Flood warnings, alerts and guidance
With flooding from heavy rain affecting parts of England and causing severe disruption, you can check for flood alerts and warnings and see a map of affected areas here: Flood alerts and warnings - GOV.UK. There is a facility to sign up for flood warnings if your home or business in England is at risk of flooding. Or you can call Floodline on 0345 988 1188 to register. There is also a facility to sign up with the Targeted Flood Warning Service to get warnings for more than one place. The Adverse Weather and Health Plan (AWHP) for England lists available flooding guidance in Appendix 4.
Tips about driving after a dementia diagnosis – and stopping
The Alzheimer’s Society has issued Tips about driving after a dementia diagnosis – and stopping and advice on Driving and dementia which looks at how the condition affects the ability to drive, the law on driving and dementia, how to keep driving after a dementia diagnosis, what happens when DVLA/DVA decides that a person must stop driving, giving up driving and useful organisations.
New Energy Price Cap from 1 January 2024
The new energy price cap level for January to March 2024 set by energy regulator Ofgem starts from 1 January 2024. According to Ofgem, the change will see the price for energy a typical household who uses gas and electricity and pays by Direct Debit go up by £94 per year. This takes the energy price cap from £1,834 to £1,928 per year. The amount paid will depend on how much energy the household uses, where people live and the type of meter they have.
National insurance cut comes into effect 6 January 2024
The main rate of employee National Insurance (Class 1 NICs) decreases from 12% to 10%, from 6 January 2024, for 27 million workers. The main rate of self-employed National Insurance (Class 4 NICs) decreases by 1p from 9% to 8% from 6 April 2024, for around 2 million people. Factsheet on National Insurance accompanying Autumn Statement 2023. Explanation of the impact of the changes.
Digital Care Hub – upcoming events
The Digital Care Hub runs regular, free events to enable adult social care providers to make the most of digital technology, safely. Coming up in January are ‘Are you getting the most out of Microsoft?’ (9 January), Completing the Data Security and Protection Toolkit for the first time (16 January) and Caldicott Guardians - What do social care providers need to know? (25 January). More information from Latest News | Digital Care Hub.
