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Dear Colleague,
Local government’s role at the heart of our communities means that, across many of the areas of work we undertake, we have to strike the tricky balance between maintaining the services our residents value and adhering to the measures that keep them safe and well. One example is councils being encouraged by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to keep their household waste and recycling centres open. At the same time, social distancing guidance, advice on essential travel and staff availability mean this may not be immediately possible.
Elsewhere, councils’ efforts to create places people in which people want to live, work and play means many more residents want to spend their daily exercise time in our beautiful parks and green spaces. The Government recognises how valued these are, with the Secretary of State encouraging councils, once again, to ensure parks remain open. I know this is something all councils are already committed to doing. However, the popularity of some of our parks, particularly in areas where people’s access to their own outside space is limited, means we are reliant on members of the public observing social distancing rules.
Similarly, I know councils share the Government’s views on respecting the wishes of bereaved families and ensuring loved ones are able to say goodbye to those who have sadly passed. Again, there is the need to balance this with support for the safety of mourners and staff adhering to social distancing.
Making decisions like this are never easy ones to make and, as I saw a chief executive say through social media recently – “doing the easy thing is not necessarily the right thing, and if you put people’s welfare at the heart of your decision making, call upon your experience and judgement, you’ll probably make a good call”. In all our work on your behalf – our conversations with Secretaries and Ministers of State, our engagement with parliamentarians and our media activity - we have stated loud and clear that councils have been leading the magnificent efforts to support their communities through this unprecedented crisis. We are always clear that issues vary from place to place and councils will be doing their own informed assessments based on local circumstances. At the forefront of everything we do, is minimising the spread of infection and ensuring the nation remains safe and well.
As always, if you have any issues facing your services or wider community please do continue to email us on coronavirus.enquiries@local.gov.uk. This really does help inform our engagement on your behalf. Please also continue to liaise with your Principal Adviser so we can use the intelligence you give us in our discussions with government and in determining how we best support councils.
This evening’s announcements
Today’s Number 10 Press Conference was led by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak. He was joined by Professor Angela McClean, Deputy Chief Scientific Adviser and Yvonne Doyle, Medical Director, Public Health England. Mr Sunak focussed his update on personal protective equipment (PPE), the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and new funding for innovative firms.
On PPE, he praised the work businesses and individuals were putting into ensuring those on the frontline get the PPE they need. He noted that shipments of the equipment were coming in regularly from the UK and overseas.
Mr Sunak also highlighted that HMRC opened the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme at 8am this morning. As of 4pm, more than 140,000 firms have applied, and those firms will receive their funding in six working days. Looking ahead to economic recovery once the pandemic is over, he announced he had launched two initiatives to support the most innovative firms, worth £1.25 billion.
We have outlined more on all of these issues below.
He ended by adding that while there are encouraging signs in the data that the spread of the disease is slowing, social distancing measures must remain in place until the Government’s five tests set out last week are met.
Local government finances
You will be aware that on Saturday, the Secretary of State for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announced £1.6 billion of new funding for local government to help deal with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. We don’t have any further information on how this will be distributed yet but this is currently being considered by the Government. We will let you know as soon as we have more details and the allocations to individual authorities. In our conversations with Ministers and officials we are reiterating the importance of this funding reaching all councils without delay. It is likely that councils will receive this in May. Building on the positive commitment from the Secretary of State that councils will get all the resources they will need to cope with this pandemic, we continue to highlight the financial challenges you are facing.
Economy
The Chancellor has announced a £1.25 billion government support package for UK businesses driving innovation and development. This includes a £500 million investment fund for high-growth companies impacted by the crisis, made up of funding from government and the private sector. SMEs focusing on research and development will also benefit from £750 million of grants and loans.
The Government has also published guidance on its Future Fund, which will be launched in May 2020. This scheme will issue convertible loans between £125,000 to £5 million to innovative companies which are facing financing difficulties due to the outbreak.
Personal protective equipment (PPE)
As reported in the news, the expected PPE shipment from Turkey has been delayed. This further demonstrates the need for a sustainable supply of PPE rather than the reliance of one-off emergency imports or drops. You will know from my previous updates that this is a major priority in all our work with government.
There have been a number of updates to government guidance on PPE. In particular, the latest guidance from Public Health England for those working in care homes which includes recommendations on the use of PPE for care home staff as well as a training video aimed at the care staff workforce. It also provides information on how to work safely during this period of sustained transmission. This was developed by PHE as a direct result of the pressure from the sector for guidance to better meet the needs of social care.
Adult social care
As of this morning, more than 5,000 Care Homes had provided an update to Capacity Tracker for the COVID-19 Business Continuity Report within the last 72 hours. The information can be viewed on a real time basis through a COVID-19 Business Continuity report on Capacity Tracker. We are continuing to work with the Care Quality Commission to secure a daily transfer of data for both domiciliary care providers and care homes so that it can be shared with councils through a secure LG Inform platform.
Testing
Two of the three ‘Lighthouse Labs’ are now fully operational. These are mega-laboratories undertaking diagnostic testing and are located in Milton Keynes, Alderley Park in Cheshire and Glasgow. The Government’s press release on the labs also includes details of the 5-pillar plan to rapidly scale up testing across the UK, which I summarised in a previous bulletin. You will also be aware that access to testing has been extended to some local government frontline workers and members of their household showing symptoms of COVID-19.
The Care Quality Commission has contacted adult social care providers to book appointments for their staff to be tested for COVID-19. The CQC has confirmed that, as some adult social care staff cannot visit a drive-through testing centre as they do not have access to a car, a scheme is being piloted this week for staff to order home testing kits.
Meanwhile, Professor John Newton, national coordinator of the UK COVID-19 testing programme, has warned the public against the purchase of unapproved antibody testing kits.
Children and education
There have been a number of developments on early years, children’s services and education over the past few days which may be of interest to you and your teams.
The Department for Education published guidance on Friday evening about financial support for education, early years and children’s social care. This updates guidance for early years settings, confirming that providers can only access the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) for the proportion of their pay bill which could be considered to have been paid from private income. For example, if 60 per cent of a provider’s income is private, they can access the CJRS for 60 per cent of their pay bill. Prior to this outbreak, we have repeatedly raised concerns that the early years funding rates are insufficient and this was already risking the sustainability of many providers. In this new context, we will continue to raise the issues around early years funding with the DfE and push for a swift resolution. Please send through any details about the impact of this latest decision on your local sufficiency, or any other concerns, to coronavirus.enquiries@local.gov.uk
The Department for Education has announced that it will be providing free laptops and internet access for care leavers and children with social workers who do not already have them. Councils will be able to order these devices online from Wednesday 22 April. Trusts and other bodies overseeing schools will also be able to order devices for disadvantaged secondary school pupils.
You may have seen that the Secretary of State for Education, Gavin Williamson, led the Number 10 Press Conference yesterday. In his opening speech, he asked that local authorities ensure that no-one has to leave care during this time. We know that councils are doing all they can to ensure that young people in care get the support they need and will want to meet this ask where it is appropriate and in the best interests of the young person. However, we are conscious that this may also impact upon local placement sufficiency and budgets and ask that you let us know of any support that you need or feedback you have for the DfE using coronavirus.enquiries@local.gov.uk.
The Department has also published risk assessment guidance for settings managing children and young people with an education, health and care (EHC) plan during the outbreak. Guidance on supporting vulnerable young people, including regarding attendance at school, has been updated. In addition, new guidance was published for schools and teachers on safeguarding and remote education during the outbreak.
They have also published risk assessment guidance on managing children and young people with complex special educational needs and disability (SEND). This is aimed at local authorities, special schools, specialist colleges and other settings.
Today the BBC launched its virtual education offer, Bitesize Daily, which offers 14 weeks of curriculum-based learning for kids across the UK. Lessons will be delivered by more than 200 teachers and a host of familiar faces including Professor Brian Cox, Sir David Attenborough and Sergio Agüero who plays for Manchester City FC. You might also be interested in the online education resources available from Oak National Academy.
A tool that provides data on protected vulnerable children for the NHS and local authorities is being broadened to include school nurses and health visitors. The Child Protection Information Sharing (CP-IS) is being urgently amended so that school nurses and health visitors will receive details under the system. This tool currently alerts NHS staff and social workers when children who are subject to a child protection plan, children designated as ‘looked after’, or pregnant women who have an unborn child protection plan, present at an unscheduled care setting (such as an A&E or walk in centre).
Some areas already have local systems in place for sharing data with school nurses and health visitors, but at a time when capacity across the system could be depleted, this national solution will provide an additional layer of protection for vulnerable children. A data provision notice (DPN) has been issued to notify local authorities that NHS Digital will be collecting this data and sharing it in this way. This provides no additional burden to local authorities or NHS staff. A letter to all local authority directors of children’s services is due to be sent out this week explaining the new functionality to them.
Finally on this area, a list of cancelled or postponed data collections relating to children’s care and education is now available online.
Hardship fund and welfare support
MHCLG wrote to councils on 16 April to provide some further Q&A on managing the hardship fund. This follows discussions and feedback from councils provided through the Local Authority Welfare Steering Group (LAWSG) and Practitioners’ Operational Group (POG). Following the representations of councils and the LGA, MHCLG are also now undertaking a piece of work to consider new burdens funding to councils.
While these clarifications are helpful, I know concerns remain about the sufficiency of the funding. This is both in terms of providing deductions to increased numbers of new local council tax support claims throughout the year, and in terms of providing additional discretionary support. We will continue to press MHCLG to collect and collate data on these claims, and to ensure that councils have enough funding to support households facing financial hardship as a consequence of the outbreak.
Waste and recycling
The question of when and how to reopen household waste and recycling centres (HWRCs) remains live. We know that councils are keen to open their HWRCs in a coordinated way as soon as it is safe and practicable to do so and that you will find innovative ways to operate these sites safely. We have made clear that this will ultimately be a local decision for councils to take and will depend on the availability of staff and the impact of opening HWRCs on other waste services.
We are in discussions with Government on the actions that need be taken nationally to help councils to open HWRCs. These are: clear guidance from Government that travel to HWRCs can be deemed essential; the sufficient supply of relevant PPE for waste services staff; and support from the police to manage traffic and queues. Councils will also want to know that off-takers (companies that process waste material into new products) are operational.
Your waste teams may be interested in a new online platform for councils and private waste companies, set up by the Chartered Institute of Waste Management (CIWM) and the recycling charity Waste and Recycling Action Programme (WRAP). It is designed as a virtual marketplace to help private companies advertise surplus capacity and for local authorities to indicate where they need capacity support or specific skills and equipment such as PPE. For further information, please email wastesupport@ciwm.co.uk
Funerals, burials and cremation
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has published Statutory Guidance for Schedule 28 of the Coronavirus Act, which relates to new powers for local and national authorities around the transportation, storage and disposal of dead bodies. The guidance is aimed at local authorities and covers each part of Schedule.
Part 2 of the Schedule relates to the powers of direction which may be available to local authorities and government to help those areas deemed to be at or nearing capacity limits in terms of transportation, storage or disposal. These powers are not available for use unless a local authority is designated by the Secretary of State or the Minister for the Cabinet Office. We do not expect this to be either a) frequently used or b) used without prior discussion with the local authority concerned.
Part 4 of the Schedule describes local authorities' obligation to have regard to the person’s wishes, religion or beliefs when using the Part 2 powers, particularly with reference to the preferred method of final committal. The guidance outlines reasonable steps which local authorities should take to ensure the deceased’s wishes are adhered to and circumstances where a local authority might make a direction against a person’s wishes though these are expected to happen only in exceptional circumstances. Many local authorities across the country are already in contact with local religious and faith groups to meet ensure there is a shared understanding of the requirements of Part 4.
New guidance has been published by Public Health England on how to manage funeral provision. The guidance (which, unlike Schedule 28, is not statutory) states that the bereaved should be able to attend if they wish, although the number of mourners should be minimised to reduce the risk of transmission. The guidance suggests that household members and close family members should be able to attend, within social distancing limits, and that close friends should be allowed to attend if family are unable to do so.
According to the Guidance those who have symptoms of COVID-19 must not attend services, but the extremely clinically vulnerable group and those self-isolating due to someone in their household having symptoms of COVID-19 should be supported to attend with measures put in place to reduce the risk of infection or transmission.
Finally, the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) Regulation 2020 introduced on the 23 March states that “a person who is responsible for a crematoria or burial ground must ensure that...the crematorium is closed to members of the public, except for funerals and burials”. This has caused some confusion as to whether cemeteries should be closed under the regulation. During his press conference on Saturday 18 April, Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State, asked councils to keep cemeteries open or reopen them.
MHCLG has confirmed that, in their view, cemeteries and burial grounds should be open for people to pay their respects. We understand the Government is considering whether any further clarification is helpful through technical Regulatory amendments in due course, but no further guidance from government is planned. Of course, social distancing guidance should be followed in cemeteries and burial grounds, as with other places. We know that local authorities are already considering how best to operate their cemeteries so that they can conducting safe interments and maintain social distancing throughout the grounds.
Bereavement is hard at the best of times, but in isolation, with people unable to be with loved ones or attend funerals, bereavement is exceptionally hard. AtaLoss.org is a national charity committed to ensuring that no-one who is bereaved is left without support when they need it. They provide a website directory of local and national bereavement support adapted to current restrictions.
Workforce
The Government has produced further updates to their guidance to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme which went live this morning receiving 67,000 applications in the first 30 minutes. HMRC has also published a step by step guide for employers. The LGA’s guidance has been updated. On Friday DfE published guidance on the use of the scheme that also provides specific provisions on the use of the scheme by employers in education.
There are a number of inconsistencies between the departmental guidance and outstanding issues from the interaction between HMRC’s guidance and the HM Treasury Direction laid last week that we are raising with Government. These include the treatment of multiple contract holders with the same employer; the interaction of sick pay and furloughing; the application of the scheme to those with mixed public and private funding; and what constitutes an ‘associated or linked’ employer for the purposes of the scheme.
The DfE has updated their School Workforce Q&A. It confirms that maintained schools must continue to adhere to the school teachers' pay and conditions statutory guidance. This includes the requirement to ensure that all pay progression for teachers is linked to performance management. However, DfE expect schools to use their discretion and take pragmatic steps, to adapt performance management and appraisal arrangements to take account of the current circumstances. This could include basing performance on the period schools were open, adjusting, if necessary, for expected trajectory had there been no closures.
Protecting the supply chain from fraud
In times of emergency there is a need to respond quickly but to also ensure continued vigilance against the risks of fraud, bribery and corruption. We have joined up with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) to produce an accessible reminder of the continuing risks to supply chains posed by fraud and corruption, many of which are exacerbated by emergency circumstances.
We are encouraging public bodies to document all your decisions and don’t feel pressurised to procure anything urgently during this period. Please do pass this guidance on to your Procurement and Commissioning teams, especially those working on COVID-19 related projects. This will also be communicated to procurement leads through our weekly COVID-19 supply chain bulletin, which your team can sign up to on our website.
Leisure provision
We have written to the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Oliver Dowden, to raise our concerns about the future survival of the leisure sector. Having been required to close to support efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19, councils and their leisure provider partners have lost the ability to generate income from these services, while facing ongoing high standing costs. With usually tight margins, leisure trusts are reliant on income from customers to operate and without access to other forms of government support, they are at risk of going out of business.
We have called on DCMS to ensure that leisure trusts qualify for the new £750 million grant-based support package for the charity and social enterprise sector. We are also encouraging them to work with the MHCLG to identify funding for any expenditure councils are forced to make in underwriting their leisure providers as a result of COVID-19. We are also urging utility companies to be more flexible regarding leisure trusts' utility bills as these typically form almost half of their ongoing running costs.
Parliamentary update
Parliament returns tomorrow with many of the proceedings being held virtually as Parliament joins councils up and down the country in conducting their business a bit differently. In the Commons, the House is due to pass new rules to allow MPs to contribute via Zoom, while the Lords will conduct its business through Microsoft Teams – both are platforms we are now very familiar with at the LGA as I am sure you are in your councils!
With Parliament returning there are some important opportunities for us to highlight local government’s central role supporting the efforts to tackle the outbreak and to raise key issues such as PPE, economic recovery and protecting the vulnerable. I’ll be keeping an eye for the debate on Thursday on the impacts of COVID-19 to the provision of social and domiciliary care. And a week today our Chairman, Cllr James Jamieson and I will be video-calling into a meeting of the House of Commons Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee to brief them on the key issues for local government as we lead our communities through the pandemic.
I hope this note was helpful as we continue to seek to collate all of the various announcements and updates of relevance to the services councils deliver.
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Best wishes,
Mark Lloyd
Chief Executive
Local Government Association
@MarkLloydLGA
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