Councillors and committees

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Remote

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

Media

Items
No. Item

10/20

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

    To receive any apologies for absence.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Apologies were received from Cllr Stuart Selleck, Gavin Stephens, Joanna Killian and Dr Pramit Patel.

     

    The Chairman noted that the Cabinet Member for Adults and Health would take over as Board Chairman after the meeting, noting the need to readjust Cabinet responsibilities as the Deputy Leader was unwell.

     

    In response to a query by the Vice-Chairman, the Chairman explained that he would not be making changes to the incumbent Vice-Chairman.

     

11/20

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING: 16 JULY 2020 pdf icon PDF 635 KB

    To agree the minutes of the previous meeting.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    The minutes were agreed as a true record of the meeting.

     

12/20

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.

     

13/20

QUESTIONS AND PETITIONS

    a          Members' Questions

     

    The deadline for Member’s questions is 12pm four working days before the meeting (21 September 2020).

     

    b          Public Questions

     

    The deadline for public questions is seven days before the meeting (18 September 2020).

     

    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]

     

    None received.

     

    c          PETITIONS   [Item 4c]

     

    There were none.

     

14/20

NATIONAL UPDATE

    The Board will receive a verbal update on the national context regarding COVID-19 Local Outbreak Control Plans.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Witnesses:

     

    Mr Tim Oliver - Leader of the Council and LOEB Chairman (SCC)

    Key points raised in the discussion:

    1.      The Chairman noted that he sat on the National Outbreak Control Plans Advisory Board (NOCPAB) which was a coordinating body for councillors and that key information would be relayed from officers through the upcoming items.

    2.      The Chairman highlighted that the NHS COVID-19 app launched yesterday and that the Government were keen for as many people as possible to download it. He stressed that the simple messaging of hands, face and space remained key and only those with genuine symptoms to go for testing.

    RESOLVED:

    The Board noted the verbal update.

    Actions/further information to be provided:

    None.

     

15/20

COVID-19 SURVEILLANCE UPDATE pdf icon PDF 131 KB

    Daily surveillance of COVID-19 data and intelligence is key to identifying increasing rates of COVID-19 in the community and taking prompt action as per Surrey’s Escalation Framework (i.e. deployment of mobile testing units, internal/external communications). A COVID-19 Intelligence Report for Surrey, summarising data that is in the public domain, is now being published every Monday. 

     

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Witnesses:

     

    Naheed Rana - Public Health Consultant, Intelligence and Insights (SCC)

    Ruth Hutchinson - Director of Public Health (SCC)

    Andrea Newman - Director of Communications and Engagement (SCC)

     

    Key points raised in the discussion:

     

    1.      The Public Health Consultant introduced the report, noting that the COVID-19 weekly intelligence summary produced every Monday provided residents and partners with regular insight and intelligence into COVID-19 cases within Surrey and how that compared with the national and regional context.

    2.      She explained that the COVID-19 weekly intelligence summary outlined the most up to date data available in the public domain - the Public Health team was mindful of confidential data sharing agreements with agencies such as Public Health England (PHE). She highlighted that:

    ·           The data was shared through various communication channels including the Board, the Health Protection Officers Group (HPOG), the Surrey Local Resilience Forum (SLRF) and, Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care System (ICS) and Frimley ICS. She commented that there had been positive feedback and further questions asked from residents.

    ·           The COVID-19 weekly intelligence summary report contained the daily rates and data trends over seven days for Surrey’s eleven boroughs and districts and how Surrey ranks nationally.

    3.      The Public Health Consultant explained that data, intelligence and surveillance was being monitored daily, allowing the Public Health team to assess the triggers for prompt action to be taken in line with the Escalation Framework and in conjunction with the Communications team and health partners. She highlighted that:

    ·           The triggers were related to cases per 100,000 over the seven-day rate as well as the fourteen-day rate which had less variation due to reporting delays.

    ·           The fortnightly case rate for Surrey was 31.3 per 100,000, slightly higher than the South East rate at 25.3 per 100,000 and significantly lower than the England average rate of 79.2 per 100,000. The seven-day weekly rate for Surrey was 13.6 per 100,000 and the overall Surrey rate as well as the rates for each of the eleven districts and boroughs were benchmarked across three hundred and fifteen areas.

    ·           The direction of travel and speed of trends, the positivity rates, exceedance reporting, contact tracing intelligence post code level data and other sources of local intelligence were evaluated daily.

    ·           From the daily monitoring, situational reports were developed such as for the number of cases daily per age group within Surrey and the eleven boroughs and districts over a fourteen-day rate. Nationally and within Surrey, the number of COVID-19 cases for the 15 to 34 year age group was peaking, so the identification of such groups allowed targeted communications and the deployment of mobile testing units for example.

    ·           Data was available in tabulation form, through visual maps and interactive dashboards down to the post code level towards a comprehensive picture of COVID-19 cases within Surrey, regionally and nationally.

    ·           Spelthorne was recently placed on the national COVID-19 watchlist and was being monitored by the Public Health team on a daily basis with a detailed picture forming over seven and fourteen days. In  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15/20

16/20

COVID-19 LOCAL OUTBREAK CONTROL PLAN UPDATE pdf icon PDF 160 KB

    The report details progress on Surrey’s Local Outbreak Control (LOC) Plan which was published on 30 June 2020, including key outcomes and milestones to date, challenges and next steps going forward.

     

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Witnesses:

     

    Ruth Hutchinson - Director of Public Health (SCC)

    Jane Chalmers - COVID Director, Surrey Heartlands Clinical Commissioning Group

     

    Key points raised in the discussion:

     

    1.   The Director of Public Health introduced the report highlighting the new national restrictions announced by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 22 September 2020, noting the ever-changing situation. Although large announcements were made nationally on a frequent basis, there were often other policy changes weekly and it was the job of the Public Health team to keep on top of the guidance and incorporate it into Surrey’s Local Outbreak Control Plan (LOCP) - updated at least fortnightly.

    2.   She explained that a key part of the LOCP informed by the data and intelligence was the Escalation Framework based on a RAG rating (red, amber and green). At one end was outbreak prevention and containment - light green - which was being done all the time and was based on test positivity and cases per 100,000, as well as raised local alertness - dark green - and in the middle when cases started to escalate and that tipped over to raised local concern - amber. At the other end the red category of national oversight was splits into three sub-levels: area of concern such as Spelthorne, area receiving enhanced support and an area requiring intervention.

    ·      The Escalation Framework was based on national COVID-19 Contain Framework and detailed the triggers, how and who to notify, what the communications were, what the role of the SLRF was, what do when there was an outbreak, the deployment of testing across different settings and enforcement. 

    3.    The Director of Public Health noted that Spelthorne was put on the national COVID-19 watchlist on 18 September as an area of concern and an announcement was due at 11am today on whether it remained, as the rates were slowly decreasing. She would keep the Board updated of Spelthorne’s status.

    ·         She thanked Board members for their support and colleagues in primary care and GPs who within a number of hours texted all their patients in Spelthorne to alert them to the borough as an area of concern. She also noted the concentrated effort across Spelthorne from the environmental health team who worked closely with businesses - particularly in hospitality - as well as the work of the IMT through partnerships with schools, grassroots sport and children’s sporting groups, and reaching out to public health teams in the surrounding area.

    4.      Regarding local legal powers, she explained that:

    ·         There was now a process in which the Chief Executive and the Director of Public Health at Surrey County Council could issue a direction under the new Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (No.3) Regulation 2020; which extended the powers of Local Authorities who could close individual premises, public outdoor spaces, and prevent specific events - such as the Ocean Village Boat Show 2020 and Boats 2020 in Southampton cancelled due to being an imminent threat to public health.

    ·         There was a local legal Process  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16/20

17/20

LOCAL OUTBREAK CONTROL COMMUNICATIONS PLAN UPDATE pdf icon PDF 112 KB

    A communications and engagement strategy has been developed to support the Local Outbreak Control Plan from the 1 July. The primary objective of the Communications Plan is to communicate Test and Trace advice and guidance to maximise awareness and compliance and so help contain and reduce the spread of COVID-19. In the past couple of months the Communications Plan has evolved as more has been learnt about our public health response to the virus. 

     

     

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Witnesses:

     

    Andrea Newman - Director of Communications and Engagement (SCC)

     

    Key points raised in the discussion:

     

    1. The Director of Communications and Engagement introduced the report and commented that it a lot of time went by in between the Board’s meetings, as communications were changing on a frequent basis she would liaise with the Chairman on how Board members could be more frequently updated outside of the formal meetings.
    2. In response to the earlier query by a Board member on the social media posts noting that Waverley was at a raised level, she explained that she was not aware of those posts and had messaged colleagues on the matter. She noted that if there were future posts like that, for the Board member to notify the Communications and Engagement Manager at Waverley Borough Council; who sat on the MIG.
    3. In response to the Vice-Chairman’s earlier query on public confidence in relation to numbers and conflicting media reports, the Director of Communications and Engagement noted that communications campaigns provided briefs to the media as based on the figures in the COVID-19 weekly intelligence summary report. She reassured the Board that she had positive feedback from the BBC that the Director of Public Health was visible and noted that the Communications team gave regular media briefings to the BBC and Surrey Live as they enquired into the context of the data. She added that the COVID-19 Communications Lead (SCC) sat on the COVID-19 Daily Data Monitoring meeting in order for the team to understand the data.
    4. The Director of Communications and Engagement commented that the Communications team were writing the NHS Test and Trace Communications Plan for Surrey (Communications Plan) whilst delivering it at same time as it was adaptive, it built on lessons learnt and harnessed effective approaches. In line with national guidance and working closely with the Public Health team, the Communications Plan was preventative focusing on maximising awareness and compliance to help contain and reduce the spread. 

    ·      It was a sophisticated Communications Plan taking into account traditional methods of communications, social media, a GP text messaging service was put in place - she thanked the Clinical Chair, Surrey Heartlands CCG - and dynamic geo-targeting methods were used to target individuals moving across border and within Surrey allowing the team to follow digital footprints and make comms interventions when needed.

    ·      The team found that where there were small numbers of cases in a school for instance or in a locality, local residents felt there was an outbreak despite such situations not qualifying under the public health definition of an outbreak. The work of communications was to provide reassurance and work proactively.

    ·      The Communications Plan was split into a three phased approach from green coloured media infographics for phase one to amplify national guidance and preventative messages, to orange coloured media infographics for phase two which was the current phase for Woking, Elmbridge and Spelthorne where cases were increasing and it focused on warning and informing residents and the need for greater  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17/20

18/20

DATE OF NEXT MEETING

    The next meeting of the Local Outbreak Engagement Board will take place on 20 November 2020.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    It was agreed that the next meeting of the Local Outbreak Engagement Board would take place on 20 November 2020.