Welsh councils remove ‘key worker’ status from food shop staff

Schools are set to remain closed to most pupils until the February half term unless there is a “significant” fall in Covid cases, with schooling provided to the children of key workers.

The Welsh government compiled a list of jobs deemed critical at the beginning of the Covid pandemic, which was provided to local authorities. However, some councils have compiled their own lists, which exclude food workers.

TUC general secretary, Shavanah Taj, told the BBC: “It’s very concerning that some councils are not making provision of essential services like childcare available to the full list of critical workers.

“It isn’t fair that just because someone works in a supermarket or a food processing plant, they could then face a postcode lottery in terms of whether they can access certain services.”