Notice of Motion

green group and LABOUR GROUP

LOCAL DECISION MAKING ON HEALTH and adult social care

This council resolves:

1. To ask the Chief Executive to write to the Secretary of State for Health to detail:

· the role of local councils in taking leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic, delivering rapid action for residents and enabling new services to commence in response to the crisis: for PPE, prevention, public health messaging and care;

· to call on Government to adequately support Councils to address the pandemic and recovery locally by undertaking a review of powers available to local authorities to manage local outbreaks of the virus and other public health emergencies, and to ensure that councils are properly resourced for this work, including guaranteed funding for:

1) sourcing PPE

2) staff recruitment and management to undertake local track and trace needs

3) support for a national carers qualification and pay scales, applicable to all

4) support for councils managing local outbreaks, including provision of further business support and assistance to house rough sleepers

2. Further, that such a letter expresses this council’s:

· Concerns over the state of Adult Social Care provision and the need for reform of how this is managed locally, echoed by the LGA;

· ongoing concern over the inadequacy of the funding model for social care, and lack of powers available to local councils to manage decision making;

· request for a long-term solution to adult social care, overseen and monitored by Local Authorities and supported through adequate funding and provision of local decision-making powers to help govern budgets and services affecting health and social care locally.

Proposer: Cllr Nield                                             Seconder: Cllr Moonan

Supporting Information:

This council recognises and thanks staff for the hard work undertaken by both council and NHS staff locally. However, the way the response to the virus has been managed by central govt. leaves us with serious concerns.

The Local Government Association’s ‘Rethinking local,’ report requests that government rethink the powers available to local councils to manage health and social care, and to tackle local outbreaks of Covid-19 https://www.local.gov.uk/about/campaigns/re-thinking-local

The promised central Government PPE distribution system, ‘The Portal,’ is still limited in the number of requests it can receive and was severely delayed. Brighton and Hove City Council has taken responsibility for the local distribution of PPE including to care homes and other organisations in lieu of sufficient government support (see P&R papers on PPE).

Challenges of effective contact tracing will be best met by local councils who have a unique understanding of local communities not available to central government.