Agenda item

(a)  That the Council’s Local Outbreak Management Plan as at Appendix A to the report be endorsed; and

(b)  That delegated authority be granted to the Chief Executive to maintain and amend the plan following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Health & Wellbeing.

The Lead Member for Health & Wellbeing and the Director of Public Health introduced a report that sought endorsement of Slough’s Local Outbreak Management Plan (LOMP).

The Government had announced on 23^rd May 2020 that all upper tier local authorities would be required to produce plans for the management of local outbreaks of Covid-19.  As England wide ‘lockdown’ measures were relaxed it was anticipated that the next phase of the response to the pandemic would be focussed on monitoring and managing local outbreaks where they occurred.  The Government had announced Test & Trace Grants would be allocated and Slough Borough Council would receive £689,507 to support the localised response.

The plan covered care homes and schools, high risk places and localities, local testing capacity, contact tracing, data, vulnerable people, workforce and governance.  The LOMP set out the respective roles in a multi-agency response.  The Council would support the Public Health England Protection Team (HPT) who would lead the outbreak response and ensure their recommendations functioned locally. The plan also included measures aimed at the prevention of Covid-19 in the first place as well as preventing the spread of infection.  The local response would vary depending on the setting of an outbreak and the LOMP established an Outbreak Management Cell to co-ordinate contact tracing and act as a link between the various services that would be involved.  Possible actions could included alert messaging, focused testing and contact tracing, closure of premises, restricted visiting, cancellation events and closing facilities.

The Cabinet discussed the relative powers and responsibilities between local and central government in the event of a major spike in cases.  It was confirmed that at present local authorities did not have powers to introduce whole area local ‘lockdowns’ and these would be decisions for the Government taking depending on the nature and extent of an outbreak.  It was recognised that communication with residents was crucial and an Outbreak Engagement Board would be set up under the Slough Wellbeing Board to lead this work locally.  The Leader stated that all Lead Members and Directors would be engaged in the group and that if an outbreak occurred the relevant Members and officers would play more central roles.  Engagement with community, faith and business leaders in Slough would be important to communicate key messages effectively and a strategic communications plan was being produced.

Lead Members discussed a range of issues including how the plan addressed vulnerable groups including the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic population given the recent Public Health England research on this issue.  An important project was underway in Slough to understand the evidence and reduce the risks to BAME communities and this work would feed into the LOMP as it evolved.  Members also asked about access to data for local authorities.  The Director of Public Health responded that the position was improving rapidly and postcode level data would be available to map and monitor cases.

Councillors Dhaliwal and Strutton addressed the meeting under Rule 30 and raised a number of points which were responded to.  It was confirmed that there were no technological barriers to the receipt of data and data flows were improving.  The Test & Trace Grant allocation for Slough was additional to the funding already provided to local authorities to respond to Covid-19.

At the conclusion of the discussion the LOMP was endorsed and delegated authority was given to the Chief Executive to maintain and amend the plan as it evolved.

Resolved –

(a)  That the Council’s Local Outbreak Management Plan as at Appendix A to the report be endorsed; and

(b)  That delegated authority be granted to the Chief Executive to maintain and amend the plan following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Health & Wellbeing.