Agenda and minutes
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE To receive any apologies for absence. Additional documents: Minutes: There were no apologies for absence. |
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Declarations of interest A member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or a prejudicial interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered:
(i) must disclose the interest at the start of the meeting or when the interest becomes apparent, and (ii) may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must withdraw from the meeting room.
A member who discloses at a meeting a disclosable pecuniary interest which is not registered in the Register of Members’ Interests or the subject of a pending notification must notify the Monitoring Officer of the interest within 28 days of the disclosure.
Disclosable pecuniary interests, personal interests and prejudicial interests are defined at Paragraphs 5-7 and Appendix A of the Members’ Code of Conduct Additional documents: Minutes: There were no declarations of interest. |
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Asymptomatic rapid COVID testing sites in Haringey Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Cabinet Member for Adults and Health considered a report which sought retrospective Cabinet Member approval to enter into a collaborative agreement with the Department of Health and Social Care to carry out mass testing of asymptomatic people for the Covid-19 virus at designated sites in the Borough.
The Cabinet Member sought assurance on the costs for the mass testing centres being fully covered by the government funding and not reaching a situation where there was a shortfall of funding and financial support required from the local authority. This was important given that the payments were calculated according to the number of tests administered. In response, it was noted that there was close attention being to collating evidence of cost and spend on the testing sites, including officer resources. The Council was working in line with other borough’s activity and taking forward similar actions to ensure government funding covered the costs and resources.
Assurance was provided that the model for the testing of asymptomatic people for the Covid-19 virus would continue to be reviewed to ensure it could be adapted to changing needs. There was consideration of the low demand being experienced by the centres but also factoring that this could increase when lock down eased and people wanted the assurance of a test when going to work or meeting family. It was noted that data collected showed that the location made a difference with most users coming to the centres from their local vicinity. Therefore, access to the testing centre would continue to be a key consideration and was felt likely to be a factor in increased use when the demand for testing increases. The plans outlined in this report would develop over time in response to national directives and local needs. This could also include provision of home testing.
The Cabinet Member highlighted that a significant part of the costs for this provision was staffing and information was sought on how staff could be utilised in periods when demand was lower. It was noted that there was a total of 85 staff working in the 4 testing centres who were mainly local and recruited through Hays and Haringey Works. This arrangement was working well and discussions were being taken forward with Connected Communities Team to understand the potential for these staff to be utilised for contract tracing, if required in the future, or to support Connected Communities resident contact activities.
Further to considering the report, the Cabinet Member for Adults and Health:
RESOLVED
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