Covid-19 Second Wave

Inverclyde Council did not have the information requested.

Dear Inverclyde Council,

I am writing to you to request the following information.

1) For the period between May 1 2020 and present, any forecasting analysis undertaken by the local authority for a potential second wave of Covid-19 (Coronavirus) in Winter 2020 or in 2021 which
a) details the overall financial impact of a second wave for the local authority
b) the potential death and case numbers of a second wave
c) the impact on care homes
d) the impact on schools
e) the impact on council run services

2) Any internal documents, briefing notes or reports circulated to the chief executive and/or council leader detailing plans or contingencies for a potential second wave of Covid-19 (Coronavirus) between the date of May 1 and September 7 2021.
2a) Please consider this request to include draft reports which I argue, given the extremely high public interest in plans to combat a second wave of a deadly pandemic, should be disclosed unless there is a significant barrier against the presumption of disclosure.

Yours faithfully,

Conor Matchett

foi, Inverclyde Council

Good Morning

I acknowledge receipt of your email dated 07 September 2020 requesting information under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and I confirm that this matter is being dealt with.

In terms of the Act, a response will be issued to you within 20 working days of the date of receipt of your request being 05 October 2020.

Inverclyde Council is obliged to comply with current data protection laws. Further information on how the Council uses your information can be found at www.inverclyde.gov.uk/privacy - the Freedom of Information and Environmental Information Request Privacy Notice explains this in more detail.

Regards,

FOI Team
Inverclyde Council
Municipal Buildings
Greenock
PA15 1LX

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Carol Craig-McDonald, Inverclyde Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Matchett

I refer to your email of 7 September 2020 requesting that the following information be provided to you:

1) For the period between May 1 2020 and present, any forecasting analysis undertaken by the local authority for a potential second wave of Covid-19 (Coronavirus) in Winter 2020 or in 2021 which

a) details the overall financial impact of a second wave for the local authority

b) the potential death and case numbers of a second wave

c) the impact on care homes

d) the impact on schools

e) the impact on council run services

2) Any internal documents, briefing notes or reports circulated to the chief executive and/or council leader detailing plans or contingencies for a potential second wave of Covid-19 (Coronavirus) between the date of May 1 and September 7 2021.

2a) Please consider this request to include draft reports which I argue, given the extremely high public interest in plans to combat a second wave of a deadly pandemic, should be disclosed unless there is a significant barrier against the presumption of disclosure.

I can confirm that the Council holds the information that you are requesting.

The information which you have requested is set out below.

1) For the period between May 1 2020 and present, any forecasting analysis undertaken by the local authority for a potential second wave of Covid-19 (Coronavirus) in Winter 2020 or in 2021 which

As a small local authority in general forecasting is limited to that provided by the UK and Scottish governments together with that provided by partner agencies including in our case NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde and Public Health Scotland. We also access publicly available forecasts and modelling such as that provided by Imperial College London.

a) details the overall financial impact of a second wave for the local authority

Response: Detailed publicly available reports have been produced regarding the financial impact of the Covid pandemic thus far. These matters are kept under constant review and the likely impact of any subsequent waves will be reported to committee as and when the shape and scale of that becomes clear. Reports on the financial impact of the pandemic together with the other impacts referred to below can be found at https://www.inverclyde.gov.uk/meetings/ . The majority of reports on the pandemic have been made to the Policy & Resources Committee and to the Policy & Resources Executive Sub-Committee.

b) the potential death and case numbers of a second wave

Response: As per the answer above such forecasts are generally produced by the Scottish Government Covid Modelling and Analysis Team rather than by the local authority.

c) the impact on care homes

Response: The Inverclyde Health and Social Care Partnership keeps the likely impact of a second and subsequent waves on the Care Sector under review and has robust planning arrangements to deal with these. As previously referred to however we are dependent on forecasts produced nationally.

d) the impact on schools

Response: As per the response given above. The Education & Communities Directorate will keep the need to move to any blended learning model under review and will clearly also have to be mindful of national policy in this area.

e) the impact on council run services

Response: The Council’s Corporate Management Team and Corporate Resilience Management Team meet regularly to review the service delivery model in place across the whole Council.

2) Any internal documents, briefing notes or reports circulated to the chief executive and/or council leader detailing plans or contingencies for a potential second wave of Covid-19 (Coronavirus) between the date of May 1 and September 7 2021.

Response: As above these matters are discussed frequently at the Council’s CMT and with senior politicians but no speculative reports have been produced as without clear data on the scale and timing of resurgent waves of infection much of this work would be unproductive. The Council and HSCP are confident of their abilities to deal with any further waves using the processes built up in the original response.

2a) Please consider this request to include draft reports which I argue, given the extremely high public interest in plans to combat a second wave of a deadly pandemic, should be disclosed unless there is a significant barrier against the presumption of disclosure.

Response: As per my answer to 2 above.

If you are dissatisfied with the way in which the Council has dealt with your request you are entitled to require the Council to review its decision. A copy of the Council’s review procedure is attached.

Further information on how the Council processes your information can be found at https://www.inverclyde.gov.uk/privacy - the Freedom of Information and Environmental Information Request Privacy Notice explains this in more detail.

Yours sincerely

Kind regards

Carol

Carol Craig-McDonald
Information Governance & Complaints Officer
Environment, Regeneration & Resources
Legal & Property Services
Municipal Buildings
Greenock
Inverclyde
PA15 1LY

Tel: 01475 712725
Email:[email address]

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Inverclyde Council - Best Government Services Employer in the UK 2016 – Bloomberg Business Best Employer Awards 2016

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