Agenda item

To receive an introduction to the Covid Inequalities Community Impact Assessment; how that will be developed further; and how the council intends to use that to inform recovery plans.  Presentation by Philip Hunter, Senior Service Director.

Members received a detailed report and presentation introducing the Covid Inequalities Community Impact Assessment; how it would be developed further; and how the council intended to use that to inform recovery plans.  Presentation by Philip Hunter, Interim Senior Service Director.

The Assessment was currently in draft form and would be an ongoing area of work to be refreshed and added to as and when new and more up to date information became available.  Members of the Board were encouraged to consider if an inequalities impact assessment of their own area would be helpful to contribute to a richer picture of the issue.  It was intended that the analysis would be used to inform policy and decision making as part of the recovery process.

The detailed presentation highlighted the following areas:-

·            Inequalities Baseline – Pre Covid.  Deprivation was concentrated mainly in the South East of Northumberland but also with pockets elsewhere such as Newbiggin, Berwick upon Tweed and the South West of Northumberland.

·            Covid Response and Inequalities; widening of pre-existing inequalities in mental health, education, income and digital divide.  Increased food insecurity, domestic abuse, social isolation and loneliness, and alcohol use.

·            Vaccine Coverage Inequalities; Despite Northumberland having one of the highest rates of vaccine uptake nationally there was a link between lower take up and more deprived areas.

·            Mental Health particularly of children and young people.

·            Wider Determinants

·            Economic, Jobs and Income – Indicators showed employment increasing slightly and average weekly earnings rising.  However, increases in bills were expected.

·            Poverty – particularly child poverty which remained a challenge.  Food referrals were clustered mainly in the most deprived areas in the South East of Northumberland.  There were clusters elsewhere.  The Citizen’s Advice Bureau was experiencing increased demand for its service.

·            Environment – Journey patterns had returned to pre-covid levels except for journeys to the workplace due to home working.  There was an increase of residents and visitors visiting parks and open spaces.  There was a strong sense of community spirit.

·            Education and Children’s Services

·            Community Safety

The following comments and suggestions were received:-

·            The definitions of poverty, inequality and deprivation should be clarified in the report along with how they linked to a lower uptake of the vaccination.

·            There was a general link to access to and uptake of the vaccine and health care between the more deprived and least deprived areas and there were a number of reasons for that including working conditions making it difficult to take time off and poor health literacy could lead to people not understanding the importance of vaccination or other health care issues.

·            With regard to inequalities, there were systematic differences within the county between geographical areas, communities and age groups in how they accessed services.

·            Recovery – there was little science behind the recovery from the pandemic and it was necessary to look at the recovery experience from events such as flooding, hurricanes etc. to identify the areas to be best focused on.  Community resilience had been identified as a key area to be focused on regarding health and social care and it was important to identify communities which were experiencing inequalities at the moment.

·            Inequalities were endemic in communities and not just related to Covid.  This work would be used to shape and inform how the Council’s activity was prioritised to alleviate poverty and deprivation.  A partnership seminar was planned early in 2022 to look at this issue in more detail. 

·            It was recognised that there needed to be a shared understanding of the ways that Covid had impacted and continued to impact on Northumberland’s communities.  Provide an evidence base to inform the Council’s response to Covid in the short, medium and long term and to recognise the disproportionate impact Covid had had on the most marginalised and vulnerable groups.  The next steps would be to build on the data and take it out to communities to ensure that it resonated with their experiences and develop solutions based on their needs.

·            It was acknowledged that people with disabilities were disproportionately affected by Covid and continued to be so.  This included health inequalities, and access to services but also in terms of loneliness and isolation.  There would be engagement with the voluntary sector and its knowledge and intelligence would be welcomed.

·            The Food Poverty Working Group was actively working with Northumberland Communities Together to open hubs in the more deprived areas.  There were also regular meetings with Dr. Graham Syers from the Northumberland CCG. 

·            Information and data from CNTW was offered and gratefully accepted.  It was hoped to set up a whole systems Inequalities Plan for Northumberland.  The proposed summit would hopefully provide a springboard to this plan.  It was proposed to have one single inequalities plan for the County.

·            The proposed summit was welcomed by Board members.

RESOLVED that

(1)    the report and presentation be received and comments made noted.

(2)    regular updates on this work be received.