What can the council do to make things easier during COVID-19?

[Spartacus]

James

You asked for and now have good ideas, but typically you haven't responded to any of them or said what the council is going to do

Step up and do your job as a councillor and respond to the community. Put out strong messages of reassurance on what actions the council are taking to support the community and vulnerable who have to self isolate !

[Earl Aelfheah]

Anything the council can do to stop people creating food shortages through selfish hoarding would be welcome.

[Blah Blah]

It is not rocket science. The council are about to have a lot of vulnerable people getting ill with no means of buying food and toiletries because the shelves have been stripped bare by those in a better resourced situation.

The council needs to stop all non essential services and start focusing on a strategy to make sure people have everything they need to get through the next few months and stay well. I will be communicating that to my local councillors and advise everyone else does the same.

[fishbiscuits]

As others have suggested, getting food and essentials to the elderly and vulnerable should be a priority. I doubt the council have the power to forcibly intervene in the supply chain, but if there's any way of convincing supermarkets to earmark n% of non-perishable food for this service, that would be amazing.

Ramping up Meals-on-wheels for the absolutely most vulnerable? e.g. over 80s or those with health or mobility issues, living on their own?

Another thought - when schools close (and also during Easter holidays), medical workers and other emergency services are going to need childcare provisions. They absolutely should NOT rely on grandparents for this. Maybe some schools and nurseries can temporarily be re-purposed as childcare for essential workers?

[Blah Blah]

Good point on the child care for essential workers and should be entirely doable. We need to hear local councils now make statements around action plans and see them lobbying government for the extra help they will need.

And to add that it is going to have to be local authorities guiding government on what is needed here, because we are being governed by those sheltered from the lives of ordinary people by privilege and antiquated ideas from the past around 'Dunkirk spirit' and all that. Boris Johnson is completely out of his depth.

[katanita]

Echoing what others have said above and some other thoughts:

- Providing isolating facilities for those who can't isolate at home safely, or who have no home.

- Acting as a source of locally specific information about where to find aid or volunteer

- Being proactively transparent about council activities - I am concerned that there will be less scrutiny on council activities during this time when there are likely to be no in person meetings etc. Instead the council must find a way to demonstrate what it is doing both about COVID and everything else that still allows for accountability and feedback. This is not the time to be pushing through anything controversial. It would be good to see councillors being more active and responsive here, in particular.

[first mate]

Attached is the official Southwark 'response' to Covid19. Do we find this reassuring?

[Blah Blah]

No, because it only addresses the operational considerations of health services. This is not a plan of action for addressing things like food shortage, civil unrest, and all the things that those not in hospital or under a care package may face. I would like to see a dedicated logistic approach and plan for those things. We are only at the beginning of this journey and the shops are already stripped bare. Some vulnerable people are already starting to struggle to just get a normal daily or weekly shop. The time for action on that is now, even if that means talking directly to supermarkets that are not already rationing the quantities people can buy.

[first mate]

It's a vague document in a highly verbose 'officialese' partly given over to explaining what the virus is and then what has been advised nationally, then further waffle about committees and reporting, an organogram that is colourful but explains little. Perhaps we can take heart from the existance of a Council Gold Stick (CEO) a 'Resiliance Forum', some other kind of committee and a hypothetical Borough Emergency Room... 'if necessary' (whatever that means). Not very proactive in my view but perhaps I am way off base.

[first mate]

Soylent Green Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Relax parking restrictions for medical staff so

> that they can get to work safely without risking

> contamination on public transport. With 2 major

> teaching hospital sin the borough, this is really

> important.

This is incredibly important. The Council should approach the organisation that runs car parking for Kings and ensure all staff, at whatever level, are given free parking. Health workers should also park without charge near their homes.

[dbboy]

Every council has an emergency planning team/(business continuity).

A Borough Emergency Room is NOT hypothetical, these exist and where the Gold team would work from supported by the emergency planning team. Each borough will have an emergency plan, these should be made publicly available to show how the council will operate in this situation. Used to work in another boroughs team.

https://www.southwark.gov.uk/community-safety/emergencies

https://www.southwark.gov.uk/community-safety/emergencies/why-plan-for-emergencies

https://www.southwark.gov.uk/community-safety/emergencies/business-continuity?emailUsContact=8313

Some response from Councillors to this thread would give residents some reassurance, in terms of what they and council officers/staff are being instructed to react to do in these unusual times.

[paulu197]

I think whilst it's honourable for the council to ask what they can do? I'd like to know what can they actually do? Supermarket logistics isn't a local issue, it's a global supply chain issue that whilst Southwark council would like to assist, there is little they can do.

What is Southwark council empowered to do?

[first mate]

Perhaps it?s a matter of the council engaging swiftly with business and advising how shopping behaviour can be channelled to the greater good. Clearly the council cannot control these things but perhaps they can engage and pressure...perhaps they already are. As others have said, we just need more regular communication from our councillors who seem rather quiet at the moment.

[dbboy]

COUNCILLORS - A response to this thread would give residents some reassurance, one that you can be measured on, in terms of what YOU as Elected Representatives and council officers/staff are being instructed to react to do in these unusual times.

Now is Your time to STEP UP and come out of the shadows you so like to operate in. If you don't perform now at this time of need, the electorate will NOT forget or forgive you at the next round of local elections.

[WomblingFree]

Making sure the washing facilities in public toilets are fit for purpose so we can disinfect ourselves while we're out and about. Not a Southwark-specific problem, but I keep coming across sinks that only dispense cold water, automatically shut off after a few seconds or lack soap.

[rollflick]

Bringing in the CPZs as planned is very important. It will free up kerbside space for deliveries to run more smoothly when couriers etc. are hard pressed as it is to cater with the increase in demand for online shopping.

The suggestion that volunteers making essential deliveries are at risk of parking tickets is at best spurious. Deliveries count as loading, so are not affected by the CPZs and since they are advised not to go into properties where people are self-isolating to reduce the risk of infection, wardens can see what's going on and vice versa.

Public transport is increasingly empty so there's no need to provide car parking for medics, in any event the cancellation of routine operations etc. will free up spaces at hospitals.

Wider measures are urgently needed to reduce motor traffic, given the evidence that air pollution increases the death rate: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/17/air-pollution-likely-to-increase-coronavirus-death-rate-warn-experts

This would also cater for people who need to social distance and avoid public transport, gyms, congested pavements etc. but who need to exercise, as recommended by public health experts: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vR5AdOmF2effrg-lpBXtvh0stbxM0W6xTDwV2J-xIgHB8rPfZl5bLVR5eL7VV2m_W9xx5PgH26TB0vq/pub

Let's see Southwark moving quickly to follow cities elsewhere by installing road closures and cycle lanes with temporary materials.

[Spartacus]

Rollflick your logic is a bit flawed on cpz there

The idea of the cpz is to deter commuters and as only a very few are commuting at the moment then it will be mostly residents parking so delaying it's roll out won't impact delivery drivers as the commuters will be parked outside their own homes...

As for parking for medics a friend is one and they aren't working normal shifts and he gets exhausted wearing all the protective gear (he's on the covid positive unit) so if he could drive thus saving half an hour each way on his journey means he could have an extra hour of previous sleep, and what happens when bus drivers or train drivers go sick thus reducing services ? Do you envision medics not getting to work at all. If you were in the covid positive ward you would want them to be well rested and available to get to work to look after you I'm sure.

[Pugwash]

Get Trading Standards more involved in some shop keepers who are purchasing in bulk from Supermarkets and then selling them at inflated prices in their own shops. I picked up liquid soap - Cien ( which I normally get at Lidl for between ?1- ?1.50) and was charged ?3.50 for this. Having heard from one of the official briefings that it was illegal to profit from inflated prices, I refused to have the product. Shop keeper then stated that Cash and Carry had doubled their prices so he had to pass it on to his customers.

Telling this story to a friend this morning, she reported that she went into the same shop today and picked up a bag of frozen peas which the manufacturer has blazoned over it's bag 'Special Offer ?1.00'. Same shopkeeper tried to sell it for ?2.20. My friend stood her ground (she also works in retail) and paid only ?1.00.

I have been in Lidl many a time in the past ,and see people load up a trolley full of only 3 or 4 items which obviously they are going to sell on at their own shops. I counted one item- 50 large bars of chocolate !

[KalamityKel]

dbboy Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> COUNCILLORS - A response to this thread would give

> residents some reassurance, one that you can be

> measured on, in terms of what YOU as Elected

> Representatives and council officers/staff are

> being instructed to react to do in these unusual

> times.

>

> Now is Your time to STEP UP and come out of the

> shadows you so like to operate in. If you don't

> perform now at this time of need, the electorate

> will NOT forget or forgive you at the next round

> of local elections.

I'm sure the Council are busy at... let me guess... the council. The EDF is NOT the full representation of the borough and is not the only means of communication. There are many things to consider and get in motion before being able to inform people with the correction information (just look at the situation/confusion caused with last weeks' PM announcement).

This is not the time to lecture on politics so take a step back. The council will share any information as and when they are able to.

[katanita]

Walked past the councillors noticeboard by Karavan, on Lordship Lane, looks like it hasn't been updated in a while. These boards should be good places to put latest community information, where to get help etc.

[jamesmcash]

Hi all,

Thanks a lot for your suggestions. I am passing these on and trying to make sure the council does everything it can.

Here is the central place for the council?s guidance: https://www.southwark.gov.uk/health-and-wellbeing/public-health/for-the-public/coronavirus

And here is information about things you can do to help, including links to the fantastic Mutual Aid Group that have been created all over the country (and referenced in this thread!): https://www.southwark.gov.uk/engagement-and-consultations/covid-support/covid-19-what-can-you-do-to-help

I am sorry that people feel like I have not been adequately attentive to this thread. I hope you can understand that there is a huge amount going on in the council at the moment and that I am being contacted through lots of different forms with this Forum being only one of many. Moreover, being a councillor is not my full time job: I juggle it around my day job as a primary school teacher. Like most others, my school has not been closed so I have a huge amount on there as well. I assure you that I am doing everything I can during this crisis, as I know that so many others on this thread are too.

As always, if you need a response it is always best to contact by email. Thanks again for all the great suggestions on this thread.

Best wishes,

James

[JohnL]

Just got this email

"Coronavirus (Covid-19): an update for residents

These are unprecedented and concerning times for Southwark and the wider world, and I would like to reassure you that the council is working hard to protect residents, staff and services from the impact of Covid-19. I have agreed to stay in post as Leader of Southwark Council beyond my planned departure date of 25 March to offer stability and continuity, ensure our plans to respond to the crisis are robust and working, and that our communities are safe.

We are taking every step to prepare for an increase in confirmed cases of the virus. At the moment most key council services are still running as normal. We have strong and tested plans in place to keep delivering services during this difficult period and we will ensure our most vulnerable residents keep getting the support they need. To support this we may stop doing some non-essential work to support frontline services and redeploy staff as necessary.

We will continue to provide up-to-date information about our services and the support available through all our communications channels.

Thank you for your ongoing support through this challenging time."

[R U IN ED]

As previouly mentioned, Southwark should postpone CPZ implementation.

[Rockets]

I heard a really wonderful idea this morning that I think the council should be helping with.

A care home reached out to its local community asking for old ipads so their residents could keep in contact with loved ones as they were in lockdown. The response from the local community was fantastic and the residents can now get comfort from still being able to communicate with their loved ones. Is there anything the council could do to help facilitate this?

Cllr McAsh - as someone who has been involved in a fair bit of crisis comms in my time it might be a good idea to be a little more present on here - your constituents have responded to your request for ideas and yet we hear little, if anything, from you. Ex-councillors are being far more proactive in communicating and assisting your constituents over Corona-virus than you are. At a time of crisis people look to their elected representatives to be present and engaged.

A little less time on Twitter perhaps? And use the time saved to spend just a few minutes being present on here wouldn't go a miss....you can just as easily access this as you can twitter from your phone - which you seem to be able to find the time to do on a very regular basis ;-)

[kate7]

Please lift car parking charges for NHS staff in hospitals!!!!