Agenda item

To consider a report by Councillor Mark Young, Lead Member for Planning, Public Protection and Safer Communities (copy enclosed) seeking Cabinet approval to delegate authority to the Head of Planning, Public Protection and Countryside Services to enter into the agreement.

Vote taken: 7 in favour, 0 against, 0 abstentions

RESOLVED that Cabinet delegate authority to the Head of Planning, Public Protection and Countryside Services following consultation with the Lead Member for Planning, Public Protection and Countryside Services, s151 Officer and Monitoring Officer to agree and sign the Inter-Authority Agreement to ensure that the Council supports the national and regional coordinated strategy to contain the spread of Covid-19.

Councillor Mark Young presented the report seeking Cabinet approval to delegate authority to the Head of Planning, Public Protection and Countryside Services to enter into an Inter-Authority Agreement (IAA) with the other North Wales local authorities to govern the recruitment and management of extra staff to operate the contact tracing element of the Test Trace and Protect (TTP) project.

In May 2020 the Welsh Government published a national strategy which included the requirement to track and trace the spread of Covid-19 in Wales.  As part of that strategy North Wales local authorities had established local contact tracing teams with redeployed staff.  As more council services resumed those staff would need to return to their normal duties and staffing the contact tracing teams would become a critical issue.  Welsh Government had approved £11.2m funding for the project in North Wales for the remainder of the financial year.  It was proposed that Flintshire County Council coordinate the recruitment and management of staff for the project on behalf all North Wales local authorities and that the governance arrangements be set out in an Inter-Authority Agreement.  Further detail including benefits of the approach and operation of the project had been provided in the report.

Cabinet highlighted the importance of the TTP project in containing the spread of Covid-19 together with an effective testing programme, with some frustration having been expressed over the response to testing and turnaround times.  In terms of identifying high risk areas and future strategy the Chief Executive reported upon the outcome of the analysis following the first wave of Covid-19 with the majority of those affected related to health and social care sectors.  A number of high risk areas and vulnerable groups had been identified and much work was ongoing across Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and the Health and Social Care Recovery Group in order to respond to those factors, further analyse data and manage the risks going forward.  Seasonal flu was also a concern given the additional pressure on health and social care systems and there would be an active campaign to offer and promote the flu vaccine with the aim of reducing that pressure across the system.

The Leader welcomed the Welsh Government funding allocation for the project across the region and hoped it would be sufficient.  He was keen to highlight the importance of communication and promotion of the TTP project and to ensure that those contacted took heed of the advice given and responded quickly and positively.  The Head of Planning, Public Protection and Countryside Services agreed that an effective communication plan would be vital and reported upon the publicizing of case studies on individuals working as contact tracers to promote the issue and highlight its importance; there would also be a regional communication plan.  He also drew attention to the ‘Protect’ element of the project advising that his service was working closely with businesses in terms of prevention work which also remained a key focus across other local authority services.  Councillor Mark Young reported upon the success of the TTP in Denbighshire to date but advised that further work was ongoing to ascertain what support would be available for businesses adversely affected as part of that process.

RESOLVED that Cabinet delegate authority to the Head of Planning, Public Protection and Countryside Services following consultation with the Lead Member for Planning, Public Protection and Countryside Services, s151 Officer and Monitoring Officer to agree and sign the Inter-Authority Agreement to ensure that the Council supports the national and regional coordinated strategy to contain the spread of Covid-19.