25 September 2020
Public: coronavirus (COVID-19) advice for Devon on our website
Please pass this onto district, borough, parish and town councillors as appropriate. The bulletin can be shared as a link by clicking the 'View it as a Web page' link at the top.
Do it for Devon
Stick with us and keep following the guidance to keep everyone safe and well.
Devon extends a warm welcome to all visitors.
However, to keep us all safe, we need the support of local residents and visitors to keep following the guidelines with social distancing, washing hands and hand sanitising, wearing a face covering in enclosed spaces, avoiding busy places and keeping gatherings to groups of up to six people (from Monday 14 September).
Cllr John Hart urges everyone to do all they can to avoid more severe restrictions in future
Responding to the Prime Minister’s announcement of new national COVID-19 restrictions, Cllr John Hart, Leader of Devon County Council and Chair of the Team Devon Local Outbreak Engagement Board said:
“We broadly welcome these new restrictions which seem a sensible and proportionate response to the rise in numbers of Covid-19 cases in other parts of the country.
“It is important that everyone now sticks to them and I urge everyone – residents and businesses – to do all they can now in order to avoid more severe restrictions being imposed in the future." Read the full article.
Introducing the NHS COVID-19 App and Site QR Code System – What you need to know!
 The new COVID-19 NHS app is now available for download and forms part of the Test and Trace measures introduced to help reduce the spread of COVID-19.
What can you do to help?
In order to help control the spread of COVID-19 everyone is being encouraged to download the NHS COVID-19 app is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play (there are a number of COVID-19 apps available, please refer to the above image of the official NHS app to ensure you download the correct version). Find out more about the NHS COVID-19 app.
When you visit a Devon County Council site
In line with the latest Government guidance, we are still asking staff to work from home wherever possible and avoid coming into our buildings unless absolutely necessary.
- If it is vital for you to visit one of our buildings, you must check-in at all DCC sites where the QR posters are displayed.
- All visitors, including contractors, should also be asked to check-in at all DCC sites where the posters are displayed. They will need to have downloaded the COVID-19 app which is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.
- All DCC buildings will have the QR posters displayed at every entry door, enabling you to check-in.
Find out how to download the app and remember that it is important that when you enter a DCC building, you swipe your smartcard as well as checking-in via the NHS app. Full article on Inside Devon.
If you do not have a smartphone or the latest software updates, or you choose not to download the app, all venues will be operating their own manual Track and Trace system to collate contact details. Please ensure you use these systems if you visit a DCC site.
It is now a legal requirement for certain venues to display the NHS QR posters in their venues. They include venues in:
- Hospitality
- Leisure and tourism
- Close contact services
- Places of worship
- Local authority venues
The QR code posters are free to download, and available online.
Some businesses already use their own QR system, but they are being asked by Government to switch to the NHS Test and Trace QR code. Find out more.
Members: Your health and wellbeing
As the Covid-19 pandemic continues and Government advice strongly advises us all to continue working from home, your health and wellbeing, and that of our staff and residents, remains a top priority.
We are all facing our own unique challenges, and we’re aware that individuals’ situations can change on a daily basis. With this in mind, we would like to remind you of some of the opportunities available for you to talk to us about your own wellbeing and the ways in which we can support you in your roles.
If you would like to talk to someone about your situation and how you’re feeling, we invite you to book a one to one conversation with a member of our HR team. In these sessions we can explore what is affecting your wellbeing and identify activities which might help. These conversations will take place online through Microsoft Teams and will last about an hour. If you would like to book a meeting please email Marion Geare and offer three options of days and times that are convenient for you.
There’s a wealth of information and resources around wellbeing on the Inside Devon pages. If you haven’t already, we encourage you to see what’s available.
If you would like extra help with using IT systems and Office-365, you’ll find lots of information on Inside Devon. If you have any specific questions or needs that aren’t covered on these pages, please get in touch and we will do our best to help.
If you would like to discuss practical tips about staying in touch with your communities, maybe through online surgeries or engaging with your parishes, or if there’s anything else you would like to discuss, please contact us and we will be happy to help you consider new ways of working. Please email Marion.Geare@devon.gov.uk.
Only get a test if you have coronavirus symptoms
Please only get a test if you have coronavirus symptoms; a new continuous cough, loss or change to your sense of smell or taste or a high temperature. If you don’t have symptoms don’t get a test. This will reduce pressure on the testing system and help make sure people who need a test can get one.
We all have our part to play to protect the Test and Trace service for those who really need it.
Schooling and welfare
Return to schools
The return to school went well; feedback from staff and students indicates “it is great to be back”. Students have really enjoyed seeing friends again and being in class with them. The impact of testing delays and pupils needing to isolate has impacted on attendance in Devon and we have seen a slight drop from 92.5% attending at the start of last week to 90% at the end of last week. While currently the numbers are small, students who are not able to attend school will continue to get support with learning at home. The Government has also given schools the opportunity to request additional laptops for disadvantaged pupils who may have difficulty accessing the internet at home.
The DfE has released data for last week that shows attendance nationally has dropped to 87% ( from 88%). So even though we saw a drop to 90% we are still above the national average. Attendance for children with a social worker has risen from 85% to 87%.
We expect that the return to school and trusted relationships for children and young people may lead to an increase in abuse disclosures.
Edge of Care service
The Edge of Care Team will support young people and their families in difficulties. The team will respond swiftly to families where there has been a crisis to safely avoid the need for a young person to come into Devon’s care, or support the young person to return home in that first critical six weeks. Interventions will be intensive. The expertise within the team will include substance use, mental health, domestic abuse, difficulties in education, employment and training, offending behaviour and they will be utilising a range of evidenced based practice tools.
This service will build on and bridge the gap between the good work undertaken within the Early Help arena and the services available when a child comes into care.
Edge of Care (EOC) service progress update:
- Area Manager in post since 17 August 2020, fortnightly Board meetings to ensure traction and pace.
- Consulting with Cornwall Children’s Service to learn from the development of their Edge of Care service.
- Three Team Managers, and 11 Practitioners recruited and being ‘onboarded’ with start times in October and November. Lots of interest in the posts.
- Specialist psychology roles due to go out to advert by 25 September 2020.
- Virtual induction and training developed and ready to roll out
- ICT and accommodation are on target to ensure service needs understood and provisions in place for go live.
- Scoping work for crisis beds and additional Family Group Conferencing capacity underway.
More children in care
Between May and July 77 children were brought into care (814 in care at the time of writing). In analysis it was found that:
- 1/3rd were business as usual; 1/3rd were due to the improvement plan post Ofsted and 1/3rd were due to the impact of lockdown on families.
- High number of sibling groups (56/77)
- Most (54) were younger than 12 and were subject to Court Orders.
- The lockdown impacted upon the courts; some children/ young people are awaiting permanence through adoption and ‘special guardianship’. Some courts have had virtual hearings; understandably this has been challenging and caused significant delays. Efforts are being made to ensure that the courts resume working as fully and as quickly as possible
Children’s Services Monitoring Visit
We had our first Children’s Services Monitoring Visit from Ofsted on 22 and 23 September following the January 2020 ILACS inspection. Inspectors focused on the experiences of Care Leavers. We will receive a letter outlining their findings within a week. The letter is not published but will be shared with the Improvement Partnership, Corporate Parenting Member Group and Children’s Overview and Scrutiny.
Children's Services Commissioner
Children’s Service Commissioner, Eleanor Brazil, has been supporting our improvement journey since June 2020. Eleanor will produce her final report for DfE at the end of September 2020. We are very grateful for all the support Eleanor has given to us over the past few months. Eleanor will be continue to attend the Improvement Partnership meetings until March to support the smooth transition into the new leadership of Children’s Services.
Chief Officer for Children's Services recruitment
Jo Olsson, Chief Officer for Children's Services, is retiring at the end of 2020 and recruitment is underway for her successor. Interviews took place last week; Members, senior leaders, parents and young people were involved in the interview process. We will update you on the outcome of these interviews as soon as we can.
Update on the Head of Children's Social Work
Permission to recruit the Head of Children’s Social Work will be sought from the Appointments Committee on 28 September. If all goes to plan the Appointments Committee will appoint in mid/late November.
Helping to accommodate demand on busy school and college routes
To reduce the risk of catching coronavirus the preference is for people to walk, scoot or cycle to school or college, if they're close enough to do so. Being outside reduces the risk of exposure to the virus, more so than being inside.
But that's not always practical, and many young people and staff are car sharing and catching public transport to school and college.
We've been working closely with our transport providers to arrange more buses to get to school or college for journeys that we know lots of students use.
We're doing that to create additional capacity so that it's easier to socially distance on public transport
Social distancing and face coverings are required by law on public service buses and trains. We are also requesting all students on dedicated County Council school transport to wear a face covering.
This week, we've been monitoring the school transport preparations that have been made to ensure that they're working sufficiently. In some cases, working with our transport providers we've amended plans and added more buses to the busier routes so everybody can get to their destination.
Full details of these additional services can be found on our Travel Devon website.
Parents urged to help keep schools safe
There’s always a rise in the number of bugs and illness at the start of term, and this year for obvious reasons, there has been a heightened awareness of when our children feel unwell, though in most cases this will not be coronavirus (COVID-19).
However, coronavirus has not gone away so you can’t rule it out, especially as children and young people experience much milder symptoms of the virus than adults.
We've created some useful resources to help you identify the symptoms of coronavirus compared to a cold or seasonal flu and what action you need to take if your child or anyone in your household develops symptoms of coronavirus. You can find them on our website.
It’s extremely important that anyone with coronavirus symptoms stays at home and gets tested to avoid the risk of spreading the virus to others, including the more vulnerable in our communities.
That means if your child, or anyone in your household, has any of the symptoms of coronavirus, no matter how mild, you must keep your child off school and self-isolate your whole household while the person with symptoms gets tested and waits for the results. Just the person with symptoms needs to get tested. If you don't have symptoms, you don't need to get tested unless you are asked to by a health professional, but you do need to self-isolate until your household member gets their results.
Adult Social Care Winter Plan
The Adult Social Care Winter Plan was published by the Department of Health and Social Care last week (ending 18 September). The plan is the output from the Adult Social Care Taskforce led by former President of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services David Pearson. The plan reiterates the continuing role of local authorities in outbreak management, testing and treatment and also the need to support the reopening of day services, respite care and other services safely.
The plan is underpinned by a £546 million extension of the Infection Control Fund, likely to be in the region of £9 million in Devon, and free PPE for all care providers and care worker until the end of March 2021. The plan also states that 100,000 tests a day will be ring fenced for care homes with testing taking place every 7 days for staff and 28 days for residents.
And of course the continued joint work with Public Health, the NHS and care providers is to be maintained to ensure health enhanced support to care homes, preventing avoidable admissions and facilitating prompt discharge. Another welcomed development is the new role of Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care with an appointment expected in October.
We are in the process of updating our winter plan to ensure it reflects the content and recommendations with the new published plan.
A recap on what we can and can’t do right now
For the latest list of the things we can and can't do right now, visit the Coronavirus Frequently Asked Questions online.
New package to support and enforce self-isolation
People will be required by law to self-isolate from 28 September, supported by payment of £500 for those on lower incomes who cannot work from home and have lost income as a result. New fines for those breaching self-isolation rules will start at £1,000 – bringing this in line with the penalty for breaking quarantine after international travel - but could increase to up to £10,000 for repeat offences and for the most egregious breaches, including for those preventing others from self-isolating.
For example, this could include business owners who threaten self-isolating staff with redundancy if they do not come to work, sending a clear message that this will not be tolerated.
Devon County Council awarded!
Hot off the press!
ICE South West Civil Engineering Awards 2020
The reedbed system that was created to stop pollutants from the A38 ending up in the lake. Congratulations to the team.
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Apprentice and Employer Awards 2020
For Devon County Council's approach to apprenticeships - which is all about providing high quality training amd employment opportunities - with a 76% retention rate of apprentices gaining employment in the Council.
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- Winner: Construction - Technical & Professional Apprentice of the Year
Devon County Council colleague, Civil Engineering Apprentice - Cleopatra Gatting, has been awarded Construction – Technical and Professional Apprentice of the Year at the Virtual Exeter College Apprentice and Employer awards 2020. The awards are designed to celebrate talented apprentices and the stellar work of employers.
Cleo received her award as she had produced work of the highest standard and she's keen to always give her best in all projects she is involved with. Congratulations Cleo!
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Latest active travel measures welcomed
The closure of Doctors Walk in Exeter has been welcomed as another boost for walking and cycling in the county.
As part of the latest Emergency Active Travel Fund measures, access to the route is now only permitted for pedestrians and cyclists.
Devon libraries open
All Devon libraries are now are open with the exception of Salcombe.
For those that aren't open for public access, they are operating a Choose and Collect service.
For more information about your nearest libraries, and the latest opening times, visit the Libraries Unlimited website.
Accessibility deadline
Wednesday 23 September 2020 was the legal deadline by which all public sector websites, intranets and digital services must be accessible to as many users as possible.
Many colleagues at DCC have been working hard to prepare for deadline, and that work is very much appreciated. The Communications Team makes sure that our public-facing websites are accessible. They have skilled up and have been working intensively over the last two years to improve accessibility and write accessibility statements:
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#YouCanAdopt with Adopt South West
We are part of a new nationwide adoption campaign called #YouCanAdopt, launched this week. The campaign aims to dispel myths around who is eligible to adopt and highlight that, especially during the COVID pandemic, there are still children out there who are looking for their new family.
The campaign launches as the number of adoptions in England has fallen by a third in the past four years. Read more.
We hope you enjoy watching the short #YouCanAdopt film clip below; you may even recognise several adoptive parents…
Click to watch the #YouCanAdopt short clip
Start your adoption journey with us at Adopt South West.
By pulling together across the Council, with our partners and our communities, we are doing everything we can to help us all through this incredibly difficult time. Thank you to you and your community and stay safe and well.
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