The Chair invited the Committee comments on the Committee’s draft report on the above following their review. He invited the Chairs of the Scrutiny Sub – Committees to report back on the findings of their recent meetings regarding the impact on COVID-19 and also the Scrutiny Leads to report.

In response the following issues were noted:

Councillor Kahar Chowdhury (Chair of the Health & Adults Scrutiny Sub Committee)  made suggestions in respect of the following areas/recommendations in the draft report:

• Communication with the community – particularly the need to reach out to hard to reach groups and the need to carry out outreach work.
• Uptake of testing – the need to target at risk groups, working with relevant groups, and to gain a better understanding of their circumstances, and to monitor testing.

• Shielding – provision of help and support to those who needed to shield including pathways. In relation to this point it was noted that the Government’s shielding programme had come to an end this week. The Council had agreed a follow up programme with Primary Care and was considering how we take this forward

Comments were also made regarding:

• Care homes and the need to put in place recommendations to improve the situation in such settings. In response, the Corporate Director drew attention to the  Care Homes Support Plan.This report sets out a summary of work the council has undertaken with partners (through the Integrated Care Partnership Tower Hamlets) to support local care homes during the coronavirus pandemic. This is available on Council’s website. The Corporate Director had also prepared alearning review of the impact. This should be ready soon and she was happy to circulate this to the Committee.

• The need to support test and contract trace. The report should look at how this can be supported.
• The need to look at the suitability of homeliness and housing placements in a pandemic. The Council should apply for additional funding from the everyone is in funding.

Councillor Gabriela Salva Macallan (Chair of the Children and Education Scrutiny Sub Committee)  reported that whilst her Sub – Committee had yet to meet, she considered it important to support schools and young people in respect of the following areas:

• Responding to the budget contains.
• The delivery of the recovery programme
• Access to education and the re - opening up of schools.
• Provision of free school meals and reviewing impacts of the changes on this.

Councillor Tarik Khan (Scrutiny Lead for Resources & Finance)  also commented on the report. He stressed the need to:

• make savings by looking at selling assets to ease the burden
• to support local economy and use of local providers.

Councillor Bex White (Scrutiny Lead for Community Safety & Environment)  addressed the Committee. She spoke about the quickness of the Council’s response to providing social distancing measures in comparisons to other Council’s and the need for this to be reviewed in case there is a second wave.

The Committee also discussed a proposal to increase the grant support to market traders provided by the Local Authority Discretionary Grants Scheme if there was an underspend on this budget. It was noted that the Government had announced that assistance will come to an end and that any underspend should be returned to the Government.