Agenda and minutes

The notes of the Board meeting on 15 July 2020 were noted.

Director of Public Health to report.

The Director of Public Health advised that there were no urgent items to note or for escalation from the Health Protection Board.

Update of current local situation: (presentation is attached to these notes)

• As of the week ending 26 July – 12 new cases in Devon and 5 in Torbay;
• Pillar 2 Positivity rate: 0.3% for Devon, 0.4% Torbay and 1.1% for England;
• 1 death in Devon last week,
• Sources of Data: LG Inform:   https://lginform.local.gov.uk/reports/view/lga-research/covid-19-case-tracker-area-quick-view-1?mod-area=E10000008

Update from the Director of Public Health.

The Director of Public Health reported the following:

•    Publication of the National Contain Framework: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/containing-and-managing-local-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreaks/covid-19-contain-framework-a-guide-for-local-decision-makers 

•    Contain Framework – the primary responsibility was to keep the public safe using Public Health England and Local Authority expertise.

•    Publicly available data – the DCC website includes a list of publicly available data sources;

•    A focus on empowering people to protect themselves and their loved ones and prevention messages;

•    The Contain Framework was about ensuring a consensus between decision makers, sharing information and working together at community level;

•    Local Resilience Forum – utilising emergency management principles;

•    Equality and social issues and the effects on businesses and tourism; and,

•    There would be a process of escalation through Team Devon and Health Protection Board in the event of a local outbreak.

Head of Communications and Media to report.

The Board received a Presentation from the Head of Communications and Media, which highlighted;

• an emphasis on personal responsibility and self-compliance meaning it was vital everyone felt part of the local plan;
• good public information and messaging to help secure ongoing public support and compliance;
• establishing strong local leadership speaking with a clear, credible and trusted voice was key;
• the need to involve all key local players (e.g. elected members, local community organisation, local influencers) in event of a local Covid-19 situation with risk of community spread;
• three main elements of the strategy included:

·       Amplify prevention messages plus promoting the NHS Test and Trace campaign and latest advice and guidance through local channels with tailored messages for Devon’s key audiences;

·       Build trust and confidence by demonstrating strong local leadership and establishing and promoting Team Devon LOMP amongst key stakeholders and communities and reassuring that local action plans are in place;

·       Rapid response ensuring a timely, appropriate and well targeted communication responseis given in the event of a local Covid-19 situation

• The Strategy and messages would remain under constant review and development.

In discussion, the Board asked questions and commented as follows:

• the Team Devon Board Members represented a cross section of representatives from local communities and required a two way flow of information to cascade down through different organisations;
• there was a need to maintain and promote prevention messages on social gatherings, wearing masks and washing hands regularly and the need to main social distancing at all times;
• ensuring public health messages were conveyed to town and parish councils to distribute amongst local communities;
• the Council website was a main form of communication for visitors and the tourist industry – there would be a live data feed and information for visitors of Devon on the homepage of new website that will be launched next week.

Head of Communications and Media to report.

The Head of Communications and Media reported on the Devon County Council Local Member Protocol, covering the following:

• this outlined a communications protocol for DCC Members in the event of a local outbreak;
• it included organisational expectations of Members and their responsibilities in an outbreak situation;
• Local Members would be fully briefed in the event of a local outbreak situation;
• communication would be cascaded from the Health Protection Board (HPB) and Local Outbreak Engagement Board (LOEB) throughout communities, organisations and local members; and,
• the Protocol makes it clear the responsibility for developing local action and response would be the HPB and the Director of Public Health – responsibility for Communication lies with the LOEB and Cllr John Hart as Chair of the Board.

Discussion points with Members included:

• creating a similar document for parish and town councils and ensuring that  parish Councillors are informed at the same time as County and District councillors in the event of an outbreak – this would be dependent on all the different scenarios, scale of outbreak and how many people affected, but would intend to notify all community networks; and,

·       Any local communities would be fully informed of any outbreak situation to ensure accurate and correct information is put into the public domain.

There were no public questions or comments.

Key messages to be communicated as of 29 July 2020, included:

·       We continue to work with the tourism and leisure industry and other businesses to ensure they have the right information and guidance;

·       We are targeting prospective visitors to encourage them to think about their visit and be respectful of local communities;

·       We are actively promoting prevention messages and guidance to Devon public including targeting specific messages at groups identified as having greatest difficulty in complying – this includes the use of Face Coverings;

·       We remain concerned about the most vulnerable and those shielding or previously shielded and are looking at how they might be supported going forwards;

·       We are working together to identify potential future flash points and ensure there are robust plans in place including making sure good information and guidance is available prior to a situation occurring; and, 

·       We are actively planning for a range of possible scenarios including a potential outbreakin specific settings and will be exercising and testing these.  

Agreed that fortnightly meetings be maintained until September when the Board will look to meet monthly.

12 Aug 2020 @ 11.00 am

26 Aug 2020 @ 11.00 am

10 Sep 2020 @ 11.30 am

23 Sep 2020 @ 11.00 am

7 Oct 2020 @ 11.00 am  

Agreed that the next meeting take place on 12 August at 11.00am.