Lloyds should go back to the basic banking model and the measures introduced in the first lockdown with immediate effect.
The Prime Minister announced last night that people in all of England must now stay at home except for a handful of permitted reasons. The new lockdown measures in England will come into force legally in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The First Minister of Scotland issued her own stay at home message which is already in force and will last until the end of January at the earliest. Wales and Northern Ireland are already in national lockdowns.
According to the Prime Minister the new rules were introduced because hospitals are under “more pressure from Covid than at any time since the start of the pandemic”. To put that into perspective, there are now almost 24,957 people with Covid in hospitals in England – 32% more than the April peak of 18,974. Admissions are also at the April peak levels, and that’s on top of much higher occupancy levels. We know that the new variant of Covid is between 50-70% more transmissible. Professor Alex Gandy of Imperial College says: “This is the most serious change in the virus since the pandemic began”.
Back to Basics
Lloyds should go back to the basic banking model with reduced hours and customers must be actively discouraged from visiting branches. Visiting a branch to discuss a car loan, for example, should not be a permitted reason for leaving home. There should be no local exceptions. And “basic” banking means “basic” banking.
The bank should also make sure that those staff who can work from home, can do so with immediate effect.
And given the increased levels of transmissibility from this new variant of the virus, Lloyds should undertake an immediate review of its Covid procedures to ensure they can still protect staff and customers.
Members with any questions on this should contact the Union’s Advice Team on 01234 262868 (choose Option 1).