Return to Covid tiers ‘could plunge millions in England into crisis’

Millions of people face emotional and financial crisis if England returns to a tiered system of restrictions after lockdown, the British Red Cross has warned.

The charity polled more than 2,000 people between October and December last year to look at the impact of the tiered system on their finances and mental wellbeing. It found that support for the most vulnerable, which had been available during lockdown, was lost once the tier system was introduced, sparking widespread problems.

The charity warned that large numbers of people were at risk of going without essentials such as food, clothes and energy unless the government took action to boost cash support when the nation emerged from lockdown once again.

Norman McKinley, the executive director of UK operations at the British Red Cross, said: “Local and national governments have the best intentions but too many people have fallen through the cracks.

“Our report shows the inextricable link between financial insecurity and mental health, and that the point at which someone faces hardship is a crucial moment to catch them before they fall into a more desperate situation.”

The report, titled The Longest Year, says two groups have been hardest hit by the pandemic. The first is a “newly vulnerable” group of people who have never needed help before and are struggling due to stigma and not knowing where to go for support. The second is made up of people who were struggling before the pandemic and are now “on the brink”, facing impossible choices between essentials such as food, heating or clothing for their children.

The charity is calling for easy access to emergency cash support for these hard-hit groups. It is calling on the UK government to give £250m a year to local authorities in England to top up “local welfare assistance schemes” – which provide emergency short-term cash for people whose circumstances change quickly as a result of the pandemic.

It says governments across the UK should review and urgently improve access to self-isolation support payments, so it’s simpler to apply, especially for people on low incomes, or who would struggle to self-isolate without the payments.

Researchers found that 43% of people who needed financial support to self-isolate could not get it. More than half of UK adults – 55% – find it hard to talk about their problems when so many people are having a difficult time and 71% say they are not confident that they can cope with or recover from the changes to their life.

Half of UK adults – 50% – found it difficult to keep up to date with the latest coronavirus restrictions in their area and three quarters – 74% – found it easier to limit how much they left home rather than try to keep up with changes to the restrictions.