Agenda item

(To receive a report from Dan Quinn, Assistant Director – Corporate recovery, which provides an overview of the partnership approach and governance arrangements to manage Lincolnshire's recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic)

The Board considered a report presented by the Executive Director of Place and Deputy Chief Constable, Lincolnshire Police, on behalf of theAssistant Director – Corporate Recovery, which provided an overview of the partnership approach and governance arrangements to manage Lincolnshire's recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. The report set out the progress and activity of the Lincolnshire's Local Resilience Forum (LRF) since August, highlighting the challenges faced and the threats, risks and harm that required mitigating.

Since August there had been a significant resurgence of the disease nationally and this had been reflected locally with an increase of infection within the communities in Lincolnshire. As of 19 October 2020 the figures for Lincolnshire were 4,945 confirmed cases, 813 cases in the last seven days. Since the start of the pandemic there had been 159 Covid-19 deaths in a hospital setting and 291 total Covid-19 deaths. These were people who had had a positive Covid-19 test result and died within 28 days of the first positive test. The numbers for Lincolnshire were lower than areas within the East Midlands region or reviewed against a national context. Lincolnshire was currently at Local Covid-19 alert level: medium.

Councillor M Hill, Leader of the Council, reported that  the Lincolnshire Outbreak Engagement Board had met on 28 October and having taken advice from the Director of Public Health, had agreed that there was no reason to change the current alert level at this point in time. There had been a recent rise in the infection rate, especially in Lincoln, and officials would be keeping a watching brief on the rates on a daily basis. The Chief Executive reported the Board had been set up to provide political ownership and governance for the local outbreak management response and to ensure consistent messaging with Lincolnshire's population by overseeing public facing engagement and communication.  It would discharge its responsibilities by means of recommendations to appropriate governance boards and relevant partner organisations.  The Board would provide progress reports and updates, as required, to the Covid-19 Recovery meeting of the Lincolnshire Council Leaders, including District Council leaders, Chief Executives and Police and Crime Commissioner. The Board was chaired by the Leader of LCC. Other members of the Board included District Council Leaders, the Police and Crime Commissioner, NHS non-executive representatives from CCG and NHS providers, representative from Healthwatch Lincolnshire and Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership.

Members considered the report, and during the discussion the following points were noted:

·         There was support for the Board to receive regular updates, especially as the infection rates were changing regularly and the Board needed to monitor the economic and social impact as well as the Council's and Government's responses and support plans.

·         Lincolnshire was currently in Tier 1 (medium risk) of the government's three-tier Covid-19 alert system and Nottinghamshire would move to Tier 3 (highest level restrictions) from 30 October. Police advice was not to travel into or from Tier 3 areas unless essential. Public sector employees working in essential services should continue to go into work where necessary. The current advice was to comply with the rules in place in the area where you lived; be aware of the specific symptoms of Covid-19; carry out a risk assessment of your journey before travel and not to travel on public transport at peak times. There was currently no limit on travel in and out of Tier 2 and 3 areas in England for workers who must travel to work.

·         It was noted that the tourist season had been extended on the Lincolnshire coast for economic reasons and there were some concerns from residents and business owners that some public from Tier 3 areas may still travel to visit the area. There were no specific measures or laws to prevent people from travelling, just advice not to do so and it was expected that the majority of the public would take a sensible approach.

·         It was recognised that there were some question marks about the accuracy of some of the data especially for example whether a death was entirely due to Covid-19 or was part of another illness. Following later clarification it was noted that if a resident of Lincolnshire was to die in a hospital out of the County, the death would be recorded at their place of residency in the same way that the positive test was recorded in relation to the place they were resident.  Technically they were considered to having been discharged from hospital back to their home.

·         The statistics recorded test results by the postcode where a person lived and not the postcode of the test site. Some students had been recorded as at their home GP and not at their University location, however Lincoln University had its own test and trace system so the figures for Lincoln were more accurate than other areas.

·         Support was being provided for businesses via Government grant schemes accessed via countywide business growth hubs and District Councils, however these were already oversubscribed.

·         There had not been any significant delays in test and trace in Lincolnshire. Normally results were available within 24 to 48 hours. There were also no public health concerns re testing capacity.

·         It was hoped that the report to the November Board meeting would include more information on the economic impact of Covid-19 in Lincolnshire and the recovery work being undertaken. It was noted that redundancies and employment claims were being monitored and would be part of any feedback.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the report be noted;

2.    That an update report be submitted to the next Board meeting on 26 November 2020.