Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillor Lelliott.

There were no urgent matters to consider.

The Minutes of the previous meeting were approved as a correct record.

There were no matters arising.

Officers provided a verbal update on incident management volunteer recruitment. It was noted that there were ongoing issues in volunteer retainment but that the COVID-19 pandemic had opened many new doors in the volunteer sector. The Emergency Resilience and Safety Manager explained that volunteer numbers were static but the aim was to increase the numbers. Work was ongoing at Sheffield City Council to improve their ICT capabilities and move onto Microsoft Teams in early 2021 which would help with facilitating different forms of volunteering.

A survey of the current volunteers had taken place and officers informed the Committee that it was their intention to repeat this survey at regular intervals to ascertain the best way to support volunteers. 95% of volunteers had maintained their availability throughout the pandemic.

In response to questions from Elected Members, the Emergency Resilience and Safety Manager confirmed that she would look into the matter of interaction between community group volunteers and the volunteers co-ordinated by the Local Authorities.

Virtual Capability – The Head of Service reported that the Local Resilience Forum had developed virtual capabilities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This meant that physical attendance at an emergency command centre was sometimes no longer necessary. If physical attendance was required, locations had been established that were compliant with the COVID-19 guidelines. It was confirmed that all digital infrastructure was protected from cybercrime through all of the approved government processes.

Reassurance was also given the Sheffield City Council would be able to roll-out the updates to their system in accordance with the agreed timetables.

COVID-19 – The Head of Community Safety and Regulatory Services confirmed that infection rates across Sheffield were decreasing but those in Rotherham were increasing. There were 5 indicators that the Government used to ascertain which tier an area should be put into. The tier system was due to be reviewed in the week after the meeting but it was expected that South Yorkshire would remain in Tier 3. 

In response to questions from Members, the officers confirmed that there were no hotspots within Rotherham. The spread was quite even across all wards. There had been an increase in the levels of the virus in care home staff but due to the infection control protocols, this had not led to an increase in positive cases for care home residents. It was proving difficult to pinpoint any cross-border issues due to the level of exposure but it was something officers were monitoring.

Financial Update – The officers confirmed that a formal update would be given at the next meeting on the year end budget position. The position had not changed since the last meeting.

Brexit – The Local Resilience Forum had set up a sub-group to look at EU transition issues. James Henderson from Sheffield City Council and Jackie Mould from Rotherham MBC were the lead officers.

          Agreed:- That a report be brought to the next meeting on the impact of the COVID-19 restrictions on the EU resettlement scheme and on Looked After Children.

The next meeting of the Emergency Planning Shared Services Joint Committee (Rotherham and Sheffield) will be a virtual meeting held on Tuesday 30 March, 2021 at 1:30 pm

The date of the next subsequent meeting will need to be agreed.

Agreed: -

          That the next meeting of the Emergency Planning Shared Services Joint Committee (Rotherham and Sheffield) will be a virtual meeting held on Tuesday 30 March, 2021.