Below is a summary of the latest developments. As ever, these are just a few of the headline issues that have been on the Local Government Association radar:
Stay at home, save lives
The nationwide ‘Stay at Home, Save Lives’ campaign has launched, giving the most up to date COVID-19 information and detailing the only reasons that someone can leave their home, with the key message of ‘Stay at Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives’. The campaign has already been hugely popular on social media and I’ve seen the hashtag #StayHomeSaveLives on many councils’ social media pages and posts. Public Health England has now added supporting assets across print, social and digital to their campaign resource centre. PHE will continue to update this resource with further guidance on how to help others safely expected in the coming days.
On other Stay at Home related issues, the Government has updated its guidance on-premises closures to exempt off-licences and licenced shops selling alcohol, including those within breweries.
As you know, critical worker definitions relate to who can seek childcare assistance in order to enable them to work. We are also aware of confusion between 'critical workers' and those who may travel to work. In terms of what is sometimes described as 'essential work', the guidance is clear that travelling to and from work is permissible only where the work an individual does absolutely cannot be done from home. There may well be an overlap between the two categories but they are distinct. We are aware of concerns around differences in interpretation of concepts like 'critical worker' and 'essential work' and difficulties that are arising in some areas when workers are challenged to justify their travel. We are in discussion with central government about this issue.
Parking
Local government is leading the way in supporting residents, workers and businesses during these unprecedented times. You will have seen my earlier email on the suspension of parking charges for health workers, social care workers and NHS volunteers for on-street parking and open car parks (e.g. pay and display car parks) as they go about their critical work. I know that many councils are already supporting critical workers in this way, or even going a step further and relaxing/suspending all parking charges in your local areas. We trust that all councils will play their part in supporting this particular group during this crisis. We are also urging councils to waive all fines received by health and social care workers while carrying out their extended duties in recent days.
Coronavirus Bill
The Coronavirus Bill has now passed through the House of Lords unamended and has received Royal Assent. The LGA team has worked closely with Ministers, MPs and Peers as this Bill has passed through Parliament and has influenced it to ensure that councils have greater flexibilities to support their communities at this time. I know that issues around data protection and GDPR have been a concern to many and we have been raising these points on your behalf. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has provided guidance which gives some helpful clarifications, highlighting that the ICO will not penalise organisations who need to prioritise other areas of work above data protection in order to deal with Coronavirus.
Parliament rises for recess this evening and is not due to return until Tuesday 21st April. In this time, we will continue to work with the Government to raise your concerns and brief parliamentarians.
Hubs, shielding and Local Resilience Forums
Government guidance for Local Authorities and LRFs on the system to support those who are clinically extremely vulnerable has been published. It sets out the role of LRFs and councils in supporting the “shielded” group of patients who have now been contacted by the NHS, some of whom are already seeking help.
Thank you to the 132 “hub” areas who responding very quickly to the request to give a delivery address for emergency food supplies being provided by the Government. Councils will be able to use those supplies for any “shielded” people in immediate and urgent need of basic foodstuffs before food parcels start being delivered to their homes. We know that you need the lists of who needs support as soon as possible and have received reassurance from officials and Ministers that sharing this data is a top and immediate priority.
We know councils are already putting wider plans in place to support vulnerable groups and will share further information and resources to support you in that work in the coming days. Where your chief executive is not directly involved, I am sure they will be liaising with the local authority representative on the SCG.
Adult social care
Today we called on the Government to consider asking retired care workers to return to work to help support those most at risk of the outbreak. While the Government has introduced measures for doctors and nurses to come back to the NHS and social workers to social care, we believe the Government should extend its thinking to care workers to help the social care effort. We are already working to ensure people who have left the workforce for other reasons have an opportunity to return by adapting our existing Return to Work programme.
Children and education
The Department for Education continues to expand the suite of guidance that is available to councils, schools and other education settings, with the publication of guidance on how to implement social distancing in education and childcare settings. We will update on other issues facing children’s services, schools and early years providers in future bulletins.
Homelessness
We are aware that many councils are continuing to experience issues with placing homeless households into accommodation in hotels and B&Bs following closures. The Minister for Local Government and Homelessness, Luke Hall, wrote to hotel chief executives yesterday to encourage them to reverse decisions to close. We are continuing to highlight issues to MHCLG, including directly to the Secretary of State. We have asked that the Government ensures that hotels accept local authority bookings and that it considers coordinating the procurement of accommodation at a regional or national level.
The Best Western Hotel chain has kindly offered to assist councils’ homelessness teams with making placements into its local branches. To take up this offer, please email here2help@bestwestern.co.uk They can help with any requirements if it is just one person in need, or you are wanting to house 30/40 people.
Last week, the Government asked Dame Louise Casey to lead its response to COVID-19 and rough sleeping, to help ensure safe accommodation for people currently sleeping rough, in assessment centres, shelters, and other dormitory-style accommodation, who can’t comply with social distancing advice. We have spoken with Dame Louise, to discuss councils’ contribution to this rehousing effort and what support they might need.
Today MHCLG wrote to councils in London to highlight that the Greater London Authority, funded by Government, is arranging the procurement of extra accommodation where there are significant challenges. MHCLG is encouraging councils to support the pooling of commissioned rough sleeping services and resources so that sub-regional efforts are coordinated better.
We are expecting further guidance on a multi-agency response to accommodate and provide support services to people sleeping on the streets and in dormitory-style accommodation. This guidance is expected to clarify the roles of local structures, including local resilience forums, NHS and public health services, homelessness teams, and accommodation providers. We have highlighted that this work should link into councils’ wider plans to support vulnerable groups, including through local shielding hubs. We have also asked the government to ensure that this important work is sufficiently resourced.
Housing and planning
We are continuing to engage with MHCLG on the issues that you have been raising in relation to planning. This includes the urgent need for flexibilities on statutory timescales, changes to the publicity requirements for planning applications and suspension of the 5-year Housing Land Supply, Housing Delivery Test and planning performance regime. We are also pushing for the timetable for the necessary secondary regulations to allow for virtual planning committee meetings once the Coronavirus Bill has received Royal Assent.
The Planning Advisory Service (PAS) has pulled together a series of resources, including Frequently Asked Questions, for planners thinking about how to change services in response to the outbreak and to share good practice.
On council housing management, we are working with the government to identify ways in which councils can be supported on a number of emerging issues. This includes the availability of parts, labour and equipment for urgent repairs and void works; transfers in and out of social tenancies and allocations; the need for a degree of flexibility on compliance with less urgent safety/regulatory standards; access to PPE supplies and the need for flexibility on timescales in relation to mutual exchanges, processing of Right to Buy requests and deadlines for responding to disrepair claims. We will update you as we progress our discussions with the government.
Economy and finances
Following a Treasury press release confirming that estate agents, lettings agencies and bingo halls that have closed as a result of measures to restrict the spread of the virus will be now also be exempted from business rates in 2020/21, the Government has updated its guidance (please see paragraph 4 in particular).
Following the publication of the guidance of the small business grant scheme, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) hosted a call with local authorities on its implementation. Issues of concern to councils were raised during the call, including the fact that state aid implications would be kept under review. Following the LGA and councils raising the concern about whether councils will have all the data currently being sought by the Government for assurance purposes as part of the grant guidance, officials confirmed this would be kept under review and that the priority was for grants to be paid to eligible businesses. We will keep you updated if this results in changes to the guidance.
Workforce
If this crisis has demonstrated anything it has shown us how incredible council staff have been in rising to meet the challenges facing our communities. At this time, we should all – as councillors, co-workers, colleagues and within our respective teams – support one another by ensuring help and advice is provided quickly and effectively so we can all feel supported as we go about our work. We know from talking to leaders and chief executives across the country that councils are taking the necessary steps to keep staff safe. Supported by your regional employer bodies and the national workforce team at the LGA, we are keen to share practice and advice to keep councils operational. It’s just as important to ensure you as leaders are supported and have systems and cover in place to allow you to have the necessary respite as well as ensuring your organisations are robust. Clearly, there will be more challenging times to come and it is with that in mind we are keen to ensure we plan ahead for the medium-term by working together on issues like staff redeployment, recruitment, volunteering and key issues like training, delegations, wellbeing and engagement.
With that in mind, our Workforce Team continue to unpick the detail within the various sets of government guidance to help support you as employers during this difficult time. A reminder that a series of Employment Law focused FAQs has been developed to help you navigate the key measures.
We have received a number of enquiries about critical workers. The government guidance on critical workers does not provide a definitive list but does refer to roles that are 'critical to the COVID-19 response'. It is up to employers to decide who satisfies that definition but we are aware that this is likely to include staff normally working in other areas who are refocused to deal with COVID-19. Of course, the phrase 'key workers' is often used interchangeably with 'critical workers'.
DfE has launched updated guidance for employers, apprentices, training providers and end-point assessment organisations in response to the impact of COVID-19. This guidance encourages providers to deliver training remotely, allows end-point assessments to be carried out remotely, allows rescheduling of end-point assessments, enables extended breaks in learning and provides some guidance on redundancy. The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education has also issued separate guidance on the delivery of apprenticeship assessment.
We are continuing to work with the government to highlight the impact that COVID-19 is having on apprenticeships and we are seeking clarity on other aspects of the system such as the planned switch-off of Apprenticeship Frameworks and the expiry of unspent levy funds.
The UK Public Health Register has confirmed its waiver of professional requirements. The statement also highlights emergency provision the registrar is making for re-registering recently retired public health professionals who are being contacted to see if they wish to return to help with the public health emergency.
Supply chain
The Cabinet Office has today published a guidance note on Payments to Suppliers for Contingent Workers impacted by COVID-19.
Following receipt of a number of questions relating to the Cabinet Office’s Procurement Policy Notes, we are expecting publication of a FAQ document tomorrow.
Roads
Local authorities have a statutory duty to maintain the highways network in as safe a condition as is practically possible with the resources that they have available at all times. This is still vital work, keeping goods moving and deliveries flowing, for vital NHS and social care support workers, the emergency services, and all who are working to support communities in this unprecedented time. We have reports that in a number of areas, highway workers have been getting verbal abuse for carrying out essential maintenance. This is, of course, completely unacceptable and something no worker should experience while carrying out their duties. As a response, some councils have agreed a simple joint sign between the local authority and contractor making it clear to the public that essential works are being carried out.
To help give consistent and widespread messaging about the need for people to stay at home during the crisis, DfT is asking local authorities with variable message signs on their road network to display ‘stay at home’ messages as soon as possible. This is provided that it can be done so at appropriate locations and in a way that does not risk driver or road worker safety. There are two variants, for use on different equipment types. Option 1 (for signs with 3 lines of 18 characters each) is ‘STAY HOME. ESSENTIAL TRAVEL. ONLY’. Option 2 (for smaller signs) is ‘STAY HOME. ESSENTIAL. TRAVEL ONLY’. Both are covered by Schedule 13 Part 9(1)(a) of the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016, which allows for temporary signing to be used to provide information about civil emergencies. As such, they do not require DfT authorisation.
Broadband
With residents and businesses now relying on domestic broadband connections to continue their work, Ofcom has launched guidance on getting the most out of your broadband and mobile connection. We are in contact with telecommunications providers and the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to raise issues relating to local connectivity including the capacity of networks to cope with higher demand. The Department has also created a dedicated critical issues email - telecoms.covid19@culture.gov.uk
VE Day commemorations
The national commemorations to mark VE Day 75 on 8th May are being scaled back due to the ongoing spread of COVID-19. The UK Government and the devolved administrations are working on new plans to ensure the nation can still thank the Second World War generation on VE Day in May and provide the fitting tribute they deserve. Councils are no longer expected to be approving applications for road closures or other gatherings for this. They are instead encouraged to support local digital solutions for celebrations. Once this immediate crisis abates, communities may also be encouraged to turn their attentions to planning for VJ day on 15th August.
Councillor James Jamieson
Chairman, Local Government Association
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