

The latest action began on Thursday and is due to conclude later today, forcing thousands of flights to be delayed and cancelled through French airspace closures.

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Mr O’Leary told presenter Darren McCaffrey that French domestic flights were given priority during ATC strikes and other nations, including Italy and Greece, had solved the problem through minimum service legislation.

He claimed that the vast majority of flights, cancelled over two days of action that began on Thursday, would have been able to operate under similar rules.

Mr O’Leary said of the EU’s role: “We continue to call on Ursula von der Leyen – why are you not protecting these overflights, why is the single market for air travel being disrupted by a tiny number of French air traffic controllers?

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File photo dated 02/09/22 of a Ryanair Boeing 737-8AS passenger airliner comes in to land at Stansted Airport in Essex. Ryanair has revealed around 63,000 of its passengers saw their flights cancelled during last week's air traffic control failure which caused widespread disruption across the industry and left thousands of passengers stranded overseas. In its August traffic update, the Irish carrier said more than 350 of its flights were cancelled on August 28 and 29 due to the air traffic contr
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Ryanair has cancelled more than 400 flights over two days due to the action in France. File pic: PA

“All we get is a shrug of their shoulders and ‘there’s nothing we can do’. We point out, there is.”

He added: “We are calling on Ursula von der Leyen, who preaches about competitiveness and reforming Europe, if you’re not willing to protect or fix overflights then quit and let somebody more effective do the job.”

The strike is estimated, by the Airlines for Europe lobby group to have led to at least 1,500 cancelled flights, leaving 300,000 travellers unable to make their journeys.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary speaks to journalists during a press conference at The Alex Hotel in Dublin. Picture date: Thursday October 3, 2024.
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Michael O’Leary believes the EU can take action on competition grounds. Pic: PA

Ryanair itself had axed more than 400 flights so far, Mr O’Leary said. Rival easyJet said on Thursday that it had cancelled 274 services over the two days.

The beginning of July marks the start of the European summer holiday season.

The French civil aviation agency DGAC had already told airlines to cancel 40% of flights covering the three main Paris airports on Friday ahead of the walkout – a dispute over staffing levels and equipment quality.

Mr O’Leary described those safety issues as “nonsense” and said twhile the controllers had a right to strike, they did not have the right to close the sky.

DGAC has warned of delays and further severe disruption heading into the weekend.

Many planes and crews will be out of position.

Mr O’Leary is not alone in expressing his frustration.

The French transport minister Philippe Tabarot has denounced the action and the reasons for it.

“The idea is to disturb as many people as possible,” he said in an interview with CNews.

Passengers are being advised that if your flight is cancelled, the airline must either give you a refund or book you on an alternative flight.

If you have booked a return flight and the outbound leg is cancelled, you can claim the full cost of the return ticket back from your airline.

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CBI kicks off search for successor to ‘saviour’ Soames

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CBI kicks off search for successor to 'saviour' Soames

The CBI has begun a search for a successor to Rupert Soames, its chairman, as it continues its recovery from the crisis which brought it to the brink of collapse in 2023.

Sky News has learnt that the business lobbying group’s nominations committee has engaged headhunters to assist with a hunt for its next corporate figurehead.

Mr Soames, the grandson of Sir Winston Churchill, was recruited by the CBI in late 2023 with the organisation lurching towards insolvency after an exodus of members.

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The group’s handling of a sexual misconduct scandal saw it forced to secure emergency funding from a group of banks, even as it was frozen out of meetings with government ministers.

One prominent CBI member described Mr Soames on Thursday as the group’s “saviour”.

“Without his ability to bring members back, the organisation wouldn’t exist today,” they claimed.

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Rupert Soames
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Rupert Soames. Pic: Reuters

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Mr Soames and Rain Newton-Smith, the CBI chief executive, have partly restored its influence in Whitehall, although many doubt that it will ever be able to credibly reclaim its former status as ‘the voice of British business’.

Its next chair, who is also likely to be drawn from a leading listed company boardroom, will take over from Mr Soames early next year.

Egon Zehnder International is handling the search for the CBI.

“The CBI chair’s term typically runs for two years and Rupert Soames will end his term in early 2026,” a CBI spokesperson said.

“In line with good governance, we have begun the search for a successor to ensure continuity and a smooth transition.”

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Ryanair and easyJet cancel hundreds of flights over air traffic control strike

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Ryanair and easyJet cancel hundreds of flights over air traffic control strike

Ryanair and easyJet have cancelled hundreds of flights as a French air traffic controllers strike looms.

Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers, said it had axed 170 services amid a plea by French authorities for airlines to reduce flights at Paris airports by 40% on Friday.

EasyJet said it was cancelling 274 flights during the action, which is due to begin later as part of a row over staffing numbers and ageing equipment.

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The owner of British Airways, IAG, said it was planning to use larger aircraft to minimise disruption for its own passengers.

The industrial action is set to affect all flights using French airspace, leading to wider cancellations and delays across Europe and the wider world.

Ryanair said its cancellations, covering both days, would hit services to and from France, and also flights over the country to destinations such as the UK, Greece, Spain and Ireland.

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Group chief executive Michael O’Leary has campaigned for a European Union-led shake-up of air traffic control services in a bid to prevent such disruptive strikes, which have proved common in recent years.

He described the latest action as “recreational”.

Michael O'Leary. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Michael O’Leary. Pic: Reuters

“Once again, European families are held to ransom by French air traffic controllers going on strike,” he said.

“It is not acceptable that overflights over French airspace en route to their destination are being cancelled/delayed as a result of yet another French ATC strike.

“It makes no sense and is abundantly unfair on EU passengers and families going on holidays.”

Ryanair is demanding the EU ensure that air traffic services are fully staffed for the first wave of daily departures, as well as to protect overflights during national strikes.

“These two splendid reforms would eliminate 90% of all ATC delays and cancellations, and protect EU passengers from these repeated and avoidable ATC disruptions due to yet another French ATC strike,” Mr O’Leary added.

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