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Dear Colleague
Yesterday, the Prime Minister announced the Government’s roadmap to lifting lockdown restrictions in England. In his statements the Prime Minister said that the threat of COVID-19 remains substantial, with numbers in hospital only now falling below the numbers seen at the peak of the first wave. He confirmed that the Government aims to offer the first dose of the vaccine to all priority groups by 15 April and a first dose to every adult by the end of July.
There will be a five-week interval between each step of the roadmap, allowing for the four weeks it takes to see the impact of any easing of restrictions in the data, plus an extra weeks’ notice for any changes announced. Measures will be introduced nationally, rather than through the tiered approach we saw before Christmas, with the strategy being informed by “data not dates”, and subjected to the following four tests:
- that the vaccine deployment continues successfully
- vaccines are effective in reducing hospitalisations and deaths
- infection rates do not risk a surge in hospitalisations that put unsustainable pressure on the NHS
- the assessment of the risks is not fundamentally changed by new variants of COVID-19 that cause concern.
From the 8 March all pupils will be able to return to school, supported by twice weekly testing for secondary and college pupils. Two people can meet socially outdoors, but the clinically vulnerable are advised to continue to self-isolate until at least the end of March. We also expect that the Government will amend regulations to allow for a broader range of COVID-safe canvassing activities in the run-up to the local elections. From 29 March the legal requirement to stay at home will be lifted, but many lockdown restrictions will remain in place including working from home and minimising travel. The rule of six will be reintroduced outdoors and two families from different households will be able to meet outdoors, with some outdoor facilities opening, including tennis courts and pools.
It's anticipated that from 12 April non-essential retail may be able to re-open, alongside ‘close-contact services’ and gyms. Pubs and restaurants could provide an outdoor only service, and public libraries, community centres, zoos and theme parks may be able open their doors again.
If the conditions continue to be met, from 17 May the rule of six will be lifted outdoors and replaced by a maximum gathering limit of 30, Indoor hospitality, cinemas, hotels, performances and sporting events will then also restart. By 21 June all restrictions could be lifted.
This is positive news. In responding to questions after his statement the Prime Minister singled out councils for praise, saying that he was “very grateful to councils, and particularly public health officials, for the incredible work that they have done in the past year. The absolutely amazing work that they have done.”
I know that you will do all you can to turn this roadmap into a reality by building on successful partnership work with the NHS on the vaccination roll-out. In our response we emphasised that widespread community testing in schools, businesses, care homes and other places - coordinated by councils – will also be absolutely fundamental in bringing down infection rates and releasing restrictions on our lives and economy.
Please do contact your Principal Adviser if we can do anything more to support your council with the implementation of the roadmap.
Contain outbreak funding
As part of the raft of announcements yesterday, an extra £400 million funding for the Contain Outbreak Management Fund (COMF) (para 156) was included to cover further public health activities from 1 April, taking total COMF support across 2020/21 and 2021/22 to £2 billion. Further information about the funding will be announced in due course along with an updated COVID-19 contain outbreak management framework for local areas in March, which will set out how national and local partners will continue to work with the public at a local level. This will include details of the enhanced toolkit of measures to address variants of concern.
Community-led testing
The Government’s roadmap also confirmed that the community testing programme is being extended until at least the end of June. The rapid testing scheme partnership between national and local government was expanded in January for all local authorities in England and nearly all have now joined. This enables asymptomatic testing for local public services, small businesses, self-employed people and communities that have been disproportionately affected by the virus.
At the latest Ministerial webinar this afternoon, Ministers praised councils for their efforts in applying local knowledge to the programme, particularly in targeting those who are asymptomatic within our communities. Ministers confirmed that the Government will extend the funding to councils for community testing to the end of June. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is continuing to work closely with councils returning their cost information, particularly where there has been a lower take up of testing in particular areas. It was also good to hear that the commitment made by the Secretary of State to meet actual reasonable costs for testing would continue.
Test and Trace Support Payment scheme
DHSC has also confirmed that that the Test and Trace Support Payment (TTSP) scheme is to be extended until 30 June. The eligibility criteria has expanded to allow one parent or guardian to be paid if they have to take time off work to care for a child who is self-isolating (where the parent or guardian isn’t required to self-isolate). Funding available to English councils for discretionary payments is also increasing to £20 million per month through to the end of June. The department have organised a call for councils on Friday morning to talk through these changes in more detail.
School testing case study
We have published a case study exploring the lessons learned from three schools that undertook pilots of daily COVID-19 testing at the end of 2020. We hope the insights and experiences from these pilots will prove useful ahead of schools reopening.
Vaccinations
Public Health England (PHE) continues to update its COVID-19 vaccine communications toolkit and has recently published a new stakeholder Q&A. Past copies and associated social media assets are also available and frequently updated with short clips from announcements, along with graphics, visuals and other videos. Further resources including social content are available on PHE's campaign resource centre.
On Thursday at 10.30am we will be hosting our third webinar in the vaccination series, looking at equalities. It will explore lessons learnt from previous good work and how these can be applied to the vaccine roll out.
New behavioural change resources
Today we launched a series of case studies and resources on COVID-19 behaviours including vaccine hesitancy. This resource consists of a collection of case studies from councils using behavioral science techniques. In the coming weeks, it will be developed to bring together learning with the latest academic research, guidance on how to apply in your own council, and important findings from related fields. If you would like to share your examples of great practice please contact outbreakmanagement@local.gov.uk.
We also launched our new guide to behaviour change and the environment, a resource for councils on how to make green behaviour changes in your own communities. You may also like to listen to our new podcast on implementing nudges for social good.
Enforcement
It was positive to hear the Prime Minister yesterday say that some of the issues that caused the greatest challenges for your frontline compliance teams will not return in the forthcoming roadmap regulations. It is also helpful that there was a commitment to providing a week’s notice of changes to councils, the public and businesses. We will continue to work with MHCLG and the Compliance Working Group on the development of regulations to ensure they are both workable and enforceable, and that councils have early sight of the detail, not just the headlines. We know that compliance funding has been vital in supporting your work and are pressing Government for an extension of this, but at the very least urgent clarity on the position to enable you to plan for reopening.
We’ll be hearing from MHCLG about the development of the roadmap into legislation, as well as from councils, at our next compliance and enforcement webinar on 1 March.
Schools
To support the announcement that schools will re-open to all pupils from the 8 March, the Department for Education has published updated guidance on managing a school or early years setting, as well guidance for parents and carers and university students and those in higher and further education.
All primary school children will return on Monday 8 March, as staff continue to take two rapid COVID-19 tests each week at home. All secondary school and college students will take COVID-19 tests as they return to the classroom from the 8 March.
Secondary schools and colleges will have discretion on how to stagger the return of their students over that week to allow them to be tested on return. After an initial programme of three tests in school or college, students will be provided with two rapid tests to use each week at home.
Secondary school and college staff will also be provided with two tests to use each week at home. Protective measures across education will be strengthened. It is recommended that staff and students in secondary schools and colleges wear face coverings in all areas, including classrooms, where social distancing cannot be maintained as a temporary extra measure.
All staff at private, voluntary and independent nurseries will have access to tests to use twice weekly at home from 22 March, building on the testing already available to maintained nursery schools and school-based nurseries. Childminders can continue to access community testing.
Wraparound childcare for primary and secondary pupils will resume from 8 March where necessary to enable parents to access work, education or medical care.
The Oak National Academy has published a range of resources for catch-up planning, available on their website. The Catch-up Planning pages include a range of free materials and guidance on how Oak can support teachers in their catch-up efforts, including a new Lesson and Resource Directory and a How-to Guide for teachers which looks at the way that schools are using Oak, including to support planning, catch-up and homework. Oak will also be working to help reduce teacher workload by supporting virtual summer school efforts. Sign up to receive further updates when they’re available, as well as more free support resources.
Psychological First Aid training
Yesterday PHE launched a new online Psychological First Aid (PFA) training course on how to provide practical and emotional support to children and young people affected by COVID-19, or other emergencies or crisis situations. It aims to equip those completing the training to better identify children that are in distress and provide support to help them feel safe, connected and able to take steps to help themselves.
The course is available for all frontline workers such as teachers, health and social workers, charity and community volunteers and anyone who cares for or is regularly in contact with children and young people aged up to 25, including parents and caregivers. It's free, takes about three hours to complete (split into three sessions that the learner can complete at their own pace) and no previous qualifications are required.
Youth programmes review
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is reviewing the programmes and services it supports for young people outside of school including the National Citizen Service, youth clubs, youth volunteering opportunities and local sports/arts groups. They have produced a digital questionnaire aimed at young people and an engagement pack for youth sector organisations to gather views within their organisation and/or networks. The deadline for submissions is 11.59pm on 7 March. We will be submitting our own response and wider responses are welcomed through the online form direct to the department. If you have any questions, please contact youthreview@dcms.gov.uk.
Care home visits
DHSC has announced that care home residents will be supported to have indoor visits from a single, named individual from 8 March. Every resident can name one individual, who will be tested prior to each visit, and who will need to wear PPE and avoid close contact during their visit. The named visitor will be able to hold hands with the resident during the indoor visit and can make repeat visits under the conditions designed to keep residents, staff and visitors safe. Outdoor, pod and screen visits will continue in line with published guidance already in place.
Organisation-based testing
A new spreadsheet for organisations such as schools and care homes, to record the details of people who have been tested for coronavirus on that day has been published.
The guidance provides information on completing and uploading the new version of the record-keeping spreadsheet from 26 February. After the organisation-based registration portal is updated, organisations will not be able to use the previous version of the spreadsheet to register tests, so should download now so they are prepared.
Elections
A new Statutory Instrument has been laid in Parliament to allow access to an emergency proxy vote up to 5.00pm on election day. The new regulations amend the rules to allow voters to apply for an emergency proxy vote if they have to self-isolate due to having coronavirus, being at risk of having coronavirus, or where a person who has already been appointed as an applicant’s proxy is similarly affected by coronavirus. The emergency proxy vote application will not require evidence if they are made on the coronavirus grounds.
The legislation applies to all local elections, including police and crime commissioner elections, and is expected to be debated in both Houses next month. If approved it is likely to come into force in early April. The legislation will expire on the 28 February 2022.
Consultations launched for unitary authorities
Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick, has launched eight consultations for unitary authorities in Cumbria, North Yorkshire, and Somerset following proposals received by councils in those areas. The consultation period will run for eight weeks until Monday 19 April and is available to complete on the MHCLG consultation page. While the consultations are in progress, local elections for ‘principal authorities’ will be delayed in the areas concerned until May 2022. However, elections for local police and crime commissioners, as well as elections to any town or parish councils, will continue to take place this May.
Homes England strategic partnerships
Homes England (HE) is set to invite bids for a new round of strategic partnerships to increase the delivery of affordable housing from new partners including councils, registered providers, institutional investors and for-profit providers. The first round was launched in 2018. HE now offers its strategic partnerships to a broader range of organisations, including councils. Rather than applying for funding on a scheme-by-scheme basis, strategic partners enter into a multi-year grant agreement with HE to deliver affordable housing. A competitive bidding round is expected to launch in March, with confirmed timescales to be published in due course.
Updated COVID-19 renting guidance
The Government has updated its non-statutory COVID-19 renting guidance for landlords, tenants and councils. Guidance has also been published regarding the possession action process for landlords and tenants for private and social rented housing. This guidance is to help private landlords to understand their rights and responsibilities when they need to take possession of their property through the county court. It is also intended to help social landlords understand the new arrangements which will be in place when the stay on possessions ends.
Baroness Vere letter to all local transport authorities
Baroness Vere has written to all local transport authorities updating them on the Government’s expectations of local transport as we emerge from the national lockdown. The letter contains an update on bus and light rail service levels, home to school and college transport, staffing levels, transport demand management, face coverings and social distancing, and workforce testing.
Waste and recycling
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has published a new video reminding the public to check which local waste services are available, to respect waste workers and not to fly tip. These are live on LinkedIn and Twitter and will be featured across other social media channels.
New woodlands for net zero
The Nature for Climate Fund is a £640 million funding package that was approved by the Treasury in March 2020 and is a key part of England’s response to a manifesto commitment to plant 30,000 hectares of woodland by 2025. As part of this the planting on public land workstream seeks to ensure that all future grant payments are available to councils and other public bodies, and that support is available for councils who have committed to planting new woodland to help achieve net zero carbon emissions. For further information on how Defra and the Forestry Commission can support councils please contact the new project lead david.west@forestry.gsi.gov.uk.
Climate change
The Environment Agency has published its annual ‘Regulating for people, the environment and growth 2019’ report. The report focuses on the Environment Agency’s regulatory role and activities, and the environmental performance of industries and organisations from April 2019 to March 2020.
The report shows improving trends in environmental compliance, pollution incidents, crime and emissions. In a statement by the Environment Agency’s Chief Executive, Sir James Bevan, he says that the report also shows that better regulation is needed to allow companies to protect nature and communities from the effects of climate change.
Business support
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has confirmed an extension to the Local Restrictions Support Grant (Closed) until the end of March. The grant supports businesses that were required to close due to the current national lockdown. A further payment will be made to all billing authorities, covering 16 February to 31 March.
BEIS has written to all billing authorities confirming their allocations of the grant which will be paid next week and published updated guidance. BEIS has confirmed that the top-up Closed Business Lockdown Payment, announced at the start of January, will not be extended.
New VAT deferred payment scheme for businesses
Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has announced a new online VAT Deferral New Payment Scheme for businesses. The scheme is part of a wider government package of support, worth more than £280 billion to help protect millions of jobs and businesses. Businesses can opt-in to the scheme, until 21 June via the government’s website.
Gender pay gap reporting enforcement postponement
Due to the impact of COVID‑19, the Equalities and Human Rights Commission has announced that employers now have until 5 October 2021 to report their gender pay gap information for the 2020/2021, rather than 30 March 2021, as no enforcement action will be taken until that October date.
Parliamentary
The Minister for Local Government, Luke Hall, and Director of Local Government Finance at MHCLG, Alex Skinner, gave evidence to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee’s inquiry on local government finance and Section 114 notices. In the session, the Minister acknowledged that it is the preference from all local authorities to have multi-year settlements and he hopes that next year will provide councils with the chance to plan long-term. Later, the Chair of the Committee, Clive Betts asked whether the Minister would consider ensuring grants are not accompanied by a lengthy bidding process which uses up valuable local government time. The Minister said he is open to this and said this issue is “raised regularly” and wants to reduce ring-fenced funding as much as possible. The Local Government Finance Settlement, fixing the social care crisis, capitalisation, the Fair Funding Review, Section 114 notices and commercial investments were also discussed.
Remote meetings
We continue to work with Government on the extension beyond 6 May 2021 of the facility for councils to hold online meetings. The details set out in the ‘roadmap’ make an extension essential.
Local authority almanac
Local government collectively spends more than £63 billion with suppliers to deliver vital services to residents. EY and Oxygen Finance have published the first local authority spend almanac (PDF) that collates published spend (invoices paid) of over £500 during 2019/20. The almanac provides a useful overview of councils' key spend areas, by region, by council type, and by category. You can hear more about the almanac at our joint webinar on Friday at 1.00pm.
Other webinars
I wanted to take this opportunity to promote our upcoming webinars and share our full programme of events.
I hope this Tuesday update has been helpful as we all absorb the ‘roadmap’ and the implications for our communities. My next update will be on Friday unless something significant happens in the meantime.
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Best wishes
Councillor James Jamieson
Chairman, Local Government Association
@JGJamieson
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