WATCH: President Jenni Field's March update video

March has been dominated by the COVID-19 outbreak and, for the CIPR, efforts to support the profession. In her latest monthly update to members CIPR President, Jenni Field, used the opportunity to say a "huge thank you to volunteers and the staff at the CIPR for all the work they are doing to support our members and those who aren't our members at such difficult times." 

All details of support available, as well and information and advice, can be found here https://www.cipr.co.uk/covid19.

March Highlights:

• We welcomed the Government's initiative to set up a 'counter disinformation unit' to identify and respond to disinformation about COVID-19. More information here.
• We responded to the Chancellor's Budget by publishing member resources related to IR35 including guidance and template contracts (here). Later in the month, we welcomed the decision to delay the rollout of IR35 due to uncertainty surrounding coronavirus. More information here.
• CIPR's Local Public Services Group issued a call for public sector crisis experts to join a virtual advisory group to support those dealing with coronavirus messaging on the frontline.
• CIPR and PRCA joined forces in praising the efforts of communications professionals during the coronavirus outbreak and published an open letter to the Chancellor calling for more support for freelance practitioners (here). Later in the same week the two bodies wrote a second letter calling for more support for small businesses (here).
• We shared news of a new survey from #FuturePRoof which found a loss of income was the biggest concern for the PR profession in relation to the coronavirus outbreak. More here.
• We published news of a new series of free webinars, aimed at advising public relations professionals on managing their work during the COVID-19 outbreak. More here.