You and Yours

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You and Yours: Care Jabs, Business Rates, Bitcoin Fraud

12/02/2021

Care Jabs, Business Rates, Bitcoin Fraud

BBC Radio 4 - You and Yours, Care Jabs, Business Rates, Bitcoin Fraud

Making vaccinations mandatory. Plea for business rates reform. Surge in bitcoin scams.

Can care homes oblige their staff to get vaccinated against coronavirus? Plea for business rates relief. The scammers using the surge in bitcoin values to find new victims.

We discuss whether social care providers can oblige their staff to be vaccinated against coronavirus under the law as it stands. The Relatives and Residents Association, a support group for families of those in care homes, has told You and Yours that callers to their helpline are worried about the low take up rates among care staff. We hear one listener's concerns that her 90-year-old mother with dementia is being put at risk after some care workers in her home refused to have the vaccine. We also speak to Nicholas Siddall QC, a barrister specialising in employment law, about the legal position facing care providers if they decide to make the jab a mandatory condition of employment.

We dig deeper into why High Street retailers are pleading with the Government to reform business rates once the lockdown is lifted. Business rates were suspended at the start of the pandemic last year, but they're due to come back into force again in April. Many businesses have raised concerns that the current system puts retailers with large estates at a disadvantage to online firms. Eighteen retailers have now written to the Chancellor asking him to level the playing field. We speak to Claire Bailey,  a retail expert and author of "The Retail Champion - 10 Steps to Retail Success."

With the value of bitcoin surging, we report on how this is creating an ideal breeding ground for scams. We hear from a listener one who lost an investment worth £1,000 in an online scam. We also speak to Dr Tom Robinson, a cryptocurrency expert, who advises customers, regulators and governments on the prevention of financial crime in the cryptomarket. 


Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Tara Holmes

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Care Jabs, Business Rates, Bitcoin Fraud

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