Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 18th April 2024 Issue no. 1110
Your industry news - first
The original and best - for over 20 years!
We strongly recommend viewing Cleanzine full size in your web browser. Click our masthead above to visit our website version.
New dates announced for postponed APPG inquiry
The remaining two sessions of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Cleaning & Hygiene Industry inquiry into the role of cleaning & hygiene during the pandemic will take place on 11th October and 18th October (both Tuesdays).
The APPG inquiry, entitled 'Embedding Effective Hygiene for a Resilient UK', held its first session earlier this month but the final two sessions were postponed following the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, for the duration of the national period of mourning.
Industry members are again being encouraged to watch the remaining sessions, with both starting at 10:00.
Anyone interested in watching either of the Zoom sessions is invited to email [email protected] by 18:00 on the day before the session they want to attend, applying separately for each session.
Places will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. A Zoom invitation will be emailed to attendees ahead of the sessions.
The APPG comprises 53 MPs and two Members of the House of Lords and it is being supported by the industry body for the entire sector and APPG secretariat, the British Cleaning Council and the Royal Society for Public Health.
The inquiry is examining what was successful and what was not from the national approach to cleaning & hygiene during the pandemic to ensure lessons can be learnt. These will be taken forward to increase disease resilience to current common infections and help inform the UK's response to any similar future public health emergency.
The review aims to produce a report with policy recommendations which will feed into the national UK Covid-19 Inquiry.
The upcoming sessions are structured as follows:
* Tuesday 11th October, from 10:00: Evidence from contractors who delivered cleaning services at the time, alongside suppliers and manufacturers of cleaning and hygiene products which were very much in demand during the pandemic
* Tuesday 18th October, from 10:00: Evidence from owners and landlords of a variety of buildings who had to deliver high standards of cleaning & hygiene during the pandemic, in order to protect the public.
"We are pleased to see the APPG inquiry resume and look forward to what we believe will be two incredibly important and insightful sessions," says BCC chairman Jim Melvin. "I would encourage industry members to take the time to watch the discussions. These sessions must play a key role in ensuring that lessons are learnt nationally from the role of cleaning & hygiene during the current pandemic, so that the UK is ready if and, undoubtedly, when, Coronavirus variants or other viruses return in the future.
"These sessions will give the industry the opportunity to discuss its vital role keeping people heathy, safe and well and give its expert opinions to MPs on how we ensure that cleanliness and hygiene become and remain a top, national priority.
"As such, the inquiry is a vital stage in our campaign for more recognition for the crucial work of staff as frontline workers, and the importance of the industry."
www.britishcleaningcouncil.org
29th September 2022