The majority of the LGA’s work is now focused on helping local government address COVID-19 and its consequences
The LGA has re-focused its support offer to councils to reflect the issues around the pandemic that you are identifying and sharing with us.
As your needs continue to evolve, our support offer will change, but it currently covers leadership, financial resilience, adult social care, children’s services, workforce and communications support, digital connectivity and much more.
The scale of the challenge that councils face requires strong, responsive and resilient leadership. To address this, our leadership support offer has been improved so that councillors and officers have access to learning resources and a forum in which to share their experiences with their peers.
We have invested in online leadership tools that will enable councillors to continue to play their vital community leadership role in this national effort. A series of webinars will be available, with the first on the role of ward councillors in responding to COVID-19.
Looking ahead, there will be specific content on the roles of cabinet members and finance portfolio holders. The webinars will combine pre-recorded short videos and live discussion.
Our workforce team has been equally busy supporting councils. They have been working closely with Social Work England and the Government on Social Work Together, a campaign to encourage former social workers to return to the profession to support councils. This campaign runs parallel with the existing Return to Social Work programme.
As first was going to press, more than 1,000 former social workers had registered their interest.
In line with the Government’s social distancing guidance, responding to the COVID-19 threat in a way that protects residents and staff has been a serious challenge. That is why the LGA has been making the case for more digital flexibility, such as the ability to hold meetings remotely.
With the majority of council staff working from home, and with councils putting in place digital solutions – such as befriending schemes, to tackle isolation – digital connectivity is more important now than ever.
We continue to work with mobile and broadband operators on your behalf to identify the issues that poor connectivity is having on our workforces and communities.
This is just a snapshot of how the LGA is continuing to support you during the current climate. Please use the link below to find out more.