Our priorities during this period have been in particular to support East of England LGA’s Chief Executives, via the bi weekly Covid-19 meetings, and the Heads of HR network through the chatter online forums, the helpdesk and the various meetings.
We have been supporting councils to coordinate and deliver a whole range of critical requirements during the Covid-19 response phase, rapidly digesting and disseminating key pieces of guidance, seeking clarification, and sharing intelligence and good practice in the response being implemented across the region, working closely with the national LGA, and our NHS partners, and ensuring the voice and needs of East of England local authorities is active and heard in all the regional and national discussions and decisions.
We have also analysed the financial surveys and returns councils have made in response to the Covid-19 crisis:
- Providing a regional view of the additional monies being applied for/drawn down
- Understanding shortfalls and gaps councils now face in meeting the needs of vulnerable people, in lost income and additional expenditure which so far exceeds additional government funding
- Assessing a range of other key financial and economic pressures that are arising across the region.
We have analysed the position across each of the Local Enterprise Partnerships under a number of key themes for businesses, to assess the scale of the impact in sectors and workplaces, and how this emerging position will affect the East of England’s approach to economic recovery.
The work for the HR community mirrors this ,in terms of digesting and disseminating guidance on workforce issues in conjunction with the national LGA workforce team, working with other regional Employer Organisations across the country to highlight difficulties, and sharing good practice across and between regions, and up to national.
Through the chatter group and the helpdesk, we have answered individual queries for authorities on interpretation of guidance and common approaches. We have started virtual Heads of HR meetings, the first one was held at the end of May and included representatives from over 40 authorities.
We have also disseminated the two workforce data surveys and will be looking at the East of England data to draw out any common issues.