Coronavirus: People told to self-isolate stopped from claiming £500 grant by flaw in contact tracing app

[Northerner]

People told to isolate by the contact-tracing app are not able to claim government financial support, Sky News has learned, raising fears that low-paid workers will be forced to choose between health and hardship.

A leading poverty charity said the situation was "ridiculous" and Labour accused the government of putting families at risk of destitution.

Workers with low incomes on benefits are entitled to receive £500 if they cannot work from home while they self-isolate.

But a hidden flaw in the process for claiming the payment means they can only claim the support if they are given a code by a human contact tracer.

Coronavirus: People told to self-isolate stopped from claiming £500 grant by flaw in contact tracing app

A button to allow those to claim the cash was never added to the app, sources have told Sky News.

news.sky.com

I wonder what will come next? 🙄

 

[grovesy]

Matt Hancock denied this yesterday when an opposition MP brought it up.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

People told to isolate by the contact-tracing app are not able to claim government financial support, Sky News has learned, raising fears that low-paid workers will be forced to choose between health and hardship.

On the other side, it surely won't be possible to fine such people if they don't isolate. (It's this basic problem that a phone isn't the person and also that the app was redesigned to preserve privacy.)

 

[grovesy]

Well why have the button then?

 

[Bruce Stephens]

Well why have the button then?

According to the story there's isn't such a button. (Both times I've got a notification from the app it's said that I don't need to do anything, so I guess I wouldn't have seen the button, if there is one.)

 

[Northerner]

On the other side, it surely won't be possible to fine such people if they don't isolate. (It's this basic problem that a phone isn't the person and also that the app was redesigned to preserve privacy.)

They're not finding people anyway. I bet a lot of people are disinclined to self-isolate based on an app alert anyway, many will convince themselves that they are fine and it's wrong. I'd like to know how many fines have actually been issued - Boris said that over 1m people had been traced and contacted, we don't have the resources to police that. Also, what's the point of a fine if the person is so hard up that they have no choice but to work to feed their family? The government needed to build and retain trust, they have lost most of the trust and goodwill they had back in March. I think people probably largely use their own judgement now rather than trying to follow what the government are saying.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

The government needed to build and retain trust, they have lost most of the trust and goodwill they had back in March.

Exactly. And their policies seem designed to allow them to blame people when the government's policies fail. Don't try to support people to do what they're supposed to do: just threaten them with fines when they fail. It's like they're not even trying to be competent in managing the infections any more.

 

[Northerner]

Exactly. And their policies seem designed to allow them to blame people when the government's policies fail. Don't try to support people to do what they're supposed to do: just threaten them with fines when they fail. It's like they're not even trying to be competent in managing the infections any more.

They are all so inexperienced in actual government that they are in way over their heads. They react, rather than plan ahead Ideology has also come into it, with an overwhelming desire to centralise - even within their own party and cabinet, dictated to by an unelected pseudo-scientist who unashamedly breaks the rules

 

[Eddy Edson]

They are all so inexperienced in actual government that they are in way over their heads. They react, rather than plan ahead Ideology has also come into it, with an overwhelming desire to centralise - even within their own party and cabinet, dictated to by an unelected pseudo-scientist who unashamedly breaks the rules

Get the impression they think politics is endless campaigning, with "governing" only as a generator of press releases.

 

[Northerner]

Get the impression they think politics is endless campaigning, with "governing" only as a generator of press releases.

That's pretty much it Problem is, there is worse to come with either a no-deal or thin-deal Brexit to start us off in 2021. In the words of the great sages The Kaiser Chiefs 'I predict a riot' The country is going to be overwhelmed with problems