Agenda item

Councillor Shah MOVED and Councillor Fielding SECONDED a report which h provide an update on how the Council continued to monitor and manage the spread of the coronavirus pandemic locally.

COVID-19 was still circulating across the UK and new cases were still being seen across Oldham every day.  The Council had a clear plan in case of an outbreak locally.  The report summarised the local restrictions that had been introduced, identified associated activity and highlighted the approach taken by the Council to tackle the increase in numbers.

Oldham had joined forces with Greater Manchester and national agencies such as Public Health England and the Department of Health and Social Care to escalate messaging to the public.  In line with the agreed plan, Oldham had increased the number of testing sites in the borough.  Testing was taking place at a higher rate than the national average with positivity falling.  Locally supported contact tracing had been in place since 13^th August 2020 and 80% of cases passed to the local team had been successfully completed. 

Question received from Councillor Sykes:

“The Cabinet Member will be aware of the shambles that occurred with the local mobile testing centre in Shaw, and elsewhere in Oldham.  In Shaw on the first day that the centre was supposed to operate, it failed to show and on the second day, it arrived several hours late.  It also failed to turn with all the kit on another date and left early on its last day.  Shaw and Crompton residents who had booked a test online arrive to find there was not centre at which to take a test.  I understand that this shambles also occurred at other sites elsewhere in Oldham.  This situation has undermined the credibility of these facilities and has caused a great deal of inconvenience and concern to my constituents.  I know that these facilities are operated by a private sector company appointed by the government, so the Council is not at fault, but could the Cabinet Member please tell me what this Council is doing to ensure that these testing centres arrive on time and are present at their assigned locations and at their assigned days of operation in future?”

Councillor Shah, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Covid-19 Response responded that Oldham Council staff and members had escalated concerns about the reliability of the mobile testing unit service to NHS Test and Trace as soon as the problems in Shaw emerged.  In recent weeks reliability of the service had improved significantly, with three mobile testing units operating in the borough each day.  Additional officer capacity had been identified to ensure that there was a single point of contact in place to rapidly address any problems with future deployments should they occur.  Thanks were also given to the Chief Executive in her role at a national level.

Question received from Councillor Williamson:

“Oldham Council employs staff who come from across our communities and who speak a wide variety of community languages.  Trace and trace will finally now become a service delivered locally; a change for the good which is long overdue, and there will now be an expectation that contact tracers will begin to knock on doors to speak with members of the public, rather than attempting phone contact.  Can the Cabinet Member please tell me whether this Council will be asking staff who live or work in the relevant communities where infection rates are higher and who also speak the relevant community languages to come forward to be seconded to carry out this work?  And if not, can I ask her to do so?  I feel that this will be contact tracing far more effective and will further demonstrate that this Council is a key front-line service provider that is fully committed to tackling coronavirus head-on and keeping all communities safe.”

Councillor Shah, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Covid-19 Response responded that the arrangements for the transfer of contact tracing functions from national to local, and the resources to do this, had not yet been confirmed.   The ability for contact tracers to speak relevant community languages was important and was something the Council would aim to build into any local approach to contact tracing when more detail about the functions being transferred and the resources available was received. 

Question received from Councillor H. Gloster:

“There have been a significant number of outbreaks of Coronavirus in food factories in Wales, Scotland, the Midlands and North Yorkshire.  Oldham has several such factories, but I shall not name them.  Can the Cabinet Member please tell me what is being done in these factories in Oldham to prevent outbreaks and to test staff to keep them safe?”

Councillor Shah, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Covid-19 Response responded that Oldham had one large scale production site which officers from Environmental Health were liaising with as part of the Covid business response work.  The Health and Safety Executive had also been involved in advisory visits in the borough to other smaller scale premises factories for which they were responsible.  Environmental Health had been dealing with all other business premises, carrying out proactive compliance checks and responding to any reports of cases or staff concerns as the Council were made aware of them.  This had involved discussions around the siting of mobile testing stations near the premises as well as advising on process changes to improve compliance.

Question received from Councillor Hamblett:

“On 11 August, Public Health England admitted that almost 10% of the coronavirus deaths is reported were not related to Covid-19.  The number of deaths attributed to Covid-19 was then dramatically dropped by 5,377.  The error had occurred because former coronavirus patients were being included in mortality figures even if they had recovered and then died of something else.  Can the Cabinet Member please tell me what impact this adjustment has had on the figure for deaths from Covid-19 within the borough of Oldham?”

Councillor Shah, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Covid-19 Response responded that the national adjustment had not had any impact on the overall figure for Covid-19 deaths within Oldham.

Question received from Councillor Al-Hamdani:

“On 13 August, Imperial College published a survey claiming that six percent of the UK population or 3.4 million people had antibodies indicating that they have been exposed to Covid-19.  The Office for National Statistics has also published similar figures suggesting that 6.5 per cent of the population has been infected.  Can the Cabinet Member tell me if as part of the testing programme whether the presence of antibodies in each patient is recorded?  And if that is so, what that percentage has been in patients so far tested in this borough?”

Councillor Shah, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Covid-19 Response responded that the tests undertaken at local testing sites and via home testing kits were antigen tests, rather than antibody tests.  Antibody testing required a blood sample and the nose and throat swabs used at testing sites could not be used to measure antibodies.  Antibody testing was not currently widely available and was only being offered to NHS and care staff and to some hospital patients.  The Council did not have local data on the number of residents who had received antibody testing.

Question received from Councillor Shuttleworth:

“Would the relevant Cabinet Member kindly confirm:

·         The number of allegations of breaches of the Covid guidelines have been received;

·         How many allegations required investigation by officers;

·         How many warnings were issued to those who failed to follow the guidelines;

·         How many repeat offenders there have been; and

·         Finally, how many fines have been incurred by businesses and individuals.”

Councillor Shah, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Covid-19 Response confirmed that the Council had received 460 complaints of potential breaches whilst Greater Manchester Police (GMP) had received 2,461 calls from the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 and all of these were investigated event thought some turned out to be unfounded.  The Police had developed a policy in line with the National Police Chiefs Council and used the model of 4 E’s (Engage, Explain, Encourage and Enforce) using enforcement as a last resort.  From a Council perspective, members were informed that one business had been closed due to non-compliance and another had been served with a Health and Safety Improvement Notice related to inadequate Covid controls.

Councillor Goodwin referred to his question at a previous Council meeting regarding the impact of Covid on Council finances and asked if there was any update on the financial situation since then?

Councillor Jabbar, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Finance and Green responded that the Council’s Revenue Account had currently a £17.1m deficit in-year related to incurred expenditure.  A response had not been received to the motion as agreed at the previous Council meeting which requested the Government to fully fund the Council on any expenditure.  Despite the great work which had been done, no additional support had been received.  It would be useful if the Government could give the money as promised to support the residents and businesses in Oldham.

Councillor Alyas asked about the applications for the various business grants schemes which closed on Friday, 28^th August.  Councillor Alyas asked if the Cabinet Member for Finance could advise if the funding allocation from the Government had all been spent and, if not, what would happen to the underspend?

Councillor Jabbar, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Finance and Green responded that in April 2020, the Council received £54.783m from Central Government to support the payment of Small Business and Retail, Leisure and Hospitality Grants.  In May, the Government introduced the Discretionary Grant scheme which allowed the Council to spend £2.501m on Discretionary Business Grants from within the initial £54.873m grant allocation.  Whilst no more grant applications could now be received, payments could continue to be made until 30 September for claims received just before the deadline and to allow outstanding payment queries to be resolved.  Currently, Small Business and Retail, Leisure and Hospitality Grants totalling £47.450m had been paid, together with the full £2.501m on Discretionary Grants.  A small number of final payments would be made before 30 September. This left no more than around £4.8m which at this time would need to be repaid to Central Government as this was unspent.  A letter had been sent to the Business Secretary to allow flexibility to allow those businesses who had not been able to apply previously, however, no response had yet been received.  There had been many issues with businesses being affected.  Oldham had more than its share of Covid-19 which was likely to continue in terms of poverty and housing.

Councillor Shah exercised her right of reply.

RESOLVED that:

1.         The update on the response to the COVID-19 pandemic be noted.

2.         The questions and responses provided be noted.