North Yorkshire Outbreak Management Advisory Board

Notes of a discussion held remotely, via Microsoft Teams, on Friday 21^st May 2021

THOSE WHO JOINED THE DISCUSSION:

North Yorkshire County Council Representatives:

Councillor Carl Les, Leader (Chair)

Councillor Caroline Dickinson, Executive Member, Public Health, Prevention, Supported Housing

Councillor Michael Harrison, Executive Member for Adult Services and Health Integration

Barry Khan, Assistant Chief Executive (Legal and Democratic Services)

Louise Wallace, Director of Public Health

Richard Webb, Corporate Director, Health and Adult Services

District Council Representatives:

Councillor John Clark, Ryedale District Council

Councillor Liz Colling, Scarborough Borough Council

Councillor Angie Dale, Leader, Richmondshire District Council

Councillor Richard Foster, Leader, Craven District Council

Councillor Ann Myatt, Harrogate Borough Council

Other Partners’ Representatives:

Andrew Dangerfield, North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group (substitute for Amanda Bloor)

Ashley Green, Chief Executive Officer, Healthwatch, North Yorkshire

Caroline O’Neill, Head of Partnerships, Community First Yorkshire

Helen Simpson, Chair, York and North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership

Sally Tyrer, Chair, North Yorkshire Local Medical Committee

Lisa Winward, Chief Constable

Ian Yapp, Chief Education Officer, the STAR Multi-Academy Trust

In attendance (all from North Yorkshire County Council, unless stated):

Councillor Karin Sedgwick, Chair of the Care & Independence Overview & Scrutiny Committee

Melanie Carr, Principal Democratic Services Scrutiny Officer

Patrick Duffy, Senior Democratic Services Officer (Clerk)

Mike James, Team Leader, Marketing and Customer Communications

Lisa Dixon, Director, Scarborough Borough Council

Victoria Turner, Public Health Consultant

Apologies received from:

Philip Allott, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner

Amanda Bloor, Accountable Officer, North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group

Phil Mettam, Humber, Coast and Vale NHS Test and Trace Lead

Mike Padgham, Chair, Independent Care Group

Councillor Stuart Parsons, Leader of the Independent Group, North Yorkshire County Council

Beverley Proctor, Chief Executive, Independent Care Group

NO.	ITEM	ACTION
132	WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION BY THE CHAIR County Councillor Carl Les welcomed Members of the Board and any members of the public or media viewing the meeting.   He advised that he is the Leader of the Council and Chairs this Board and that:- - the main role of this Board is to support the effective communication of the test, trace and contain plan for the county and to ensure that the public and local businesses are effectively communicated with;   - decisions of the Board are purely advisory and its recommendations will be considered through the governance arrangements of the bodies represented, which retain their decision making sovereignty; - the papers for this meeting had been published in advance on the County Council’s website; and - the Board comprises, among others, representatives of the County Council; District and Borough Councils; the NHS; Public Health England; Schools; Healthwatch; the Care Sector; and the Voluntary Sector The Chair welcomed Caroline O’Neill and Helen Simpson to their first meeting and Andrew Dangerfield from North Yorkshire CCG.
133	APOLOGIES As stated in the attendance on the previous page.
134	NOTES OF MEETING HELD ON  22^ND APRIL 2021 AGREED that these were an accurate reflection of the discussion.
135	DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST There were no declarations of interest.
136	NOTIFICATION OF ANY OTHER BUSINESS The Chair asked Members if they could advise him, at this stage, whether they had any item of urgent business they were likely to raise under that heading, so that he could ensure there was sufficient time at the end to consider it.  No Members indicated that they had any urgent business to raise.
137	UPDATE ON THE CURRENT POSITION IN NORTH YORKSHIRE  Slides were presented by Louise Wallace, which contained data regarding the epidemiology of the pandemic internationally; for the UK; North Yorkshire; and by Districts. Louise Wallace made the following points, in particular:- - Globally, cases exceed 163 million, with 3.3 million deaths worldwide. The UK has the seventh highest number of cases and fifth highest number of fatalities. - In the UK, there were 15,980 cases and 54 deaths last week - In North Yorkshire, we are seeing an average of about 16 cases each day. Whilst the situation is much improved there are, sadly, still people dying.  In North Yorkshire there have been no deaths in the last week - Close monitoring in every district takes place daily - The England average is 20.5; for North Yorkshire it is 17.3. The highest rate in the county is Selby at 50.8. These figures are a 7 day rate per 100,000 population - The numbers in Selby should start to reduce as the outbreak at the Clipper Factory is under control.  It should be noted however that cases are also occurring in the community and other settings Louise concluded by thanking the public for what they are doing to help get the number of cases down and urged people to keep to the advice on hands; face; space and fresh air. She also encouraged people to take up the offer of both vaccine doses to give themselves maximum protection from the virus. NOTED.
138	VACCINATION UPDATE  Andrew Dangerfield provided an update.  In summary:- - The rollout is progressing well - As of 20^th May, 475,694 people have had their first dose and 289,915 have received two doses - Doses have been administered to 80% of Cohort 10 – now moving into Cohort 11 and, to a lesser extent, Cohort 12 - 92% of people in Cohorts 1 to 9 have been vaccinated - On track for everyone to have received a first dose by the end of July – depending on supply - The second dose for Cohorts 1-9 has been brought forward from 12 to 8 weeks. Should be achievable. Modelling being undertaken as to what this means in terms of supply and capacity NOTED.
139	COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE Mike James took Members through this Item. Slides had been circulated with the papers for the meeting. The slides included visual examples of communications. Mike reminded Members about the Communication Priorities and the principles behind these and advised that:- - The use of trusted voices to tell our story has been key in responding to the Selby outbreak.  A core narrative was developed and a Pack disseminated, via our community contacts and District Council contacts.  As part of the dissemination, we linked into social media groups that we are not a member of, such as Selby SOS, which has 22,000 members on its Facebook Group - It is important to take the message to people, rather than expect them to come to us – thank you to all colleagues who have been part of this process - The Unlock Summer Campaign is encouraging public health behaviours that we want people to adhere to. A range of communications are being utilised, including asking local businesses to use some of our branded material - Still on this Campaign, new approaches have been tried which include working with a local Youth Support Organisation to create video content targeted at young  people - The Local Resilience Forum (LRF) Press Conferences have been extended to focus on recovery, as well as well as the outbreak itself.  For example, there was a focus on Mental Health last week, to mark Mental Health Awareness Week - Looking ahead, there will be an on-going campaign to support different aspects of the Road Map and to prepare for any surge testing that may be necessary Richard Webb echoed Mike’s thanks to people involved in the response to the Selby outbreak.  He added that notice has been received of a visit from the Cabinet Office Communications Team, in the next week or so, which we will have the opportunity to link into. He also mentioned that communications are being put out around testing, with a big shift to home-based testing. The Skipton Centre has now closed and the Harrogate Centre will follow, to be replaced by mobile testing. The majority of testing will be LFD but we have PCR tests for people who need these. In response to a question from Councillor Myatt, Mike James advised that Harrogate Borough Council’s Communications Team will have access to all of the county information, but he will link in with them to see if there is anything in particular we can supply for the Borough Newsletter. NOTED.
140	PARTNER UPDATES Business – Helen Simpson - Beginning to see a decline in job seekers claims, but until furlough ends the impact on employment will be masked - Similarly, there has been a reduction in self-employed Income Support - Forecasts for the impact on business are becoming more optimistic, but areas of concern remain around accommodation and food services - Forecasts for arts, entertainment and recreation are also looking more optimistic - People aged over 50 and women have been disproportionately affected in terms of redundancy - The Hub continues to provide support and is seeing active support from businesses across the patch Care Sector – Richard Webb - There have been no recent outbreaks in Care Settings - The position is good and there has been a lot of work in the Sector to keep people safe but, sadly, over 400 people have died in Care Settings, out of a total of 1100 deaths in North Yorkshire since the start of the Pandemic - Pleased to see the opening up of arrangements for visits and trips out.  Partners and local MPs encouraged the Government to take a proportionate response - As well as the good work that has been undertaken, there is a lot of learning that will be taken forward - Will be submitting a response on the consultation about Mandatory Vaccination Healthwatch – Ashley Green - The ‘phones are quieter – an indication that things are getting better.  Feedback received is that people are happier and eager to have their second vaccination - Our message is for people to get back to appointments for dental care, planned appointments, etc - Will share our latest Covid Feedback Report with the Board when it becomes available in the next week or so North Yorkshire Police – Lisa Winward - No significant policing issues re Covid - Good resilience levels and low sickness absence mean that the Force can continue to deliver a normal policing service to communities Schools – Ian Yapp - Schools now allowed to take part in educational visits - Advice on face coverings in Secondary Schools has changed. The County Council continue to recommend that facemasks are still worn by staff and students in corridors and communal areas until half term, but they are no longer required in classrooms. The Director of Public Health has advised that face coverings continue to be worn in classrooms in Selby Schools, due to the higher prevalence there - Some concerns about families not following self-isolating guidance strictly, which can lead to complications with contact tracing and bubble closure - Into the next summer half term, will be working with school communities where risk and control parameters in school may appear to be tighter than in the wider community and asking school communities to understand that on-site parameters may be tighter than outsider the school gates Voluntary and Community Sector – Caroline O-Neill - Some organisations are concerned about saving their Teams - A number of Leaders are becoming a bit jaded - Have been promoting the West Yorkshire and Harrogate and Humber Coast and Vale Wellbeing Hubs and, with the latter, working on leadership support - Concerns around funding; PPE and other costs eating into budgets – picking this up nationally - Working to maintain confidence for future planning - The third Resilience Tracking Survey will be undertaken – results available in July Local Government – Angie Dale - Linked to the update from Helen Simpson, concerning unemployment among the over 50s, how will fridges, food hubs and food share projects continue?  In the food share project that Councillor Dale is involved with in Richmondshire, there are an average of 70 people a day using the service. How will this be continued when DEFRA funding ends, because food poverty will not go away?  People using the service are not necessarily universal credit based; they include people who have been on furlough, who have lost 40% of their wages. If there anything that can be done from this Forum, post-Covid, to enable this work to carry forward, that would be useful In response, Richard Webb paid tribute to the work these groups are undertaking and said that Neil Irving (Assistant Director, Policy, Partnerships and Communities) is leading a group looking at community recovery, as part of the LRF and some of the issues raised are part of those discussions.  He will though feedback these points to Neil Irving. NOTED.
141	NEXT MEETING The Chair confirmed that the next meeting will be on Wednesday 23^rd June 2021 at 10.30 a.m.	ALL TO NOTE
142	ANY OTHER BUSINESS There was no other business to consider.

The meeting concluded at 2.40 p.m.

PD