The taskforce will bring together senior experts from
across key sectors – including resilience, local
government, public health and adult social care fields –
who will assess Local Resilience Forum (LRF) plans
and provide support and advice to ensure they are robust.
It will be led by Andy Battle, the recently retired
Assistant Chief Constable for West Yorkshire and the LRF
chair for that region, and Dr Ruth Hussey CB OBE, the
former Chief Medical Officer for Wales.
There are 38 LRFs in England which are made up of
emergency services, a range of government agencies,
health bodies and local authorities.
Local Government Secretary Rt Hon MP said:
We all have a part to play in managing the spread of
coronavirus and I am working to ensure local partners
are fully equipped to play their part, too. Today I
established a taskforce to support Local Resilience
Forums, helping them fully prepare for a range of
scenarios at a local level.
This includes ensuring that LRFs have robust plans in
place for helping local people and dealing with
pandemic flu of all types, including coronavirus.
With extensive experience, the new taskforce will
provide LRFs with the capability and expertise to
respond quickly and effectively.
As part of the review process the taskforce will:
-
Analyse LRF local flu response plans;
-
Discuss support with LRF chairs for vulnerable
people, and how key services could be maintained;
-
Commission a tabletop exercise in each LRF area; and
-
Examine relationships between LRFs and Local Health
Partnerships to ensure they can facilitate and
support cross-LRF working
The taskforce will also strengthen LRF capability through
inputting specialist advice from health, local government
and resilience experts and ensuring that areas of good
practice are actively shared.
The outcome of the review will be used to gauge the level
of LRF preparedness for coronavirus, align and strengthen
relationships between LRFs and health partners, and
support LRFs to enhance their planning by identifying
priorities and key risks in their current planning or
capability.
