a) Nottinghamshire Police
b) Environmental Health
c) NHS
d) Education
Minutes:
Steve Cooper, Nottinghamshire Police, gave an update on the work of the Police in the City since the last Board meeting. He highlighted the following information:
a) Police had planned for the easing of lockdown for the 21 June 2021, but this has been extended and so further work is being undertaken to ensure they are ready for the revised date of the 19 July 2021.
b) Overall, pubs and other venues are being well managed and governed, especially during the Euro’s with very few issues reported.
c) Since 1 April 2021, 239 Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN’s) have been issued across the city. More tickets have been issued at fewer incidents such as where there had been large gatherings/parties; these were issued primarily for blatant breeches of the rules and associated anti-social behaviour and public health issues. Only one £10,000 fine had been issued recently.
d) With the Home Nation matches being played within the next few days an enhanced policing operation is in place. There had been no reported disorder or trouble when previous matches had taken place.
The Chair, as a Ward Councillor, thanked the police for their recent assistance in acting to get a dispersal order for a number of parties taking place in her ward area which would act as a deterrent.
Steve Cooper confirmed that not only did issuing dispersal orders act as a deterrent, it also gave Police other enforcement powers should they be necessary.
Paul Dales, Chief Environmental Health Officer Nottingham City Council, gave an update on the work of the Environmental Health Team since the last Board meeting. He highlighted the following information:
a) The Environmental Health Team has carried out 119 Covid-secure visits – mainly in the hospitality and retail sector; 25 premises were found to have minor non-compliance issues which were promptly resolved.
b) 39 complaints have been received, the majority of which refer to either a lack of Personal Protective Equipment for staff, a lack of enforcement of the wearing of face coverings or a lack of social distancing. Overall, businesses were very cooperative and were working hard to ensure they were Covid-secure. A number of customers had not been assisting these business by complying with the rules.
c) Environmental Health continue to work on outbreak control investigations and on-sight interventions including visits to schools, sports clubs and training establishments to offer advice on a variety of issues including servicing air conditioning units, face coverings and the importance of having good ventilation.
d) The work of businesses, volunteer organisations and workplaces has been very positive in reducing overall risk and there has been general cooperation across the City.
Amanda Sullivan, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Group, gave an update from an NHS perspective, highlighting the following information:
a) There have been 17 admissions relating to Covid in the past week, an increase of 8 on the previous week. Of those admissions 2 patients were being mechanically ventilated. No deaths (from Covid) have been reported.
b) The NHS strongly encourages people to get a Covid vaccination and explained that evidence was that after the 2nd vaccination people would be far less likely to be hospitalised and that having a double vaccination would offer greater protection against the Delta variant.
c) Current vaccination rates in the city are reported as follows
a) 16-24 = 22.6% (10.0% second dose)
b) 25-29 = 37.3% (13.8% second dose)
c) 30-34 = 65.2% (23% second dose)
d) 35-39 = 71% (71% second dose)
e) 40-44 = 80.5% (37.4% second dose)
f) 45-49 = 81.4% (47.7% second dose)
g) 50-54 = 87.1% (79.2% second dose)
h) 55-59 = 92.9% (86.2% second dose)
i) 60-64 = 94.5% (88.6% second dose)
j) 65-69 = 89.5 % (86.4% second dose)
k) 70-74 = 95.7% (93.1% second dose)
l) 75-79 = 98.2% (95.5% second dose)
m) 80 + = 89.1% (86% second dose)
d) Additional information about the Big Vax-the-Nation event was given and noted that both the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines will be offered across all the sites in the City.
Janine Walker presented a Nottingham Schools update on the work of schools across the City. She highlighted the following information:
a) Following the return to schools after the Whitsun break there had been an increase in the number of pupils having to self-isolate as a result of having been identified as a close contact to a positive cases.
b) As of 23 June 2021, 927 pupils were self-isolating (across 22 City schools) compared to 145 pupils (across 5 City schools) in the week before half term.
c) A number of schools have worked directly with Public Health England and the Local Authority Health Team on whole school testing programmes in order to prevent the spread of infections and identify any patterns of transmission.
d) Attendance data given to the Department for Education (DfE) showed an average attendance rate of 87% overall. There have been a number of issues with regards to pupils being abroad and unable to return to the UK. This will continue to be monitored.
e) The transition from year 6 to 7 would ordinarily involve a number of group activities. However, Department for Education (DfE) guidance suggests that there should not be mixing of groups to decrease the risk of infections.
f) Sports Day and other End of Year events will be allowed, but guidance has been issued (based on DfE guidance) by the School and the Health and Safety Manager to ensure that this could be done safely.
At this point of the meeting (2.32pm) Councillor Sally Langford left the meeting and the position of Chair was assumed by Councillor Adele Williams