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Welcome to the NAG and SOPO newsletter for 4 September August 2020. Feel free to circulate to your colleagues.
This newsletter is now delivered through our corporate service that handles all our various e-bulletins.
Manage or create a subscription - read our previous bulletins.
Personal protective equipment
The guidance has been updated on how healthcare providers can order additional personal protective equipment through the portal to top up their existing supplies in an emergency. Children’s care homes and secure homes and children’s residential special schools have now been added to the categories of provider that can order from the portal.
Local government income compensation scheme for lost sales, fees and charges
Government published guidance for local authorities on how to access the local government income compensation scheme for lost sales, fees and charges as a result of COVID-19 - the scheme involves a 5 per cent deductible rate. This means authorities will have to absorb losses up to 5 per cent of their relevant planned 2020/21 sales, fees and charges income, with the Government providing compensation for 75p in every pound of relevant loss thereafter.
The guidance defines what constitutes an "eligible loss" and provides worked examples on applying this definition. Commercial income losses, such as rental and investment income, are excluded.
To receive compensation, councils will have to complete data returns. There will be three data collections during the rest of the year, which will need to be submitted via Delta. The first one, covering losses incurred between April and July, is expected to launch next week and be open for the whole of September. Councils' Chief Finance Officers will have to certify returns.
Funding a portion of lost income from fees and charges is a step in the right direction but does not cover full losses, nor does it extend to commercial income losses. We continue to call on the Government to meet all extra cost pressures and income losses from fees and charges and other sources, including commercial activity. This is essential if councils are to avoid having to make tough decisions on in-year cuts to services to meet their legal duty to set a balanced budget this year.
Non-COVID stories
Kickstart scheme
The Government has launched the new Kickstart scheme as part of its new Plan for Jobs. Backed by £2 billion in funding, the scheme will support employers to offer people aged 16-24 who are claiming Universal Credit or at risk of long-term unemployment a six-month work placement. Each Kickstart job will be funded, with the Government paying 100 per cent of the age-relevant National Minimum Wage, National Insurance and pension contributions for 25 hours a week, which the employer can top up, alongside providing £1500 in funding to set up training and support. For employers that offer 30 or more placements, they will apply to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). For those offering less than 30 jobs, they will need to group together with a 'representative' before applying. Any representative / intermediary will receive £300 per placement. The scheme can be used across the private, public and charitable sectors.
We continue to work with DWP on the detail of the scheme and explore how councils can be involved in the design, commissioning and delivery of the scheme so they can coordinate with JCP locally to create a seamless process for young people and businesses. With an appropriate level of resource, councils can add value to Kickstart locally in a variety of ways - for instance as large employers, you may wish to explore creating Kickstart roles within the council or by supporting other local employers to take up these opportunities.
Health Foundation Social Care Analytics Funding Programme
The Health Foundation has launched a new £300,000 funding programme for projects addressing a key challenge to help the social care sector respond to COVID-19 and its aftermath. They are looking for projects that can demonstrate how data analytics can be used to improve social care and help to catalyse further change in the social care data analytics system by sharing their findings and methods with a community of practice.
The Strengthening Social Care Analytics programme will support up to five teams across the UK with funding of up to £60,000 per project for up to 12 months. Applications are open to social care providers and commissioners. The programme is now open for expressions of interest and will close on 2 October 2020.
Further information about the programme and application process
Waste management consultation
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has launched a consultation on the draft waste management plan for England and associated environment report produced as part of a strategic environmental assessment. The plan provides an analysis of the current waste management situation in England and is primarily about the quantity of waste there is and how that waste is managed. It sets out a summary of current policies, and reflects the policies included in the Government’s resources and waste strategy. The consultation will run until 15 October 2020.
Greener economy – Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure
The only way to deliver sustainable long-term growth is to ensure that growth is part of a transition to a decarbonised economy. Only growth that sustains industries that have a future will deliver the long-term jobs and investment that our communities need. That is why we have commissioned this guide on the potential economic benefits of electric vehicle charging infrastructure. In writing this guide we've sought to address how electric charging infrastructure can help us access a green dividend. Many councils have been looking at investing in charging infrastructure and transitions to the electric vehicle fleet. We hope this guide will help councils understand the potential economic benefits of a transition to greener vehicle fleets.
Webinars and e-learning
Government Commercial Function: assessing and monitoring the economic and financial standing of bidders and suppliers
Government Commercial Function (GCF) launched guidance in June to help public sector procurers assess and monitor the economic and financial standing (EFS) of suppliers, understanding the financial capacity of suppliers to perform a contract in order to safeguard the delivery of public services. The guidance note provides advice on how to:
- assess the EFS of bidders during a procurement;
- monitor the ongoing EFS of suppliers during the life of a contract;
- mitigate the financial risks identified from the EFS evaluation of a bidder, either upfront or during the course of the contract.
GCF has now launched an accompanying e-Learning course that has been opened up to the local government sector, free-of-charge to SROs – queries should be directed to: govcomcollege@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.
GCF is now open and has lots of courses and online resources, including the Contract Management Foundation training; please note the online courses are being funded GCF for the remainder of the year.
The team have published a short briefing on what's available and how to access on the GCF Contract Management Knowledge hub. The briefing is titled 'Sept 2020 Contract Mgmt Update for Wider Government Family'.
Procurex National Engage (online) – 9 September
Find out more on the Procurex National Engage 2020 website.
LGA webinar: scrutinising climate action – 18 September
The LGA and the Centre for Public Scrutiny launched 10 questions to scrutinise climate action plans post COVID-19 and is hosting an accompanying webinar:
Children’s Social Care and the Spending Review - 29 September
This event will look at what level of funding is needed for children's social care, what the right balance is between early intervention and crisis support and which of the changes made in response to the crisis should be kept.
Visit the Institute for Government for further details of how to book.
LGA webinars: decarbonisation of transport
In relation to the decarbonising transport briefings, the LGA are hosting a webinar to accompany each briefing. See the full list of decarbonisation of transport webinars below:
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