Agenda item

The British Red Cross and National Emergencies Trust will give presentations setting out their work to help communities respond and recover from emergencies.

The Chair welcomed Anna Garrod and Anna Lewis from the British Red Cross (BRC) to the meeting and asked them to update the Board on their work.

Anna said that with the Covid-19 crisis escalating, now was a very opportune time for her to be speaking to the Board about the BRC’s work.

Anna explained that the BRC’s role was to offer practical and emotional support to communities in a crisis situation including people, equipment, space and resources. She said that BRC responded to a crisis every four hours across the UK and explained how BRC and the wider Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) worked with statutory agencies through Local Resilience Forums (LRF).

Anna then went on to talk about the report ‘People Power in Emergencies’ that BRC published in late 2019 calling for better collaboration between LRFs and the VCS. She gave several examples from the report of where joined up working was not as effective as it could be including the fact that just 30 per cent of local resilience plans defined vulnerable people. She added that short term needs were often prioritised over longer term support in plans.

Anna said that they were calling for the role of the VCS to be enshrined within civil contingencies legislation, and for more of a focus on human-centred guidance for those involved in responding to emergencies.

Anna then went on to talk about the new VCS Emergencies Partnership, chaired by BRC, which had been set up to address some of the criticism set out in a Charities Commission report on crisis responses. In particular, this called for better co-ordination of national fundraising and supporting learning from national emergencies during and after the recovery phase.

Following Anna’s presentation, Members raised the following points and questions:

·       Surprise was expressed at the 30 per cent figure of LRFs that defined vulnerability. Were any tools available to help them identify vulnerable groups? Anna said that they could talk to LRF chairs to see how guidance could best be circulated to facilitate this.

·       Where did Maslow’s hierarchy of needs fit into BRCs work? Anna said that these came before anything else; in a response situation they always ensured that people had basic necessities such as shelter, food and water.

·       Did the Councils for Voluntary Services work with BRC? Anna said that they were part of the VCS Emergencies Partnership but she would go back and check just how involved they were.

·       It was suggested that the response to Covid-19 would be seriously hampered by the necessity to practice social distancing and to keep away from vulnerable people. Anna said that they were looking at this and keeping it under review but social distancing didn’t mean no social or other contact.

·       It was stated that greater clarification of the role of councillors as community leaders in crisis situations would be helpful.

·       Was the LGA involved in the new Emergencies Partnership? Anna said that they weren’t at this stage but it would be helpful to have them around the table.

The Chair thanked Anna for her presentation and for answering members’ questions.

The Chair then asked John Herriman from the National Emergencies Trust (NET) to give his presentation.

John explained that the NET had been set up in November 2019 in response to the Charities Commission recommendation that coordination of national appeals, fundraising and distribution needed to be improved following emergency incidents. He said that it was modelled on the Disasters and Emergencies Committee but would be for national incidents only.

John talked about the governance of the NET and that, although it launched in England, they were also able to operate in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

John explained NET activation criteria for launching an appeal - sufficient scale and urgency; unmet need; public support; and whether it felt like the ‘right thing to do’. He then described the operating model and emergency response process they had established in the event of having to act in a crisis situation.

Finally, John said that NET were beginning to think about how an appeal for the Covid-19 situation might work and explained the key roles of the UK Community Foundations Network and Local Resilience Forums. He said that the role of local voluntary groups in identifying the most vulnerable people was also crucial and that NET would act as an enabler to get funding to those organisations.

Following John’s presentation, Members raised the following points and questions:

·       Making best use of the large number of willing volunteers that were coming forward was considered to be a challenge.

·       Support needed to be provided to those who were supporting the emergency relief effort. It was considered vital that these people remained fit and healthy.

·       Providing support to non-statutory agencies on the ground was considered to be key to an effective response to the crisis. Where unmet need was identified it was necessary to ensure help and resources got to the right place.

·       Following the advice of experts and sticking to it was the only way to effectively tackle the crisis. If people didn’t follow advice, the strategy would inevitably fail. Therefore, there needed to be strong leadership.

·       The economic damage caused by the Coronavirus crisis could impact on the ability of NET to raise money. John agreed that people’s ability to support an appeal may reduce over time, in which case the Government would have to step in to support the community and voluntary sector in order to take pressure off the NHS and social care providers.

The Chair thanked John for his presentation.

Decision

The Board noted the report and presentations.