Minutes:
(Jo Allen, Communications Partner was in attendance for this item)
(1) Andrew Scott-Clark (Director of Public Health) gave a presentation updating members on the position relating to the Covid-19 pandemic in Kent. A copy of the presentation is at an appendix to these minutes. Following the presentation, Mr Gough said he had written to Mr Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care arguing that, while high infection rates were a major cause of concern across large parts of the county, some areas with very low rates lent themselves to a more granular, locally-targeted approach. The letter also requested aid from the military with the logistics of rolling out a mass testing programme.
(2) In response to a question about why Kent had been placed in Tier 3 especially as some areas within Kent had very low or no infections of Covid-19 and the evidence used by Government to inform its decision, Mr Gough said that the Government had taken upper tier authorities as the most appropriate unit to be dealing with. Mr Scott-Clark confirmed that infections were reported based on where an individual lived and not on the hospital in which they were being treated. He said the NHS locally were under pressure as a result of both rising infection rates in the population and on the numbers of staff testing positive for Covid-19. He said the number of infections in the community had increased, the number of people requiring hospital treatment had also increased and it was expected that death rates would also increase.
(3) Mr Whiting referred to the impact of the pandemic on the local economy and in particular on the hospitality sector as well as the measures introduced to help business and the fact that he wrote weekly to the Government setting out the concerns of business leaders.
(4) Mr Hill reported on a day of action during which Kent Trading Standards had investigated 242 referrals from Kent Police and 62 from Kent Environmental Health Officers which resulted in visits to 48 businesses and the issuing of 13 prohibition notices. He also said he would send a note to members about the libraries and other services in his portfolio, however, 28 libraries would remain open, deaths could be registered over the phone, and citizenship and wedding ceremonies could re-start.
(5) Mrs Chandler said that lockdown and being placed in Tier 3 had created problems for the delivery of statutory services as had the rising infection rates. The managers of the Children and Young Peoples directorate had sought to maintain a balance between protecting the health of front line staff such as social workers and continuing to provide services to vulnerable children. She said that with the appropriate risk assessments and protective equipment face to face visits would continue.
(6) Mr Oakford said he had been contacted by businesses, particularly hospitality businesses, in Tunbridge Wells where Covid-19 infection rates were among the lowest in the country and wanted to understand the reasons why the hospitality sector could not open but shops and gyms could. Mr Scott-Clark and Mr Gough said the decision was taken nationally and Mr Scott-Clark undertook to provide evidence produced by SAGE which the Government had used to inform its decision. He also said there was evidence that suggested that Tier 3 restrictions in other parts of the country had driven infection rates down, Tier 2 restrictions had not contributed to the reduction in rates and had maintained rates of infection while Tier 1 restrictions had not worked.
(7) Mr Oakford outlined the additional funding being provided to local authorities in Tier 3 and to the support being provided to business including the business rates holiday, the extension of the furlough schemes to the end of March and the support to the self-employed. He said these schemes were worth billions, but it was important to understand the challenges being faced by business.
(8) Mr Gough said the authority had responded to the announcement that Kent and Medway were to be in Tier 3 and that it was important to continue to support business, roll out local testing and tracing, support the Trading Standards team with enforcement and to work with district councils and partners to join up responses to challenges associated with the pandemic and ensure consistent messaging with a view to reducing infection rates.
(9) Resolved that the update be noted.
.