Cleaning Schedule

Be clever with your cleaning to save time and effort.

• Start at the top and work down, whether you are doing a room or the whole house.
• Dust first, with a damp cloth, then vacuum - otherwise you are wasting your time.
• Spring clean on a day you can have the windows open to allow the air to circulate and everything to dry. 

When using bleach, dilute with cold water (as hot water renders it ineffective).

Once a year indoor jobs

• Carpets - best cleaned professionally (find a reputable company via the National Carpet Cleaners Association)
• Curtains: take down, remove hooks and weights, loosen heading tape. If instructions allow, cool machine wash. If velvet, velour, chenille, tapestry, wool, brocade, silk or interlined, dry clean every two years.
• Interior paintwork: wash with Flash Magic eraser for gloss woodwork, and a cream cleaner for non-gloss finishes.
• Chimneys: if you have a real fire, use nacs.org.uk to find a local member.
• Light bulbs: switch off and wipe with a damp cloth.

Clean ovens twice a year. Once clean, line the oven base with foil or non-stick oven sheets to catch drips, and use roasting bags to cut down on spits.

Vinegar - distilled (not balsamic) - is a wonderful and versatile cleaner.

• For taps (not plated): wrap in a cloth soaked in vinegar, leave overnight.
• For showerheads: unscrew and submerge in a bowl of vinegar overnight.
• For shower screens: mix 2 tablespoons of white vinegar with six and a half pints of water and pour into a used spray bottle. Squirt on, then scrub with newspaper rather than paper towels, which cause streaking.
• For kettles: fill with half water, half vinegar and leave overnight to remove limescale and make it more efficient.

Mould: to clear mould from walls, use a solution of one part bleach to four parts water - try on a hidden area first.  Scrub with a sponge, rinse thoroughly and dry.

Mildew: to clear grime and mildew from around windows, take down curtains or blinds. To clear grime, mix one part distilled white vinegar to nine parts water in an old spray bottle and use along with a coarse e-cloth to clean the frames and panes. Remove mildew with HG Mould Spray, then use a fine e-cloth to finish.

Grouting: Use an old toothbrush with a bleach solution or whitening toothpaste.

Other areas

• TVs, DVD players, audio centres: Clean with a dry microfibre cloth. Don't use window cleaner or any fluid on TVs, as these can bleed into the panel and damage the screen. 
• Extractor hood: unplug and wash removeable parts in hot, soapy water, and replace filter.
• On top of cupbaords, between appliances: Antibacterial wipes are ideal for cleaning these hard-to-reach areas.
• Slatted blinds: wearing cheap cotton gloves, plunge your hands into warm, soapy water, then run them along the slats, carefully removing the grease and grime as you go. Rinse and repeat.

Beds and upholstered furniture: Your mattress may not need turning (modern ones often don't) but it is a good idea to run the upholstery nozzle over the surface as part of the big clean. Do the same for your three-piece suite.

Once a year outside jobs

• Empty gutters (or pay your window cleaner to do the job). Once clear install 'hedgehog' cylindrical brushes to sit in the gutters and keep the leaves out (hedgehog-gutter-brush.co.uk)
• Clean your patio before paving or decking becomes too greasy and slippery.
• For exterior paintwork, window and conservatory frames, use a weak solution of bleach and a stiff brush to remove built-up grime.

Sources: Good Housekeeping, May 2017, March 2020.

The NHS Crisis

In February 2017, the BBC published an analysis of the issues facing the NHS.

The NHS sees one million patients every 24 hours, and is the fifth biggest employer in the world with 1.7 million staff.

Funding

Last year UK health spend was £140bn - more than 10 times as much as 60 years ago (adjusted for inflation).  In 1955-56, it was 11.2% of the public purse, while in 2015-16 it was 29.7% (so today 30p out of every £1 spent on services goes on health). So why is the NHS is still at crisis point?

Targets

Achieving or missing the four-hour A&E target doesn't tell you about the quality of care - how quickly you get pain relief or whether the unit is good at spotting the signs of a heart attack. Instead it's a sign of whether the system is under stress - both in the community and in the hospital. When the numbers arriving and leaving balance, then 95% of patients will be dealt with in four hours. This target was last met in England was in summer 2015, with performance worse in Wales and Northern Ireland, but Scotland is performing a little better at around 90%.

An Ageing Population

This major factor is one that all health systems in the world are struggling with. People are living longer; life expectancy is 13 years longer than when the NHS was created. Infectious diseases are less of threat; heart attacks claim fewer lives early, and half of those diagnosed with cancer now survive for a decade or more.

With people living with a growing number of long-term chronic conditions - diabetes, heart disease and dementia – for care is the issue. By the age of 65, most people will have at least one of these illnesses. By 75 they will have two. The average 65-year-old costs the NHS 2.5 times more than the average 30-year-old. An 85-year-old costs more than five times as much.

Drugs

The cost of new drugs is rising. The health service is currently considering capping the amount it will pay for new drugs at £20m each a year. A fifth of new treatments cost more than this.

Obesity

A third of adults are so overweight they are risking their health significantly.

Health inflation

The cost of providing care outstrips the normal rise in the cost of living across the economy, which is why health has tended to get more generous rises than other areas of government spending, through a combination of economic growth, which brings in more money through tax, and reducing spending in areas such as defence. The actual amount varies with economic cycles. Since the NHS was created in 1948, the average annual rise has been just over 4%. During the Labour years under Blair and Brown this was closer to 7%. But since 2010 financial settlements have been tighter.

How the UK compares with other EU countries

The UK spends less as a proportion of GDP (a measure of the size of the economy); current ranking is Sweden, France, Germany, EU average, UK, Spain. The result is fewer beds, doctors and nurses per patient in the UK. 

Some of these countries achieve that by taxing more – would this work for the UK? A poll by Ipsos MORI for the BBC shows people are split, with 40% backing a rise in income tax and 53% supporting National Insurance going up. A majority were against charging for services or moving to an insurance-based model.

Spending or raising more money would not lead to an overnight improvement. More doctors and nurses would need training and that takes time and, crucially, there is not a flood of people wanting to work in key posts. Trainee posts for GPs are being increased, but the NHS cannot fill them all.

Structure

Is the structure of the NHS is right for 21st Century healthcare? The NHS is still centred on the network of district general hospitals from the hospital building boom of the 1960s. But people struggling with chronic illnesses need support in the community, for which there is a serious shortage, with district nurses numbers in England cut by 28% in the past five years, while getting a GP appointment is becoming increasingly difficult.

So more people end up going to hospital, with A&E visits rising by a third in 12 years. While not all is due to chronic conditions, they tend to be cases that take the most care. Two-thirds of hospitals beds are occupied by the one-third of the population with a long-term condition.

Attempts to place more emphasis on care outside hospital inlcude NHS England's five-year plan to create more integrated care, which involves hospital services working more closely with their local community teams, with similar moves in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. There also an emphasis on prevention - getting people to be more active, eat better diets and drink less.

Social Care

The biggest problem is council-run social care: day centres, help in the home for tasks such as washing and dressing, and good quality care in care homes during the final years of life. It is seen as essential to keep people well and living independently - and out of hospital. But in England over the past four years, the number of older people getting help has fallen by a quarter, with large numbers going without care or having to pay for it themselves. In Wales home care is capped at £60, is free for the over-75s in Northern Ireland, while Scotland provides free personal care (washing and dressing) in both care homes and people's own homes.

But if you were setting up a health and care service today, how would it be done? Would you separate medical care from personal care, with one run by a national institution and the other by local councils? Would you provide one free at the point of need and charge for the other? Would you increase the budget of one, but cut the other?

Would you build more than 200 hospitals and spend over half of your budget on them when the biggest users of care are people with long-term illnesses that need care rather than medical intervention? However, that is the system we have got at a time when money is limited, so we are falling back on a typical British trait - making do.

Source: BBC News website 10 charts that show why the NHS is in troubleby Nick Triggle: published on 8 February 2017

Universal Basic Income

In Utopian thinking: the easy way to eradicate poverty, Rutger Bregman argues that we need a universal basic income. [Others worry that it will eat away at the welfare state: see article at the end of this piece.]

Studies show that poor people borrow more, save less, smoke more, exercise less, drink more and eat less healthily. Why? For a long time it was thought that it was lack of character or ability, but recent research suggests that this is wrong.

A psychological study with sugar cane farmers in India found that they collect about 60% of their annual income right after the harvest, but are relatively poor before the next harvest. IQ tests before the harvest (the poor part) scored 14 points of IQ less (similar to losing a night’s sleep, or the effects of alcoholism) than just after the harvest. The reason: people behave differently when they perceive a thing to be scarce, whether it’s time, money or food. A “scarcity mentality” narrows focus to the immediate lack and you ignore the long-term perspective. This behavioural change is why many anti-poverty programmes don’t work.

So what can be done? Solutions like making paperwork easier or sending text message reminders of bills cost next to next to nothing but ignore the causes. One idea is a universal basic income – a monthly allowance of enough to pay for your basic needs: food, shelter, education - completely unconditional: not a favour, but a right.

But could it really be that simple? One town had done it, had eradicated poverty – after which nearly everyone forgot about it. In 2009, Evelyn Forget, an economics professor at the University of Manitoba, heard about a warehouse attic in Winnipeg, Canada, where nearly 2,000 boxes are filled with data – graphs, tables, interviews – about one of the most fascinating social experiments ever conducted; a treasure trove of information on basic income. For three years she subjected the data to all manner of statistical analysis, and the results were the same every time. The experiment – the longest and best of its kind – had been a resounding success.

“The experiment had started in Dauphin, a town north-west of Winnipeg, in 1974. Everybody was guaranteed a basic income ensuring that no one fell below the poverty line. And for four years, all went well. But then a conservative government was voted into power. The new Canadian cabinet saw little point in the expensive experiment. So when it became clear there was no money left for an analysis of the results, the researchers decided to pack their files away. In 2,000 boxes.”

Forget discovered that:

• the people in Dauphin had not only become richer, but also smarter and healthier
• school performance of children improved substantially
• hospitalisation rate decreased by as much as 8.5%.
• domestic violence was also down, as were mental health complaints
• people didn’t quit their jobs – the only ones who worked a little less were new mothers and students, who stayed in school longer

Having money means people can use it to buy things they need instead of things self-appointed experts think they need. While a universal basic income won’t solve everything, and policies such as a rent cap and more social housing are needed in places where housing is scarce – a basic income would work like venture capital for the people. Poverty is hugely expensive to the state in terms of higher healthcare needs, less education and more crime.

Poverty is not a lack of character. Poverty is a lack of cash.

Source: Utopian thinking: the easy way to eradicate poverty by RutgerBregman (translated from the original Dutch by Elizabeth Manton) in The Guardian, 6 March 2017. [Rutger Bregman is the author of Utopia for Realists: And how we can get there]

Wikipedia entry: MINCOME experiment

Love the Idea of a Universal Basic Income by Ellie Mae O'Hagan
UBI is gradually becoming mainstream thinking, with the news that the Finnish government has piloted the idea with 2,000 of its citizens with very positive results. In January 2017, MEPs voted to consider UBI as a solution to the mass unemployment that might result from robots taking over manual jobs. In March 2017, Ontario in Canada started trialling a similar scheme.

But UBI also has right-wing supporters. Sam Bowman of the Adam Smith Institute wrote in 2013: "The ideal welfare system is a basic income, replacing the existing anti-poverty programmes the government carries out" and that UBI would result in a less "paternalistic" government.

From this perspective, in the hands of the right, UBI could be seen as a kind of universal credit for all, undermining the entire benefits system and providing justification for paying the poorest a poverty income. E.M. O'Hagan writes: "UBI cannot be a progressive initiative as long as the people with the power to implement it are hostile to the welfare state as a whole."

Alex Williams and Nick Srnicek, in their book Inventing the Future, link UBI to three other demands: collectively controlled automation, a reduction in the working week and a diminution of the work ethic. Without these provisions, UBI could act as an excise to get rid of the welfare state.

O'Hagan suggests "it is possible for the welfare state not just to act as a safety net, but as a tool for all of us to do less work and spend more time with our loved ones, pursuing personal interests or engaging in our communities." She concludes "UBI has this revolutionary potential - but not if it is simply parachuted into a political economy that has been pursuing punitive welfare policies for the last 30 years."

Source: Love the Idea of a Universal Basic Income? Be careful what you wish for: by Ellie Mae O'Hagan in The Guardian, 23 June 2017

Cleaning the Cleaners

Dishwasher: After each use, wash out the filter: twist and pull out to remove, then clean with a solution of washing-up liquid. Once a month, remove the spray arms and clean them in the same way. Use a toothpick to remove debris from the holes in the arms. Put a cup of white vinegar on the top rack and run the machine on its hottest setting. To banish bad smells, sprinkle a few tablespoonfuls of bicarbonate of soda on the bottom of the machine before running a load.

Washing Machine: Clean regularly, paying attention to the detergent drawer and door seals. For a deep clean, pour a cupful of neat bleach into the drawer and run the machine empty at 60C. You can also use diluted bleach to cleanthe door seal. Leave the door open between washes to air the machine and prevent mould.

Vacuum Cleaner: For a bagless machine, empty the canister after each use. For bagged machines, replace the bag when it is one-third full. Clean the filter by shaking out dust and build up - do this outside or you could end up in a dust cloud. If the filter is washable, run under lukewarm water and allow to air dry for at least 24 hours. Make sure the brush is free of hair; if you can't pull it out, use scissors to cut it off.

Mop: For traditional mops, wash in hot water with a little washing-up liquid. Squeeze out and air dry. If the mop has a detatchable head, put it in the washing machine. Never leave the mop in water: make sure it isdry before putting it away.

Source: Features in Good Housekeeping, March and April 2017.

Taxation Issues

Balancing tax levels
The Laffer curve shows the points beyond which increased taxation reduces the revenues obtained (i.e. people start finding ways to avoid payment).

Edward de Bono: I Am Right, You Are Wrong. Penguin, 2009

UK Tax system
The way our political system and national conversation are constructed make it close to impossible for a leader to say anything sane about tax.

The right claims that tax in principle is immoral, coercive, anti-enterprise, anti-aspiration and always economically destructive: this now sets the terms of discussion, policed by our rightwing media. The consequence is that our tax system is now so badly distorted that it threatens the social fabric.

The British residential property system creates unreal house prices and huge social unfairness with huge mortgages for the young, the lottery of property inheritance and high rents. Property is effectively only taxed when bought and sold. Residential property prices (on which council tax is based) was last reviewed in 1991. Generous inheritance tax thresholds, tax exemption of capital gains on homes and trivial council tax receipts, mean the property market is the world’s biggest onshore tax haven creating the world’s highest real house prices. No proposal for change seems possible.

Public services, after seven years of drastic cuts, have reached a point where severe deterioration is certain if planned reductions go ahead. The condition of Britain’s prisons is already intolerable: the stress in the NHS is apparent to all; improvements in educational standards are being reversed. All, starved of resources, can only get worse.

The “triple lock” – outlawing rises in income tax, national insurance and VAT (the major revenue streams in any tax system) constrained the ability of the government to manage the economy flexibly, and as virtually every observer notes, the triple lock is economically absurd.

Yet health and education spending – from which everyone should benefit and thus paid for by taxation – have been rising consistently for over 60 years, as they should and will. To try to turn back this growth or, alternatively, the social security system to find the necessary resources, is to ignore reality. Other cancelled proposed increases (insurance and airline taxes, national insurance for the self-employed, and probate fees) were means to raise revenue but would only have created further distortions.
 
"Britain must create a tax system that raises revenue across a broad base as fairly and with as little economic distortion as possible and it must accept that if it wants health and education to remain public goods financed by general taxation, along with a reasonable social security system, then taxation will have at the very least to remain around 35% of GDP and may even have to rise a little."

The tax take must increase, but it will need to be drawn from a much wider base than just on the “rich” – the top 5% – earning over £70,000 or from big corporations; there just is not enough potential revenue from those sources.

A smarter strategy would be to acknowledge that tax is the price for living in a civilised society and making the major tax revenue streams off-limits is crazy. We also have to go much further within a fair framework if we want decent public services and be able to manage the economy flexibly.

• The broader the tax base, the lower tax rates need to be.
• Revalue domestic residential property and overhaul council tax as part of a wider review of how local government is financed.
• A fair tax on inherited wealth.
• A broadening of the VAT base, with an extension to financial services.
• Heavier taxes on environmentally damaging activity.

Nicholas Stern has argued that these could raise some 2% of GDP, so that only marginal or very small increases in VAT, income tax and national insurance would be needed, if at all.

"Britain could have high quality public services, a great environment and a functioning housing market – and very few would notice the difference in their taxes. A country on the rise would do this in an instant. It is a declining country in thrall to rightwing ideologues that finds it impossible – that will be Britain in spring 2017."

Will Hutton: Overhaul Britain's rotten tax system or we won't be able to sustain a healthy state.  The Guardian, 22 April 2017