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Agenda item
Shape of the second wave
10:35
i. Community impact - Steve Manwaring
ii. Local business impact – Clive Galbraith / Sean Dennis
iii. LSP Partners – feedback on impact
Minutes:
i. Community impact
Steve Manwaring updated:
A networking event was held a couple of weeks ago, in which, across the sector, lockdown was looked at: the position as it was understood and what we need to move towards.
With regards to the impact of the second wave, 3 separate strands need to be looked at: 1) impact of Covid with whatever lockdown measures accompany it, particularly in relation to the most vulnerable and isolated, 2) the economic impact that will follow and 3) within the health sector, looking at the extents at which it will distort a wider network of health services, bearing in mind that there a lots of residents in Hastings with long-term health conditions.
In terms of community organisations within the voluntary sector, the first outbreak has thrown a spotlight onto some of the inadequacies of the physical accommodation in which services are delivered and ways to innovate and how technology can be used to accommodate more hybrid working. There are also concerns particularly in how young people will be disproportionately impacted by whatever happens next and this needs to be understood. A report was produced and we know nationally that Covid fell disproportionately on the BAME communities and this also needs to be understood. Links to some Hastings specific research will be circulated after this meeting. Action: Steve.
It is important to understand what has happened in Hastings with Covid and we have benefitted from input from Steven Orchard of the University of Sussex who has been doing some work trying to understand the nature of prevalence in our specific community. Steven started his work with a presentation at the community hub meeting and he will be returning to this week’s meeting to share his preliminary findings. The meeting is open to LSP members wanting to attend
ii. Local business impact – Clive Galbraith / Sean Dennis
Clive Galbraith provided an update:
For many trades, contracting and construction in particular, have reported that the position will be similar to that of last year and the view is that the next 12 months will be pretty much the same. For self-employed individuals, it will be more difficult to make up the year on year figures. Clearly, the 1066 economy is based around a diverse number of businesses, from micro businesses employing just one person, to larger business employing hundreds of people, although the major challenges have been within the hospitality and tourism sectors. Events have been taking place virtually, but this does not help the local economy. It has been reported that cars and caravan sales have been doing quite well.
Sean Dennis updated:
Comments received from the advisory team which covers East Sussex, Kent, Essex and the wider east of England is that comments are similar in these regions. Some sectors are benefitting, and others have caught up or still playing catch up. If the recovery continues in the current vein, they will have caught up by the end of the year. The obvious sectors have been hit the hardest: tourism, retail, hospitality and culture, which are particularly key and relevant to Hastings and the surrounding areas and will continue to struggle for some time to come.
What it has highlighted is very reflective of what is heard in the national press and what has happened in the economy. Quarter 1 was very difficult, quarter 2 has seen quite a strong bounce back and is expected to continue, albeit at a slower rate into quarter 3. Overall, if we take the whole economy, we will see quite a contraction, but within that there are pockets that have done well and some that have suffered. On a practical basis, businesses fear uncertainty and as we move forward into the Winter period, those concerns for lockdown restrictions will add to their concerns.
iii. LSP Partners – feedback on impact
Richard Watson updated:
NHS has been working with a broad range of partners in the town and across East Sussex. It is expected that this will be a challenging Winter with an increased demand for health care services, combined with what is being experienced already, a Covid surge and the likely impact of flu and the national requirements that we have around restoration and recovery of services, particularly around elective care. The CCG has created a Winter Plan, which is underpinned by challenges, particularly around mental health, learning from wave 1 and capacity and demand modelling. Risks have been identified, which includes a local surge and risks around critical care capacity that is available. The link will be circulated to the LSP. Action: Richard
Jonny Hartley updated:
Business has returned to levels of normality within the last 2-3 months. In terms of the police roles and responsibilities during the first phase, the focus was on protecting the NHS. As the rates have fallen, work has returned to the normal business cases. For the second wave, complications will be with local lockdowns and localised areas with different restrictions and different levels of legality, especially if this is localised within East Sussex, which will be very difficult to manage. In terms of enforcement, there has not been a huge number of complaints about breaches of the rule of six. In addition, Brexit is likely to have a huge impact on policing nationally and contingency plans at ports are being reviewed.
Bruce Campbell updated:
Planning for the second wave is underway. It has been known that from mid-March the highest number of new claims to universal credit was made and the figures have remained constant for the last 3 months. The latest figures are due to be released tomorrow. A significant number of easements and adjustments were put in place to manage the number of benefit claims. Alongside that, significant recruitment drives took place and 13,500 work coaches have been put in place to help and support those that have had to access the services. 30% of the working age population have been accessing the furlough and self-employed income support schemes and will continue to access the service, however the upcoming changes in those schemes will have an impact. Additional resource has been brought in to manage the Kickstart scheme and other national initiatives as part of the Chancellor’s plan for jobs and expanding the 18-24 year old cohort offer.
Jane Hartnell updated:
HBC is back in response phase and majority of the work is increasing significantly. A system for self-isolation payments has been set up and should be signed off today and payments made. Clarity is still awaited on what is to happen with support to businesses if we were to go into another lockdown situation. Work is being carried out to bring mobile testing units into the town as and when required and work will be carried out this week on establishing a local testing unit to keep in the town for the next 3-4 months.
Support to schools, employers and to the community is ongoing. The Environmental Health team is continuing to support locations and venues, giving advice, fortunately any enforcement is yet to be carried out, but the situation is being monitored. With regards to Covid marshals, an East Sussex-wide approach is being taken and the details are being worked out to ensure consistency. Rough sleepers and homelessness are still causing a significant amount of concern in terms of Winter preparation, as shelters cannot be used at the current time. Work is being carried out with other groups for vaccine preparation and the distribution and availability of sites is being looked into. Work continues with the pan-Sussex strategic coordination group on local escalation and outbreak control plans. The EU exit is causing concern, particularly given the close proximity to Kent. Another area the strategic coordination group is focusing on is exhaustion and fatigue of colleagues across the whole sector, going into this difficult Winter, which aligns to social cohesion and potential attacks on police, ambulance and other staff, and HBC is reviewing its risk assessments as a result. Any events that go ahead are being coordinated to ensure they are Covid-secure, i.e. Remembrance Day.
Dan Shelley updated:
Fluid arrangements are in place to ensure the safety of students and staff. Most of the delivery is still in classrooms and workshops, but there is also some online provision. There has been 2 positive cases in Hastings. For the first, 170 A-level students had to self-isolate and for the second, only 3 had to self-isolate. All used Google Classrooms to ensure they did not miss out on their learning and if they were eligible for free school meals then they receive their allocation for the time that they were self-isolating. Changes have been made to support education and the wider social implications of students affected by self-isolation, and laptops and dongles have been handed out if needed. The pledge of a £1m adult education budget has been released and it is expected that in the next couple of weeks the 1000th learner will be on both online and pre-employment programmes. Work continues with DWP to make the link between candidates, potential employees and jobs and to support the chamber and other providers as they become intermediaries within Kickstart to provide the pre-employment training.
Vanessa Biddiss updated:
Optivo staff continue to work from home, although some 20-25% of staff have returned to the office following completion of Covid risk assessments. Optivo works across 4 regions: Midlands, Kent, London and Sussex and work continues to deal with local lockdowns. Safe operating procedures are in place for all the services that are being delivered. Optivo is in phase 2 of its resident’s resilience project and residents who are at risk of losing their jobs at the end of the furlough scheme are pro-actively being contacted. Optivo is part of Kickstart and apprentices are being recruited to work with the teams.
Teresa Andrews updated:
It’s business as usual for HARC and a staff roster is in place to ensure social distancing. Advice continues to be carried out via email, internet and over the phone, although phone advice is trickier due to the length of some of the forms which have to be completed. The online appointments are difficult not just because of access to devices, but also the lack of free Wi-Fi in the area, especially with the libraries being closed and clients are unable to afford enough mobile data suitable for the length of time needed to complete any forms. Extra staff are now on board to work on calculations as it is envisaged that as soon as furlough ends more work will have to be done. All training programmes have been moved onto Zoom, thanks to HVA for advertising the training which has been a huge success and very helpful to get advice out to those who need it.
Tracy Dighton updated:
Looking at the various working groups through the community hub and Hastings Community Network Executive, it is felt, from the lessons from the first wave, that there has been flexibility in the processes in several different areas over the period and it is felt that that partners were able to work quickly to sort out basic needs. For fuel vouchers, CA1066 benefitted from funding from the energy redress scheme and DEFRA funding. CA1066 also coordinates a fuel voucher distribution system for the county, which is working well. It is envisaged, if the scheme is extended, that there will be tremendous pressure on the system and CA1066 is relying on partners to manage client expectations. In terms of advice, the local job centre was able to work with CA1066 and refer them to specialists at the job centre if needed. Funding for money advice has been received, although this will only last until the end of March, which makes it very difficult to train staff and manage. Finally, the Hastings Community Network Executive has got a Digital Inclusion Working Group which has been looking at training materials and what is available nationally which is low cost and free. The list is available on the CA1066 and HVA websites. A piece of work is also being done with Dave Perry from Seaview Project on how to hand out devices, for which a safe, Covid-secure space is needed to do this and the Lottery Fund has given CA1066 some funding for a post to carry out the work to support the working group, support clients and other organisations to skill up those who need it.
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