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[samparoy]

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[mostlysignssomeportents]

Pluralist, your daily link-dose: 22 Feb 2020

Today’s links

Tax Justice Network publishes a new global Financial Secrecy Index: US and UK, neck-and-neck

What Marc Davis lifted from the Addams Family while designing the Haunted Mansion: Amateurs plagiarize, artists steal

ICANN should demand to see the secret financial docs in the .ORG selloff: at least it’s an Ethos

Wells Fargo will pay $3b for 2 million acts of fraud: they shoulda got the corporate death penalty

This day in history: 2019, 2015, 2010

Colophon: Recent publications, current writing projects, upcoming appearances, current reading

Tax Justice Network publishes a new global Financial Secrecy Index (permalink)

The Tax Justice Network just published its latest Financial Secrecy Index, the leading empirical index of global financial secrecy policies. The US continues to make a dismal showing, as does the UK (factoring in overseas territories).

https://fsi.taxjustice.net/en/

Both Holland and Switzerland backslid this year.

Important to remember that “bad governance” scandals in poor countries (like the multibillion-dollar Angolaleaks scandal) involve rich financial secrecy havens as laundries for looted national treasure.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/19/isabel-dos-santos-revealed-africa-richest-woman-2bn-empire-luanda-leaks-angola

As Tax Justice breaks it down: “The secrecy world creates a criminogenic hothouse for multiple evils including fraud, tax cheating, escape from financial regulations, embezzlement, insider dealing, bribery, money laundering, and plenty more. It provides multiple ways for insiders to extract wealth at the expense of societies, creating political impunity and undermining the healthy ‘no taxation without representation’ bargain that has underpinned the growth of accountable modern nation states. Many poorer countries, deprived of tax and haemorrhaging capital into secrecy jurisdictions, rely on foreign aid handouts.”

Talk about getting you coming and going! First we make bank helping your corrupt leaders rob you blind, then we loan you money so you can keep the lights on and get fat on the interest (and force you to sell off your looted, ailing state industries as “economic reforms”).

The Taxcast, which is the Network’s podcast, has a great special edition in which the index’s key researchers explain their work. It’s always a good day when a new Taxcast drops.

https://www.taxjustice.net/2020/02/20/financial-secrecy-index-who-are-the-worlds-worst-offenders-the-tax-justice-network-podcast-special-february-2020/

What Marc Davis lifted from the Addams Family while designing the Haunted Mansion (permalink)

It’s always a good day — a GREAT day — when the Long Forgotten Haunted Mansion blog does a new post, but today’s post, on the influence of the Addams Family TV show on Mansion co-designer Mark Davis? ::Chef’s Kiss::

https://longforgottenhauntedmansion.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-addams-family-and-marc-davis.html

It’s clear that Davis was using Addams’s comics as reference, but, as Long Forgotten shows, the Davis sketches and concepts are straight up lifted from the TV show: “Amateurs plagiarize, artists steal.”

Some of these lifts are indisputable.

“Finally, it’s possible that Davis took a further cue from the insanely long sweater Morticia is knitting in ‘Fester’s Punctured Romance’ (Oct 2, 1964), but in this case I wouldn’t insist upon it.”

Likewise, from the TV show, “Bruno” the white bear rug that periodically bites people was obviously the inspiration for this Davis sketch for the Mansion. Long Forgotten is less certain about “Ophelia,” but I think it’s pretty clear where Davis was getting his ideas from here.

Davis was an unabashed plunderer and we are all better for it! “We’ve seen many other examples of Marc Davis taking ideas from here, there, and anywhere he could find them, but not many other examples of multiple inspiration from a single source.”

ICANN should demand to see the secret financial docs in the .ORG selloff (permalink)

ISOC — the nonprofit set up to oversee the .ORG registry — decided to sell off this asset (which they were given for free, along with $5M to cover setup expenses) to a mysterious private equity fund called Ethos Capital.

Some of Ethos’s backers are known (Republican billionaire families like the Romneys and the Perots) but much of its financing remains in the shadows. We do know that ICANN employees who help tee up the sale now work for Ethos, in a corrupt bit of self-dealing.

The deal was quietly announced and looked like a lock, but then public interest groups rose up to demand an explanation. Not only could Ethos expose nonprofits to unlimited rate-hikes (thanks to ICANN’s changes to its rules), they could do much, much worse.

If a .ORG registrant dropped its domain, Ethos could sell access to misdirected emails and domain lookups – so if you watchdog private equity funds and get destroyed by vexation litigation, Ethos could sell your bouncing email to the billionaires who crushed you.

More simply, Ethos could sell the kind of censorship-as-a-service it currently sells through its other registry, Donuts, which charges “processing fees” to corrupt governments and bullying corporations who want to censor the web by claiming libel or copyright infringement.

Ethos offered ISOC $1.135b for the sale, but $360m of that will come from a loan that .ORG will have to pay back, a millstone around its neck, dragging it down. Debt-loading healthy business as a means of bleeding them dry is a tried-and-true PE tactic – it’s what did in Toys R Us, Sears, and many other firms. The PE barons get a fortune, everyone else gets screwed.

The interest on .ORG’s loan will suck up $24m/year — TWO THIRDS of the free money that .ORG generates. .ORG is a crazily profitable nonprofit – it charges dollars to provide a service that costs fractional pennies, after all. In response to getting slapped around by some Members of Congress, the Pennsylvania AG, and millions of netizens, Ethos has made a promise to limit prices increases…for a while. And they say that they’ll be kept honest by the nonbinding recommendations of an “advisory council” whose members Ethos will appoint and who will serve at Ethos’s pleasure.

In a letter to ICANN, EFF and Americans for Financial Reform have called for transparency on the financing behind the sale: “hidden costs, loan servicing fees, and inducements to insiders.”

https://www.eff.org/press/releases/eff-seeks-disclosure-secret-financing-details-behind-11-billion-org-sale-asks-ftc

Wells Fargo will pay $3b for 2 million acts of fraud (permalink)

Wells Fargo stole from at least two million of its customers, pressuring its low-level employees to open fake accounts in their names, firing employees who refused (refuseniks were also added to industry-wide blacklists created to track crooked bankers). These fake accounts ran up fees for bank customers, including penalties, etc. In some cases, the damage to the victims’ credit ratings was so severe that they were turned down for jobs, unable to get house loans or leases, etc.

The execs who oversaw these frauds had plenty of red flags, including their own board members asking why the fuck their spouses had been sent mysterious Wells Fargo credit cards they’d never signed up for. Though these execs paid fines, they got to keep MILLIONS from this fraud (which was only one of dozens of grifts Wells Fargo engaged in this century, including stealing from small businesses, homeowners, military personnel, car borrowers, etc). Some of them may never work in banking again, but they’re all millionaires for life.

Now, Wells Fargo has settled with the DoJ for $3b, admitting wrongdoing and submitting to several years of oversight. That’s a good start, but it’s a bad finish.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51594117

The largest bank in America was, for DECADES, a criminal enterprise, preying on Americans of every description. It should no longer exist. It should be broken into constituent pieces, under new management. There would be enormous collateral damage from this (just as the family of a murderer suffers when he is made to face the consequences of his crimes). But what about the collateral damage to everyone who is savaged by a similarly criminal bank in the future, emboldened by Wells Fargo’s impunity?

Wells Fargo is paying a fine, but will have NO criminal charges filed against it.

https://newsroom.wf.com/press-release/corporate-and-financial/wells-fargo-reaches-settlements-resolve-outstanding-doj-and

If you or I stole from TWO MILLION people, we would not be permitted to pay a fine and walk away.

“I’ll believe corporations are people when the government gives one the death penalty.”

This day in history (permalink)

#15yrsago: Kottke goes full-time https://kottke.org/05/02/kottke-micropatron

#15yrsago: New Zealand’s regulator publishes occupational safety guide for sex workers: https://web.archive.org/web/20050909001954/http://www.osh.dol.govt.nz/order/catalogue/pdf/sexindustry.pdf

#10yrsago: Principal who spied on child through webcam mistook a Mike n Ike candy for drugs: https://reason.com/2010/02/20/lower-pervian-school-district/

#10yrsago: School where principal spied on students through their webcams had mandatory laptop policies, treated jailbreaking as an expellable offense https://web.archive.org/web/20100726204521/https://strydehax.blogspot.com/2010/02/spy-at-harrington-high.html

#10yrsago: Parents file lawsuit against principal who spied on students through webcams: https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Parenting/pennsylvania-school-webcam-students-spying/story?id=9905488

#1yrago: Cybermercenary firm with ties to the UAE want the capability to break Firefox encryption https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/02/cyber-mercenary-groups-shouldnt-be-trusted-your-browser-or-anywhere-else

#1yrago: Fraudulent anti-Net Neutrality comments to the FCC traced back to elite DC lobbying firm https://gizmodo.com/how-an-investigation-of-fake-fcc-comments-snared-a-prom-1832788658

Colophon (permalink)

Today’s top sources: Naked Capitalism (https://nakedcapitalism.com/).

Hugo nominators! My story “Unauthorized Bread” is eligible in the Novella category and you can read it free on Ars Technica: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/01/unauthorized-bread-a-near-future-tale-of-refugees-and-sinister-iot-appliances/

Upcoming appearances:

The Future of the Future: The Ethics and Implications of AI, UC Irvine, Feb 22: https://www.humanities.uci.edu/SOH/calendar/event_details.php?eid=8263

Canada Reads Kelowna: March 5, 6PM, Kelowna Library, 1380 Ellis Street, with CBC’s Sarah Penton https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/cbc-radio-presents-in-conversation-with-cory-doctorow-tickets-96154415445

Currently writing: I just finished a short story, “The Canadian Miracle,” for MIT Tech Review. It’s a story set in the world of my next novel, “The Lost Cause,” a post-GND novel about truth and reconciliation. I’m getting geared up to start work on the novel now, though the timing is going to depend on another pending commission (I’ve been solicited by an NGO) to write a short story set in the world’s prehistory.

Currently reading: I finished Andrea Bernstein’s “American Oligarchs” this week; it’s a magnificent history of the Kushner and Trump families, showing how they cheated, stole and lied their way into power. I’m getting really into Anna Weiner’s memoir about tech, “Uncanny Valley.” I just loaded Matt Stoller’s “Goliath” onto my underwater MP3 player and I’m listening to it as I swim laps.

Latest podcast: Persuasion, Adaptation, and the Arms Race for Your Attention: https://craphound.com/podcast/2020/02/10/persuasion-adaptation-and-the-arms-race-for-your-attention/

Upcoming books: “Poesy the Monster Slayer” (Jul 2020), a picture book about monsters, bedtime, gender, and kicking ass. Pre-order here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781626723627?utm_source=socialmedia&utm_medium=socialpost&utm_term=na-poesycorypreorder&utm_content=na-preorder-buynow&utm_campaign=9781626723627

(we’re having a launch for it in Burbank on July 11 at Dark Delicacies and you can get me AND Poesy to sign it and Dark Del will ship it to the monster kids in your life in time for the release date).

“Attack Surface”: The third Little Brother book, Oct 20, 2020.

“Little Brother/Homeland”: A reissue omnibus edition with a very special, s00per s33kr1t intro.

[dubaistorage7-blog]

Self Storage

The UK has witnessed an explosion of self storage centers in the previous five decades. Awareness among the general public and company has grown significantly too. The general public and company realise the efficacy of quality, protected, short to moderate term self storage for a lot of reasons. dubai storage

This Article mainly deals with worth self storage in which insulated steel components are utilized instead of superior self storage in which buildings are divided into different sized rooms. A lot of the remark below applies to both industries of the self storage business nonetheless, the gap in cost between the two may differ considerably. An individual can expect to cover as mush as twice the lease when storing at a construction.

Company  Is not idle. It's the survival of the fittest on the market, adapt or perish. New or start up companies require as low a price base as you can. Self storage is 1 place this may be utilized to maximum effect. A brand new or start up company owner can rent the smallest distance needed, normally for a brief period generally a month at one time. This usually means no commitment to long term rentals on which will almost surely be a much bigger space than might be required for a while before the company is much more recognized. This conserves on rent not to mention prices, also electrical insurance and water. New companies may use the flexibility of storage. If a company requires more room it's not hard to simply rent an extra unit. This leaves any seasonal variations of their space demands of a company simple to control.

Established businesses Have added motives that self storage could be suitable for them. They might require self storage because of a re-location program. The flexibility of storage can be useful, instead of committing to expanding ones own assumptions or really moving into a bigger commercial unit including all the price implications it will bring with it. Some company for what reason might want to downsize. Downsizing a company in the commercial unit itself storage gets the advantage of creating the company more elastic.

A recognized company Might Have Been working  From home for a while. Self storage may be first step in separating the company from family / home life.

Nationally based companies  Frequently have satellite storage conditions which are too small to warrant taking on the rental of a commercial construction. Self storage depots that are usually conveniently located to the motorway system have access hours and are protected. They supply the perfect place for workers to get products and gear.

Householders Have quickly begun to fully enjoy a flexible and safe neighborhood self storage facility and lately have taken advantage of many self storage facilities which have started.

The current housing boom Has led to the recognition of storage among national users. Many households have moved on over 1 event during the past couple of decades, capitalising on the upswing in home rates. Self storage creates a fast move flexible and more economical than conventional removals company storage, the capability to begin the home move instantly following contracts are signed and not need to wait till the day of conclusion is viewed as a distinct advantage; as is your capability to de-clutter a home to make it even more appealing to a possible buyer.

Some astute Home sellers also have moved into rented accommodation awaiting the inevitable downturn in the housing industry. Self storage has meant they've been able to tailor the size of the storage requirement.  They will frequently rent a bigger unit on selling their own home and scaling down into a more compact unit when they've found a suitable property to rent that they've supplied themselves.

An economic recession can Mean self storage storage appeals to individuals who pick a move isn't suitable however they want to advertisement extra living area to their home or just just do it up. Temporarily removing the furniture leaves any home renovation or extension job much more practical.

Todays' planet is indeed  Considerably more transient than yesteryear. Families re-locate across the nation or emigrate. Couples independent, self storage may frequently be a neutral method of dividing the household products, and naturally couples wed, frequently combining households, the contents of 2 homes now needing to squeeze into a single. This frequently means space in your family house is at a premium. Having access to your neighborhood, secure private storage depot was a huge assistance to a lot of households in the cries of divorce or a new union. It offers the chance to rationalise what's to be stored and what's to go! Smaller components are often leased on a more durable foundation for things which are infrequently required or items which are needed on a seasonal basis.

For those Fortunate Enough to possess the Funds and time to take an elongated break to traveling the world, self storage gives a secure, dependable answer. Often deals could be achieved for preserving long term by spending months or annually beforehand and carrying a favoured unit onto a first floor amount. Couples whose kids are leaving home frequently look to downsize your family home to a lot more manageable locate self storage helpful for precisely the very same factors.

A check list for comparing self storage businesses.

1. Is your chemical totally fenced?

2. What kind of safety process is used to alert a security firm of a possible intruder?

3. Is the CCTV really listed?

4. Is your CCTV system viewable remotely?

5. What are the accessibility and office hours? ( Accessibility and office hours may fluctuate where There's the facility to get the website Once the office is shut )

6. Is your office open seven days each week?

7. Are locks provided or do you need to give your own?

8. What's the top layer of the depot? Hardcore or compacted earth can be walked in to components which makes them cluttered

9. Is an insurance alternative available via the self storage firm?

10. Can be a dehumidification service given? In case the day you go in it rains daily!

11. Can be a fork lift service available for business clients?  Normally for a small charge per elevator.

References Self storage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self_storage

[architectnews]

RIBA News & Events 2021, London

RIBA Events 2021, Architecture Gallery London, UK Buildings, British Architects News

RIBA News & Events 2021

Royal Institute of British Architects Exhibition + Talks + Events in London, England, UK

post updated 23 September 2021

RIBA UK News

Architects show tempered optimism – RIBA Future Trends August 2021

Thursday 23 September 2021 – The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has published the latest Future Trends survey results, a monthly report of the business and employment trends affecting the architects’ profession.

In August 2021 the overall RIBA Future Trends Workload Index remained in strongly positive territory, returning a balance figure of +18. The fall in the overall balance figure is solely due to fewer practices expecting workloads to grow in the coming three months and more expecting them to stay the same. The proportion expecting workloads to decrease (9%) is the same this month as last.

For the sixth successive month, all regions expect workloads to grow over the next three months. Optimism in London has moderated, with a balance figure of +12, down 5 points from July’s figure of +17.  While this is the sixth successive month of confidence in the capital, it is the second month of a falling balance.

Optimism in the South of England has fallen back 13 points to +20 after July’s sharp rise to +33. Expectation about future workloads is strong but falling in all other regions. The Midlands & East Anglia has posted a balance figure of +17, down 10 points, the North of England +26, also down 10 points. Wales and the West has fallen 15 points, from +28 in July to +13 in August.

In August, workloads were 7% up on a year ago and all regions and practice sizes remained confident about future prospects.

Our members report that shortages of construction materials continue to disrupt project delivery, as does a growing lack of on-site fitters and skilled tradespeople.  Construction cost increases are gathering pace.

The outlook of small practices (1 – 10 staff) continues to be optimistic but has again fallen back to +16, an 8 point reduction from July’s +24.  Confidence among large and medium sized practices (11 – 50 and 51+ staff) remains very strong at +36, but has fallen again from July’s figure of +47.

While the private housing and commercial sectors remain positive, work in both the public and community sectors is expected to contract. In August, the private housing sector posted a balance figure of +21; still historically strong but down 6 points from last month’s figure of +27. The commercial sector dropped a single point this month to +10. In August the public sector fell into negative territory with a balance figure -2.  Promises of public sector capital investment have yet to translate into current or anticipated work for architects. With a balance of -4 in August, it has been 18 months since the community sector posted a positive figure.

In terms of staffing:

Whilst positive at +7, the RIBA Future Trends Permanent Staffing Index fell back by 6 balance points in August from the previous month’s figure of +13.

11% (down by 7%) of practices expect to employ more permanent staff over the coming three months, whilst 4% expect to employ fewer, down by 1% from July.  85% (up 8%) expect staffing levels to stay the same over the coming 3 months.

Personal underemployment stayed the same as July at 16%.

RIBA Head of Economic Research and Analysis, Adrian Malleson, said:

“Overall, the August Future Trends survey continues to show broad-based confidence amongst the profession, however, confidence is softening across the board.

In part, the outlook is settling following the surge in optimism that followed the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions and the successful vaccination programme.  Nevertheless, architects face numerous challenges which together are somewhat dampening expectations about future workload. These challenges include the ongoing effects of the pandemic, the current trading relationship with the EU, and shortages of materials and tradespeople.

Commentary from practices this month highlights the recurrent issues of construction product shortages and associated prices rises, planning application delays, cost increases (particularly Professional Indemnity Insurance) and pressure on fees.

There are significant positives, however. Many practices are continuing to report increasing workloads, a full pipeline of projects, and staff being recruited to meet demand.  Personal underemployment is low, workloads are up on last year, and growth is expected to continue.

RIBA is reporting findings to government and working with other bodies in the built environment to monitor ongoing trends. We continue to be on hand, providing support and resources to our members.”

16 Sep 2021

RIBA responds to Cabinet reshuffle

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has responded to the Prime Minister’s Cabinet reshuffle, which saw Michael Gove appointed as Secretary of State at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).

RIBA President, Simon Allford, said: “This is a critical time for the built environment. Globally, we are preparing to host COP26, which must lead to ambitious actions and targets to ensure we are on track to reach net zero. At national level, we are also about to witness the most significant planning system reforms for generations, which have the potential to positively address the quality and sustainability of new developments across the country. The new Secretary of State must get this right, and secure the investment needed. We wish him well on his mission.

We are engaging with government on all the above; and working hard to ensure the long-awaited Building Safety Bill delivers fundamental reform and leads to the culture change our sector, profession and society desperately needs.

I look forward to continuing our liaison with the MHCLG and new Secretary of State, and hope we can count on him to promote the critical role of architects in delivering high-quality buildings for future generations.”

15 Sep 2021 RIBA publishes new Design for Manufacture and Assembly guidance

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has published a new edition of the Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) Overlay to the RIBA Plan of Work, alongside an accompanying guide.

The new Overlay aligns with the 2020 Plan of Work and details the relevant tasks that must be actioned at each project stage to successfully deploy the DfMA approach.

It reflects the huge technological advances that have been made to popularise the design process, and uses case studies to demonstrate the potential of the evolving method.

The Overlay has been produced by a group of industry experts led by Nigel Ostime, Partner at Hawkins\Brown, and Ian Heptonstall, Director of the Supply Chain Sustainability School. Publication of the report has been kindly supported by Akerlof, Buildoffsite, Kier, Supply Chain Sustainability School and UK Research and Innovation, and endorsed by Mark Farmer, Founder of Cast Consultancy and UK Government MMC Champion for Homebuilding.

RIBA President, Simon Allford, said:

“The new DfMA Overlay marks a significant development. By embedding this delivery mechanism within the RIBA Plan of Work, we are acknowledging the proven potential of DfMA solutions to produce not only good outcomes, but great architecture, as the case studies show. I firmly believe the built environment must explore this territory to meet the challenges ahead and – as custodians of good design – architects have the potential to lead its adoption. I commend this detailed guide and thank everybody who has contributed to its development.”

Mark Farmer, Founder of Cast Consultancy and UK Government Champion for Homebuilding, said:

“At a time when the construction industry’s inherent fragility is being exposed more than ever, there is even more focus on changing the traditionally accepted methods of doing things which are no longer fit for purpose. This Overlay therefore comes at a crucial time and if we are to fully enable adoption of technology and modern methods of construction and the better outcomes we strive for, then the overarching principles of how we initiate projects and organise the design and production process needs to be reformed and this Overlay provides a blueprint for that. The high profile of the RIBA’s Plan of Work as a project management and control tool makes the Overlay a practical and powerful addition to the tools necessary to modernise the industry and I look forward to seeing its adoption across industry.”

Download the Overlay and accompanying guide here.

14 Sep 2021 RIBA reveals shortlist for Stephen Lawrence Prize 2021 Stephen Lawrence Prize 2021 Shortlist News

23 August 2021 RIBA urges Government to drive forward Bacon Review recommendations

Monday 23 August 2021 – The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has responded to the Government-commissioned Independent review into scaling up self-build and custom housebuilding, led by Richard Bacon MP.

The final report – informed by a roundtable held with RIBA members – makes recommendations to Government on how to support growth in all parts of the custom and self-build market.

RIBA President, Alan Jones, said:

“By supporting more people to design and construct their own home, we will not only boost supply, but grow the proportion of bespoke homes that support higher levels of wellbeing and contribute more positively to local areas.

In addition to raising awareness of the Right to Build, and using planning reforms to support the delivery of custom and self-build homes, I strongly welcome the recommendation to use this delivery mechanism to accelerate Net Zero ambitions. I also have high hopes for the £150m Help to Build scheme, which should allow self and custom home building to become a realistic option.

All recommendations clearly align with the Government’s levelling up agenda and Building Beautiful plans – I urge policymakers to drive them forward.”

16 August 2021 RIBA responds to Government call for evidence to shape future profession

Monday 16th of August 2021 – The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has responded to the call for evidence, launched today by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), for those working in architecture and the built environment.

RIBA President, Alan Jones, said:

“This Government call for evidence is very timely indeed. The climate emergency and building safety crisis continue to prompt and prove the urgent need for regulated architects’ expertise throughout the entire timeline of each project.

This call provides an opportunity to demonstrate the value architects bring to society and expand upon issues the profession faces, including those that have stemmed from impending changes to legislation, such as ensuring professional competence and brokering MRPQ agreements.

I urge the entire profession to contribute, and I look forward to reading the final report.”

12 August 2021

Slow planning process causing project delays for architects – RIBA Future Trends July 2021

Thursday 12th of August 2021 – The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has published the latest Future Trends survey results, a monthly report of the business and employment trends affecting the architects’ profession.

In July 2021 the overall RIBA Future Trends Workload Index remained in strongly positive territory, returning a balance figure of +27. Whilst this is a four-point decrease on June’s results, architects remain very positive about future workloads. Actual workloads are 12% up on a year ago. 36% of practices expect workloads to grow in the coming three months, 55% expect them to remain the same, and 9% expect them to decrease. These results indicate that recovery continues.

Workload is expected to increase in three of the four workloads sectors – Private Housing, Commercial, and the Public Sector – suggesting growth to come. Pessimism about future work is only to be found in the Community sector. All regions continue to expect workloads to increase in the next three months, as do all practice sizes.

For several months, architects have been reporting concerns about the impact on projects caused by delays in the processing of planning applications. The key findings are:

• Thirty per cent of practices report some projects being delayed by six months or more • Seven per cent report some projects being abandoned • Thirty-nine per cent report some projects being delayed by up to a month • Sixty per cent report some projects being delayed by between one and six months • Twenty-two per cent report no projects delayed or abandoned

Commentary from practices this month also continue to highlight significant challenges in obtaining affordable and suitably comprehensive Professional Indemnity Insurance, and ongoing challenges around product availability and costs.

Site labour and practice staffing levels are being affected by Covid-19 infections and isolation. Some practices are beginning to report difficulties in recruiting staff, with a suggestion that this is exacerbated by the furlough scheme serving to dampen staff movement.

Private Housing continues to lead the workload recovery, with a balance figure up one point to +28. The sector remains strongly positive, with 38% expecting further workload growth to come. The commercial sector posted a balance figure of +11 down two points from June’s figure of +13.

With a balance figure in July of +2, expectations about future work in the public sector remain positive, but only just. The community sector remains in negative territory, posting a balance figure of -3. The sector has returned a negative or zero balance figure for 17 successive months.

Once again, all regions expect workloads to grow over the next three months, however optimism in London has fallen, with a balance figure of +17, down 11 points from June’s figure of +28. Nevertheless, this is the fifth month in a row that the capital has reported an expectation of increasing workloads. In contrast, optimism in the South of England rose sharply this month, with a balance figure of +33, an increase of sixteen points from last month’s figure of +17.

The Midlands & East Anglia held steady at +27, down just 1 point from June. Confidence in North of England is high but has moderated this month, with a balance figure of +36, down from +49 in June. Wales & the West at +28 has also seen confidence fall back, with a fall (from +45 in June).

In terms of staffing:

• At +13, the RIBA Future Trends Permanent Staffing Index rose slightly, increasing by two balance points from last month’s figure of +11. • 18% (up by 2%) of practices expect to employ more permanent staff over the coming three months, whilst 5% expect to employ fewer, the same figures as July. 77% (down 2%) expect staffing levels to stay the same over the coming 3 months. • Personal underemployment rose slightly by 2% and now stands at a to 16%

RIBA Head of Economic Research and Analysis, Adrian Malleson, said:

“Overall, the July Future Trends survey shows a sustained and broad-based confidence in the profession, as recovery gathers pace. Practices are reporting healthy enquiry levels and projects scheduled for up to a year ahead. Many practices are actively recruiting to meet the new levels of demand.

Significant issues remain, however, regarding affordable and suitably comprehensive Professional Indemnity Insurance, product availability and attendant inflationary pressures, local authority delays in processing planning applications and site and practice staffing shortages.

The RIBA has been actively lobbying the Government around planning delays. There have been some useful reforms including digitisation that have come about as a result, but we do need to see planning departments fully resourced to deal with this ongoing backlog.

The RIBA is having regular conversations with MHCLG, the ARB and politicians to highlight the urgent need for action to address issues in the Professional Indemnity Assurance market. The rise in cost combined with the reduction in the scope of coverage is deeply concerning. We will use the upcoming debates on the Building Safety Bill to push the Government to look at options for reform.

RIBA is reporting findings to government and working with other bodies in the built environment to monitor ongoing trends. We continue to be on hand, providing support and resources to our members as they navigate these challenging times.”

29 July 2021 RIBA responds to National Disability Strategy Thursday 29th of July 2021 – The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has responded to the National Disability Strategy, which sets out actions the Government will take to improve the everyday lives of all disabled people.

RIBA President Alan Jones said:

“We have been clear that the Government should develop a framework to implement accessible and adaptable design as a baseline for all new homes, and we’re therefore encouraged by this commitment to reforming the framework, and ongoing consultations on raising accessibility standards, to ensure more accessible housing is built.

To drive change, we urgently need solid timescales, plans and funding. Building Back Better must be built on a foundation of equity and enable us to deliver accessible, inclusive and sustainable post-pandemic communities. ‘Levelling up’ must be done in collaboration with the communities it seeks to serve, and so it is disappointing that the consultation failed to work with disabled people to design a strategy that will stand the test of time and is built upon concrete funding commitments. If the Government is serious about ‘levelling up’, it must undertake immediate action to put an end to the marginalisation and inequalities faced by the over 11 million disabled people living in the UK.”

29 July 2021 RIBA reveals judges for the 185th President’s Medals photo courtesy of Royal Institute of British Architects RIBA President’s Medals Student Awards 2021 Thursday 29th of July 2021 – The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has revealed the judges for the 185th President’s Medals, the world’s most prestigious awards in architectural education. The medals are now open for entry to architecture students around the world.

17 July 2021 Architects report onsite delays due to product shortages – RIBA Future Trends June 2021

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has published the latest Future Trends survey results, a monthly report monitoring business and employment trends affecting the architects’ profession.

In June 2021 the overall RIBA Future Trends Workload Index stayed at a similar level to May, increasing slightly by 1 point to a balance figure of +31. Optimism about future workloads remains strong. Actual workloads are 11% higher than a year ago. 38% of practices expect workloads to grow in the coming three months, 54% expect them to remain the same, and 7% expect them to decrease. These results indicate that recovery continues.

In January’s Future Trends report, 63% suggested that the new trading arrangement with the EU would have a detrimental effect on the availability of building materials.  In June’s Future Trends, the RIBA asked whether building materials shortages are affecting architects’ work. The results showed that difficulties in sourcing construction products are causing on-site delays for 63% of practices, and a quarter (25%) report site work being put on hold.  Delays are not restricted to the construction stages, with 18% reporting delays in the design process.

Other reports received of significant challenges to the architect’s market include:

labour shortages

difficulty obtaining affordable Professional Indemnity Insurance with the right level of cover

the speed of the planning application process causing project delays

shortages of construction products disrupting project delivery and creating project cost inflation

the potential effects of the gathering third wave and the planned lifting of Covid-19 restrictions

Once again, all regions expect workloads to grow over the next three months. The North of England (+49), and Wales & the West (+45) are the two most positive regions. Optimism in London continues to grow, with a balance figure of +28, up from +22 in May.  This month is the first time London has exceeded February 2020’s pre-pandemic figure of +22

Private housing continues to outperform other sectors with a very positive balance figure of +27. Whilst this is a fall of fifteen points on May’s all-time high of +42, only one in ten practices expect a decrease in private housing work.

The commercial sector is showing signs of sustained recovery, positing a balance figure of +13, up four points. This is the highest balance score for the sector since the EU referendum was held. Optimism about the public sector remains comparatively muted, with a balance figure in June of +4, down from +5 in May. The community sector persistently remains in negative territory, posting a balance figure of -6, down from -3 in May.

On balance, all regions expect workloads to increase in the next three months, as do all sizes of practice.

In terms of staffing:

The RIBA Future Trends Staffing Index dipped back down to April’s level of +11 after a slight increase in May.

16% (down by 3%) of practices expect to employ more permanent staff over the coming three months, whilst 5% expect to employ fewer, the same figures as June.  79% (up 3%) expect staffing levels to stay the same over the coming 3 months.

Personal underemployment fell again by 2% and now stands at a to 14%

RIBA Head of Economic Research and Analysis, Adrian Malleson, said:

“Overall, the June Future Trends findings indicate that the recovery in the architecture market continues.  The overall workload balance has been holding at around +30 throughout the second quarter of 2021. Private housing remains strong, and the commercial sector continues to recover. No region expects workloads to contract, and some are very optimistic.

The delays and shortages of building materials that we report are not solely the result of the UK leaving the EU.  There is increased demand for materials, both within the UK and overseas, as construction activity gathers pace.  The effects of the Suez Canal blockage are still unwinding.  The UK is experiencing workforce shortages within important areas, such as distribution (especially HGV drivers) and among builders merchants; though this is also linked to Brexit.

Nevertheless, the commentary received in June continues to reflect a positive market. Many practices report increasing enquiries and workloads, particularly in the private housing sector.”

15 July 2021 RIBA launches Fire Safety Compliance Tracker

Thursday 15th of July 2021 – The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has launched a new tool for its members to record and share fire safety information.

The RIBA Fire Safety Compliance Tracker records how a project has been designed and developed in accordance with Part B (Fire Safety) of the Building Regulations.

It can be used to provide compliance information to the design team or kept internally within your practice to help your team track compliance and to confirm the architectural design aligns with the fire strategy

The Tracker is based on the International Fire Safety Standard: Common Principles (IFSS-CP) and its associated Framework.

Find out more about RIBA’s work to drive building safety regulatory reform here.

RIBA President, Alan Jones, said:

“This is a valuable new tool that will help architects to demonstrate the detailed steps they have taken to protect buildings and people from the risk of fire. We remain seriously concerned about the rising costs of Professional Indemnity Insurance and the increasing prevalence of fire safety exclusions, and hope this new Tracker will provide additional reassurance for brokers and clients. I strongly encourage all practices to start working with it on their projects.”

RIBA Fire Safety Expert Advisory Group Chair, Jane Duncan, said:

“2021 marks the beginning of long-overdue regulatory reform prompted by the tragedy at Grenfell Tower, subsequent Hackitt Review and vociferous calls from the RIBA and others for clearer, stronger and enforceable regulations. It’s clear the whole industry requires a culture change, and I’m proud of RIBA’s efforts to place architects at the forefront. That includes the introduction of fire safety mandatory competences and this new tool, which will guide critical decision making and assist members to demonstrate regulatory compliance.”

We have added a useful resource post:

Performing Expertise in Building Regulation: ‘Codespeak’ and Fire Safety Experts – published 26 May 2021

17 Jun 2021 RIBA invites students, practices and schools of architecture to trial The RIBA Compact ethical framework

Thursday 17th of June – The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is encouraging architecture students, schools of architecture and Chartered Practices to trial The RIBA Compact – a framework designed to enhance student experience in the workplace.

The RIBA Compact sets out a series of commitments for Chartered Practices, architecture students, schools of architecture and the RIBA, including a requirement for clear contracts of employment for students, with no unpaid overtime and effective support in achieving PEDR requirements. Feedback from this pilot phase will help refine The RIBA Compact ready for its proposed roll-out from September 2021, when obligations for schools of architecture will form part of the new RIBA validation procedures.

The framework may potentially become a mandatory requirement of the RIBA Chartered Practice criteria from January 2022, subject to further consultation and formal approval.

RIBA President Alan Jones said: “The launch of The RIBA Compact is an important further step in our commitment to good employment practice and our help to manage expectations and commitments of employers, employees and our validated schools of architecture. We recognise the pressing need to support our members, practices and their employees in realising sustainable businesses, positive mental health and wellbeing, to help remove barriers to progression and provide equal opportunities for all those aiming to enter the profession. I encourage everyone eligible to take part in the pilot and help shape a framework that will help deliver the results we all need.”

RIBA Council Student Representative Maryam Al-Irhayim added:

“Architecture students and young professionals have the right to be treated fairly and safely in the workplace, and The RIBA Compact will help ensure they are supported in their journey to becoming qualified architects. I’m excited to see The Compact come to fruition and as an elected representative for students, I urge student members to help trial this framework. I guarantee you won’t regret it.”

Architecture students/graduates, Chartered Practices and schools of architecture can sign up for the trial before 12 July 2021. To find out more visit: https://ift.tt/3i9ZnSJ

16 Jun 2021 Committee on Climate Change warns UK homes at risk of overheating and flooding – RIBA responds

Wednesday 16th June 2021 – The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has responded to the Committee on Climate Change’s latest assessment indicating that the UK is struggling to keep pace with climate change impacts. The report highlights the urgent need to mitigate risks to human health, wellbeing and productivity from increased exposure to heat in homes and other buildings.

RIBA President, Alan Jones, said:

“This is a damning assessment of the UK’s climate action progress. Architects have key skills and experience needed to mitigate some of the disastrous effects of climate change – and we are committed to supporting them through initiatives including the 2030 Climate Challenge.

But the Government must also step up and set adequate regulatory standards. The proposed means to address overheating within the Future Buildings Standard remains far too basic; the Heat and Buildings Strategy is long overdue; and we still lack a clear plan to retrofit existing homes – not only to reach net zero, but to improve the quality of life for those who live there.

I hope this assessment prompts the Government to go further and faster, and recognise the importance of architects and good design.”

10 Jun 2021 Record high for private housing sector – RIBA Future Trends May 2021

Thursday 10 June 2021 – In May 2021 the overall RIBA Future Trends Workload Index increased by 6 points to a balance figure of +30. This indicates a level of optimism about future workloads among architects not seen since 2016. 40% of practices expect workloads to grow in the coming three months, half (50%) expect them to remain the same, and 10% expect it to decrease. These results indicate that recovery continues.

May’s standout trend was in the private housing sector, which at +42, is the highest Workload Index for this sector since the Future Trends survey began (2009). Almost half (48%) of practices expect workloads to grow in this sector.

The commercial and public sectors are also increasingly positive with the commercial balance figure up 2 points to +9 and the public sector gathering a little momentum, with a rise of 2 points to +5. The community sector remains in negative territory, posting a balance figure of -3, down from -2 the previous month.

In terms of practice size, confidence among small practices (1 – 10 staff) rose with a future workload balance figure of +27, an increase of 7 points. Confidence among large and medium sized practices (11 – 50 and 51+ staff) fell back somewhat, with a balance of +45. Nevertheless, a majority (55%) anticipate increasing workloads.

All regions anticipate increasing workloads over the next three months, with some reporting extremely strong levels of optimism. Practices in Wales & the West posted May’s highest balance figure, an extremely positive +55, with no practices expecting workloads to decrease.

Optimism in London continues to grow, with a balance figure of +22, up from +12 in April.  The South of England’s balance figure also improved further, with a balance figure of +25, up from +19 the previous month.

Anticipation of future workloads has dropped back in the Midlands & East Anglia, though it remains firmly positive; here the balance figure in May is +14, compared to +26 in April.  Similarly, the North of England has returned a strong but somewhat reduced workload balance figure; +37 in May, compared to +44 in April.

In terms of staffing:

The RIBA Future Trends Staffing Index kept its steady climb and increased by 3 points to +14

19% (up by 4%) of practices expect to employ more permanent staff over the coming three months, whilst 5% expect to employ fewer.  Three-quarters (76%) expect staffing levels to stay the same over the coming 3 months.

Personal underemployment fell again and now stands at a to 16%, a level last seen in 2019.

RIBA Head of Economic Research and Analysis, Adrian Malleson, said:

“This month report indicates a strong and sustained recovery of the architect’s market from the lows of 2020. The Private Housing sector posted a record high for future work, and work from the Commercial and Public sectors are also set to continue to grow.  Practices in all regions are positive about the coming months, with notable hotspots in Wales & the West and the North.

The RIBA Future Trends survey indicates that the architects profession has so far successfully navigated the unprecedented Covid-19 storm and is in a better position now than many may have anticipated a year ago.

The additional comments received from architects aligns with the positive figures. Practices have reported strong levels of enquires, with many of these converting into appointments. Now is a generally busy period, with some new jobs queued until later in the year.

Whilst there are high levels of private housing work – from one-off extensions through to larger-scale work for developers – there are also reports of workloads growing in non-residential work.

28 May 2021 “A fraction of the investment required” – RIBA response to Government cash boost to cut carbon emissions

Friday 28th of May 2021 – The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has responded to the Business and Energy Secretary’s announcements: £44million funding package and the Together for our Plan ‘Business Climate Leaders’ campaign.

RIBA CEO, Alan Vallance said:

“The funding announced today to improve the energy efficiency of our building stock is a step in the right direction. However, it’s just a fraction of the investment required to address the scale of the issue at hand.

The Government must urgently set out a comprehensive framework and publish its long-overdue Heat and Buildings Strategy. As outlined in our Greener Homes’ campaign, it must include a long-term policy and investment programme for upgrading the energy efficiency of our housing stock, and a National Retrofit Strategy, which incentivises homeowners to make the necessary changes.

I welcome the Government’s recognition of the important role small businesses will play in reaching net-zero. RIBA Chartered Practices, many of whom fit into this category, are already taking steps to reduce their carbon impact by signing-up to the RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge – which calls on architects to meet net-zero (or better) whole life carbon for new and retrofitted buildings by 2030.

We will continue to support our sector to drive forward change. We must all play our part in tackling the climate emergency.”

24 May 2021 RIBA and Google Arts & Culture launch new digital partnership RIBA and Google Arts & Culture partnership

RIBA calls on Government to go further and faster to decarbonise housing stock

Friday 14th of May 2021 – The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has today commented on the Government’s response to the Environmental Audit Committee’s  Fourth Report – Energy Efficiency of Existing Homes.

RIBA President, Alan Jones said:

“The Government’s response to the EAC’s report does not demonstrate the urgency that is vital if we are to improve the energy efficiency of our existing housing stock and reach net-zero by 2050.

As our ‘Greener Homes’ campaign outlines, to drive real change the Government must implement a National Retrofit Strategy – a long-term policy and investment programme for upgrading the energy efficiency of our housing stock. We need substantial and sustained government funding, green finance options and incentives for homeowners.

Retrofitting and decarbonising our existing housing stock must be at the heart of the Government’s response to the climate emergency. We now eagerly await the publication of the long-overdue Heat and Buildings Strategy, and hope it provides the framework so urgently required.”

12 May 2021 Architects’ confidence remains strong – RIBA Future Trends April 2021

Thursday 11th of May 2021 – In April 2021 the overall RIBA Future Trends Workload Index fell by 5 points to a balance figure of +24, after an increase in March. Whilst the previous month’s optimism has moderated, expectations about future workload remain strongly positive.

Thirty-four per cent of practices expect workloads to grow in the coming three months, whilst most (56%) expect them to remain the same. The percentage expecting workloads to decrease has fallen to 10%. Practices of all sizes are expecting workloads to increase, with larger practices remaining the most optimistic.

All regions reported an expectation of increasing workloads over the next three months. London practices maintained a positive outlook with a balance figure of +12. The South of England remained confident with a balance figure of +19, although this is a drop of 13 points from last month’s high of +32. The Midlands & East Anglia went further into positive territory, up six points from last month, with a balance figure in April of +26. Wales & the West continued to report a firmly positive outlook, posting a balance figure of +31. The North of England remained the most optimistic region, with a balance figure of +44.

Among the work sectors, private housing remains by far the strongest, posting a balance figures of +35 in April (compared with +36 in March). All sectors are broadly steady in their outlook, although the community sector has dipped to a negative balance figure.

Like the previous month, the commercial sector posted a balance score of +7, maintaining a positive view of the workload to come. However, the accelerated trend to online shopping may continue to suppress the retail sub-sector, and future requirements for office space remain unclear.

Optimism about the public sector grew slightly this month, to +2, up from zero last month. The community sector dipped back into negative territory this month, posting a balance figure -2, down from zero last month.

In terms of staffing:

• The RIBA Future Trends Staffing Index increased by 4 points to +11 this month. • 5% of practices expect to employ fewer permanent staff in the coming three months, while 15% expect to employ more. A clear majority (80%) of practices expect staffing levels to be constant over the coming three months. • Medium and large-sized practices (11+ staff) continue to be most likely to recruit permanent staff in the coming three months, with both groups posting strongly positive figures of +43. Over 40% anticipate some increase in permanent staffing levels over the next three months. • With a balance figure of +6, small practices (1 – 10 staff) also expect staffing levels to grow, although fewer smaller practices anticipate recruitment. • The Temporary Staffing Index returned a balance figure of +5 in April • For the first time since 2019, London has posted a positive permanent staff balance figure. Up from zero in March, April’s figure is +9, with 13% of practices anticipating recruitment. • The South of England (+6, up by two points) and the Midlands & East Anglia (+8, up by 6 points) are moderately optimistic about future staffing levels. • The North of England (+15, up two points) and Wales & The West (+13, down 5 points from March) remain comparative employment hot-spots. In Wales & The West, more than a fifth (22%) of practices expect permanent staff numbers to increase. • Personal underemployment fell to 18% (by 2 points) in April. Overall, since the onset of the pandemic, redundancies are at 3% of staff. Seven per cent of staff remain on furlough. Staffing levels are at 99% of a year ago. • The savage reduction in staffing levels that many feared at the start of the pandemic has not materialised.

RIBA Head of Economic Research and Analysis, Adrian Malleson, said: “Whilst the overall Workload Index has fallen slightly and confidence has moderated in some areas, April’s Future Trends marks a consolidation of March’s surge in practice optimism. Practices are increasingly confident about longer-term profitability, with 16% expecting profits to rise over the next year and 39% expecting them to be steady.

Challenges remain for a significant number of practices, however, with 4% suggesting they are unlikely to remain viable over the next 12 months, and a third expect profitability to fall (although both these numbers continue to come down).

The commentary received in April describes a growing market for architects’ services – high levels of work and enquiries, with staff increasingly being brought off furlough to meet demand.

Work in sectors such as education is increasing but the fastest growth is in the residential sector, with projects such as energy retrofits, extensions and refurbishments needed to support home working. There are regional hot spots as people relocate, often from London. However, whilst there is more work, in many cases it is lower value than pre-pandemic. Practices have also reported that a slow pace of planning administration continues to put a brake on some projects.”

11 May 2021

RIBA responds to the Queen’s Speech

Tuesday 11th of May 2021 – The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has responded to the 2021 Queen’s Speech.

RIBA President, Alan Jones, said:

“Poorly resourced and mismanaged planning imposes permanent damage on our communities, environment and economy; I therefore welcome today’s promise to progress reforms to the planning system. But reforms cannot be used as an impulsive means to boost housing numbers at the expense of quality.

We urgently need well-designed, safe and sustainable homes and spaces that support and strengthen communities. This relies on utilising the expertise of architects from the outset, and taking tougher action against developers who fail to raise their game.

In addition to the Planning Reform Bill, I welcome the progression of the long-awaited Building Safety Bill and introduction of the Professional Qualifications Bill, which paves the way for post-Brexit agreements that are critical to the strength and success of the UK architects’ profession. We will continue to engage with the Government on these critical issues on behalf of architects and the society we serve.”

29 Apr 2021

RIBA pilots Health and Life Safety test

Thursday 29 April 2021 – Following the publication of proposed mandatory competence requirements, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has today launched a pilot test to assess understanding of Health and Life Safety.

As outlined within The Way Ahead, Health and Life Safety is the first area in which UK Chartered Members would be required to demonstrate their competence, from 2023. Followed by Climate Literacy and Ethical Practice.

Hosted online at RIBA Academy, the test asks a set of multiple-choice questions within seven areas of assessment, to correspond with the RIBA Health and Safety guide:

Preparing to visit site

Undertaking site visits

Site hazards

Design risk management

Statute, Guidance and Codes of Conduct

CDM Regulations

Principles of Fire Safety Design

The RIBA currently seeks feedback on these assessment areas alongside those for other proposed mandatory competences. RIBA Members are encouraged to complete the survey by 17 June 2021.

RIBA President, Alan Jones, said:

“We must ensure our members have the knowledge, skills and experience needed to tackle the UK’s evolving building safety crisis.

The tragedy at Grenfell Tower, subsequent Hackitt Review, and more recent fire safety catastrophes have not only highlighted the urgent need to reform regulations, but to raise standards of professional competence across the construction industry.

I urge members to take this pilot test and offer feedback on the proposed areas of assessment to ensure we create a robust system that works for our profession and the society we serve.”

29 Apr 2021

RIBA signs Halo Code to protect against racial discrimination

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has signed the Halo Code – the UK’s first Black hair code – to protect the rights of staff who come to work with natural hair and protective hairstyles associated with their racial, ethnic, and cultural identities.

The Halo Code was developed by the Halo Collective and brings together organisations and schools who have made a commitment to work towards creating a future without hair discrimination.

Signing the Halo Code and embedding it into policies, is part of the RIBA’s work to make its workplace and the wider architecture profession more inclusive.

RIBA Director of Inclusion and Diversity, Marsha Ramroop said: “We are committed to nurturing a culture where our staff feel comfortable bringing their whole selves to work. Despite being a protected racial characteristic, hair discrimination remains a source of injustice and by signing the Halo Code, the RIBA is taking a stand for racial equity. I encourage our members and practices to join us in driving out all forms of discrimination, by adopting the Code too.”

15 April 2021

RIBA opens £30K funding scheme for architecture students

The Hidden Seasons of Barbados, Shawn Adams, 2019 Wren Insurance Association Scholarship recipient:

Monday 26th of April 2021 – The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has today (Monday 26 April) opened applications for five RIBA Wren Insurance Association Scholarships, worth a total of £30,000.

The annual scholarships are open to students who are currently enrolled in the first year of their RIBA Part 2 course. Each recipient will receive £6,000 and the opportunity to be mentored throughout the second year of their Part 2 course by an architect from a Wren-insured practice.

The scheme, which was set up in 2013, has supported 40 recipients to date.

RIBA President Alan Jones said:

“Thank you to the Wren Insurance Association for their continued generosity to support architecture students, during a particularly challenging period. Scholarships and bursaries are an important part of our ongoing commitment to support students, and reward and retain talent in the profession, and we look forward to seeing the applications received.”

The deadline to apply is Friday 18 June 2021 and further information is available here.

Previously on e-architect:

15 April 2021 London architects confident again after 14 months – RIBA Future Trends March 2021

Thursday 15 April 2021 – In March the RIBA Future Trends Workload Index rose by 12 points to a balance figure of +29. This is the highest Workload Index balance figure since May 2016. In the last 12 months, the index has risen by an unprecedented 111 points.

All regions are becoming more positive about future work. London is the largest architecture market in the UK and, for the first time since February 2020, practices there are anticipating increasing workloads in the coming months, with a balance figure of +18 an increase of 21 balance points from -3 in February.

Forty per cent of practices expect workloads to grow in the coming three months, whilst just under half (49%) expect them to remain the same. The percentage expecting workloads to decrease has fallen again and now stands at 11% (compared to 84% a year ago). Optimism about future workloads continues to be driven by the private housing sector, although the outlook for all sectors is improved from last month.

Practices of all sizes are expecting workloads to increase, with larger practices the most optimistic. March feels like a significant turning point. The outlook of Small practices (1 – 10 staff) again rose strongly. In March small practices posted a future workload balance figure of +27 up fourteen points from February’s figure of +13. Confidence among Large and Medium sized practices (11 – 50 and 51+ staff) remains strong, with an overall balance score of +42, up 13 points on last month’s figure of +29.

March sees the South of England grow in confidence, with a balance figure of +32 this month, up from zero last. The Midlands & East Anglia has risen further into positive territory up fourteen points from last month to +20. Wales & the West posted a balance figure of +33 in March, the tenth consecutive month of a positive outlook. The most positive region this month is the North of England, with a balance figure of +47. Here only two per cent of practices expect workloads to fall, and almost a half (49%) expect them to grow.

Among the four different work sectors, private housing remains by far the strongest. However, all sectors are again up on last month, and no sector is negative. The private housing sector rose by a further 7 points to +36, a balance score that is higher than at any point since June 2015. The commercial sector returned to positive territory for the first time since the pandemic onset with a balance score of +7. Both the public sector and community sectors eased out of negative territory this month, but only just with both posting a zero balance figures.

In terms of staffing: • The RIBA Future Trends Staffing Index increased by 3 points to +7 this month. • 7% of practices expect to employ fewer permanent staff in the coming three months, while 14% expect to employ more. A clear majority (79%) of practices expect staffing levels to be constant over the coming three months. • Medium and large-sized practices (11+ staff) continue to be most likely to recruit permanent staff in the coming three months, with both groups posting strongly positive figures. • On balance, small practices (1 – 10 staff) expect staffing levels to grow somewhat, with a balance figure of +6 (up from +1), though 80% of small practices anticipate staffing levels to stay the same. • The Temporary Staffing Index returned a balance figure of +5 (up from +1 in February). • London remains least optimistic with a zero balance figure in March (though this is up from -8 in February). Eleven per cent of London practices expect to employ more permanent staff over the coming months with the same proportion expecting to employ fewer. • The South of England (+4) and the Midlands & East Anglia (+2) are cautiously optimistic about upcoming recruitment. • In line with workload expectations, the North of England (+13) and Wales & The West (+18) are the areas in which practices are most likely to expect growing numbers of permanent staff. • Personal underemployment remained at 20% in March, and staffing levels remain at 96% of a year ago. • Overall, since the onset of the pandemic, redundancies remain at 3% of staff. Seven per cent of staff remain on furlough. Eighteen per cent of staff are working fewer hours.

RIBA Head of Economic Research and Analysis, Adrian Malleson, said:

“With the vaccine programme underway, and workload prospects improving across sectors, regions and practice sizes, March’s Future Trends data shows a profession firmly optimistic about future work.

Personal underemployment has dropped from a high of 42% to 20%. Practices are more confident about their longer-term prospects, with 13% expecting increased profitability over the next year, and 29% expecting it to hold steady. However, the extremely positive rise in confidence does not mean that the challenges practices face have evaporated. Four per cent of practices think they are unlikely to remain viable over the next 12 months. Forty-three per cent, after an already extremely difficult period, expect profitability to decrease over the coming year.

The commentary received in March continues to describe a housing sector performing strongly, particularly smaller-scale domestic work. Some practices report that there is more work available than they can take on.

However, practices also mention that such work may be of comparatively low-value, and subject to intense fee competition. Longer-term, the recovery in private housing needs to be matched by growth in the public, commercial and community sectors.

Nevertheless, March’s data confirms a remarkable restoration of confidence among practices during an unprecedented 12 months.

We continue to be on hand, providing support and resources to our members as they navigate these challenging times.”

1 April 2021 RIBA responds to Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities report

Thursday 1 April 2021 – The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has today responded to the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities report.

RIBA Chief Executive, Alan Vallance said:

“Systemic racism and discrimination clearly exist in the UK. We must fully acknowledge and understand this, so we can tear down the barriers and drive out injustice.

Some of the biggest built environment challenges of our times – from the climate emergency to substandard housing and fire safety – particularly impact underrepresented racialised groups and these are very high on the agenda for the RIBA and our members.

The RIBA does not absolve itself of responsibility in tackling racism and in recognising our own history. We know that people who face racism are less likely to progress in our industry, and we are working to ensure that architecture is open to all, regardless of background or circumstances. We will continue to listen to underrepresented racialised groups and work to address their concerns within our organisation and sector.

We acknowledge the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities report which includes some insights, for example around the term BAME and unconscious bias training. We are already taking steps to tackle these, amongst other measures.

We will take time to review the report in depth, and continue to use our influence, networks and platforms, as we work towards a better, more inclusive, built environment.”

22 Mar 2021

RIBA endorses House of Commons report on energy efficiency of existing homes

Monday 22 March 2021 – The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has responded to the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee’s (EAC) report, ‘Energy Efficiency of Existing Homes’.

RIBA President, Alan Jones, said:

“This is a timely and well-reasoned report that outlines clear measures to make our homes more energy efficient.

I particularly endorse recommendations to implement a national retrofit strategy and pilot stamp duty rebates for homeowners that improve the efficiency of their homes within the first year – measures we’ve been calling for through our Greener Homes campaign.

Proposals to reform EPC methodology to focus on the actual performance of buildings are also encouraging, and critical to reaching the Government’s net zero target.

We need urgent action to address our shamefully inefficient housing stock – and this report shows how that can be achieved.”

11 March 2021

RIBA Future Trends in February

Thursday 11 March 2021 – Residential sector propels architects’ confidence – RIBA Future Trends February 2021

In February 2021 the RIBA Future Trends Workload Index increased by 14 points to +17, a level of confidence not seen from architects since early 2020.

Nearly a third (32%) of practices expect workloads to grow in the next three months, up from 28% (in January), whilst just over half (52%) expect them to remain the same. The number of practices expecting workloads to decrease has also fallen from 25% to 16%.

Optimism has been driven by the housing sector, which surged by 20 points this month to a balance figure of +29. Whilst it remains the only sector in positive territory, all other sectors saw a rise. The commercial sector saw the highest, up 16 points to a balance figure of -2; the public sector rose 2 points to -1; and even though the community sector posted the lowest at -6, this marks an improvement on the previous month’s figure of -15.

In February, the outlook of small practices (1 – 10 staff) rose significantly, posting a balance figure of +13, up fifteen points from January’s figure of -2. Confidence among large and medium sized practices (11 – 50 and 51+ staff) also remains strong, with an overall balance score of +29. Among these groups, 35% expect workloads to increase, and just 6% foresee a decrease.

All regions, except London, expect an increase in workloads in the near-term. Having briefly entered positive territory the previous month, London posted a negative figure of -3.

This month’s survey also asked respondents how they felt about the future of the workplace. Overall, results indicate that once a return to the office is possible, there is currently no appetite to resume pre-pandemic work patterns. Only 13% of practices expect to recall everyone to the office; almost a quarter (26%) see the future being a blend of office and home-based work; 20% look to leave the decision to staff; and 41% said they will continue to work as they are now (though how people work now is varied, with some practices already including an element of office-based working, when government restrictions allow, whilst others are fully remote).

In terms of staffing:

The RIBA Future Trends Staffing Index remained at +4 this month. It has been consistently, though only slightly, positive since October.

6% of practices expect to employ fewer permanent staff in the coming three months, while 11% expect to employ more. A clear majority (83%) of practices expect staffing levels to be constant over the coming three months.

Medium and large-sized practices (11+ staff) continue to be most likely to recruit permanent staff in the coming three months, with both groups posting strongly positive figures.

On balance, small practices (1 – 10 staff) expect staffing levels to be steady, with a balance figure of +1.

The Temporary Staffing Index returned a balance figure of +1, suggesting the market for temporary staff is positive, but only by a small margin.

London remains most likely to anticipate decreased numbers of permanent staff in the next three months, with a staffing balance figure of -8; down four points on last month. The South of England also remains cautious about upcoming recruitment, with a balance figure of zero.

Future recruitment is more likely outside of London and the South: the Midlands & East Anglia returned a figure of +6, the North of England +10, and Wales & The West at +21.

Personal underemployment fell slightly at 20%, down from 22% in January.

Staffing levels remain at 96% of what they were twelve months ago. Overall, redundancies stand at 3% of staff; 7% remain on furlough and 16% are working fewer hours.

RIBA Head of Economic Research and Analysis, Adrian Malleson, said:

“As the route out of the pandemic becomes clearer, not least due to the roll-out of the vaccination programme, February’s figures demonstrate a turning point – practices are starting to feel more optimistic about the future.

It’s clear however, that this increased confidence is partly dependent on the residential sector, fuelled by homeowners relocating or adjusting their homes to accommodate remote working, and question marks remain over the sustainability of this trend. Furthermore, practices who are reliant on work outside of this sector are yet to see their workloads increase.

Whilst the data suggests there is not currently a significant appetite to return to pre-pandemic work patterns, we also know that homeworking continues to create productivity challenges, not least because childcare and home-schooling have been impacting the working day. Commentary received from our respondents indicates that this is disproportionately impacting women.

5 + 3 March 2021 RIBA reacts to 2021 Budget

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has published an initial response to the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s 2021 Budget. RIBA President, Alan Jones, said:

“Whilst the Chancellor’s focus is understandably on mitigating the impact of the pandemic, the measures announced today do little to reassure me of the Government’s commitment to reach net zero or drive a green economic recovery.

Some of today’s announcements – such as the UK Infrastructure Bank and green gilts – could help our economy grow back more sustainably, but that depends entirely on future investment decisions. The money pledged must be used to create green jobs and fund energy efficiency programmes such as a National Retrofit Strategy.

Taken alongside the personal allowance freeze, the corporation tax rise will have a significant impact on RIBA members and hints at wider tax changes to come. It’s therefore vital that the Government looks at how the tax system could also help tackle the climate emergency. By reviewing reforming mechanisms to incentivise sustainability the Government could successfully drive the green economic recovery that is desperately needed.”

12 Feb 2021 Architects’ confidence remains fragile – RIBA Future Trends January 2021

In January 2021 the RIBA Future Trends Workload Indexremained positive (at +3) despite the turbulence of Brexit and a third national lockdown. Whilst 25% of practices expected workloads to decrease in the coming three months, 28% forecasted an increase. Just over half (51%) expected workloads to hold steady.

The South of England was the only region to post a negative workload balance figure this month, a fall of 10 points (to -2), although optimism also decreased sharply in the North of England (falling from +29 in December to 0). London posted a positive workload balance (+1) for the first time since February 2020. Other regions – the Midlands, East Anglia, Wales and the West remain in positive territory.

Among the four work sectors, the private housing sector was the only one to remain positive, at + 9. Having posted positive figures in December, the public and commercial sectors fell back to negative territory in January, posting -4 and -18 respectively, suggesting an expectation of falling workloads. The community sector continues to stall, falling to a balance figure of -15 in January, down from -8 in December.

Large and medium sized practices (11 – 50 and 51+ staff) remain confident; 53% expect workloads to increase, and 13% foresee a decrease (overall balance score of +39). Small practices (1 – 10 staff) however fell back into negative territory in January, posting a workload balance figure of -2, down from +4 in December.

With the UK and EU’s new trading agreement in place, the survey for the first time monitored the impact of Brexit on the attitudes of architects. Overall, the new agreement is perceived to have a negative impact on the profession; 15% more architects expect it to lead to a decrease in workload than an increase. Architects indicated they expect key areas to be detrimentally affected by the new agreement: 41% stated this to be the case regarding availability of skilled on-site staff, 54% regarding recruiting/retaining architects from outside the UK and 63% regarding the availability of building materials.

In terms of staffing: • The RIBA Future Trends Staffing Index rose again in January (+4, from +2 in December). • In the next three months 83% of practices expect staffing levels to remain the same, 7% expected to employ fewer permanent staff, and 10% expect to employ more. • Medium and large-sized practices (11+ staff) continue to be those most likely to recruit permanent staff in the coming three months, with both posting strongly positive index figures. Smaller practices are more likely to expect staffing levels to hold steady, having posted a January Staffing Index figure of zero. • The Temporary Staffing Index returned a balance figure of zero in January, suggesting the market for temporary staff will remain as is. • London remains the region least likely to anticipate increased staffing levels in the next three months – returning a negative balance figure of –4. The South of England is also cautious – returning a balance figure of -6. Recruitment is more likely in the North of England (+14) and the Midlands & East Anglia (+8). • Personal underemployment stands at 22%, a slight increase on last month’s figure, but within historical norms, and significantly below the high of 42% in the first lock-down. • Staffing levels are 96% of a year ago. Overall, redundancies stand at 3% of staff. Seven per cent of staff remain on furlough.

RIBA Head of Economic Research and Analysis, Adrian Malleson, said:

“It’s promising that the profession has overall maintained a positive outlook. However, with a decrease from +10 in December to +3 in January, it’s clear that the ongoing uncertainties presented by both Brexit and the third national lockdown are having an impact on confidence.

Disparities persist across regions, practice sizes and notably sectors. That only the housing sector returned positive figures, clearly indicates the limited commitment of resources to construction, from both businesses and government.

Whilst there are some promising signs, for example London reporting its first positive workload balance for 10 months, this increase is marginal (+1), and must be tempered by the fact that the commercial sector, so important to the profession in this region, remains fragile.

Sustained growth of the profession, particularly in the centres of large cities, will rely on a broad-based recovery that encompasses not only the housing sector, but also the public, commercial and community sectors. This recovery is unlikely to happen whilst we remain in lock-down but can be spurred and accelerated by timely government stimulus and investment.

photograph © Adrian Welch

6 Feb 2021 RIBA responds to launch of Government’s school rebuilding programme

5th of February 2021 – The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has today (5 February) responded to the Government’s launch of the first phase of the School Rebuilding Programme.

RIBA President Alan Jones said:

“Well-designed schools have the power to shape society – improving the attainment, behaviour, health and wellbeing of every child.

As the government’s ten-year rebuilding programme gets underway, it is crucial to focus on the delivery of good quality design, sustainability and safety. To ensure the best outcomes for students, teachers and the taxpayer, the government must commit to monitoring the performance of the new buildings once they are in use through Post Occupancy Evaluation – and use these findings to ensure each project is better than the last.

Furthermore, vital safety measures including the installation of sprinklers must also be prioritised in the design of new and maintenance of existing school buildings. Alongside the CIOB, RICS and NFCC, the RIBA is continuing to call for this to be mandated.

This is a critical opportunity to have a transformative impact on the lives of future generations – the government must get it right.”

Background:

In May 2016 the RIBA published the Better Spaces for Learning report – outlining how good design can help ensure that capital funding for schools stretches as far as possible, and supports good outcomes for both teachers and pupils.

In May 2019, the RIBA responded to the Department for Education’s review of Building Bulletin 100 – design for fire safety in schools. The Department for Education asked experts to help review the Building Bulletin 100, which is a design guide for fire safety in schools. Our response highlighted the importance of the inclusion of prescriptive baseline requirements on life safety measures, for example, maximum travel distances, ventilation, protected lobbies and refuges. Read all RIBA responses to government consultations on fire safety.

In October 2020, the RIBA issued a joint statement with CIOB, NFCC and RICS, calling on the government to require the installation of sprinklers in schools, including the retrofitting of sprinklers in existing school buildings when relevant refurbishment takes place.

19 Jan 2021 RIBA publishes findings of Architects Act amendments survey

Monday 25 January 2021 – 8 out of 10 think mandatory competence requirements are important – RIBA publishes findings of Architects Act amendments survey.

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has today (Monday 25 January) published the findings of its survey of the architects’ profession on proposed changes to the Architects Act.

The 502 responses have informed the RIBA’s official submission to the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) consultation on proposed changes to the Architects Act, which has also been published today.

From ensuring building safety to tackling the climate emergency, the areas prioritised by respondents reflect the challenges facing our industry and society, and the role architects must have in addressing them.

Findings of the RIBA survey reveal:

85% of respondents acknowledge the importance of mandatory competence requirements in promoting standards and confidence within the profession;

75% believe that an architect’s competency should be monitored at regular intervals throughout their career;

70% think fire safety is the most important mandatory competence topic;

68% want to prioritise health, safety and wellbeing; 67% legal, regulatory and statutory compliance; and 50% sustainable architecture as mandatory competence topics;

More than half of respondents (59%) want either planning or building control or both to be regulated functions.

In response to the survey findings, RIBA President, Alan Jones, said:

“This consultation is a defining moment – a real opportunity to ensure all current and future architects in the UK have the education, knowledge, skills and behaviours to make a positive impact on the built environment.

The fact that the majority of the profession wish to retain the regulation of title and expand into regulation of function, demonstrates the vital and holistic role that architects know they must have to effectively deliver their expertise.

We will soon be launching our mandatory Health and Life Safety requirements for RIBA members and will work with the MHCLG and ARB to coordinate practical competency measures for the whole profession to adopt.

We also continue to call for urgent reforms of building safety regulations and procurement systems, and for an appropriately funded education system for future architects. These will help to ensure that the profession can deliver buildings that meet the quality, safety, and sustainability expectations of society.

In light of post-Brexit agreements on professional qualifications, we will support the allocation of new ARB powers to negotiate international agreements that will assist UK architects in designing, delivering, and globally upholding the highest professional standards.”

Read the executive summary of the survey findings

Read the RIBA’s response to the consultation on proposed amendments to the Architects Act

19 Jan 2021 Winners of 2020 RIBA President’s Medal for Research and Research Awards

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced the recipient of the RIBA President’s Medal for Research and the winners of the President’s Awards for Research, which celebrate the best research in the fields of architecture and the built environment.

The winner of the 2020 RIBA President’s Medal for Research is Richard Beckett from the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London, for ‘Probiotic Design.’ Through exploring the integral role of bacteria in human health, Richard proposes a design approach that reintroduces beneficial bacteria to create healthy buildings.

2020 RIBA President’s Awards for Research

18 Jan 2021 RIBA comments on proposed ‘Right to Regenerate’ policy

Monday 18th January 2020 – The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has commented on government’s proposed ‘Right to Regenerate’ policy, announced today.

RIBA President, Alan Jones, said: “While giving a ‘new lease of life’ to unloved buildings might seem like an easy win that could speed up the development of new housing or community spaces, the process of procuring these empty properties – and criteria for acquiring – must be carefully considered. This policy has the potential to help regenerate local areas, but this must be done with the highest regard to quality, safety and sustainability – it’s essential the government moves forward in the right way.”

14 Jan 2021 RIBA Future Trends – 2020 ended with fragile growth in confidence

Thursday 14th January 2021 – In the latest set of results (December 2020), the RIBA Future Workload Index returned the highest balance score (+10) since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Whilst 20% of practices expected a decreasing workload in the coming three months, 29% expected workloads to increase. Just over half expected workloads to hold steady.

Confidence was beginning to return beyond the Private Housing Sector (+14, up two points from November). Both the Commercial and Public Sectors returned to positive territory for the first time since February 2020 – the Commercial Sector at +1, up from -19 in November and the Public Sector at +2, up from -7. The Community Sector recorded an improvement although remained negative, returning a balance figure of -8 this month, up from -13 in November.

Confidence among large and medium and sized practices also continues to strengthen. Smaller practices have returned to positive territory after a dip in November.

Reports of personal underemployment are lower than they were a year ago. Workloads are reported to have rallied too; during the first lockdown they stood at 67% compared to twelve months ago; December results (taken prior to the third lockdown) were 95%.

London based practices remain negative about future workload with a -6 balance score in December, up slightly from -7 last month.

All other regions are positive about future workload: the Midlands & East Anglia returned to positive territory with +7 in December; the South of England at +8; Wales & the West at +22, up from +15 in November and the North of England was the most positive in December at +29 – the most positive outlook for the region since 2019.

Concerns about future practice viability remain, though have lessened. Overall, 3% of practice expect falling profits to threaten practice viability. 46% expect profits to fall over the next twelve months, 34% expect profits to stay the same, and 9% expect them to grow (8% don’t know).

In terms of staffing:

• With a slight increase on the previous month, the RIBA Future Trends Staffing Index returned a figure of +2 in December. • 84% of practices overall expect permanent staffing levels to remain consistent (up from 81% in November). • 7% expect to see a decrease in the number of permanent staff over the next three months (the same figure as November). • 9% expect permanent staffing levels to increase (up from 8% in November) • The anticipated demand for temporary staff has stayed the same as in November, with the Temporary Staffing Index falling at -1 in November • London is the only region to return a negative permanent staffing index figure (-9) – down from -7 in November • In London, the balance figure for permanent staff is -7 (up from -8 in October) • The Midlands & East Anglia are anticipating a falling number of permanent staff. In contrast, other regions are positive, notably Wales & the West (+9) and the North of England (+8). • Personal underemployment is back down to 20%. That’s lower than both last month’s figure and that of December 2019. At both times the figure was then 22%. • Staffing levels are currently 96% of their level a year ago. Overall, redundancies stand at 2% of staff. 6% of staff now remain on furlough.

RIBA Head of Economic Research and Analysis, Adrian Malleson, said:

“The growing optimism seen in our December results is heartening, with workloads being just 4% lower than they were a year ago and an increase in confidence in the commercial and public sector areas. However, additional commentary stresses the twin uncertainties of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic. Understandably, these make 2021 a highly uncertain year and the construction market may get worse before it gets better

The disparity in confidence between regions continues. In December London results continued to highlight a concerning set of indices: future work predictions, future staffing levels, assessment of future practice viability and personal underemployment, which are all lower than elsewhere.

Some practices report projects being held up by delays in the processing of planning applications but there are also reports of Public Sector workload beginning to increase.

It is a mixed and changing picture but with an overall growth in confidence. Whilst this confidence is likely to falter in the current lockdown, there is hope that it will return, once restrictions are eased.

RIBA comments on new UK-EU relationship

Monday 4th of January 2021 – The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has today commented on the new relationship between the UK and EU.

RIBA CEO, Alan Vallance, said:

“Since our initial response to the post-Brexit trade deal struck on 24 December, the RIBA has taken time to consider the terms negotiated and the implications for our profession.

Since the referendum, the RIBA has strongly called for the mutual recognition of professional qualifications, and it’s therefore disappointing to see this has not been agreed. Going forward, the ARB has an opportunity to negotiate a new recognition route with the EU, and we will be working closely with ARB colleagues and members to help shape such an agreement.

In terms of trading goods, while tariff-free importing and exporting should benefit UK construction long-term, we know that certain processes including the certification and declaration of products have – or will very soon – change, and all businesses will need to adjust to new measures.

As we all familiarise ourselves with this new UK-EU relationship, the RIBA is on hand to support members and practices adapt accordingly.”

Visit www.architecture.com/Brexit.

RIBA News 2020

RIBA News & Events 2020 – recent updates below:

24 Dec 2020

RIBA reacts to news of post-Brexit trade deal

Thursday 24 December 2020 – The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has today responded to the post-Brexit trade deal struck between the UK Government and EU Commission. RIBA CEO, Alan Vallance, said:

“Today’s news of a post-Brexit trade deal is no doubt a relief for many. But while this deal provides us with some certainty around the future relationship between the UK and EU, hesitation and vagueness around trade in services remains a serious concern for our profession. Architects in both the UK and EU were clear about the need for a continued agreement on recognition of professional qualifications, and it is deeply worrying that this does not seem to be part of the deal as it stands.

It’s also disappointing to see that UK students are no longer eligible for the Erasmus scheme, given the clear benefits for young people. We therefore look forward to understanding more about the new Turing scheme referenced by the Prime Minister.

It’s our hope however that this deal will keep the costs of importing construction materials down and – current border issues aside – at least provide some confidence over trading in goods.

As ever, we will continue to support our members with guidance and lobby the government to invest in the skills and talent that fuels the success of UK architecture worldwide.” Visit https://ift.tt/38d1nWz.

17 Dec 2020

RIBA Future Trends – COVID-19 restrictions impact practice confidence and workload

Thursday 17 December 2020 – In November 2020, the RIBA Future Workload Index returned a balance figure of 0, meaning as many practices expect workload to increase as those who expect it to decrease. It’s the lowest figure since June and a fall from last months’ +9.

Confidence about future work strengthened among large and medium-sized practices (to +25), whilst smaller practices have returned negative predictions for the first time since June at -5.

2 Dec 2020

RIBA announces winners of 2020 President’s Medals

RIBA President’s Medals Student Awards 2020

RIBA News 2019

RIBA News & Events 2019

RIBA Summer Installation 2019

RIBA London Events information from RIBA

Location: 66 Portland Place, London, UK

RIBA Events Archive

RIBA Events, Awards & News Archive Links

RIBA Annie Spink Award 2020

National Museum of African American History and Culture building: photo © Darren Bradley

RIBA News in London

RIBA London Events – Archive

RIBA HQ at 66 Portland Place

RIBA Gold Medal for Architecture

Chartered Institute of Building

RIBA Awards

RIBA Stirling Prize

RIBA Honorary Fellowships

London Architecture Events

AA School Events

Bartlett School of Architecture Event

Comments / photos for the RIBA News & Events for 2021 page welcome

Website: London

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[expatimes]

Maidan Market: Indian sporting goods market fighting for survival

Kolkata, India – A fresh consignment of sports replica jerseys arrives at a stall in Maidan Market, one of the largest sporting goods bazaars in India that is located in the heart of the eastern Indian city of Kolkata.

Mohammed Nadim, who has been working at the stall for more than 23 years, pulls out a plastic stool from underneath a rack stashed with low-priced football jerseys and begins examining the consignment.

“Uhssee, theek-e ache (80, the count is fine),” he mutters in a mix of Hindi and Bangla before handing the load-bearer the counterpart of a signed receipt.

The shipment consists of 10 replica jerseys of each of the eight teams taking part in the Indian Premier League (IPL), the biggest Twenty20 domestic league in the world.

The 2021 edition of the IPL begins next month and Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, is one of the six host cities.

Nadim says the stall would typically order 10 times that number ahead of the tournament every year.

That was in pre-pandemic times. Now, he adds, it is unlikely his store would order a refill in the lead-up to this year’s competition.

“Due to the pandemic, we still have stock left over from last year,” Nadim told Al Jazeera.

“We are replenishing them minimally given there’s been a slight increase in business across the market of late. But stocking up in bulk right now is beyond our means because the virus has brutally slashed our earnings.”

Maidan Market houses 449 stalls – 80 percent of which only sell sports items

Set up in 1954 for cloth merchants and artisans who migrated to the western part of divided Bengal following the partition of India in 1947, the market, officially christened Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy Market, gradually evolved into an arterial sports-merchandise hub in the country.

Housing 449 stalls – 80 percent of which only sell sports items – the bazaar, nestled a stone’s throw away from the iconic Eden Gardens cricket stadium in the vicinity of the Maidan, has been witness to several epochal shifts integral to Kolkata’s identity.

The market ships most of its produce – raw materials and finished products – from northern Indian cities and the months-long suspension of trains hampered supply and demand.

As stall owners remained indoors, a further misfortune struck the market.

Against the backdrop of the pandemic and the exodus of migrant workers the lockdown triggered, Kolkata also bore the brunt of the catastrophic Cyclone Amphan, which made landfall on the coastlines of eastern India and Bangladesh last May.

“So bad was the waterlogging in this area after the storm that the local police let us open our shops for a day so we could save our goods,” recounts Sumojit Pradhan, who runs his father’s store.

“Cricket bats and shoes worth over 50,000 rupees ($690) were damaged in our shop alone,” Pradhan told Al Jazeera.

Kolkata’s booming mall culture had slowly been eating into Maidan Market’s business

Last November, Nadim bemoaned how the pandemic had brought the market to its knees.

“So terrible was the nosedive in our sales that I’m drowning in debt,” Nadim said at the time.

“I’ve pulled my kids drop out of school and, if someone in the family falls ill, I don’t have enough money to be able to afford a doctor.”

A year on from the lockdown, more patrons are frequenting the market and it has returned to its usual 9.30am-8.30pm business hours, ditching the six-hour window it stuck to for several months after reopening.

“I’ve been printing around 120 jerseys a day since January,” said Sunny, who runs a vinyl-printing desk at Maidan Market.

“It’s been about 40 per cent of the daily orders I used to get before the pandemic. Things could be better or worse in the coming months. For now, I’m just relieved I’m earning an income again,” Sunny told Al Jazeera.

Kolkata’s booming mall culture had slowly been eating into Maidan Market’s business.

With the pandemic prompting a dip in spending on non-essential products, and an accelerated shift to online shopping, a lack of a digital presence is also hurting the stall owners.

“The loss incurred in the past 12 months … we may not be able to recover from it even in five years’ time,” Sheikh Nazimuddin, joint secretary of the stallholders’ association at the market, told Al Jazeera.

“And such is the nature of in-demand items like cricket bats, helmets and guards, customers hardly prefer buying them online. That’s why this market never previously felt the need to have a digital presence.”

For the first two months after the market reopened last June, sellers with stockpiles of fitness equipment made good money while the others struggled to keep their heads above water

Since the onset of the coronavirus outbreak, Pradhan, 24, has been among a few traders at Maidan Market who have funnelled time and effort into either creating or increasing the online presence of their brick-and-mortar businesses.

From having their stores listed on Google, to displaying select samples of in-store stock on Facebook and Instagram pages and taking orders on WhatsApp, the pandemic, Pradhan admits, has forced a “major rethink” of customer engagement approaches.

The changes in consumer patterns notwithstanding, several long-time loyalists of Maidan Market believe the enduring charms of the bazaar will help the sellers weather the ongoing adversity.

“Maidan Market is a great leveller. Players of every social and financial standing gravitate towards that place,” said Jhulan Goswami, Indian women’s team cricketer who learned her craft at Kolkata’s Vivekananda Park.

“The affordability, variety, and year-round availability of its products are its USPs. E-commerce sites are no match when it comes to these attributes,” Goswami told Al Jazeera.

Manoj Tiwary, the Bengal and Indian men’s cricketer who has also played in the IPL, agrees.

“Ever since I visited the market for the first time as a 15-year-old, I’ve witnessed first-hand the kinship every young athlete who comes here develops with the market, starting with the buying of equipment,” Tiwary, now 35, told Al Jazeera.

“That relationship is then nurtured by the goodwill of the shopkeepers who go to great lengths to help you pick what’s best for you.”

Most stall owners are hoping for a smooth IPL in April and May to lift sales

For the first two months after the market reopened last June, sellers with stockpiles of fitness equipment made good money while the others struggled to keep their heads above water.

“With gyms shut and outdoor activities prohibited, dumbbells, resistance bands and weight plates sold like hot cakes,” Pradhan recalled.

“Flag vendors, printers, jerseys sellers and bat dealers were starved of an income.”

For sellers like the Islam brothers, Rafique and Nurul, who operate the oldest trophy store in the market, hardly any business came by until December.

“Offices, academies and schools were closed. Who would buy trophies or medals if no sports events take place?” said Rafique, 64, who was one among the first stallholders to test positive for COVID-19 after the reopening of the market.

“It was only after a few local clubs began organising small sports and social events, say, to felicitate front-line workers, did we notice a slight uptick in sales in December and January,” he said.

With most sports coaching academies across the city and local tournaments under the Cricket Association of Bengal having resumed by late February, several old-timers and first-time buyers have since been making their way to Maidan Market.

“The ongoing vaccination drive has lifted the common man’s spirits,” said Somenath Das, while helping his 14-year-old daughter try on a new pair of cricket shoes.

“We took whatever safety precautions we could and came to this market. Growing up, I used to buy all my football gear from here. Now, it’s my daughter’s turn.”

Somenath Das visited Maidan Market to buy his daughter’s cricket shoes

But an air of resignation hangs over the market as a new nationwide surge in cases unfolded in recent weeks, reaching record highs.

Many stallholders fear that the gains made by Maidan Market since the start of this year in restoring a semblance of normalcy to the way it conducts business might be ruined by the second wave of the coronavirus outbreak.

Most admit that apart from relatively better psychological preparedness, they have little to no measures in place to counter the economic costs of a potential resuspension of all business if infections spiral out of control as they did a year ago.

Most stall owners are hoping for a smooth IPL in April and May to lift sales.

“With the IPL moving to the UAE last year because of the COVID crisis in India, the on-ground excitement around it died, meaning practically no business for us,” Nadim said.

“But even if the next tournament is held entirely behind closed doors, the return of top-flight cricket to the Eden Gardens could create enough buzz for fans and owners of malls, restaurants to buy merchandise from us.

“Ummeed par duniya kayam hain (Hope is what keeps people alive),” he added, as an afterthought.

Read full article: https://expatimes.com/?p=19526&feed_id=39652

[orbemnews]

How Shifting Politics Re-energized the Fight Against Poverty WASHINGTON — A quarter-century ago, a Democratic president celebrated “the end of welfare as we know it,” challenging the poor to exercise “independence” and espousing balanced budgets and smaller government. The Democratic Party capped a march in the opposite direction this week. Its first major legislative act under President Biden was a deficit-financed, $1.9 trillion “American Rescue Plan” filled with programs as broad as expanded aid to nearly every family with children and as targeted as payments to Black farmers. While providing an array of benefits to the middle class, it is also a poverty-fighting initiative of potentially historic proportions, delivering more immediate cash assistance to families at the bottom of the income scale than any federal legislation since at least the New Deal. Behind that shift is a realignment of economic, political and social forces, some decades in the making and others accelerated by the pandemic, that enabled a rapid advance in progressive priorities. Rising inequality and stagnant incomes over much of the past two decades left a growing share of Americans — of all races, in conservative states and liberal ones, in inner cities and small towns — concerned about making ends meet. New research documented the long-term damage from child poverty. An energized progressive vanguard pulled the Democrats leftward, not least Mr. Biden, who had campaigned as a moderating force. Concerns about deficit spending receded under Mr. Biden’s Republican predecessor, President Donald J. Trump, while populist strains in both parties led lawmakers to pay more attention to the frustrations of people struggling to get by — a development intensified by a pandemic recession that overwhelmingly hurt low-income workers and spared higher earners. A summer of protests against racial injustice, and a coalition led by Black voters that lifted Mr. Biden to the White House and helped give Democrats control of the Senate, put economic equity at the forefront of the new administration’s agenda. Whether the new law is a one-off culmination of those forces, or a down payment on even more ambitious efforts to address the nation’s challenges of poverty and opportunity, will be a defining battle for Democrats in the Biden era. In addition to trying to make permanent some of the temporary provisions in the package, Democrats hope to spend trillions of dollars to upgrade infrastructure, reduce the emissions that drive climate change, reduce the cost of college and child care, expand health coverage and guarantee paid leave and higher wages for workers. The new Democratic stance is “a long cry from the days of ‘big government is over,’” said Margaret Weir, a political scientist at Brown University. In the eyes of its backers, the law is not just one of the most far-reaching packages of economic and social policy in a generation. It is also, they say, the beginning of an opportunity for Democrats to unite a new majority in a deeply polarized country, built around a renewed belief in government. “Next to civil rights, voting rights and open housing in the ’60s, and maybe next to the Affordable Care Act — maybe — this is the biggest thing Congress has done since the New Deal,” said Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio and a longtime champion of the antipoverty efforts included in Mr. Biden’s plan. “People more and more realize that government can be on their side,” he said, “and now it is.” Conservatives are hardly giving up the battle over what some call a giant welfare expansion. Democrats face high hurdles to any further ambitious legislation, starting with the Senate filibuster, which requires most legislation to get 60 votes, and the precarious nature of the party’s Senate majority. Moderate Democrats are already resisting further growth of the budget deficit. But emboldened by the crisis, many Democrats see a new opportunity to use government to address big problems. In addition to the new legislation being broadly popular with voters, an intensified focus on worker struggles on both the left and the right, including Republicans’ increasing efforts to define themselves as a party of the working class, has scrambled the politics of economic policy across the ideological spectrum. Mr. Biden ran as a centrist in a Democratic Party where many activists had embraced progressive candidates like Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. But he will spend the coming weeks traveling the country to promote policies like his expansion of the child tax credit, a one-year, $100-billion benefit that most Democrats hope to turn into what was once a distant progressive dream: guaranteed income for families with children. Republicans have struggled to attack the full range of policies contained in Mr. Biden’s rescue plan, especially those like direct payments of up to $1,400 per person and expanded health care subsidies that benefit many of their constituents. Party leaders are trying to change the subject to issues like immigration. A Republican National Committee news release this week denounced the rescue plan’s expansion of the national debt, its funding for liberal states and cities like San Francisco and $1.7 billion in aid to Amtrak, but made no mention of the expanded child tax credit that will provide most families with monthly payments of up to $300 per child. Some prominent conservatives have welcomed the antipoverty provisions, applauding them as pro-family even though they violate core tenets of the Republican Party’s decades-long position that government aid is a disincentive to work. Updated  March 13, 2021, 11:58 a.m. ET Many Republicans from conservative-leaning states have turned increased attention to growing social problems in their own backyards, in the middle of an opioid crisis and economic stagnation that has left rural Americans with higher poverty rates than urban Americans, particularly for children. An emerging strain of conservatism, often supported by a new generation of economic thinkers, has embraced expanded spending for families with children, to help lower-income workers and, in some cases, to encourage families to have more children. The conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt celebrated the expanded child credit in a series of Twitter posts on Friday, urging parents to use the proceeds to send their children to parochial school, and said he would work to make them permanent. Still, the law could provoke a Tea Party-style backlash of the sort generated by the Obama administration’s efforts to jolt the economy back to health in 2009. “They snuck it through and voters don’t know what they’re doing,” said Robert Rector of the conservative Heritage Foundation, an influential adviser to Capitol Hill Republicans. “The battle has yet to be joined,” said Mickey Kaus, a journalist whose criticisms of unconditional cash benefits to the poor helped shape the welfare overhaul under President Bill Clinton. Democrats say Mr. Biden has laid the groundwork for a durable victory by creating programs that help not just the very poor, but also lower- and middle-class workers. The package is projected to deliver thousands of dollars in benefits to families of all races, potentially neutralizing a long history of white voters souring on spending they perceive to be targeted to racial minorities. The rescue plan, which Mr. Biden signed into law on Thursday, features other temporary measures meant to help Americans with no or little income. They include extended and expanded unemployment benefits, increased tax breaks for child care costs and an enlarged earned-income tax credit. Mr. Biden’s antipoverty efforts, which researchers say will lift nearly six million children out of poverty, “came to be part of the package because families that earn in the bottom third of the income distribution, or at least of the wage distribution, have been disproportionately hurt by the pandemic,” said Cecilia Rouse, the chairwoman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Democrats and poverty researchers began laying the groundwork for many of those provisions years ago, amid economic changes that exposed holes in the safety net. When a 2015 book by Kathryn J. Edin and H. Luke Shaefer, “$2.00 a Day,” argued that rising numbers of families spent months with virtually no cash income, Mr. Brown arranged for all his Democratic Senate colleagues to receive a copy. At the same time, many scholars shifted their focus from whether government benefits discouraged parents from working to whether the vagaries of a low-wage labor market left parents with adequate money to raise a child. A growing body of academic research, which Obama administration officials began to herald shortly before leaving office, showed that a large proportion of children spent part of their childhood below the poverty line and that even short episodes of poverty left children less likely to prosper as adults. A landmark report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine in 2019 found that aid programs left children better off. “That allowed us to change the conversation,” away from the dangers of dependency “to the good these programs do,” said Hilary W. Hoynes, an economist at the University of California, Berkeley, who served on the committee that wrote the report. By last summer, it became clear the pandemic’s toll was falling most heavily on disadvantaged workers, especially Black and Latino people, and Mr. Trump, who earlier had run up the deficit with a big tax cut, had joined both parties in Congress in adding trillions of dollars in federal debt to send out economic relief. Racial protests over the summer further increased the pressure for government help. “Just as the civil rights movement pushed Johnson, this movement is pushing Biden,” said Sidney M. Milkis, a political scientist at the University of Virginia who studies the relationship between presidents and grass-roots movements. While the expanded child tax credit would reach 93 percent of children, it would have its greatest effects on people of color. Analysts at Columbia University estimated the child benefit would cut child poverty from prepandemic levels among whites by 39 percent, Latinos by 45 percent and African-Americans by 52 percent. “Covid exposed the fissures of systemic racism and systemic poverty that already existed,” said the Rev. William J. Barber II, who helps run the Poor People’s Campaign, an effort to get the needy more involved in electoral politics. “It forced a deeper conversation about poverty and wages in this country.” White House officials and Democratic leaders in Congress say Mr. Biden’s rescue plan has now changed that conversation, creating momentum for permanent expansions of many of its antipoverty efforts. Multiple researchers project the bill will cut child poverty in half this year. Democrats say they will turn that into an argument against Republicans who might oppose making the benefits permanent. “You’re voting for doubling the child poverty rate — you’re going to do that?” Mr. Brown said. In selling the plan, Mr. Biden has blurred the lines between the poor and the middle class, treating them less as distinct groups with separate problems than as overlapping and shifting populations of people who were struggling with economic insecurity even before the pandemic. Last week, he at once talked of “millions of people out of work through no fault of their own” and cited the benefits his plan would bring to families with annual incomes of $100,000. “This is part of why I think it is more transformational,” said Brian Deese, who heads Mr. Biden’s National Economic Council. “This is not just a targeted antipoverty program.” In coming months, Democrats will face significant hurdles in making provisions like the child benefit permanent, including pressure from fiscal hawks to offset them by raising taxes or cutting other spending. But the swift passage of even the temporary provisions has left many antipoverty experts delighted. “A year ago, I would have said it was a pipe dream,” said Stacy Taylor, who tracks poverty policy for Fresh EBT by Propel, a phone application used by millions of food stamp recipients. “I can’t believe we’re going to have a guaranteed income for families with children.” Source link Orbem News #Fight #Politics #Poverty #Reenergized #shifting

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Headlines: Sunday, October 4, 2020

UN chief: World is living in ‘shadow of nuclear catastrophe’ (AP) U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Friday that the world is living “in the shadow of nuclear catastrophe,” fueled by growing distrust and tensions between the nuclear powers. The U.N. chief told a high-level meeting to commemorate the recent International Day for Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons that progress on ridding the world of nuclear weapons “has stalled and is at risk of backsliding.” And he said strains between countries that possess nuclear weapons “have increased nuclear risks.” As examples, Guterres has expressed deep concern at the escalating disputes between the Trump administration and China. Relations between the U.S. and Russia are at a low point. Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan are feuding over Kashmir, and India just had a border skirmish with China. And North Korea boasts about its nuclear weapons. Without naming any countries, Guterres said programs to modernize nuclear arsenals “threaten a qualitative nuclear arms race,” not to increase the number of weapons but to make them “faster, stealthier and more accurate.”

America’s education sector is facing job losses ‘you do not want to see’ (Yahoo Finance) The education sector is shedding jobs, and analysts worry that that they may never come back. “You’re seeing state and local governments cutting back on teachers, you’re seeing even in the private sector, the number of education workers cut back,” Greg Daco, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, told Yahoo Finance’s First Trade. “That’s a function of state and local budgets … state and local government budgets are really being strained and that is going to hurt teachers, health workers, safety workers.” The education industry is officially looking at a loss of around 355,000 jobs since February, the BLS report stated. Even private education was hit with a 69,000 loss in jobs, the report noted. These jobs include teachers and professors and staff at private schools and colleges.

Trump COVID infection thrusts world in uncharted territory (AP) News that the world’s most powerful man was infected with the world’s most notorious disease dominated screens large and small, drawing shock, sympathy and some barbs for President Donald Trump. The outpouring from world leaders and flagging markets Friday left little doubt that Trump’s illness will have global implications—even if they’re still unknown. The positive test reading adds to investors’ worries, especially about its effect on the Nov. 3 election between the Republican president and Democrat Joe Biden. U.S. stock futures and most world markets fell on the news as did the price of oil. From India to Qatar to Mexico, world leaders were quick to offer official sympathy from the top, many in the form of tweets directly to Trump, while something approaching schadenfreude bubbled up from elsewhere. Trump is the most prominent on a growing list of powerful people who have contracted the virus, including many who were skeptical of the disease.

Amid pandemic challenges, houses of worship show resiliency (AP) The coronavirus pandemic has posed daunting challenges for houses of worship across the U.S., often entailing large financial losses and suspension of in-person services. It also has sparked moments of gratitude, wonder and inspiration. In the Chicago suburb of Cary, Lutheran pastor Sarah Wilson recorded a sermon aboard a small plane piloted by a congregation member. The video that went online showed a high-up view of idyllic landscapes. “It was very spiritual,” Wilson said. In New York, Episcopal priest Steven Paulikas heard from someone in France who watched a service via Facebook. “I loved your sermon,” was the message. “It’s a new experience for me,” said Paulikas, of All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Brooklyn. “People I’ve never met before, from different states and countries, are joining us online.” Such positive experiences are not uncommon. Clerics nationwide say they and their congregations responded to the pandemic and resulting lockdowns with creativity, resiliency and invigorated community spirit. Financially, there’s no simple summary of how houses of worship have fared through six months of pandemic. Revenue at Wilson’s church, St. Barnabas, has been stable even as it resorted to drive-in parking lot services. Paulikas says giving is up 19% at All Saints’. But in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, offerings fell, according to chief operating officer Betsy Bohlen. Social service outreach remains vigorous, however. Bohlen said $25 million has been raised for a COVID-19 emergency fund.

Tropical Storm Gamma gaining strength as it heads toward Mexico (ABC News) Tropical Storm Gamma is gaining strength Saturday morning and now has winds of 65 mph. The storm is moving northwest at 9 mph and is about 75 miles south of Cozumel, Mexico. On the current forecast track, Gamma will make landfall on the Yucatan Peninsula later Saturday and then begin to weaken. The main threat right now for Gamma in Mexico will be the 15 inches of rain that will be possible in some areas, which could produce life-threatening flash flooding near where the storm makes landfall.

Maduro looks to crypto (Foreign Policy) In a speech this week, embattled Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro floated the idea of using cryptocurrencies to skirt U.S. sanctions. The announcement came as Maduro unveiled a new anti-sanctions bill, which will examine the possibility of using cryptocurrencies in both foreign and domestic trade. In 2018, the Venezuelan government became the first in the world to launch a cryptocurrency, the oil-backed petro, as a way to evade sanctions. However, it is not available outside Venezuela, and cryptocurrencies have numerous problems that have so far made them highly inefficient for trade purposes.

Macron Vows Crackdown on ‘Islamist Separatism’ in France (NYT) President Emmanuel Macron of France on Friday outlined measures designed to rein in the influence of radical Islam in the country and help develop what he called an “Islam of France” compatible with the nation’s republican values. In a long-awaited speech on the subject, Mr. Macron said that the influence of Islamism must be eradicated from public institutions even as he acknowledged government failures in allowing it to spread. The measures include placing stringent limits on home-schooling (for medical reasons only) and increasing scrutiny of religious schools, making associations that solicit public funds sign a “charter” on secularism. While these measures would apply to any group, they are intended to counter extremists in the Muslim community. “Secularism is the cement of a united France,” he said, calling radical Islam both an “ideology” and a “project” that sought to indoctrinate children, undermine France’s values—especially gender equality—and create a “counter-society” that sometimes laid the groundwork for Islamist terrorism.

30 Years After Reunification, Old German-German Border Is a Green Oasis (NYT) While the militarized border that split Germany for 38 years has disappeared more readily than the persistent economic and political differences between the two parts, a faint 870 mile-long scar remains. It is green. After a long-running battle between landowners, government authorities and environmentalists, the federal government announced last month that the entire former border zone would be designated a nature reserve. Once an insurmountable obstacle—especially to the people in the East—crossing the strip has now become a literal walk in the park.

Two killed, 25 missing as drenching rain hits parts of France and Italy (Reuters) Two people died and 25 people were missing in France and Italy after a storm hit border regions of the two countries, bringing record rainfall in places and causing heavy flooding that swept away roads and damaged homes, authorities said on Saturday. The storm, dubbed Alex, ravaged several villages around the city of Nice on the French Riviera. Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi called it the worst flooding disaster in the area for more than a century after flying over the worst-hit area by helicopter. Television images from both countries showed several roads and bridges had been swept away by flood water and numerous rivers were reported to have burst their banks.

Venice deploys flood barrier for first time as storm drives up tide (Reuters) Venice deployed its long-delayed flood barriers for the first time on Saturday as forecasters warned that storms could combine with high tides to inundate the city. The network of 78 bright yellow barriers that guard the entrance to the delicate Venetian lagoon started to lift from the sea bed more than three hours before the high tide was scheduled to peak. Officials will be hoping the controversial, multi-billion-euro flood defence system, known as Mose, will mitigate the pending storm. Designed in 1984, Mose was due to come into service in 2011, but the project was plagued by the sort of problems that have come to characterise many major Italian construction programmes—corruption, cost overruns and prolonged delays.

Nagorno-Karabakh says 51 more servicemen killed in fighting with Azerbaijan (Reuters) Nagorno-Karabakh said on Saturday that 51 more servicemen had been killed in the war with Azerbaijan, a sharp rise in the death toll from a week of fierce fighting.

China holiday: Millions on the move for Golden Week (BBC) Hundreds of millions of people in China are marking this year’s National Day holiday with gatherings and quick getaways. National Day, which marks the founding of the People’s Republic of China, coincides with this year’s Mid Autumn Festival. It is estimated that 550 million people will travel domestically during the eight-day holiday referred to as “Golden Week”. It’s thought that 13 million passenger trips were made on Thursday—the highest figure since February, according to state media. Last year seven million people travelled abroad to destinations such as Thailand but with restrictions in place across the world, many countries are out of bounds for travellers.

“Hellish conditions” (Foreign Policy) Thousands of Ethiopian migrant workers are being held in squalid prisons in Saudi Arabia after they were expelled from neighboring Yemen at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report released on Friday by Amnesty International. The detainees including pregnant women and children. Detainees interviewed by Amnesty described being held in overcrowded cells with inadequate access to health care, food, and water. Several had experienced or witnessed others beaten or electrocuted by guards for complaining about the conditions. Ethiopian State Minister Tsion Teklu told The Associated Press that as many as 16,000 Ethiopians could be held in Saudi prisons, adding that the foreign ministry was working to repatriate 300 people each week.

[sinrau]

Melvin Carter, the mayor of St. Paul, Minnesota, watched his city’s twin, Minneapolis, burn this spring. Sparked by the killing of George Floyd, many people gathered in protest and fury over his May 25 death and the treatment of Black people at the hands of police. Carter knew his city’s citizens were aggrieved not only by decades of mistreatment, but also by the entrenched poverty that accompanied it.

“We have people in our community who work 60 hours a week and still scrape by to feed their children and pay their rent,” said Carter. “Whole neighborhoods that are in deep poverty and doing the best they can.”

A month before Floyd’s death, Carter’s office had provided 1,265 families one-time payments of $1,000 through a temporary program called the Bridge Fund. The emergency relief diminished some hardships, but hasn’t been nearly enough. Carter wants a longer-term solution.

As the pandemic decimates the bank accounts of American families, some mayors across the country like Carter are proposing guaranteed income experiments, or universal basic income, as a simple, scalable and equitable solution for both families and local economies.

The March stimulus package, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, they say, showed that giving direct cash to people works. The $1,200 checks from the federal government that many Americans received, the Paycheck Protection Program — which helped employers make their payroll — and the $600 weekly unemployment assistance payments kept many people afloat.

But that assistance was limited and weekly checks expired at the end of July. In their absence, these mayors believe the need for universal income has become more urgent and could help address racial disparities that COVID-19 has exacerbated.

Led by Mayor Michael Tubbs of Stockton, California, a coalition of 16 city leaders from across the country announced Mayors for Guaranteed Income in June, an initiative meant to show the merits of a monthly check. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti signed on, as did Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, Pittsburgh Mayor William Peduto and others.

Tubbs told NBC’s “TODAY” show in June that a guaranteed income is a step toward “abolishing poverty.” But the money, unlike a universal basic income, would only go to those in need, not to everyone regardless of wealth.

The city of Stockton has been piloting a program for around 18 months, providing $500 a month to 125 people. During the pandemic, about 45 percent of that money went to food, Tubbs said. Much of the rest went to providing other essentials for the family, like rent. While the mayors’ joint venture was in the works before the pandemic, they believe the pandemic and protests only strengthened their case.

Carter signed onto the new guaranteed income initiative in June, and says he believes it will help bridge the poverty gap permanently, by providing direct, monthly cash payments to residents of his city in need, every month. No strings attached.

Universal Basic Income is a centuries-old idea that has long been floated but rarely implemented. The premise is simple: Give people money and trust them to use it for their needs. It has, in recent years, been taken out of economics theory papers and put to work in experiments in Kenya, Finland, Canada, Namibia and Brazil.

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Critics have long worried aid recipients will spend lavishly, or use the money as an excuse not to work. For champions of a universal basic income, Finland’s pilot,which gave 2,000 unemployed residents a monthly check for two years, 2017 and 2018, failed in exactly this manner: Those who received basic income weren’t picking up jobs faster, and they only showed a small boost in mental well-being and perceived economic security when compared to the control group.

It wasn’t the impact advocates had hoped for, though experts say there were clear flaws in the program itself, i ncluding a rush to set it up, underfunding, diminishing other benefits to those who received the cash, and limiting the trial to those already unemployed.

Over the years, guaranteed income has been endorsed across the ideological spectrum for different reasons, with champions ranging from Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Black Panthers, to the conservative economist Milton Friedman to right-wing political scientist Charles Murray, though it has never truly captured the attention of lawmakers. Americans on the whole have not been particularly keen on the idea of a universal basic income, which is thought to run contrary to U.S. ideals of hard work and self-made worth.

Yet as inequality and the cost of living skyrocketed, it has started to draw the attention of the greater American public. When 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, an entrepreneur, offered up a form of universal basic income as a central part of his plank during the primaries, Silicon Valley elites threw their support behind the idea, and Yang brought the concept to a wider audience, arguing it would bridge the gap as jobs continue to be automated away.

And then the pandemic hit, and with it the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

People who lost their jobs wait in line to file for unemployment following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at an Arkansas Workforce Center in Fayetteville, Ark., on April 6, 2020.Nick Oxford / Reuters file

“COVID-19 has shone a bright, hot light on our systemic failures,” said Mayor Libby Schaaf of Oakland, California. “Oakland has seen more than a doubling in homelessness, and I am terrified that once these eviction moratoriums expire, we will see a homelessness armageddon.”

Schaaf is another signatory of the Mayors for Guaranteed Income statement of principles. Her city was once thought of as the working-class sibling to San Francisco. In recent years Oakland has become unaffordable for many who’ve called it home for generations: Along with rising homelessness, gentrification is in overdrive, the poverty rate is creeping toward 20 percent, and a housing crisis looms ever larger. Schaaf says a guaranteed income is “powerful in its simplicity.”

Schaaf, who has also been criticized by activists for being too cozy with developers, acknowledged it is “not the end of the work,” saying issues like housing costs and fair wages still need to be addressed, but says she believes that, in the meantime, a guaranteed income could significantly help people in her city, especially as the pandemic persists.

The coalition of mayors also believes the universality of the idea is crucial to its success, and there are lessons to be learned from the CARES Act.

“CARES was a pretty important moment of recognition that direct financial support to people is a really essential tool,” said Dorian Warren, the president of Community Change, a Washington-based national organization that works to build power for low-income people of color. Still, a one-time payment sent to Americans under a certain income threshold cannot lift up a person or a family the way a monthly check would, Warren said. Noncitizens didn’t receive a check, and supplemental unemployment assistance was tied to lost pre-pandemic employment.

“Americans needed an income floor before the crisis, they clearly need one during the crisis, and they need one after the crisis,” Warren said, who has argued that universal basic income could function as something close to reparations for Black Americans.

Other post-mortems of the CARES act underscored the impact of unequal fund distribution. A Columbia University Center on Poverty and Social Policy study released in June showed that had the CARES act been equally distributed, it could have reduced poverty to pre-pandemic levels, but it left out many who needed it the most. Another study published by Accountable.US in July showed congressional districts with the highest Black populations received up to $13 billion less in Paycheck Protection Program funding than districts with the lowest percent of Black residents. Now, experts believe the government stimulus might actually widen already existing wealth gaps.

Warren said it’s precisely because of the failures of the CARES Act that the country needs help that is more universal, and inclusive. He pointed to Mayors for a Guaranteed Income as a possible way to get there.

Oakland’s Schaaf said a guaranteed income is “probably the most powerful antidote for racial disparities” that she could enact policy wise. “It all comes down to resources at the end of the day.”

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf gestures during a news conference in Oakland, Calif. on March 7, 2018.Ben Margot / AP file

But critics, even those on the left, are quick to say a guaranteed income isn’t a panacea, and comes with the potential to drain already scant government funds for existing social services.

Indivar Dutta-Gupta, co-executive director of the Center on Poverty and Equality at Georgetown Law, said cities don’t have the luxury of choosing between pre-existing social services and a guaranteed income.

“People need both a minimum income and high quality public goods and services,” he said in an email. “For any given need, such as having access to high quality early care and education or affording diapers for a baby, providing cash or the necessary good or service are not strong substitutes for each other.”

Some conservatives, however, support universal basic income precisely because they think America should choose between guaranteed income or a broader system of safety nets. Liberal critics often worry universal basic income will lead to the defunding of other programs, while other policymakers criticize the price tag of sending checks to tens of millions every month.

Others worry universal income might not actually reach those who need it the most, like youth who are homeless or housing insecure, said Maurice Gattis, an associate professor of social work at Virginia Commonwealth University. Gattis says prevention is crucial to solving poverty, and believes a housing and health care guarantee would do more to help than a check each month.

The federal government’s pandemic relief “exposed the gaps in our system,” he said. And there is no reason to believe monthly checks would necessarily fill that gap. To get the stimulus check as quick as possible, you needed to have a bank account. But that excludes those without a checking account, not to mention those without a permanent address for a check to even be mailed.

Carter, St. Paul’s mayor, understands the criticisms. He still feels the evidence points to the efficacy of guaranteed income.

“We are arguing for a route to a far more resilient and sustainable economy for the entire country,” he said. “Doing nothing is absolutely not an option.”

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[tcifiscal]

Proposed TANF Improvements Will Help Rebuild the State’s Safety Net and Advance Racial Equity

An economy that works for everyone is one where all families are able to make ends meet and put food on the table, yet not every family in Virginia has benefited from the growing economy. The governor’s introduced budget makes critical investments in many families who aren’t able to make ends meet by strengthening Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits, including a summer food program and lifting eligibility restrictions. TANF is a critical program that helps parents with low incomes afford basic needs such as rent, child care, and transportation. State legislators have the opportunity to go beyond the governor’s proposals and use available TANF trust fund dollars to help reverse the erosion of support for families with low incomes over the past two decades.

TANF is funded through a set amount of money from the federal government (a block grant) in combination with a certain level of matching state dollars. This money goes into a trust fund that is meant to be used to provide cash assistance and other supports to families during challenging financial times. But two decades of reductions in assistance levels and punitive exclusions built on racist sentiments about families of color with low incomes and people who receive public assistance have eroded benefits and left families unable to provide the basics. Meanwhile, Virginia has accumulated unspent funds in its TANF trust fund because money wasn’t used to help the families it was intended to. Legislators should accept the administration’s proposed improvements and use additional available TANF trust funds to further restore Virginia’s safety net.

Lifting the family cap 

A proposal by Del. Aird (HB 690) would lift TANF’s “family cap”, a policy rooted in a racist stereotypes about Black women and women of color, and the administration’s introduced budget includes the necessary funding for this change. The family cap currently denies assistance to children who were conceived while their family was receiving TANF benefits. Simply put, a family doesn’t get an increase in benefits even though their family has grown, further straining their ability to provide basics like diapers and food. 

Research has shown that while family cap policies have done nothing to affect birth rates, despite its attempt to serve as coercion in reproductive choices, it has increased the poverty rate for parents and children who receive benefits. By removing the family cap, Virginia would make a critical difference for families by getting them the assistance they need. 

Lifting the drug felony ban 

Several bills in the House and Senate – HB 566 (Del. Guzman), which incorporates HB 814 (Del. Ward) and HB 1130 (Del. Lopez), and SB 124 (Sen. Locke), which incorporates SB 155 (Sen. Favola) – lift the ban on people who have drug-related felonies on their record from receiving TANF benefits that emerged as a result of federal policies put in place in 1996. The administration’s introduced budget includes funding for this change.

Research has shown that lifting the ban helps people transitioning from incarceration gain access to critical resources for themselves and their families. And although the children of returning citizens are still TANF-eligible, the loss of assistance for a parent means less resources for the entire family. Expanding eligibility to TANF is a necessary, commonsense, and low-cost investment that would result in material benefits for families across the state. 

Increased income assistance 

The proposed budget also dedicates $6.7 million in non-general funds and about $740,000 in general funds to increase income assistance to TANF recipients by 5%. This is a much-needed improvement to TANF benefits, which have not kept up with the cost of living in the state, forcing families to make ends meet with less and less. In addition to helping families access needed resources, research shows that increased incomes result in long-term improvements for children's health, academic, and future earning outcomes.

Although Virginia was one of several states to make small adjustments recently, the maximum monthly TANF benefit in Virginia ($442) for a family of three still leaves those families at around 24% of the federal poverty line. And although the 5% increase is needed, it is not enough to lift families out of poverty or even out of “deep poverty,” which is half the official poverty line. Money is available for a larger increase due to a surplus in TANF’s trust fund, and a higher increase could make a big difference in the lives of people who are supported by these benefits. 

Summer food program 

Families that rely on school meals for their students can face challenges when school is out for the summer. According to the Virginia Department of Social Services, 38 localities throughout the state have one or no community sites providing meals to children during the summer. The introduced budget addresses this issue by providing $50 each summer month through an EBT card for food purchases for children who live in an area without a summer meals program. The proposal would meet a crucial need in communities across the state. 

Legislators are also proposing other improvements to TANF benefits, including a $10 additional monthly benefit to help women purchase feminine hygiene products (SB 715, Sen. McClellan) and an easing of the two-year time limit (SB 187, Sen. Favola). 

The improvements proposed by legislators this year and funded in the administration’s proposed budget are a strong first step in rebuilding the state’s safety net and advancing racial equity. Legislators should approve these changes this legislative session and continue to rebuild TANF to create economic prosperity for everyone in Virginia. 

– Kathy Mendes, Research Assistant

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Learn more about The Commonwealth Institute at www.thecommonwealthinstitute.org

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The Cruelty of Trump’s Attack on Food Stamps

As a candidate, Donald Trump frequently promised to “fix” poverty. As president, he has continued to make a big show of concern for poor Americans. “We want to lift every American family out of poverty and into a future of hope and opportunity,” he said recently.

For the past few months, Trump as bragged—with a mixture of fact and fiction—about his great, amazing, incredible strides in accomplishing that goal. The “poverty index” is the “best number EVER,” he tweeted in June. (Not true.) “One million people have been lifted out of poverty and the poverty rate for African Americans has reached the lowest level ever recorded,” he said at a rally in May. (Both true.) “Nearly five million Americans have been lifted off food stamps,” he said in February. (Not true.)

Now, apparently, Trump believes his work on fighting poverty is complete. How else to explain his administration’s plan to tighten eligibility requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program? After all, the consequences of such a move are widely accepted: Roughly three million Americans would lose food stamps, while potentially hundreds of thousands of low-income students would lose their free school lunches. In short, Trump’s proposed rule changes would accomplish exactly the opposite of lifting families out of poverty; it would hold these families’ heads under water.

This is just the latest salvo in a decades-long, bipartisan effort to shred the social safety net. There remains an unyielding and erroneous assumption that people are poor by choice; in one 1985 survey, repeated in 2016, the percent of respondents saying “welfare benefits make people dependent and encourage them to stay poor” barely budged, going from 59 percent to 54 percent. This, despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of poor people aren’t able-bodied adults electing not to work, but children, elderly, disabled, or full-time students or caregivers.

Every administration since Ronald Reagan, with the exception of Barack Obama’s, has made moves to reduce either the amount, type, or length of government support for people in poverty. Austerity is often used as an excuse, even when the proposed cuts are—as in today’s case—preceded by a major tax cut for the rich. Though more commonly a passion project of the Republican Party, the Democrats don’t have a sterling record: Perhaps no other legislation did more damage to the safety net than Bill Clinton’s “welfare reform.” Kathryn Edin and Luke Shaefer, the authors of $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America, have shown that the number of Americans living on $2 a day or less has doubled since 1996, to more than 1.5 million.

But the Trump administration has attacked programs that benefit low-income Americans with a cruel gusto, from pushing Medicaid work requirements that end up costing people coverage (or fighting Medicaid expansion that ends up costing people’s lives) to striking overtime protection rules. The Department of Agriculture’s proposed rule changes to SNAP are a stark example because they take direct aim at children. (This is also a particularly Trumpian move; while the modern GOP has been complicit in most of these measures, they have legislatively resisted changes to SNAP.)

Two-thirds of SNAP benefits go to families with children, helping feed 20 million children every day. In most states, some of these recipients automatically qualify for food stamps because they receive other federal or state benefits; the states don’t check the recipients’ income or assets. This is called “categorical eligibility.” By eliminating it, and forcing means-testing for all SNAP recipients, the Department of Agriculture hopes to save $2.5 billion per year. “This proposal will save money and preserve the integrity of the program,” Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said. “Now people will have to qualify like everyone else.”

But Rebecca Vallas, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, has noted that eliminating categorical eligibility would create a sharp “benefits cliff,” such that many workers would actually be punished for getting a small raise at work because they’d immediately lose all of their SNAP benefits.

This rule change would also stop SNAP-eligible children from being automatically enrolled in the free school lunch program. Lower-income parents—often because they’re busy working multiple jobs for inadequate wages—are more likely not to know about or complete the process of applying for free or reduced-price school lunches. So tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of students may go hungry during the school day, which is proven to have a damaging impact on their development: A study of children whose families receive SNAP benefits found there’s a significant drop in test scores the longer it’s been since their monthly SNAP deposit (i.e. the more empty the fridge is getting).

Kicking poor families off of SNAP doesn’t just put families at risk of going hungry; it increases their financial precariousness and levels of chronic stress. “Many programs that alleviate poverty – either directly, by providing income transfers, or indirectly, by providing food, housing, or medical care – have been shown to improve child well-being,” according to a recent landmark report by the National Academies of Sciences, A Roadmap to Reducing Child Poverty. In fact, financial security is so tightly tied to child outcomes that the Centers for Disease Control lists “strengthen economic supports to families” as one of the five key strategies for preventing child abuse and neglect.

Conservatives have used all manner of claims to argue for cutting food stamps. Poor people are not working hard enough for the benefit. They’re not buying nutritious food. They’re not working because SNAP makes it “excessively easy to be non-productive,” as Mitch McConnell once put it. Now, the Trump administration is effectively arguing that millions of Americans simply don’t need food stamps anymore—and it’s even implying that these people are cheating taxpayers by receiving the benefit. It’s an appalling attack on the nation’s poor, but this is one instance where Trump, in historical terms, is lamentably unexceptional.

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Consumer Sentiment Changes as Coronavirus Continues

When the pandemic started earlier this year, everyone tried to predict how customers would behave. In April, we covered consumer sentiment—consumers overall were shopping less and shifting some out-of-the-house spending (e.g., restaurants and movies) to in-home spending (groceries and streaming entertainment). Now that we are 6 months into this pandemic, with no end in sight, what does consumer sentiment look like, and how should small business owners react?

Overall, the latest numbers released for consumer spending, consumer sentiment, and unemployment paint a positive picture.

According to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, consumer spending in May increased by 8.2% following 2 months of decreased spending (March at -6.6% and April at -12.6%). This means consumers spent more as economies reopened in May. US Census Bureau’s advance estimate numbers reveal that June showed a positive increase as well—up 7.5% over May. June’s advanced numbers included significant increases in spending over May in several categories, including: 

Clothing & clothing accessories stores (105.1%) 

Electronics & appliance stores (37.4%)

Food services & drinking places (20%)

The Horizon Consumer Science US Consumer Sentiment well-being index showed consumer sentiment to be only 5% below average mid-July compared to mid-April’s 14% below average. Perhaps related, but the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed a decline in the unemployment rate in June (11.1%) compared to April (14.4%).

So the numbers show customers are starting to spend money again, but what does that look like from a customer behavior perspective?

McKinsey identifies 5 themes of consumer behavior as the pandemic continues: Shift to value and essentials, flight to digital and omnichannel, shock to loyalty, health and ‘caring’ economy, and homebody economy. Similarly, EY (Ernst & Young) predicts 5 consumer segments for the future: Affordability first (30%), Health first (26%), Planet first (17%), Society first (16%), and Experience first (11%).

Since customer behaviors and segments are evolving, where should small business owners focus?

Adapt Your Pricing Strategy

According to McKinsey, “Most US consumers still believe it will take more than 6 months for the economy to recover,” so consumers are focused on purchasing essential items at lower costs. If the majority of consumers don’t believe in a quick economic recovery, how can your business cater to price-sensitive consumers who are primarily focused on essentials?

Perhaps it’s time to review your pricing strategy. Set your price point to capture some of the bargain-hunter markets. However, given the COVID-19 costs of doing business, don’t compete on price alone. Include options in your pricing mix to entice customers who appreciate the unique value you provide.

Embrace Digital

Many experts predicted digital would be a crucial tool for keeping businesses afloat during the pandemic. The June advance estimate numbers from the US Census indicate that “non-store retailers were up 23.5%” from a year ago. McKinsey predicts the trend will continue as “… many consumers say they plan to continue shopping online even when brick-and-mortar stores reopen.”

If you haven’t hopped on the digital bandwagon yet, it’s not too late. Implement online tools for marketing and selling to reach more customers, including those who want to avoid physical contact. Don’t forget that your back-end office tasks, like bookkeeping and invoicing, can also be converted to online options.

Know What Your Customer Wants

Customers are less loyal now. During the great scavenger hunt for toilet paper and hand sanitizer at the beginning of the pandemic, available won over brand name every time. Consumers flocked to restaurants that advertised contactless pickup. Shoppers switched to grocery stores that offered BOPIS. And cash-strapped customers have decided off-brand items can often be substituted for a pricier brand name item.

As a small business owner, ask your customers what they want. Take surveys, practice social listening, and give your customers a way to provide feedback. If you can position your product as a low-cost alternative to a name brand product, do it. If you have a local customer base, explain how buying local helps you give back to the community.

Focus on Safety and Sustainable

A McKinsey survey showed that customers want to know that you value their safety, as well as the well-being of others in your web (e.g., employees, suppliers). Make sure you are shouting from the rooftop all the safety measures—physical barriers, deep cleaning, contactless transactions—you have put in place to protect your customers and stakeholders.

Additionally, because the coronavirus has proven how interconnected the world is, some consumers may expect you to reduce your environmental impact to prevent future pandemics. Look at ways to increase your market share by incorporating sustainable products where you can.

Meet Your Customer at Home

According to McKinsey, ‘’In most countries, more than 70% of survey respondents don’t yet feel comfortable resuming their ‘normal’ out-of-home activities.” Labeling this the homebody economy, McKinsey predicts customers won’t come marching back when the government lifts restrictions—many will wait for the all-clear signal from medical professionals.

As a small business owner, can you find a way to tailor your product or services to meet the stay-at-home customer? For example, hair salons that were closed at the start of the pandemic offered customers “color to go” kits. Restaurants pivoted to sell family-size catered meals for pickup. Some small automotive shops provided pick-up and drop-off service so car owners didn’t have to go into the mechanic’s shop. Take a look at your product and see what new markets or distribution channels could help you snag a share of the home-based consumer.

Keep Monitoring Trends

Above all, keep monitoring the trends. Consumer spending will continue to be influenced by the unemployment rate, economies reopening (or shutting back down), and the rate of virus-positive cases and hospitalizations.

Without a doubt, household incomes will change. The $600/week unemployment boost that your customers may have depended on ended July 25. On a positive note, a second stimulus check may be on the way soon, which would give your customers a little extra cash to spend.

People are slowly beginning to travel again. Schools are planning for modified, phased reopenings. Both of these mean consumers will spend money, but it could also mean that coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, already on the rise, may spike to levels that cause shutdowns to reoccur. This could increase unemployment rates, decrease spending, potentially scare safety-first customers into staying home even more.

No one knows when the pandemic will end. The only certainty is that consumer sentiment will change. Keep delivering what your customer wants, make your customers feel safe, and remain agile to help your business succeed.

The post Consumer Sentiment Changes as Coronavirus Continues appeared first on Lendio.

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Ordinary Brits are set to benefit from a £7billion welfare support package with Universal Credit increasing by £1,000 a year as part of the 'unprecedented' emergency coronavirus action being taken by the Government.  As thousands are left without work or facing uncertain times, Chancellor Rishi Sunak is increasing working tax credits and housing benefit.  While welfare claimant rules will be relaxed for the self-employed.  Last night two of the biggest announcements ever made since the Second World War came from the Government.  Boris Johnson ordered every very single bar, pub, club, cafe, restaurant, theatre, cinema, gym and leisure centre throughout the UK to close. Read More Related Articles Read More Related Articles   Then the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, unveiled an extraordinary bailout for workers that will effectively "freeze" millions of people's jobs during the  coronavirus  crisis.  It will pay 80% of workers' wages up to a cap of £2,500 a month - though zero-hour workers could lose out and the self-employed are excluded.  Following criticism that the Chancellor’s £350 billion bail-out earlier this week was focused on businesses but not on workers, he said the latest measures would help ‘four million of the most vulnerable households’.  Alongside the rise in benefits payments, Sunak said the minimum income floor for the self employed would be scrapped so that they can claim Universal Credit.  ''I'm strengthening the safety net for self-employed people too by suspending the minimum income floor for everyone affected by the economic impact of coronavirus,” he said.  ''That means that self-employed people can now access, in full, Universal Credit at a rate equivalent to statutory sick pay for employees.”  The Chancellor admitted: "I cannot promise you that no-one will face hardship in the weeks ahead."  In the blizzard of announcements there are things that will have a real impact on you, and your family.  Here is as simple and clear an explanation as we can muster of what tonight's economic measures - which are all UK-wide - mean for you. If you're a full- or part-time worker Read More Related Articles Read More Related Articles  Government grants will pay firms up to 80% of each worker's wage, up to a cap of £2,500 a month (close to the median salary), if their income is hit by the coronavirus.  The "coronavirus job retention scheme" has been set up to stop firms laying off workers they can't afford to keep.  This will essentially keep low-waged workers in pubs, cafes, nightclubs and leisure centres on close to full pay for the duration of the crisis.  Even though they can't do any actual work due to the shutdown, they will be kept "dormant" on the company payroll, ready to come back when restrictions are lifted.  “Any employer in the country, small or large, charitable or non-profit, will be eligible for the scheme,” Chancellor Rishi Sunak said.  It will cover the cost of wages backdated to March 1 and be open initially for “at l by China Town TV

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The U.S. Shut Down Its Economy. Here’s What Needs to Happen in Order to Restart.

WASHINGTON — The American economy has stopped working.We’re going to try turning it off and back on again.With confirmed cases of the coronavirus escalating rapidly, government officials have almost overnight switched off activity in large sectors of the United States. They want as few people as possible in close contact with one another in order to slow the pandemic, which may be even more widespread than official statistics suggest.The federal government has discouraged gatherings of 10 or more people. California told 40 million residents to leave the house only for absolute necessities. Bars, shopping malls, dine-in restaurants and a host of other businesses are closing across the country. Millions of people have been laid off, or are about to be.Just as there is a public health strategy driving the government orders closing businesses and limiting daily activity outside the home, there is also an economic strategy for putting large parts of the economy on ice. It requires aggressive action by the federal government, funded by what would be the most expansive borrowing the country has seen since World War II.Whether the United States looks back at those job cuts as a quick blip of prevention or a devastating spiral into an economic depression depends a lot on what Congress and President Trump do in the next few days.Here’s what economists say needs to happen.

Aim to put the ‘v’ in ‘recovery.’

The United States is already falling into a sharp economic contraction: It is producing far fewer goods and services now than it did a month or a quarter ago. That contraction will persist as long as businesses are unable to open and people are not able to work. This is not happening because of any choices those workers or businesses made; it’s a mandate from the government that has frozen a lot of economic activity.At some point — possibly when a vaccine for the virus comes to market, or possibly as soon as the rate of infection starts declining and widespread testing allows for more confidence that another surge is not imminent — governments will lift their restrictions and activity will start to thaw.Ideally, it would thaw quickly, with shops and restaurants reopening, workers rehired, factory production lines restarted and people spending money on things they didn’t need or couldn’t buy during the freeze. In that situation, the economy would grow much faster for a while than it normally does, as consumers unleash their pent-up demand.Economists call that a “V-shaped” recovery, because growth plunges and then shoots up. It’s what they’re aiming for now, but it could be hard to pull off.“What a recession from something like this should look like is a sudden stop and recovery,” said R. Glenn Hubbard, a Columbia University economist who was a top White House economist for President George W. Bush. “What could happen, though, is a doom loop.”

Extend companies a very large lifeline.

The “doom loop” that Mr. Hubbard and many other economists fear describes a situation in which an even moderately protracted shutdown of economic activity permanently kills waves of small businesses — and possibly entire industries, like airlines — that cannot survive very long without customers.A typical small business in the United States does not have enough cash on hand to cover even a month of expenses if its revenues are completely disrupted, according to research by the JPMorgan Chase Institute. In minority communities, where profit margins are often narrower, the typical cash reserve is even smaller.Economists say that means Congress needs to act boldly, and fast, to keep money flowing to business owners to ensure they can reopen when the crisis abates.There are several possible ways to try to do that.Steven Hamilton, an economist at George Washington University who has been one of the loudest public voices calling for aggressive assistance to small businesses, and Stan Veuger of the American Enterprise Institute, want banks to offer loans to cover lost revenues for small businesses — and for the federal government to forgive the loans if the companies don’t lay off workers. Mr. Hubbard and Michael R. Strain of the American Enterprise Institute have a similar proposal.Adam Ozimek, the chief economist at Upwork, and John Lettieri, the president of the Economic Innovation Group in Washington, want the government to guarantee loans with little or no interest that small businesses would pay back over a long period, regardless of whether they lay off workers. Mr. Ozimek said it would be wrong not to help companies that have already been forced into layoffs by government decisions and delays in a federal response.“When the government is this late to the party,” he said, “they shouldn’t punish small businesses who acted fast.”Economists stress that a successful program would be expensive: $1 trillion or more. Mr. Hubbard said a $300 billion loan program, as Senate Republicans proposed on Thursday, would be “woefully inadequate.”Mr. Hamilton said this week that he worried members of Congress had “not come to terms with the scale” of what was needed. “Any fiscal package less than $1.5 trillion will be inadequate,” he said, “and frankly lead to a Great Depression-level economic collapse.”

Provide big relief for workers.

Companies are only half the equation. For the shutdown/restart strategy to work, economists say, lawmakers must also keep money flowing to workers affected by the economic chill so they can continue to buy groceries, pay mortgage or rent and seek medical care if they are injured or sick.One way to do that is by helping businesses — and hopefully keeping as many people as possible on payrolls, even if they are not working. But workers who lose jobs or hours will need more direct help.Many economists, including Claudia Sahm of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth and N. Gregory Mankiw and Jason Furman of Harvard University, have called on lawmakers to send checks of $1,000 or more to all Americans as quickly as possible. Both Mr. Trump and Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, have voiced support for such payments. At least a scaled-back version of that plan is likely to be included in the stimulus bill being negotiated in Congress, with payments headed to low- and middle-income families.But those payments will not be sufficient to cover costs of necessities for people who have suddenly seen their incomes shrink or vanish.For that, economists say, Congress needs an emergency safety net that would sustain income for all workers who are laid off or otherwise hurt by the effects of the virus. Ideally, the economists say, that safety net would aid the public health strategy embedded in the economic shutdowns by paying as many people as possible to stay home from work and practice social distancing.That could mean increased unemployment benefits and more generous paid sick leave fully funded by the government. It could also mean something like what the British government announced Friday: a plan to encourage businesses to keep paying workers by assuming up to 80 percent of their wage costs.“You need an unemployment system that in this moment can pivot to 100 percent reimbursement to 100 percent of people who are not at work,” said Heather Boushey, the president of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, a think tank focused on inequality and growth. “And wage replacement for people who have hours cut back.”

Don’t think of this as a ‘normal’ rescue.

Americans also need to start thinking of this crisis as different from almost any economic shock before it.Concerns that have guided economists in the past, like whether policies discourage people from working, do not apply in the same way now: It is hard to discourage work in sectors that the government has ordered to shut down. The same may hold for restrictions that some lawmakers want to place on spending any government aid to business, like limiting grants to businesses that keep all their workers on salary, Mr. Lettieri and others say.Joseph S. Vavra, an economist at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, said that policymakers typically try to stimulate consumer demand during a recession and start recovery as quickly as possible. Right now, the goal is almost the opposite.“I don’t think what we’re trying to do is to get people to go out and shop,” he said. “What we’re trying to do is provide some assistance to households so they can sit and home and don’t have to go out and shop.”The better parallel here might be World War II. The government is trying to win a fight against a pandemic. That will mean spending big on the battlefront — public health efforts, like ventilators and masks — and asking personal and economic sacrifices from individuals to defeat the virus and get life back to normal again.Ben Casselman and Neil Irwin contributed reporting. Read the full article

[thisdaynews]

How Warren could pay for 'Medicare for All'

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/how-warren-could-pay-for-medicare-for-all/

How Warren could pay for 'Medicare for All'

“You could say … that we’re spending about $3.5 trillion on health care now and we’re going to move that all onto the federal tab, but I think that’s a little too simplistic,” House Budget Chairman John Yarmuth (D-Ky.), a longtime supporter of single-payer health care, said earlier this year.

But with Warren’s primary rivals pressuring her for details, lawmakers, health policy experts and academics say she has several credible options for paying to extend government health insurance to all Americans. Here are some of the taxes, spending cuts and budget shuffling ideas under consideration by experts, and the pros and cons.

Tax the rich

Warren has already made it clear that wealthy individuals and corporations will be expected to pay up for Medicare for All, but that squeeze could take a number of forms.

Raising income taxes on top earners, who are currently taxed at 37 percent, would deliver some revenue. Warren could also introduce a new tax on the richest 0.1 percent of Americans, eliminate itemized deductions for the wealthy or limit other tax breaks — such as scrapping a provision that allows rich investors to pass unrealized gains to heirs tax-free when they die. Warren has already suggested using her proposed wealth tax to fund universal childcare and tuition-free college.

Pros:Some of these proposals, or a combination of several of them, could go a long way toward paying for a single-payer system. Whacking the rich also is an appealing populist stance for a progressive candidate.

Cons:Taxing the wealthy alone wouldn’t raise the trillions of dollars in added revenue needed to completely overhaul the health system, and experts say spreading the pain to a bigger segment of the population would stoke more voter anxiety.

“You need to consider some substantial broad-based tax increases on a large number of Americans, but that’s not the kind of thing campaigns like to talk about,” said American Enterprise Institute researcher Ben Ippolito.

Just raise payroll taxes

Warren and other supporters of Medicare for All are expected to turn to employer payroll taxes to help cover the bill, because that tax already funds government health care and likely would cause the least disruption. Sen. Bernie Sanders has proposed a 7.5 percent payroll tax on employers to fund his Medicare for All plan, which he estimates would raise close to $4 trillion over a decade.

Pros:Employers would save a ton of money under Medicare for All since they wouldn’t have to pay for workers’ private coverage in a single-payer system, so it might make sense to ask them to chip in in a different way. The payroll tax could also be designed to exempt small business and low-income workers while leaning more heavily on the high end of the pay scale by lifting the cap currently in place for programs like Social Security.

“A payroll tax on the Lakers including all of Lebron James’ salary, for example, would raise a lot,” said Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Cons:Economists say the vast majority of higher payroll taxes would be passed on to workers in the form of lower wages. Additionally, groups like the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development have warned against relying on payroll taxes to fortify the social safety net because the nation’s aging population and low birth rate mean fewer workers paying those taxes in the future.

Slash military spending

Fans of Medicare for All have proposed chipping away at the nation’s military budget to fund a single-payer health system. The Institute for Policy Studies, a liberal think tank, calls for diverting $300 billion a year for universal health care.

Pros:Lawmakers of all political stripes are concerned about waste, fraud and abuse at the Pentagon and have called for more oversight and stricter auditing.

Cons:Pentagon spending still is one of the most popular ways to politicians to deliver the goods to their states and districts, and few want to risk angering local contractors or suppliers. This summer’s budget deal saw congressional leaders and the White House agree to raise defense funding caps by $22 billion for the current fiscal year.

Water down the benefits

The benefits currently outlined in Sanders’ Medicare for All bill that Warren has embraced are more generous than any other government health care in the developed world, offering full coverage for nearly every procedure, drug and service free of charge to all residents, potentially including undocumented immigrants. There are ways to pare down the cost and bring the plan more in line with government-administered systems in other countries — from restricting what services are covered to charging a small yearly premium or deductible based on a person’s income.

Pros:Any reduction in benefits or a restriction on who qualifies for coverage would lower the price tag of Medicare for All considerably, meaning lawmakers would not have to raise nearly as much in taxes or cut as much in other federal spending.

Cons:Warren campaigned on free coverage for all and would quickly face accusations of flip-flopping.

Pay for the plan with future savings

Administrative costs are projected to drop substantially when the federal government handles health care coverage. Sanders estimates the federal government could save up to $500 billion a year on administrative costs alone by moving to a single-payer system.

Pros:Economists across the political spectrum agree that a public health care system with lower overhead that removes the profit motive is certain save the country a lot of money. Administrative overhead totals less than 2 percent of Medicare spending, compared to well over 10 percent for the private insurance market, according to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies and the Congressional Budget Office.

Cons:Experts disagree on whether overall health care spending would fallunder Medicare for All. With no out of pocket costs for care, some argue, millions of people would use more health services than they currently do, canceling out any savings from lower overhead. Even some of those in favor of Medicare for All also question whether the government is up to the task.

“My thought has always been that it would be much too difficult for the federal government to set up a bureaucracy to administer an insurance program for 330 million people,” Yarmuth told POLITICO earlier this year. “I’m not saying it’s impossible to have a fully government-run system, I just have a hard time envisioning how it would work.”

Squeeze doctors and drug companies

A key feature of Medicare for All is having the federal government bargain with medical providers and pharmaceutical companies for cheaper rates.

A House Democratic drug price plan is projected to save at least $345 billion over seven years through direct negotiations. If Medicare coverage were expanded to all Americans, that change could result in trillion-dollar savings each decade.

Pros:Leveraging the government’s bargaining power could result in massive savings. Just look at other developed countries where people pay far less on average for medication and health care procedures.

Cons:This is easier said than done. The hospital and pharmaceutical industry has already mobilized not only in opposition to Medicare for All but also against much more incremental plans to rein in health care costs, including plans under consideration in Congress to protect patients with insurance from massive out-of-network bills.

“If you’re telling me you’re going to slash the rates you provide doctors then I’d like to direct you to the current debate over surprise medical bills,” Ippolito said. “Doctors aren’t even willing to commit to normal market rates let alone much lower Medicare rates.”

Aaron Lorenzo, Bernie Becker, Jennifer Scholtes and Alex Thompson contributed to this report.

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