Table 2.
Examples of initial UK policy changes by category of policy instrument
| Policy instrument | COVID-19 policies |
|---|---|
| Regulations and legal sanctions | Obliging people to stay at home, prohibiting social gatherings, and closing most indoor public places (backed by police powers to disperse crowds and close premises, but focusing on warnings and fines) |
| Formal regulations versus voluntary agreements | A shift from encouraging to making indoor businesses close |
| Public expenditure and borrowing | Unprecedented employment ‘furlough’ schemes, plus increases in social security and business support |
| Tax expenditure | Deferred VAT payments by business and self-assessed income tax. Continued tax credits without further assessment |
| Linking benefit entitlement to behaviour | Postponed assessments (fitness to work, and proof of job-seeking) and job centre appointments (which determine eligibility to social security payments) and benefit recovery |
| Public services provision |
Major additional spending on public services such as the NHS, coupled with emergency measures to boost recruitment Closure of childcare, school, and further and higher education (or shift to online provision) |
| Public education | To publicise messages on hand washing and social distancing |
| Behavioural public policy | To encourage behaviour, such as handwashing, and support the introduction then relaxation of regulations on social distancing |
| Organisational change, and additional resources to help change behaviour | The establishment (from June) of a new Test and Trace system (contact tracing and isolation, manually and via a proposed new app), and the Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC) to coordinate data, respond to local outbreaks (clusters/ super-spreaders), and develop Alert Levels. Both measures are described as supporting the easing of lockdown measures, when the R in the community is low, and the focus is on local outbreaks |
|
Funding scientific research and commissioning reviews |
£250m announced to fund vaccine research |
| Public Health England (PHE) research on the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on ‘BAME’ populations |