NEATH PORT TALBOT COUNTY BOROUGH COUNCIL

Cabinet

June 30th 2021

Report of the Chief Executive

Matter for Decision

Wards Affected:

All Wards

Report Title: Recover, Reset, Renew

Purpose of the Report:

To update the Cabinet on the ongoing response to Covid-19.

To seek authority to commence a public engagement exercise and to engage with an external peer panel to inform the Council’s approach to recovery planning.

Background:

On 16th March 2020, the Council moved into emergency response mode as Covid-19 began to rapidly spread throughout the United Kingdom.

The Council has played a key role in supporting the local NHS and its local communities since.

During the first wave of response, the Council made significant changes to its own service delivery but also implemented a range of new initiatives to support policies determined at the Welsh and UK government levels. The detail of this was reported to the Cabinet in July 2021 and is summarised briefly in the next section.

The second wave of response commenced in the early autumn. As we moved through the autumn, a new variant led to a more rapid transmission of Covid-19 across the UK with local case rates exceeding 1,000 per 100,000 population at the turn of the year and approximately one in three people testing positive for the disease. The new Test, Trace, Protect Service, although welcomed, set new challenges to maintain the continuity of services as a result of the requirement for people to self-isolate. The Council’s role in supporting the NHS intensified during this period whilst also continuing to provide essential support to local businesses and communities. More detail is given below.

At the time of writing, the restrictions imposed at the second national lockdown at Christmas 2020 have yet to be fully relaxed and Welsh Government have advised that Wales is in the early stages of a third wave. There is pressure to accelerate the full vaccination of the adult population. There is acceptance at Government level that the disease is now endemic and consequently all sections of society will need to permanently adapt to living with Covid-19.

Even though the Council will need to maintain its Covid-19 emergency response in the immediate term, attention needs to also be given to recovery. This report sets out a framework to support recovery planning and recommends an extensive public engagement exercise to ensure the impact of the pandemic on our communities is understood; that people’s priorities now and into the future are captured; and that we reset and renew the Council’s priorities and relationships within that context.

First Wave Response (March- August 2020)– Summary

The Chief Officer Group met as Gold Command throughout the period to lead the Council’s response under the leadership of the Chief Executive. The Gold Command Group initially met seven days a week over several months, ensuring decisions were taken and implemented at pace as part of a wider national effort to respond to the threat posed by Covid-19.

Mechanisms were put in place to ensure elected members were kept abreast of changes at the early stages of response given that there was no legal provision available to hold meetings through remote attendance. This included daily briefings with the political leadership and regular briefings to political group leaders and the wider membership of the Council.

Officers and senior Members participated in a number of regional and national meetings to ensure the local response was effectively co-ordinated with the response being mobilised by other agencies and the Governments.

The main features of the Council’s response during the first wave is summarised below and set out in more detail in the report to the Cabinet, July 2020:

There was a sustained focus on the health and safety of the Council’s own workforce and our wider community. The Council worked to implement Welsh Government and UK Government policy at pace throughout the first wave and this necessitated rapid scaling up and scaling back of service delivery, taking on significant new responsibilities whilst also ensuring that robust risk assessments, Personal Protective Equipment PPE were deployed;

A 7 day/week enhanced communications service was implemented to ensure that public health messages were aggressively promoted across all channels owned/commissioned by the Council; and accurate and timely information was provided about changes to service delivery, including the establishment of new services to support vulnerable people;

All but essential Council services were initially closed down to assist in reducing the spread of the disease. The was sustained pressure on care, education and front line services such as refuse and recycling throughout the period. As restrictions were eased, other services were reintroduced with significant service adaptation. Regulatory services were refocused to ensure compliance with new Covid-19 restrictions and other regulatory business was disrupted as a consequence;

Essential services were adapted and maintained. This involved a step change in workforce flexibility and innovation underpinned by enhanced use of data and digital technology. A significant number of the Council’s workforce were redeployed temporarily to new duties and there was intensive focus on the risk assessment of working environments and the acquisition of suitable Personal Protective Equipment (PPE);

A range of new services were implemented at pace: The new NPT Safe and Well Service was set up to support people told to shield themselves from the virus; schools provided childcare hubs for vulnerable learners and the children of essential workers whilst also teaching learners across remote technologies; financial assistance to businesses and community groups was provided on a significant scale on behalf of Governments; the Council also facilitated the establishment of a testing station at Margam and undertook the project management of the construction of the Llandarcy Field Hospital, completing the build within four weeks; and

The democratic process was enabled to operate with remote attendance, initially with a limited number of formal meetings.

Second Wave Response (August 2020-May 2021) – Summary

In summer 2020, case rates had fallen and Gold Command continued to meet but on a less frequent basis. Officers and senior Members maintained involvement in regional and national meetings, co-ordinating the local response with the wider effort. By September 2020 it became evident that a second wave was underway. Whilst the Welsh Government Firebreak had some beneficial impact, winter approached, case rates rose exponentially, exceeding 1,000 cases per 100,000 population by the turn of the year. The frequency of Gold Command meetings intensified as did regional and national meetings with Test, Trace, Protect and Social Care services placed under severe pressure. A summary of the main activities over the course of the second wave is set out below:

In June 2020, councils across Wales were required to work within regional health board footprints to establish a Test, Trace and Protect Service as part of the national framework to protect the public health. This involved implementation of a national ICT infrastructure, the recruitment and training of a large number of contact tracing staff and the establishment of a significant warning and informing capability;

The Council facilitated an expansion of testing facilities, making Milland Road available and a site at Baglan Energy Park, whilst also ensuring testing was rigorously undertaken across front line care and education services in line with Welsh Government guidance. The Council has also supported the deployment of mobile testing facilities to reduce the spread of Covid-19 in specific geographic areas.

The Council’s Environmental Health Service worked alongside Public Health Wales staff to lead the new contact tracing service and to provide expert guidance to employers to limit the spread of the disease so that critical services could be maintained. A significant number of council staff were initially redeployed to resource the contact tracing service and subsequently, a large number of staff were recruited to the service to resource its rapid expansion.

Community Safety and regulatory staff from Environmental Health, Licensing and Trading Standards formed a Joint Enforcement Service to ensure compliance with Covid-19 regulations across the area. This necessitated the recruitment of additional Covid-19 enforcement officers.

Just before Christmas 2020, vaccines started to be licensed for use. The Council made the Orangery available at Margam Park for use as a mass vaccination centre and also refurbished a mobile library (the Immbulance) to ensure harder to reach people were able to receive their vaccines via an outreach service.

The Council led the regional work to warn and inform the population throughout the second wave and continues to do so. As well as amplifying the general messages generated by the Governments, the regional warning and informing group has ensured tailored messages have been delivered to specific populations.

The introduction of mass testing, whilst extremely important in the overall effort, caused considerable disruption to service delivery and this was most acutely felt in social care and in the county borough’s schools.

Although the national firebreak had a beneficial impact, by early December 2020, it was clear that local and regional measures to tackle the spread of the disease were not sufficient and case numbers were rising exponentially. Representation was made to Welsh Government to introduce additional measures. In the event, the Welsh Government brought forward the national lockdown and limited the amount of social contact possible over the festive period. By this time cases were exceeding 1,000 cases per 100,000 population and approximately a third of cases tested were positive.

As in the first wave, the Council’s service operations were stood up or scaled back in line with national regulations. Where services have been operational, considerable adaptation has been necessary to keep the workforce and those using the services safe. Where services have been unable to operate, for example theatres, the workforce has been redeployed on a voluntary basis to support critical services including those new services created as part of the national effort.

The Council continued to operate its NPT Safe and Well Service during wave two, receiving calls from those in need of support with daily tasks. There was no national food delivery scheme in the second wave as many local businesses had adapted service delivery by this point. The Council therefore has worked with the third sector, its own volunteers and community groups to match those in need with a suitable support worker;

The Council also continued to heavily promote those local businesses who had been able to adapt their service operations and were able to take on-line/telephone orders and provide delivery services;

Throughout the period financial support to local businesses has been administered on behalf of the Governments and the Council has ensured that parents with children who were eligible for free school meals have received payments direct to their bank accounts.

The vast majority of office-based staff have worked from home continuously since March 2020. This would not have been possible were in not for the rapid deployment of new technology by the Council’s Digital Services Team and the adaptability of the Council’s workforce. The Digital Services Team has also facilitated the provision of thousands of ICT devices to schools and learners to support remote teaching and learning.

Next Steps (May 2021 – October 2021)

It is clear that Covid-19 has become endemic and consequently we must turn our attention to how we will live with the virus. We have identified three phases for recovery:

A re-opening phase – supporting the safe restarting of activity as restrictions are lifted, whilst continuing to respond to the immediate demands of the pandemic;

A recovery phase – building confidence, supporting residents, businesses and employees as government removes support and restrictions;

A reset/renewal phase – where activities and policies to support long term plans are put in place to deliver sustainable improvements in services and in social, economic and environmental outcomes.

We are presently focused on the re-opening and recovery phases responding to changes announced by the Welsh Government. We are adjusting the Council’s own service delivery whilst continuing to discharge new responsibilities that have been given to local government over the course of the pandemic. In particular:

Test, Trace, Protect – the Welsh Government has already pledged to fund the Test, Trace, Protect Service until the end of March 2022. We will ensure that we continue to work with our partners on the Swansea Bay University Health Board footprint to ensure the availability of testing services; to carry out robust contact tracing and health intelligence activities; to provide proactive and reactive public health information; to carry out advisory and enforcement actions to secure high levels of compliance with Covid-19 regulations; and to mobilise a rapid response as may be required in specific areas of the county borough in the event of further outbreaks of the disease;

Vaccination – we will continue to support the Health Board through the provision of facilities that enables the mass vaccination of the population; we will also promote the benefits of vaccination to our workforce and our population;

Health, Safety and Wellbeing – we will continue to prioritise the health, safety and wellbeing of our workforce and our service users. We will ensure there are comprehensive and up to date risk assessments in place to support our service operations and that we adjust our service operations in line with national regulations, stepping up or scaling back service delivery in line with national policy;

Support to Business – we are continuing to administer the various financial assistance schemes available from the Governments whilst also providing other support and advice through our TTP and wider services;

NPT Safe and Well – the number of referrals being received has fallen considerably and we are in the process of bringing together the assets created as part of the humanitarian effort with the existing local area co-ordination model. Work will continue through the summer to look identify what ongoing community based support we will need in place;

We have also began to think about the impact of the pandemic on our communities and how this might shape the Council’s priorities over the longer term. A strategic community impact assessment has been undertaken. This has identified important learning that can be used to shape the way the Council works moving forward, together with a number of strategic challenges and opportunities that need to inform the Council’s future priorities. This assessment is summarised at Appendix 2 and has been shared with the Member Panel and at a Member Seminar.

Additionally, all services have completed lessons learned exercises and have used these, together with wider horizon scanning, to identify how service models may need to change.

It is crucial that we now engage with our workforce, citizens, partners, business and other stakeholders to test the analysis we have undertaken to date. A significant engagement exercise is planned to the end of September 2021 with the intention of using the feedback provided to challenge and refine the work done to date. The aim is to reset the Council’s vision, values and priorities in the autumn, based on this evidence, followed by a further period of formal consultation to be undertaken by early 2022. All of this will, in turn, be used in the budget setting process as we move through the remainder of this financial year.

It is further proposed to engage with a peer review exercise through the Local Government Association in autumn 2021 to access independent and external challenge to the overall process. This will be provided at no additional cost to the Council as it is funded through the Welsh Local Government Association.

Financial Impacts:

The Welsh Government continues to make specific funding available to address the additional costs associated with the ongoing Covid-19 response. Officers will continue to recover costs and lost income in line with the funding schemes in place. Officers will also continue to highlight any additional costs/lost income not covered by existing schemes to ensure any net impact on the Council’s budgets is minimised.

A separate report has been provided recommending limited use of the Council’s reserves to support the immediate work to recover, reset and renew the Council’s services and functions. The Medium Term Financial Plan will reflect any changes made to the Council’s priorities as we move through the budget setting process later this year.

Costs associated with the planning and engagement activities highlighted in this report can be met within existing budgets.

Integrated Impact Assessment:

There is no requirement for an Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA) at this stage of the process, however, as we move into the next phase of work we will begin to construct an IIA to support deliberations as to future priorities.

Valleys Communities Impacts:

Consideration will be given to the spatial impact on our valleys communities as part of the planning and engagement exercise.

Workforce Impacts:

It is intended that there will be significant engagement with the Council’s workforce as part of the wider engagement exercise.

Legal Impacts:

The work outlined in this report will be reflected in a new corporate plan. The Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2020 has introduced new features to corporate planning arrangements whilst the Council must continue to meet duties under the Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. As is currently the case, the corporate plan will also reference how duties under Welsh Language, Equalities and other legislation have been discharged.

Risk Management Impacts:

The work outlined in this report seeks to mitigate the risk that the impact of the pandemic on the county borough of Neath Port Talbot and associated challenges and opportunities are not accurately identified and reflected in our forward plans and budgets.

Consultation:

It is intended that there is inclusive engagement over a three month period to capture the impact of the pandemic on the different sections of our communities followed by a formal consultation later in the process.

The initial engagement plan is attached at Appendix 1 for consideration.

Recommendations:

It is recommended that:

Members note the Council’s response to Covid-19 to date.

Members note work currently underway to support the ongoing Covid-19 response and the early work being undertaken to pave the way for longer term recovery.

Members endorse the framework outlined in this report to guide work to recover, reset and renew the Council’s services and functions and longer term priorities.

Members endorse the proposed engagement plan.

Members endorse the proposal to engage with the Local Government Association, testing our approach to recovery planning with an external, independent peer panel.

Reasons for Proposed Decision:

To ensure there is structured approach to the ongoing Covid-19 response and the early work to plot a pathway to recovery and that the approach provides for input from a wide range of stakeholders.

Implementation of Decision:

The decision is proposed for implementation after the three day call in period

Appendices:

Appendix 1 – Engagement Plan

Appendix 2 – Summary of Community Impact Assessment

List of Background Papers:

Moving Forward – Cabinet, July 2020

Corporate Plan 2021-2023, Council , May 2021

Revenue and Capital Budgets 2021 – Council, March 2021

Officer Contact:

Mrs Karen Jones, Chief Executive Tel:01639 763284 or e-mail:chief.executive@npt.gov.uk