Agenda item

To consider the Panel’s feedback and a further update from officers and make any recommendations.

Members considered the Recovery Scrutiny Panel report and recommendations to the Committee.

Chair of the Panel, Councillor N. Harrison, introduced the item. The Panel had met on 15 July and 14 October 2020, and 14 January 2021 and reported after each meeting to the Committee and the Panel had completed its work. The recovery work that the Panel had scrutinised would continue with regular updates to the Committee.  the Panel had sought assurance that the work will continue to ensure that the Council’s communications strategy to residents is effective, especially in relation to messaging on COVID-19 issues.

Members noted that the Recovery Scrutiny Panel had been set up following the first lockdown in 2020, resulting from the global pandemic, and the Council’s emergency response to it. As the pandemic lingered into 2021, the Panel also reviewed the second wave response of the Council in tandem with the ongoing recovery work. The second wave response included support to the most vulnerable residents.

Councillor R. Ashford, Portfolio Holder for Community Partnerships, underlined that the welfare response was now targeted towards those with the most complex needs, assisting with shopping, prescriptions and emergency calls but society had changed and many families and elderly and vulnerable people now had improved support networks or the Council could call on volunteers to assist. There was increased need due to isolation, depression and mental health issues.

It was noted that social media and email communications were important in communicating the Council’s messages, but a proportion of residents did not have access to email addresses or virtual meeting applications such as Zoom, particularly elderly people. Telephone contact was also important. Social media such as What’s App and online neighbourhood groups were now vital communication streams. Members stressed that being proactive in these areas to disseminate factually accurate and clear messages was important.

Members continued to be updated with fortnightly briefings from the Leader of the Council, Councillor M. Brunt.

Mari Roberts-Wood, Interim Head of Paid Service, confirmed that the Council used its email database, in accordance with data protection rules, as a way of reaching residents with regular updates. The Council was very aware of digital exclusion among residents; the communications strategy could be shared more widely in the future with Members.

Councillor T. Schofield, Deputy Leader and Executive Member reporting to the Panel, recognised that when the first lockdown was called it had been a very challenging time for the borough as an unprecedented event in all our lifetimes. He was proud of the Council’s response and the way it had been handled showed the strength of the officer teams in the borough, working closely with Members, to serve the residents in a time of need. Any lessons learned would be incorporated into what had been achieved. He thanked the Head of Corporate Policy, Cath Rose, for the support she had given to the recovery programme and Recovery Scrutiny Panel.

RESOLVED - that the Committee (i) Notes the observations of the Recovery Scrutiny Panel in relation to the progress of the Recovery workstreams and the proposals for future recovery (ii) Agrees that the Recovery Scrutiny Panel be wound up and that future oversight of this activity takes place via the usual mechanisms with regular updates to the Overview & Scrutiny Committee (iii) Considers the Recovery Scrutiny Panel’s recommendations that: (a) Assurance is sought that work will continue to ensure that the Council’s communications strategy to residents is effective, especially in relation to Covid messaging; and (b) Recognising that new ways of working established during the pandemic will become business as usual, the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Policy & Resources is requested to review relevant ICT arrangements and provide an update to the Committee in due course.