To consider a verbal update from the Chief Executive and Leader of the Council on the Council’s actions in relation to the impact of the Corona Virus. Along with verbal updates at the meeting, a Cabinet paper provided by the Chief Executive on this matter will inform this discussion. The Cabinet report will be published on Friday 10 July 2020 and available to view at the following link:
https://democracy.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=285&MId=4253&Ver=4
The purpose of this scrutiny is to seek assurance that the Council is taking all appropriate actions and to take into account any particular concerns from councillors acting in their community role, in line with the Board’s role as enabler of the voice and concerns of the public.
Minutes:
The Chairman invited the Leader of the Council and the Chief Executive to outline the latest developments to the Board. The Chairman reminded the Board that for this item they were also asked to consider the Cabinet report on Update on BCP Council's response to the COVID-19 pandemic a copy of which had been circulated and which appears as Appendix A to the Cabinet minutes of 29 July 2020 the Minute Book. The Chief Executive advised the Board of the changes which were due to take place in the near future including that support for those shielding would be coming to an end from the end of the month. The Together We Can helpline was also being stepped down and things were getting back to ‘business as usual’. A Local Outbreak Management Plan had been recently produced. The Government had announced its contain strategy and the powers that would be introduced for local government to bring this into effect, including local lockdown.
During the crisis BCP Council had been well represented nationally and the Council had come through this in a strong position despite the fact that we were still settling in following the merger of the preceding authorities. This has included the delivery of grants to local business, the distribution of PPE, the plans put in place for additional provision for an outbreak and the excellent response from volunteers.
In reference to the major incident which occurred three weeks ago issues arising from this were being followed up on and a ‘crowded places’ app had been developed.
The Leader advised that the app was now live, and it was hoped that it would be launched soon. The app would also be able to provide the location of toilets, lifeguards, which sections of the beach allowed dogs, etc. The Council had been able to respond quickly in relation to the Council’s peers, for example the Council opened 75 percent of playgrounds as soon as possible. All departments had been working at an incredible pace. The work with the homeless population had gone extremely well with helping 74people into longer term accommodation provision, as well as helping with employment and substance misuse. There was significant work still on going in exceptional circumstances in adult social care. In Children’s Services there had been over 400 school admission appeals to be heard in a virtual environment, which had a knock-on impact in terms of member meetings. There were concerns regarding the increased risk in safeguarding and the lack of available childcare when people were being asked to return to work and the Council were working to address this. Environmental Health Officers and Trading Standards officers had been on hand to address issues regarding violation of Covid-19 rules and guidelines. The Second tranche of the discretionary grants scheme was due to go live shortly and the issues of why people had not met the criteria previously had been taken into consideration for this.
The Board raised a number of issues in the ensuing discussion including:
· Clarification was sought on whose responsibility it was to check on Covid-19 related matters with businesses as a Councillor had been directed to Health and Safety staff rather than Environmental Health. It was noted that there were approximately 3000 business in the area which fell under the jurisdiction of the Health and Safety Executive and 13,000 premises under Council enforcement.
· In relation to the incident which occurred over the 24 and 25 June the Board questioned the capacity of seafront operations. It was noted that staffing at the end of June wouldn’t in normal circumstances be up to 100 percent but there was a good complement of staff working at this time. However, a recruitment had been underway and significantly more staff were in place than there were at the end of May. There were a number of senior staff I seafront operations who had been shielding. All toilets were open and there were a number of parking enforcement staff available, although there were a significant proportion still shielding.
· In relation to the incident the Board was advised that the visitor profile was unusual for the area and a number of visitors were still arriving into the evening. The behaviour of a number of the visitors on these dates was extraordinary. There were also similar incidents of concern across the country and the Police had to react to various incidents.
· There were a number of tents along the beach during this incident, beachfront staff were dealing with these and moving on campers where possible but were also needed to deal with litter picking and making the beach safe. In addition, beachfront staff did not work into the night and people were still arriving after the staff had left. The seafront teams needed to work with the police if people did not respond to the request to move on. The Leader advised that they were looking into the wording of Council bylaws to make enforcement of this issue easier. It was noted that 26 eviction notices were issues for tents on the beach on 24 June.
· There was concern raised at the number of parking enforcement officers operational in the effected area over this time period. There were some staff shielding but there were no staff on eave during this period. Due to shift patters there were 18 staff on the streets during the course of the day but Councillors reported swathes of illegally parked vehicles in this area which had not been ticketed. It was noted that parking could check an area and vehicles arrive after this time and it was not possible to cover all roads all of the time.
· A Councillor commented on the difficult situation that the staff had to deal with during the 24 and 25 June and thanked officers for dealing with this and doing there job in a very difficult situation.
· A Concern was raised about the capacity of the Council to provide support to those who were shielding who would still require it when the government support ended. It was noted that the vast majority of volunteers were still available. People were being advised that the food packages were discontinuing but that they remained eligible for enhanced online shopping offers.
· In response to a question it was noted that there was no need to shut down beaches and the Council were capable of dealing with thousands on the beach as it did every year. Social distancing was the responsibility of individuals and if somewhere seemed to busy people were encouraged to go home.
· With reference to the consultation period on emergency active travel fund schemes it was noted that there was a six-month consultation for the proposals in tranche one. Tranche two would begin three weeks from now. There was a live consultation underway on all schemes. These could be made permanent more quickly if that is what the community wants.
· A Board member asked about looking ahead as currently we had low levels of Covid-19 but this could change in the future and may coincide with seasonal flu. It was noted that track and trace was important and it was asked if there was any further information on this. It was noted that work was already underway on the impact of a peak during flu season and the measure. It was noted that Track and Trace was being led by public health so at present further information could not be provided on this.
· Concerns were raised by the Board with regards the calling of a major incident. It was noted that the situation was exceptional and all parties on SAG were involved in the decision to call the major incident in standby. The consequences of this meant that armed police and the coastguard were more readily available, everybody was able to work together more effectively. The Board questioned whether there was reluctance from any of the parties to the calling of a major incident and the impact that this would have had on various services. The decision was taken by operational leaders through the local resilience forum. The Safety Action Group was called on Wednesday and was working in a multi-agency approach prior to calling the major incident. There was further concern raised regarding the impact of making this decision.
RECOMMENDED: That Cabinet seeks to bring in year rigorous, responsive and robust enforcement action into current operational practices, particularly in regard to parking and overnight camping on the beaches.
Voting: For: 8, Against: 6, no abstentions.
Cllr G Farquhar asked that his vote against the recommendation be recorded