Report of the Chief Executive to the meeting of Executive to be held on 9 June 2020 BQ Subject: BUILDING A BETTER FUTURE: LIVING WITH COVID 19 AND LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS FOR A BETTER FUTURE Summary statement: This report follows the report to Executive on the 30th April 2020 and outlines the action taken since then to support the District through the COVID 19 pandemic and the next steps we intend to take including action to support a period of time living with the virus and to lay the foundations for a better future. Portfolio: Kersten England Chief Executive Leader of the Council and Corporate Report Contact: Nigel Smith, Overview & Scrutiny Area: Principal Executive Officer Corporate (7582103578) [email protected] Philip Witcherley, Head of Policy and Performance (07970 684889) [email protected] 1 SUMMARY 1.1. This report sets out the principal actions undertaken since 30th April 2020 by the Council, working alongside partners, to tackle the COVID 19 pandemic. It summarises the impact of COVID 19 on Bradford district. It outlines Bradford Council’s next steps in responding to the COVID crisis, enabling our services to return from the lockdown and the steps we plan to take to make the District safe for communities, with safe workplaces, public spaces, travel and places for learning. It sets out the financial impact of COVID 19 to date and proposes next steps in planning for a period of time living with COVID 19 and laying the foundations for a better future including the development of a programme of priority investment proposals. 2. BACKGROUND 2.1. At the meeting of the Council’s Executive on the 30th April 2020 a report was considered that set out the Council’s initial emergency response to COVID 19. The report recognised the phenomenal collaborative effort by Council services, the NHS, public, private and voluntary and community sector partners and through key workers and volunteers and thanked them all for their contributions. 2.2. Since then, work has continued across the 5 themes: supporting the health and social care of vulnerable people, supporting communities helping our businesses and workforce stay resilient maintaining essential services Keeping people informed. 2.3. On the 10th May, the Prime Minister announced that the country was entering the next phase of its COVID 19 management plan and that the lockdown would be gradually eased. The Government published fifty pages of guidance (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/staying-alert-and-safe-social- distancing/staying-alert-and-safe-social-distancing )which included a number of announcements including recommendations that people who cannot work from home should speak to their employer about a safe return to their workplace, schools should begin to receive pupils from the 1st June and rules about the outdoor exercise and meeting people from other households would be relaxed. 2.4. Bradford council is working closely with local and regional partners to manage the crisis and respond to the Government’s announcement through its local partnership arrangements and as part of the West Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum. We are also working closely with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) on plans for economic recovery and with the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health Authorities on their ongoing regional response. 2.5. Work has been taking place on a 6 month recovery plan to be delivered through District wide partnership working. 3 PRIORITY ACTIVITY SINCE 30 APRIL 3.1 Bradford District’s response to COVID 19 emergency has been framed around five key themes: Supporting the health and social care of vulnerable people Supporting Communities Helping our businesses and workforce stay resilient Maintaining Essential Services Keeping People Informed. 3.2 On 30 April 2020 Executive considered an update of activity in each of these areas. Since then a significant amount of activity has taken place which is summarised below. A more detailed record of activity be found in Appendix A. Working together to tackle COVID 19 3.2 Theme 1: Supporting the health and social care of vulnerable people. Significant and complex activity has been undertaken in order to support and protect vulnerable adults, children and families and to work with schools to provide child care and education and prepare for re-opening. 3.3 A Care Home Action Plan has been developed as part of efforts to ensure that people are supported in residential and nursing care settings. This will help to tackle infection rates in care homes, implementing new procedures to ensure no services will be delivered until COVID 19 test results are received and that the PPE required for service provision to COVID 19 positive individuals is available. 3.4 A package of measures has been developed to support the stability of the care market and ensure that statutory functions continue. This work has included managing payments and communications to providers, coordinating testing processes for care home staff, supporting the management of staffing capacity and housing needs and co-ordinating PPE requirements. 3.5 Support is also being provided to people in their own homes including developing and implementing a plan to support the shielded and non-shielded population. 3.6 Plans have been finalised to help victims of Domestic Violence who have no recourse to public funds and action has been taken to ensure temporary accommodation for all rough sleepers in the District. 3.7 Support to vulnerable children and families has included working with local health partners to identify potentially vulnerable children who are not accessing services. As a result, the numbers of vulnerable children attending school have gradually increased over the time of crisis and we have also been able to access food parcels for some of these families. 3.8 Work to support schools and early years’ providers to deliver childcare to key worker and vulnerable children has been on-going and Council services are advising and listening to schools in response to a potential reopening from the 1st June onwards to ensure views and concerns are presented clearly to the Department for Education. 3.9 Theme 2: Supporting Communities Securing reliable supplies of food for those who need it, coordination of volunteers and community safety have been the central elements in the support delivered to communities. 3.10 Management of food supplies has been undertaken in close collaboration with VCS partners and includes running the ‘Food Distribution Centre’ at the Broadway Shopping Centre, managing the delivery of food parcels to people on the government shielded list and to people who are living in poverty and whose needs can’t be accommodated within the wider food bank network. This work is supported by InnCommunities and volunteers. In addition to weekly parcels, lunch parcels have been delivered to schools for 852 children in receipt of free school meals as a short term intervention while the national voucher scheme was rolled out. 3.11 A network of five constituency based community hubs were established to support communities through the deployment of volunteers, connecting citizens to support and working through a wider network of community and voluntary organisations. The five community buildings which were designated community hubs for the five Bradford constituencies are being decommissioned, however the activity of the hubs will continue virtually through close partnership working now established at this local level. The hubs are the primary referral point for people calling 431000 for COVID 19 related support (except food parcels). To date 1,472 volunteers have been recruited, 702 trained and 347 matched to roles; 53 have been allocated to 37 organisations by Volunteering Bradford. Each hub has a dedicated volunteer coordinator. 3.12 Monitoring community tensions and providing reassurance and engagement has been central to our approach to community safety. We have for example, worked closely with faith institutions and the police to ensure that religious holidays such as Eid can be celebrated safely whilst maintaining social distancing. Regular monitoring of hate crime reports is being undertaken along with other crimes that could lead to community tensions and work is on-going to develop a plan for tackle domestic abuse. 3.13 Theme 3: Helping our businesses and workforce remain resilient Priority support to business has included distributing grant funding, developing an understanding of the issues facing businesses and their support needs, recruitment and training to key sectors, maintaining planning services and supporting active travel and safe city and town centre spaces. 3.14 At the time of publication, over 9,500 Government grants totalling over £109.7 million had been paid to businesses. Sustained communications have signposted businesses to support, amplifying government advice and showcasing best practise and local case studies; a business volunteering brokerage service has been developed connecting businesses to communities. A survey designed to understand issues and needs affecting local businesses is on-going and helping to shape our response. 3.15 A system wide approach to deployment and rapid recruitment to support essential services across the District is a key part of our recruitment and training activity delivered through the Skillshouse partnership. That work has engaged with 356 new people of whom 58 have undertaken or secured places on training to support entry into the Care sector. Individuals who are not seeking work in the care sector have been supported through other programmes. 3.16 The creative sector has been supported through a £30K Response grant with a focus on engagement and reaching people in isolation in creative ways. VisitBradford have increased online activity, reinforcing messages encouraging people to enjoy the district from their homes and to inspire them to plan visits for later and the creation of www.visitbradford.com/daysin a platform for online visits to our Museums and Galleries.