Agenda item

All Councils in England are required to develop and publish local outbreak management plans as part of the Government’s Contain strategy. The strategy gives a key role to local councils in responding to local outbreaks, and supporting people who have tested positive and their contacts to isolate promptly, breaking transmission of COVID-19 and minimising risks of any second peak. This paper describes the main themes in the plan, and the process being recommended for how the plans will operate in BCP Council. The plans require a local COVID-19 public engagement board, and the recommendation is that the BCP Health and Wellbeing Board takes on this function.

The Plan referred to as Appendix 1 to the report is to follow.

The Director of Public Health, presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'A' to these Minutes in the Minute Book which advised of the requirement for all Councils in England to develop and publish local outbreak management plans as part of the Government’s Contain strategy for Covid 19 .

The Board was informed that the plan was required by the end of June 2020 and had been published.

The Director of Public Health provided context in respect of the development of the plan.  He explained that the BCP Council area was experiencing low levels of cases. The Board was advised that surveillance information from Public Health England indicated that on average there was one case per day for both pillar 1 and 2 testing.  The Director of Public Health reported that the Country was entering a new phase of the pandemic. The plan sets out how Councils working alongside Public Health England, health colleagues and other partners identify and respond to increases in numbers of cases of Covid.  The Director reported that the plan would also consider how to respond to cases in high risk settings including hospitals, care homes, schools, workplaces, supported housing and for vulnerable groups.  The Board was advised that the plan was building on work that was already being done.  The Director explained that the biggest change was the role of the Public Engagement Board.  He reported on the governance structure for the plan outlining that the role of the Officer Health Protection Board explaining that the well-established health protection network which works across Dorset would fulfil this role. The Director informed the Board of the proposal that the Health and Wellbeing Board would operate as the Public Outbreak Engagement Board.  The initial thinking was that it was necessary to be clear with the public quickly if there were any changes in the pattern of Covid cases or a significant outbreak in the BCP area. It may be necessary to communicate with the public on what we know and what actions would be taken.  In order to respond quickly the report contained a recommendation to set up a sub-group that could be called together at short notice.  In terms of the other elements of the outbreak plan the Director reported that BCP Council had been allocated £1.8 m and outlined how the funds would be used.  Other themes in the Plan included surveillance for Covid and the Director reported that data agreements would be signed to obtain richer data.  He provided assurance that the Health and Wellbeing Board would be involved as described and asked to consider what needed to be communicated. The Director reported that the public summary for the plan was published by 30 June. He explained that the longer plan included more detail including the development of action cards and protocols.

The Vice-Chairman commented on the plan which he described as comprehensive and thanked those who had pulled the plan together which he fully endorsed.

The Chairman asked what additional powers may come through to the local agencies, where was the requirement to enforce and how it was made clear to the public who was responsible for what.  The Director indicated that this would work at three levels. He explained that there were already powers to work with a premise and close it if necessary, as a result of an outbreak, the second level would deal with more complex outbreaks involving a multi-agency response and the opportunity to escalate and the third level was when we started to see community transmission which would have implications at a national level.  The Director referred to the current situation in Leicester and the approach being taken.  He reported that enforcement would be the last resort and he felt that the strength was that the Local Outbreak Management Plans were being led at a local level by Councils which was important in being transparent with the public.

The Corporate Director for Adult Social Care reported on the inclusion of safeguarding issues within the plan and that the existing safeguarding partnerships could be a reference point for discussions. 

A Member of the Board referred to how actions were communicated to the public.  She referred to section 4 of the Plan which indicated engagement of local communities would be through elected members from the Health and Wellbeing Board and noted that this can be quite difficult, but it was an action that would need to be done. The Member welcomed the opportunity to co-op other representatives as required depending on the nature of any potential outbreak.  The Chairman referred to co-opting other representatives and asked if that would be done through the Health Protection Board.  The Director of Public Health reported that if there was an outbreak in a particular setting relevant professional officers would be co-opted including consideration of appropriate communications.  He explained that reference to the smaller sub-group of the Engagement Board which can be operational quickly may require ward councillors to be involved.

Seth Why, Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service asked if emergency services had been identified as a specific complex setting in the plan.  The Director of Public Health reported that emergency services had not been identified as settings, but the Director reported that he would take this issue through the Heath Protection Board.  Mr Why asked what arrangements were in place for all emergency services worker contacts being subject to T1 tracing.  The Director of Public Health agreed to respond to the question outside of the meeting.  In response to a further question the Director reported that action cards were currently in draft form and he would check on the national publication dates. He explained that in respect of the local plan time was being scheduled in the Health Protection Board to work through the action cards on a risk-based approach.

A Member referred to anti-body testing and sought clarification on the implications.  The Director of Public Health reported that experts were trying to understand the pattern of Covid but there was a cautious approach on how the data from anti-body testing was used acknowledging that such surveillance was part of the overall process.

The Chairman reported on a factual change to the plan on the number of primary care networks.

The Corporate Director for Environment and Community, BCP Council reported that from a housing perspective there were a few more high risk categories including sheltered housing that needed to be reflected in the plan and she would welcome the opportunity to work with Public Health to ensure a joined up approach on the high risk settings.

The Chairman sought clarification on the potential implications on the cessation of public transport.  The Director of Public Health reported that there was a ports and borders group meeting locally and there would be representatives from that group on the Health Protection Board.  The Chairman asked if that would include local public transport representatives - the Director reported that he would check on that issue.

The Chief Executive, BCP Council reported on the amount of work which had been undertaken to develop the plan in a short timeframe with the publication of the document on 30 June 2020.  He informed the Board that there was an informal challenge of the plan by the south west representative of a network of national co-ordinators resulting in very positive feedback on the content.  The Chief Executive highlighted that the plan was an evolving document which would develop over time.

James Vaughan, Chief Constable reassured the Board that the Local Resilience Forum had been running a Strategic Co-ordinating Group (SCG) for Covid 19 for the last 14 weeks with all senior leaders across the BCP area and Dorset engaged.  He reported that there had been scrutiny of the plan by the Group who agreed that it was a fantastic piece of work and would aid the transition into long term recovery. The Chief Constable highlighted that the quality of the plan provided criteria to identify at what stage the SCG may need to be stood back up. He commended the Director of Public Health for the work on the plan.

The Director of Public Health thanked the Board for their comments and outlined how the plan would support the transition into recovery.

RESOLVED that the Board

(a)  Approves the development of a Local Outbreak Management Plan, with the BCP Council Health and Wellbeing Board taking the role of the local COVID-19 Outbreak Engagement Board.

(b)  Approves the set-up of a sub-group, that can be called together at short notice if required, to include as a minimum the BCP Council Leader and Chief Executive, the Director of Public Health and a CCG clinical representative.

Voting – Unanimous