Agenda item

The Chair invited Lucy Ellender, Senior Adviser, to introduce the discussion.

Lucy asked members to feedback on the lessons their Authorities and Services had drawn from responding to Covid-19, the challenges they faced and any issues that they would like the LGA to raise with government in the event of a second wave this autumn. In particular, she asked members to focus on the questions in paragraph 7 of the report.

Members made the following contributions:

·       Nick Chard – Covid has kick-started a culture change in how services operate and in the working patterns of employees. This should be embraced as it should lead to a more diverse, flexible and efficient workforce and at the same time reduce the sector’s carbon footprint.

·       Denise Turner-Stewart – Covid has improved working relationships with partners dramatically. In Surrey, the CFO chairs the Local Resilience Forum (LRF) which has really helped integrate the fire service. Covid was a catalyst for positive change.

·       Keith Aspden – North Yorkshire has also seen much improved partnership working during Covid but the key question is how we capture this and maintain it moving forward. LRFs involve leaders and lead members but not backbench councillors and they have therefore felt remote from the decision-making process. How can they be more closely involved?

·       Rebecca Knox – As well as looking at the positives, we really need to know what has not worked or is not working because we have at least another year to go of being impacted by Covid.

·       Cleo Lake – The tripartite agreement has worked well in Avon. No staff have been off sick. Working well with local community – e.g. the fire service has been the drop-off point for a digital inclusion project in Bristol. However, we mustn’t take our eye of the ball with other big issues such as diversity and inclusion which require strong leadership. Black Lives Matter and Grenfell have brought this to the fore. Bristol City Council is undertaking a cultural review as a result.

·       Greg Brackenridge – Strongly supports digital meetings but there needs to be more funding for digital infrastructure. West Midlands has just undergone an HMICFRS Covid inspection which asked very similar questions to paragraph 7. Asked if the LGA could press for a longer lead in time in future for inspections as officers were hard-pressed to meet the deadlines. Relationships with partners had been positively impacted by Covid. Operational lessons learned should feed into wider reform of working practices. Green book staff working from home has had an impact – they have been offered a wide range of support to enable them to carry on working effectively. Decision making has not suffered – urgent matters decisions have only been used sparingly and direct contact with members has been maintained.

·       Rob Nolan – Cornwall has embraced virtual meetings. Senior fire officers met virtually every morning throughout the crisis. Vehicles were crewed with 5 firefighters before the pandemic (an approach queried by inspectors). This has been reduced to 4 since March and is likely to continue. Fire service took on PPE procurement which strengthened relationships with other parts of the Council. Also developed good relationship with Ambulance service and helped out with some of their crewing. This could well continue after the crisis.

·       Carol Theobald – Firefighters have been used to support PPE procurement and to support the Ambulance service. Staff sickness absence reduced during the pandemic. The Authority’s decision-making process hasn’t been hindered but IT systems need updating.

Action – Officers to e-mail Fire Commission members requesting feedback on the questions outlined in paragraph 7 of the report.