Agenda item

To receive an update from the Councils Communications and Campaigns Lead.

The Chief Executive presented the report and advised it contained the most recent information, at the point of publication. However, the Board would appreciate the current situation was subject to constant rapid change.

The Board noted activity was taken on a regular basis and the council communications worked in partnership with other council departments, such as regulatory services, as well as with partners including category one and wider multi agencies view in terms of managing Covid.

The Island media were incredibly engaged in this work in terms of messaging and this would be ongoing. There was a considerable amount of coverage from the media and there was more work that could be done including work on the self-isolation tool kit.

Support was being provided for some Business Online Sessions scheduled on 13 October 2020 and tickets were available through Eventbrite on the council website. There was also media on the council Facebook page and communications had been issued.

The Board were advised the testing communications could be ramped up if needed.

The Assistant Chief Executive advised work on the preventative messaging would continue and that undertaking the preventative steps would make a difference.

All were grateful for the hard work of the Director of Public Health and his colleagues in respect of the work around communications messaging.

The Board appreciated now more than ever it was important to continue the good work and the steps being taken to make sure the Island did not get into the same situation as on the mainland.

The 7 October had seen the release of a residents e-newsletter and residents were encouraged to sign up for this. In addition, Geotargeting work was in progress to get messages out to people swiftly and the #Keeptheisland safe microsite had been set up.

The Board were advised the test and trace app would be launched nationally on the 24 September 2020, although no further action was required form the council in this regard. COVID 19 data published on a weekly basis.

The council’s Learning and Development team had created a module on outbreak management process for staff and proactive staff messaging was ongoing.

It was highlighted the Local Outbreak Engagement Board was an opportunity to provide feedback from residents, and  meetings would be monthly, the next being scheduled for 12 November 2020.

Cllr Hutchinson commented the media messages amounted to about 10 per cent of the work that was actually going on and advised he was only getting a few emails with queries, which led him to believe most of it was going well.

Cllr Peace questioned the level of uptake of the app on the Island. The Assistant Chief Executive advised they didn’t have that level of detail to hand and would take the issue back to the national team as a question.

Cllr Stewart summed up, with the importance to support each other, and we will get through this together. He thanked Isle of Wight Radio for his slot and advised the council was supporting the concept of a letter to residents.