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Welcome to the NAG and SOPO newsletter for 19 June 2020. Feel free to circulate to your colleagues.
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Personal protective equipment
Updated guidance was released this week with key updated questions and some additional information particularly around specifications of surgical mask types and relating to the care of people with learning disabilities and/or autism. There are two new guidance documents issued, one is guidance for staff delivering homecare and the second is guidance for staff delivering care in care homes.
Business support
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) released their report which examines the design of the business rates reliefs and grant schemes in terms of how eligibility for support varies across England, and how quickly, and how much, different councils are providing support. The LGA responded highlighting the great work councils have done to distribute more than £10 billion of this funding, with almost nine in 10 eligible small businesses now having been paid. We are also calling for any potential underspend from the scheme to be redistributed to councils so they can further support local businesses and economies.
Workforce – Flexible Furloughing
Government published its latest update on the Job Retention Scheme, primarily focused on ‘flexible furloughing’ where employees will be able, from 1 July, to return to work part time while employers receive a contribution from HMRC for the cost of the salaries for the periods employees are not working. This is aimed at assisting employers who are preparing to reopen premises etc. The LGA guidance has been updated today to reflect the changes.
Adult social care
DHSC has published guidance to help people who buy care and support through a direct payment to know how and when they can use the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to furlough employees during the coronavirus outbreak. The guidance includes examples of when direct payment holders may or may not choose to use the scheme.
Schools
The Department for Education (DfE) has updated its guidance on how educational and childcare settings should prepare for wider opening from 1 June 2020. This is to ensure guidance reflects the latest information on how primary schools can use flexibility to welcome back additional pupils this term, where they have capacity.
It has also published guidance on safe working in education, childcare and children’s social care has been updated guidance to clarify PPE advice and changes in access to testing.
Mobile Devices for Schools – London Grid for Learning Offer
London Grid for Learning (LGfL) has procured up to 2 million mobile devices (Chromebooks, Winbooks and iPads) to provide very low and affordable prices for Schools, MATs and councils so that they can benefit from excellent value for money, and aggregated savings. LGfL’s Bridge the Divide initiative was developed to support schools and is especially relevant during COVID-19, enabling schools to be able to afford more devices and tackle inequality - more details can be found here.
Youth services
The National Youth Agency has published guidance on managing youth sector services and spaces during COVID-19 in consultation with Public Health England and the Health and Safety Executive. It provides a helpful toolkit for services, including local authority youth services, voluntary sector and uniformed groups, to support them to open to young people at the right pace and time.
Modern Slavery Month of Action
COVID-19 has had a significant impact on modern slavery and human trafficking, through forced premises closures, displacement of victims and further reducing visibility within the community, whilst unemployment and furloughing has increased vulnerability.
From 22 June to the end of July, the National Crime Agency (NCA) and the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) are coordinating a multi-agency response to slavery with a focus on labour exploitation, particularly in the areas of agriculture and food production as well as hand car washes. Councils are encouraged to work with local policing and modern slavery partnerships to plan activity for this period and the NCA has provided a briefing setting out how you can get involved and how to get in touch.
We also has some useful resources to support councils in their work to tackle modern slavery, including case studies, a councillor guide and some more specific guidance on hand car washes.
Covid-19 Practical Guide to Responsible Recruitment
Recognising that the Covid-19 pandemic has increased the vulnerability of workers in supply chains and amplified the risks of poor recruitment practices, the Responsible Recruitment Toolkit and Stronger Together have jointly launched a Practical Guide to Responsible Recruitment During and Coming out of Covid-19.
NHS Hotels & Homelessness – Free Modern Slavery Training
If your council has dealings with hotels participating in emergency rehousing of people experiencing homelessness, frontline officers might spot something that nobody else can. Stop the Traffik have produced resources for staff working in hotels and with the homeless community. They are designed to equip frontline workers with the basic knowledge to identify and report exploitation taking place on their sites. Materials include video and audio training, as well as accompanying posters and notes - access the free training and full information here.
Local Government Procurement Expo – Request for best practice
As a partner of the LGPE, LGA are looking for councils to get in touch and share their procurement success stories. If your organisation is doing something differently or leading the way in local government procurement best practice, then we would like to hear from you and share your story with the wider local government procurement community. To get involved email hello@localgovexpo.co.uk with a brief overview of your project, initiative or achievements.
Non COVID-19 stories
Procurement Policy Note (PPN05/20) – The Outsourcing Playbook V2.0
The Outsourcing Playbook has been updated, and a series of new guidance notes have been developed to improve how the Government delivers public services. The Outsourcing Playbook sets out how the public sector should approach outsourcing projects. Launched in February 2019 to improve the way the public sector works with private companies following the collapse of Carillion in 2018. After being strongly supported by the private sector and charities, it has now been updated to highlight the importance of continuing to drive forward innovation in public sector projects. Please note this PPN is only advisory for local authorities.
Guidelines for Artificial Intelligence procurement
New guidelines for AI procurement have been published, which can be accessed here. The guidelines provide a set of guiding principles on how to buy AI technology, as well as insights on tackling challenges that may arise during procurement.
Webinars/e-Learning
LGA Greening procurement webinar – online workshop on the climate emergency and how local government and businesses can work together on meeting local carbon reduction goals - 24 June, 2:30pm
LGPE - Restoration and recovery: new opportunities in local government webinar – 24 June 11:00am
The role of housing and community-based services in the reset of the health and care system post COVID – 24 June, 10:00am
PASS Procurement COVID-19: Contractual Clauses to Consider – 25 June, 2:00pm
Social Value Portal Webinar - Social Value for SMEs – 26 June
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