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Covid-19: Possible Liability and Insurance Trends

A collection of Public, HR, Insurance and Charity Sector articles that explore some possible risks and liabilities that local partners may want to consider as a result of the pandemic.

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues, there are concerns that legal and regulatory risks and liabilities will likely arise in both the mid and long-term as a result of the pandemic. We have drawn together a number of Public, HR, Insurance and Charity Sector articles that explore some possible risks and liabilities that local partners may want to consider in their capacity as employers and service providers.

Disclaimer: This article does not serve as legal advice. Local partners should seek independent legal advice if they have any concerns arising from the issues explored within the article.

Situations resulting in possible prosecution or legal claim

In its recent briefing originally published in May 2020 and updated in December 2020, the Care Provider Alliance (CPA) looks at the potential risks and liabilities arising from the Covid-19 pandemic, and situations that may potentially arise resulting in prosecution or legal claims against a care service provider.

Coronavirus Insurance Risk & Indemnity

Long Covid

The long-term effects of Covid-19 on those who have suffered with the virus are still relatively unknown, and there is increasing evidence of people experiencing long-term health complications. These articles explore potential and known implications for employers and consider whether Long Covid could amount to a “disability” and the potential consequences for employers more generally.

Staff vaccination

As the Covid-19 vaccine programme rolls out, there are implications for employers and employees and potentially some challenges should employees refuse to have the vaccination. These are explored in an article by Stephens Scown, the HR Lawyers and providers of our HR Express service.

Coronavirus vaccination – Key issues for employers

Long-term impact on employees

One of the most visible examples of the impact of Covid-19 on the workplace is the growth of remote working, yet the long-term impact of this is still relatively unknown. There is increasing evidence of adverse effects for employees that employers need to bear in mind in relation to staff working from home. People Management, a leading UK HR media brand, consider the negative effects on training employees, including new and/or inexperienced members of staff, who cannot be observed, taught, or learn with other colleagues in their organisation which in turn can impact career development.

The long-term impact of Covid on the workplace

In a Lewis Silken, global HR lawyers, article from February 2021, they consider the long-term mental and physical health of employees, and if it has detrimentally affected their career development. Timewise, flexible working advocates and consultancy firm, explores the opportunities and risks of the increased take up of remote and flexible working caused by Covid-19, and explains how to build the more positive aspects into long-term strategies.

Insurers increasing premiums and introducing exclusions

The long-term effects of Covid-19 are concerning many insurers – particularly with regard to the potential for legal liability claims alleging that Covid-19 has been contracted due to the negligence of a policyholder. In its article last month, Civil Society looks at this growing concern and movement towards limiting Employer and Public Liability cover where insurance companies may exclude Covid-19 or pandemic-related claims at the point that policies come up for renewal, or hugely increase premiums for the sector in order to cover Covid-19 related risk.

Insurance outlook for charities in 2021

Free HR support for local partners

For any advice and guidance on employment related matters, please remember that you can register for our HR Express service provided by Stephens Scown and receive free newsletters, updates, guidance and webinars that will explore the employment related aspects of the pandemic and how they might affect your organisation. They have been providing the partners that have registered with updates at each key point of the pandemic, including at each new version of the furlough scheme. They have also provided everyone they work with on HR Express with all the templates they have needed through the pandemic and around furlough.

For more information, contact Stephens Scown on: 03300 945314 or email: hre@stephens-scown.co.uk

Microsoft Teams Training Recordings now available

Following the Microsoft Teams Training sessions throughout February, the links to the recordings of each session can be viewed below.

Thank you to everyone who attended the Microsoft Teams Training sessions throughout February, we hope you found them useful. Please find the links to the recordings of each session below. We are working with Microsoft to schedule in more of these sessions in the future and we will communicate out dates for these soon.

Teams 100 Session 1

This session covers the basics of Microsoft Teams. So if you do not feel confident using Teams, this session is for you. The includes navigating Teams, using chat, collaborating in Teams, calendar and meetings, making calls, sharing files and more. This recording is from the Tuesday 2nd February session.

Teams 100 Session 2

Teams Meetings

This session focuses on how to set up and manage meetings on Teams.

Teams Breakout Rooms

Attend this session to learn how to split meeting attendees into mini-groups during a meeting, and how to get the most out of this long-awaited new feature.

Teams Live Events

Learn how to host and organise live events in Teams. You can use live events to run training sessions, host large meetings and more.

Teams 200

This session will help you raise your Teams skills to the next level. This session is designed to build on existing Teams knowledge and establish best practice and etiquette across available apps. Additionally, this course will explore integration across Microsoft 365 in more depth than the beginner course and explore the end-to-end meeting journey.

Guide to Financial Scenario Planning

Following on from last week’s Finance Network Meeting, we have produced a short Guide to financial Scenario Planning which you can download below.

Last week’s Finance Network meeting, attended by 105 people from across the network, featured a presentation on ‘Forecasting in a time of uncertainty’, by Stuart Walker, an accountant commissioned by the Cranfield Trust. Stuart mentioned ‘Scenario Planning’ and spoke about the importance of this tool in forecasting – he also referred to a link to an article on the subject which was included on his final slide. For those who were not able to attend the meeting, we have produced a short Guide to Financial Scenario Planning which we hope will prove to be helpful at this time of planning and forecasting for the coming year.

Please click below to download the guide:

Scenario Planning – A Guide – March 21 Download

Upcoming Webinars

With the roadmap for emerging from lockdown now announced, click here to view a series of upcoming events to help you to prepare for recovery.

Reminder: February Monthly Assessment available

A reminder that the link for the monthly assessment for February is now available, find out all the details here.

A huge thank you to everyone who completed the Monthly Assessment for January. This is a quick reminder that the February Monthly Assessment is now live and ready for completion here. The assessment deadline is 5pm on Wednesday 10th March.

Thank you for continuing to complete these assessments, they are hugely important in helping us make the case for support to the network from funders, government and other stakeholders – all of whom want to understand the collective front-line response of the network and how you’re responding to the unprecedented and growing needs of people affected by Covid-19.

Click here to complete the February Assessment

A Word document reference copy for you to consult before filling in the assessment is available here: February Monthly Assessment Reference Copy

Please complete the assessment by 5pm on Wednesday 10^th March. The reporting period is 1st February to 28th February inclusive. If you have any questions please email COVID-19 Enquiry Line COVID-19EnquiryLine@ageuk.org.uk.

All the latest information on these assessments can be viewed on our Partner Insight Hub here. This Hub holds the data reports from the fortnightly assessments, the link to the new monthly assessment, and a Word document reference copy for you to consult before filling in.

Assessment Schedule

To help you to plan your responses to the monthly assessments, the schedule for the next few responses can be viewed below:

Assessment Month	Date of Release	Date for Completion
February	22nd February	10th March 5pm
March	22nd March	12th April 5pm

Charity Finance Group membership offer

Charity Finance Group (CFG) is offering organisations that join in March 2021 an additional month of membership for free.

Charity Finance Group (CFG) is offering organisations that join in March 2021 an additional month of membership at no extra cost – so for the price of an annual membership, you would become a member until 31 March 2022. Charity Finance Group (CFG) helps non-profit leaders, finance managers and trustees to understand what’s happening in the world of charity finance. Membership aims to help you grow skills and expertise, be connected to peers so you can share learning, and access resources and support.

As a member:

You’ll receive help and support through the CFG membership community;
Have your say on vital policy issues and campaigning work as CFG fights for a better operating environment for the sector;
Have access to free members’ meetings and special interest groups which take a deep dive into sector and finance function issues;
Access resources and member-only publications including popular member benefits Finance Focus monthly magazine and recently published Guide to Gift Aid;
Get free advice through expert helplines on key topics ran by CFG corporate members;
Save money with member discounts and build your CPD through CFG’s comprehensive events and training programme which helps you to network and stay and up-to-date on developments in the sector.

Find out more about CFG member benefits and how to join at: www.cfg.org.uk/joinus

CFG Small Charities Bursary

CFG is also offering a Small Charities Bursary and small charities which have been financially impacted by Covid-19 can alternatively consider applying for a year of free membership through the CFG Small Charity bursary scheme, available through the kind support of The Garfield Weston Foundation. The bursary scheme has limited availability so early application is recommended.

Find out full details here.

Upcoming webinars: Preparing for recovery

With the roadmap for emerging from lockdown now announced, here are a series of upcoming events to help you to prepare for recovery.

Although we are all still responding to the pandemic, there is now a roadmap for coming out of lockdown and our organisations are having to think ahead to the next financial year and beyond – forecasting, planning and preparing for recovery. With that in mind, Age UK is planning a series of events to help you prepare for recovery.

Whatever the individual position of our organisations, it is clear we will be stepping out into a different world, where the needs and immediate priorities of older people and their carers will have changed; new organisations will have identified market opportunities and become our competitors; the ways in which we deliver some of our operations and services may no longer be appropriate and will need to change to be relevant for the future.

We also know that recovery can be a time of high risk for organisations, where careful assessment and planning is needed to ensure ongoing sustainability and survival.

Take a look at our upcoming events to help you prepare for recovery below. You can book your place for the first webinar now, find out all the details here. Further information about the later workshops, including how to sign up will follow but we hope this helps in terms of getting the dates in your diaries. Please invite colleagues as appropriate.

Event	What this will cover	Date	Suggested Audience
Building Back Better – how to survive the recovery phase. Teams Webinar	The end of lockdown / easing of restrictions will bring many opportunities to restore services but the recovery phase of any economic cycle also brings increasing risks and is unfortunately the time when many businesses fail. This session will explore future prospects for the network and discuss the key issues for our organisations to consider. Click here to book your place.	10 March 11am – 12.30pm	Chairs, trustees, CEOs and Finance Managers
Finance Network – ‘Opportunities, risks and considerations for the recovery’ Teams Webinar	Complementing the 10 March event, this will focus more directly on issues affecting Brand Partners: The return of income streams The future of sustainable service delivery The cost of change (and of not changing) From crisis mode to strategic financial planning. Sign up details to follow.	24 March Time TBC	CEOs, Chairs, Treasurers, and Finance Managers.
Engaging with your local health systems Teams Events	Changes within local health systems could present new opportunities for the network. We will be running a series of events to help you hear directly from health colleagues, find out more and explore these opportunities. Sign up details to follow.	31 March 4pm – 5pm Further workshops to follow in April	CEOs, service managers.

Useful Resources

In addition, we will continue to make resources available to help you adapt existing services or develop new ones. These include:

Our template service specifications covering Home Support, Footcare and Community Support (a new model for day services)
We are also in the process of developing specifications for Lasting Power of Attorney and Digital Inclusion Services.

Please speak with your Service Managers to explore how you could make the most of these opportunities and help them engage with your Finance Managers to identify the costs and get your pricing right.

We will also continue to involve you in the development of our network infrastructure programmes, helping you engage with systems that should do more for your organisations and introduce efficiencies. For more information visit: The Network Infrastructure Hub.

We will regularly post links to resources that you might find helpful on this site and if there’s anything you would like us to cover, please let us know through contacting COVID-19EnquiryLine@ageuk.org.uk

Fundraising Bulletin #7 – Updates on Public, Corporate, Trusts and Public Sector Funding

The latest fundraising bulletin on community, corporate, public sector and trusts funding is now available.

Welcome to the latest funding bulletin. In this edition we provide an update on the March Free Wills Month campaign, details of new grant funding opportunities open to local Age UKs and a reminder of some previously featured grant opportunities.

Fundraising Bulletin Seventh Edition Download

Earlier Editions

You can view earlier editions of this bulletin below:

Bulletin 1 – August
Bulletin 2 – September
Bulletin 3 – October
Bulletin 4 – November
Bulletin 5 – December
Bulletin 6 – January

Upcoming Webinar: Building Back Better – How to survive the recovery phase

Age UK are running a webinar to look at the future prospects for the network on Wednesday 10 March from 11:00 to 12:30.

As we look forward to the spring with the planned end of lockdown and the gradual re-opening of shops and leisure activities, we should start to consider what this will mean for our services. After a long period of forced hibernation and the largest drop in recorded GDP, the hope is that we will see a rapid bounce-back for the economy, with a surge in activities. This will bring with it many opportunities for us to restore services but it will also be a time of increased competition, particularly for funding.

The recovery phase of any economic cycle brings with it increasing risks and unfortunately it is the time when many businesses fail. With that in mind, we are running a webinar to look at the future prospects for the network on Wednesday 10 March from 11:00 to 12:30. The primary intended audience is Chairs and trustees, but all CEOs and FDs are warmly invited to attend.

This webinar will be led by Steve Billot. Steve has been working closely with the network for the last few years and having visited over 60 local Age UKs, has a real understanding of the issues we face. He lectures at Cass Business School on their Masters Course on Charity Management and was formerly an Insolvency Practitioner. He has seen many business cycles during his career and will share with us his thoughts on what the next 12-18 months are likely to bring to the charity sector and particularly to Age UK.

This session will have an interactive element where you will be able to ask questions and participate in a general discussion.

This is a Webinar not to be missed! Please register your wish to attend by emailing David Chenery or John Fox at Age UK. The Webinar will be via Microsoft Teams and full joining instructions will be sent towards the end of the preceding week.

National Voices inviting examples of practical ways to help people access virtual health services

National Voices are inviting examples of practical ways to support people who might find it difficult to access virtual health services.

National Voices, a coalition of health and social care charities in England, are collating examples of Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) led innovation during Covid-19 on behalf of the Innovation, Research and Life Sciences team at NHS England and Improvement. Covid-19 has meant changes in the ways that people access services and accelerated a move to virtual and remote models of care – a digital “front door”. This has opened up many opportunities for efficiencies, innovation, and easier access, but has also thrown a spotlight on health inequalities, the barriers for people to access health and social care and the digital
divide.

The voluntary and community sector, sometimes in partnership with health organisations, has been adapting its support offer during the Covid-19 pandemic and has much to share in this area.

National Voices are interested in finding and sharing practical ways to support people who might find it difficult to access virtual health services and who might be affected by wider inequalities. They want to know how services have continued to involve people in decisions about their care and the organisations that deliver it.

If you have a story/innovation to share, please get in touch with Savannah.Fishel@nationalvoices.org.uk, or
sam@uberology.co.uk.

February Monthly Assessment Link now available

The link for the monthly assessment for February is now available, find out all the details here.

A huge thank you to everyone who completed the Monthly Assessment for January. The February Monthly Assessment is now live and ready for completion here. The assessment deadline is 5pm on Wednesday 10th March.

click here to complete the february assessment

A Word document reference copy for you to consult before filling in the assessment is available here:

February Monthly Assessment Reference Copy Download

Assessment Schedule

To help you to plan your responses to the monthly assessments, the schedule for the next few responses can be viewed below:

Assessment Month	Date of Release	Date for Completion
February	22nd February	10th March 5pm
March	22nd March	12th April 5pm