Councillors and committees

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Remote - during Covid-19

Contact: Amelia Christopher  Email: amelia.christopher@surreycc.gov.uk

Media

Items
No. Item

1/21

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

    To receive any apologies for absence.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Apologies were received from Cllr Mark Brunt andCllr Stuart Selleck.

     

2/21

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING: 20 NOVEMBER 2020 pdf icon PDF 184 KB

3/21

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

    All Members present are required to declare, at this point in the meeting or

    as soon as possible thereafter

     

    (i) Any disclosable pecuniary interests and / or

    (ii) Other interests arising under the Code of Conduct in respect of any

    item(s) of business being considered at this meeting

     

    NOTES:

     

    ·         Members are reminded that they must not participate in any item where they have a disclosable pecuniary interest

    ·         As well as an interest of the Member, this includes any interest, of which the Member is aware, that relates to the Member’s spouse or civil partner (or any person with whom the Member is living as a spouse or civil partner)

    ·         Members with a significant personal interest may participate in the discussion and vote on that matter unless that interest could be reasonably regarded as prejudicial.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    There were none.

     

4/21

QUESTIONS AND PETITIONS pdf icon PDF 225 KB

    a          Members' Questions

     

    The deadline for Member’s questions is 12pm four working days before the meeting (12 February 2021).

     

    b          Public Questions

     

    The deadline for public questions is seven days before the meeting (11 February 2021).

     

    c          Petitions

     

    The deadline for petitions was 14 days before the meeting. No petitions

    have been received.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    a          MEMBERS' QUESTIONS [Item 4a]

    None received.

    b         PUBLIC QUESTIONS [Item 4b]

    Three questions were received from members of the public. The responses can be found attached to these minutes as Annex A.

    A supplementary question was asked from one member of the public and the verbal response can be found below.

     

    3.      Supplementary question asked by Philip Walker:

     

    The questioner reiterated his question enquiring as to whether the Council considered the UK Influenza Pandemic Preparedness Strategy 2011 to be relevant with regards to Covid-19 and referred to point 2.20 from the Strategy which recommended preparing for a case fatality rate of 2.5% assuming no effective treatment was available. The response received suggested that a lack of antiviral treatments was a reason for deviating from the Strategy and he noted that the case fatality rates of Covid-19 across the vast majority of the population was much lower than the 2.5% fatality rate.

    The questioner asked whether there was any intention of systematising the effects of the restrictions on vulnerable groups as well as all residents, in order to help people cope with the now almost a year of having in some cases, everything that they really had to live for away from them.

    The questioner noted that the response in relation to Surrey’s Local Outbreak Control Plan did not mention an ethical framework as laid out by the Strategy and asked whether there was a cost-benefit analysis for the measures put in place as the Council had a duty to protect its residents and minimise disruption.

    Response:

    The Director of Public Health (SCC) recognised the importance recovery and that certain population groups had been disproportionately affected as highlighted in the Community Impact Assessment (CIA), which was fed into Surrey’s Local Outbreak Control Plan (LOCP) - which had been constantly updated since it was published. She noted that there was a health inequalities group that looked at Covid-19 recovery and going forward the findings across the recovery workstreams would be woven into the Health and Wellbeing Strategy. She explained that later in the agenda the Public Health Principal (SCC) would provide an update on the impact of Covid-19 on Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities. She added that she chaired the recent Equalities, Engagement and Inclusion Group which looked at vaccination outreach to hard to reach groups that had been disproportionately affected.

    She explained that cost-benefit analyses were undertaken for the different programmes carried out at the local level as it was vital that there was robust evaluation regarding value for money, the impact of national restrictions and ensuring constant engagement with the population groups.

    The Public Health Consultant (SCC) added that within the CIA there were Rapid Needs Assessments (RNAs) that focussed on ten different population groups that had been disproportionately affected by Covid-19 and through that targeted work recommendations as well as actions from those had been shared with the health system.

    The Chairman thanked those members of the public for submitting their questions as well as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4/21

5/21

COVID-19 SURVEILLANCE UPDATE

    A verbal update is to be provided on the surveillance of the data and intelligence concerning COVID-19.

     

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Witnesses:

    Naheed Rana - Public Health Consultant (SCC)

    Key points raised in the discussion:

    1.      The Public Health Consultant (SCC) presented the latest reporting figures between 8-14 February 2021 noting that Surrey’s seven-day rate was 90.8 per 100,000 population, which was lower than the England rate of 130 per 100,000 population and the South East rate of 92.7 per 100,000 population. The downward trajectory indicated that the impact of lockdown and all the other targeted actions of Surrey’s health and care partners and local communities had a positive effect.

    2.      The Public Health Consultant (SCC) noted that at present within Surrey, Spelthorne had the highest rate at 148.2 per 100,000 population and Elmbridge had the lowest rate at 63.6 per 100,000 population.

    3.      The Public Health Consultant (SCC) presented the epi curve which showed the number of cases from the beginning of the pandemic - 66,594 - up to the current point on 15 February 2021 which showed a steep decline and the three lockdowns were highlighted.

    4.      The Public Health Consultant (SCC) presented a heatmap on the age-specific confirmed case rate in Surrey between 19 January - 11 February 2021 from groups 0-15 to 60 plus years. Around 21 January the heatmap showed a very high case rate for 30-44, high rates for 16-29 and 45-59 years and by 11 February the case rate was low for all age groups.

    5.      The Public Health Consultant (SCC) presented heatmaps of Surrey and surrounding areas which showed the weekly case rates per 100,000 population by local authority. The heatmap from 8-14 January 2021 showed very high case rates closer to the top range of 700 plus cases per 100,000 population and over a series of weeks to the most recent map 4-10 February 2021 showed low rates closer to the low range of 0-99.9 cases per 100,000 population.

    6.      The Public Health Consultant (SCC) highlighted Surrey’s intelligence publications including the daily dashboard of Surrey Covid-19 cases which was published using publicly available data as well as the bi-weekly Covid-19 intelligence summary published every Thursday and Monday which provided further detail about vaccinations, the death rate, cases and the mapping of cases by postcode.

    7.      The Public Health Consultant (SCC) provided assurance that surveillance and intelligence continued to be monitored daily by the Public Health team (SCC) in conjunction with partners to manage outbreaks and to support communications.

     

    RESOLVED:

    The Board noted the verbal update and presentation.

    Actions/further information to be provided:

    None.

    Sue Sjuve joined the meeting at 2.22pm

     

6/21

COVID-19 LOCAL OUTBREAK CONTROL PLAN - COMMUNICATIONS PLAN UPDATE pdf icon PDF 246 KB

    A communications and engagement strategy has been developed to support the Surrey Local Outbreak Control Plan. The Communications Plan has evolved as more has been learnt about our public health response to the virus and this report provides the latest update on communications activity including Operation Eagle.

     

     

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Witnesses:

    Andrea Newman - Director of Communications and Engagement (SCC)

    Ruth Hutchinson - Director of Public Health (SCC)

     

    Key points raised in the discussion:

    1.    The Director of Communications and Engagement (SCC) highlighted that:

    ·         The key areas of focus since the last Board included the national lockdown measures, Surrey surge testing, asymptomatic testing and the vaccination rollout.

    ·         The Council led on the communications response to the pandemic as the Public health authority, however that was done in partnership through the Surrey Local Resilience Form (LRF) and through communications teams across Surrey co-ordinating the Surrey-wide communications response via the Multi-Agency Information Group (MIG).

    ·         The primary objective had been to ensure that residents maintained a good level of understanding of national lockdown procedures and guidelines and noted the continued high levels of resident engagement through both digital and non-digital tactics.

    ·         The level of national and local media opportunities had increased which resulted in positive coverage of Surrey putting it in the spotlight regarding its response to the pandemic.

    ·         The most recent activity supported had been surge testing or Operation Eagle initially carried out in Woking - Egham followed on - and had moved at pace, being delivered within a few days. Residents were informed in advance about the operation and the decision was made to release a public news story on surge testing which resulted in an increased media interest in Surrey. The feedback on doorsteps was positive as residents understood what was happening and were impressed with the rapid responses of the LRF, the Council and Woking Borough Council.

    ·         Communications tactics and channels used around the surge testing included digital targeting such as through Google Display advertising, ad vans which provided high visibility, a video message of the Director of Public Health (SCC) which was shared across WhatsApp channels which was a useful learning tool from Leicester, through social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram in which over 14,000 users were reached in Woking and over 12,000 in Egham; the use of Woking Borough Council’s electoral roll email to contact those in the affected area and again learning from Leicester, having a map quickly available for residents to be able to understand whether they were affected and there were 182,000 visits to the surge area map on the Council’s website.

    ·         Although there was a large amount of people involved in the surge testing logistically on the ground, communications and engagement had played a large role in influencing residents to take part in the voluntary exercise noting the 90% plus return rate in both Woking and Egham.

    ·         Regarding vaccination communications, Surrey Heartlands was leading on the communications through their colleagues with the NHS and the Department of Health and Social Care.

    ·         Diverse communications channels included the Vaccination Communications Sub-group within the MIG to support health colleagues to ensure that there was consistency in messaging focussing around the three C’s, which was reducing complacency, boosting confidence in the vaccination rollout and promoting convenience.

    ·         Support was provided to the Equalities, Inclusion and Engagement  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6/21

7/21

COVID-19 LOCAL OUTBREAK CONTROL PLAN UPDATE pdf icon PDF 614 KB

    The report details progress on Surrey’s Local Outbreak Control Plan including key outcomes and milestones to date, challenges and next steps going forward.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Witnesses:

    Ruth Hutchinson - Director of Public Health (SCC)

    Caroline Chapman - Senior Public Health Contact Tracing Lead (SCC)

    Martyn Munro - Senior Public Health Lead (SCC)

    Jack Healy - Public Health Lead (SCC)

    NeginSarafraz-Shekary - Public Health Principal (SCC)

    Naheed Rana - Public Health Consultant (SCC)

    Jane Chalmers - COVID Director, Surrey Heartlands

    Gavin Stephens - Chief Constable of Surrey Police

    Liz Uliasz - Deputy Director - Adult Social Care (SCC)

    Patricia Denney - Director - Quality and Performance for Children, Families and Learning (SCC)

    Mary Lewis - Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Families (SCC)

    Key points raised in the discussion:

    1.      The Director of Public Health (SCC) provided an update on the national context, noting that:

    ·         There would be a big announcement by Government on 22 February concerning the lockdown exit roadmap and gradual easing of restrictions such as more pupils being on site at schools.

    ·         As a result of the roadmap, regional conveners had noted that there was an expectation that there would be major revisions to the LOCP with an update to the LOCP needed by the end of March, Surrey’s LOCP published last summer had been updated approximately every eight weeks depending on national changes.

    ·         It was announced on 16 February that an extra 1.7 million people in England would join the 2.3 million on the shielding list those ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’. The change was as a result of new modelling published in the British Medical Journal, the new assessment tool took into account multiple risk factors of catching Covid-19 and becoming gravely ill.

    ·         The national guidance on shielding had not changed, due to be republished on 21 February it would instead be extended to 31 March, individuals added to the list would be notified and it meant that an extra 820,000 adults aged 19-69 would be prioritised for a vaccination.

    2.    The Senior Public Health Contact Tracing Lead (SCC) provided an update on local contact tracing, noting:

    ·           The journey that a case took through the system from day zero when it arrived in which there was eight hours for the individual with a positive case to complete their details online. There was then twenty-four hours for the national Test and Trace system to complete the contact tracing. By day three, if contract tracing by the national system was unsuccessful the cases would be passed to the local system and in Surrey there was five days of local contact tracing up to day seven the end of the journey. 

    ·           That the advantages of local contract tracing were that:

    -     the local contact tracers themselves were Surrey residents who understood the challenges facing fellow residents.

    -     there was an option to ring back or reply by email to the local contact tracers increasing the success rate particularly if those contacted were ill during the initial contact.

    -     the advice and welfare support offered by the local contact tracers was through the Customer Services team (SCC) who had access to a range of different  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7/21

8/21

DATE OF NEXT MEETING

    The next meeting of the Surrey Local Outbreak Engagement Board will take place on 15 April 2021.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    It was agreed that the next meeting of the Surrey Local Outbreak Engagement Board would take place on 15 April 2021.