Some good things should result from this awful *Covid* experience. Where would you like to see improvements ?

I would like to see our children and young people valued more. Just now they're getting a hard press and let's face it the future belongs to them.

I think something has happened regarding employment right tangy: I need to recheck. The government have backtracked on something I think.

Kwas Kwarteng said several days ago that ‘The review into the working time directive is no longer happening’.

I agree completely keepingquiet. I think sometimes people forget what it is like to be young. I made a thousand mistakes as a young person. Its how we learn.

Young people have a much rougher deal than we ever had.

Jeremy Hunt has expressed a view that this could be ideal time, once we're on top of the present pandemic, to take stock of the way the NHS is organized, and to take a root and branch review of the social care system.

GP services is another area area that seems to me to be ripe for an overhaul. Let's have more telephone and video consultations. we don't all need to actually be face to face with a GP. Not every time, surely.

I think the education system is also showing alternative ways that teaching and learning can happen. Ripe for a review, I'd have thought.

Business meetings can be carried out by Zoom. Why not? Let's cut down on travelling for business. No need to go face to face very time. Think of all those air miles...

There's bound to other areas, that's just off the top of my head.

Totally agree about zoom meetings. In fact, have thought this for years. Not so sure about education though, as part of learning who we are is interacting with other people: as important as the academic stuff. Yes: more triage etc at surgeries is a good idea. Not sure what Jeremy Hunts ideas are. Privatisation perhaps??

I’d like to see a Considerable reduction in “business “ travel.
A reduction in crazymprojects like HS2. All,to get business people to and from london for meetings which could be done via video.
I’d like to see more value places on the work of nurses, police, carers, teachers etc etc and less money paid to politicians.
I’d like to see parents spend less cash on their children but spending more time doing activities with them, sports, games, cooking etc

I’d like to see a dramatic reduction in virtual education as soon as it’s practical. The effect on children’s sight after this pandemic will be severe. Just imagine. Normally they would use screens mainly in their spare time. Now they’re staring at them all day long.

I do agree that we need to concentrate on ideas that give our youngsters the feeling of self worth. They need to feel that a decent future beckons.

I agree with you Lucca about needing to place more value on nurses, police etc.etc. What happened to state enrolled nurses? Why was it the decision made that these 2 careers in particular required a university degree?

High streets are now going the way that we could all see coming - before the pandemic. With the collapse of Arcadia there will be many empty commercial premises. What would be your ideas for these areas?

Going back to the NHS - I do get somewhat annoyed with Jeremy Hunt suggesting what needs to be done - after all he was Health Secretary for a good few years and didn't do much to introduce any reforms.

All the above, important as they are, are secondary to the vitally needed sea change in how we live our lives.

The environment, global warming, our terrible mistreatment of our planet - must have top priority - or we're just talking about details of a future that won't exist.

I get shivers down my spine when anyone mentions 'back to normal'. I do hope we learn from this!

gangy I agree with you on our high streets/city centres. When they built another big shopping mall in Norwich years ago we all wondered why.
Perhaps this will mean that some of the empty retail premises could be utilised as very affordable housing. It could also mean that our small towns could be revitalised. Not everyone wants to shop online, although it does seem like it.
Sadly, as you pointed out, many small businesses are closing and this is dreadful. On the other hand, on a more positive note, there will be new entrepreneurs ready to step in.

Companies embracing a mix and march model of working, part office, part working from home etc

With increased working from home, utilising some of space available on high streets to create "office pods" where people can "rent" a pod space as they need it to work ...ie screened area with phone, wifi etc ...this would help those whose homes dont suit wfh.

Local coffee shops etc would gain business from wfh culture

Reviewing train and bus needs linked to an assumption that committing will decrease

NHS ...massive review of policy and practice particularly at management level

Review of salary scales and bands and increased on site/ hands on training

I’d like to see a reduction in all travel not just business travel. According to BBC’s More or Less, 25 million people arrived in the UK in the first three months of 2020. Roughly 10-12% were said to be in transit to elsewhere but the majority were UK residents. So 22 million UK residents travelling overseas in just three months. That’s a third of the population on the move. Most of these were air travellers but the 25 million includes those arriving by boat and rail. Staggering, isn’t it? The energy consumption and pollution caused by this incessant need to travel is frightening. And of course, all those people on the move explains why Covid was able to get such a fast and firm grip in the UK.

Yes, I would definitely like to see our children and young people valued more.
Starting with the way they are referred to. The term 'kids' instead of children always grates with me. A slang word which is now so commonplace used often by our PM on bulletins.
And the government has the KickStart scheme for young people to get into work.
Why not YouthStart or something like that, because I'm sure if there was a scheme for any other age group with the word Kick in it there would be an outcry.

Yes, Hetty58 We have seriously abused our planet. We are now paying the price.

Cutting degree courses from 3 years to 18 months would seem sensible all round. Most students seem to only have one or two lectures a week and paying ludicrous amounts of money for the privilege!

Good lord, university is not just about attending lectures Poppyred, there are tutorials, labs, textbooks to read, etc. If anyone is on a course with one or two lectures it is not a degree course.

people stop buying junk from china hit them where it hurts in the pocket

I'm hoping that government will use the opportunity to re-tool British industry and commerce so that we have less impetus to import finished goods from overseas. Replacing cheap foreign labour with expensive British labour means modern high-tech machine tools and software - and it will take more than the current tax breaks to properly incentivise their take-up. We need a decent spread of grants and soft loans; if we get anything out of Brexit, this should be it, the chance to get British business back into Britain.

I would agree with all those that said about the reorganisation of the NHS.
My first job was working for the NHS, many moons ago. All the people in a managerial position in each hospital knew the system from the bottom up and had qualified on their way.
Now the NHS is run as a business, the CEOs often have no background in medical or the care sector, are just accountants being paid a huge salary from day 1 and if they don't fulfill expectations and have to move on, they get a huge pay off equivilant to several years of their salary ! Us mere mortals would be lucky if we get a month if we don't come up to scratch! The amount of money that is wasted in the NHS on cosmetic changes - in my local hospital, they spent a fortune on redecorating the ground floor, with wallpaper, different colours, new furniture etc, while up in the wards, the nursing staff spend time each day on running around , trying to find even enough pillows for patients and the curtains at the windows and between beds are just about colourless and see through, they have been laundered so many times!

young people? I think they are wonderful, do they have a worse time than we had,, I think we all have...a worse life.

I grew up in the war years, at least we had companionship, human touch,, that is the worst thing now.. imo.

education, needs to evolve imo... use technology more...

oh proper distribution of "wealth"

so much needs to change, to improve.... shall we take this opportunity? I wonder
ah yes,, Brexit,, manufacture our own goods,, not being so reliant on other countries, surely that comes under the enormous heading of "distribution of wealth"

Quite agree jane1956 about hitting China in the pocket. I also think we should learn from this pandemic that if a country ever causes something like a pandemic again through carelessness or ‘accidentally on purpose’ they should be made to pay all of the countries affected costs, even down to having to pay for costs for wages, medicines and funerals for individual people it’s affected. Also stopping travel to said countries so it hits their travel and tourism industry etc for maybe 2 years to make any country that even poses a threat such as what we are suffering now to act responsibly towards other nations and think twice.
It seems to me nobody mentions where this came from, makes me wonder what vaccine China had ready to give to their citizens as they only had such a small amount of deaths and their country has recovered so fast. Sorry if this sounds political, I don’t mean it to be but nobody ever seems to mention the cause.

I would love to see more value placed on family time. This last year has reintroduced back garden birthday parties, lower key Christmas, and home-made Halloween etc. What a joy it has been to see families making their own entertainment instead of relying on corporate provision.
And while I’m on the subject of family time I would love to see the abolition of Sunday and bank holiday retail. Members of my family forced to work on Christmas and Boxing Day and every weekend is terrible for families.