Recovery, Renewal, Resilience

Such as ISO22301 'Business continuity management systems' from The British Standards Institution (BSI).

Guidance such as this addresses 'financial, legal, regulatory, environmental, reputational and emotional consequences arising from a risk or actual incident, and the consequences of activities associated with organizational recovery'. It also acknowledges the importance of flexible and scalable recovery in times of uncertainty.

In the UK, the NHS Volunteer Responder scheme had 750,000 registrations but many have not received any task. Untasked volunteers could become disillusioned, lowering motivation and encouraging them to opt out of the scheme. It may undermine their wellbeing as they question their contribution to the crisis response. It may lead to reputational challenges for the tasking organisation, and stop volunteers from registering for future initiatives. If there is spare capacity of volunteers, careful thought is needed to:

1. Communicate with, and address the motivation of, volunteers who have not been tasked
2. Identify a wider range of tasks that volunteers may be able to support
3. Identify a wider range of beneficiaries who need support (e.g. public services)

Reference: Prof Duncan Shaw, University of Manchester, UK

Also consider that experts within education have stated that social distancing within schools will not be possible at primary or secondary level.

Material for those supporting frontline workers has been developed using the latest evidence and drawing on expertise from across the world.

One-page resources are available on issues including: readiness, team dynamics, decision making, leadership, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), resilience. This resource is continually being added to.

Additionally, carefully consider inventory levels at every step in the supply chain. Modern supply chain and preferred supplier practices have struggled to ensure reliable and durable supply of masks and ventilators at the scale needed in this pandemic. When a (global) pandemic strikes this can remove the supplier and therefore the products from the market. Develop supply chain resilience through the use of several strategic suppliers rather than seeking exclusive supply from single manufacturers at low price points.

Reference: UK county Council, NHS Emergency Planner and an expert in Civil Contingency, Germany

Managing the quick and safe connection of volunteers to local communities and local services is a key issues in supporting response and recovery. In Sheffield, UK the development of targeted volunteer recruitment maps1 which flag up community hubs, describe roles and responsibilities in community hubs in the city and the local authority have proven to be central in building credible connections2.

The results of these efforts can be developed into a community action plan that encourages a city-wide approach to sharing resources, connecting communities and successfully utilising the voluntary sector.

This highlights the importance of the voluntary sector and the role volunteerism has played in response and the role it can play in recovery. This provides opportunities to bring the volunteering agenda into the fore for future emergencies to support resilience.

1 The Sheffield COVID Support map is made by Martin Fox - Sheffield Data for Good in collaboration with Voluntary Action Sheffield and in conversation with Louis Koseda - Foodhall.

2 https://www.vas.org.uk/what-we-do/covid19/

Training in psychosocial first aid can help here to increase the network of people who can provide psychosocial support. This can facilitate the population's recovery. This acknowledges that some will need help at a professional level.

Reference: UK County Council

Also consider Faith Communities of all faiths who carry so much knowledge of their community and the skills to help. These organisations are embedded in the community and can help facilitate recovery through support and shared information.

Reference: County Council, UK

Consider the redeployment of government staff and volunteers can help at the homes and for domiciliary care. Testing of staff and available PPE is essential for these support services to work.

Reference: UK County Council

These groups (including the Facebook groups) rapidly led the humanitarian aid to vulnerable people when (they may perceive) no-one else was present. They may now be feeling pushed out by 'officials' who now are taking a leading role in their communities which can mean their reason for existing is being taken over by authorities.

For example: age, gender, and race. In the UK of 2,250 adults surveyed 49% said they had felt more anxious and depressed than normal, 38% said they were having trouble sleeping and, 22% said they were concerned about significant money problems. If current measures are to persist, these figures are likely to rise.

For example, a study in the UK showed that among 24% of 16-24-year-olds said they were finding it extremely difficult to cope with the lockdown. Only 11% of those aged 45 to 75 said they were struggling. While older populations may be more susceptible to the physical impacts of COVID-19, younger people may be impacted more psychologically.

This can reflect different experiences of the crisis and its effect on our lives which are more uplifting and positive. Volunteers can help with this, as can the voluntary sector. Check out the "Together Cumbria" social media accounts which are run by voluntary organisations on behalf of the resilience partnership.

This can include the number of infected people, their status, characteristics (e.g. age, gender), number of inquiries to the call centre, number of people using subways, etc. The city can also provide the website's source code as open-data, so that other municipalities and institutions can use the data and replicate similar webpages.

In the UK, there has been a surge in volunteerism with 750,000 people signing up to the NHS volunteer scheme using a phone app, and an estimated 250,000 extra people signing up at the country’s volunteer centres1. It is important to consider how such volunteers could be utilised during recovery and how they can move beyond the delivery of support to vulnerable people2.

Volunteers could for example be deployed to relieve first responders, make the environment safer for responders and support healthy living.

Possible regulated and unregulated tasks include:

• Dog walking and pet care
• Reducing risk of infection to critical workers and freeing critical workers to deliver tasks with higher risk
• Support at food banks (sorting, filling boxes, loaders, delivery drivers, cleaners, washing up)
• Cleaning teams (hospitals, ambulance stations, care homes at 1am, laundry)
• Reducing loneliness of vulnerable people (supporting library swaps, free puzzles, driving to appointments)
• Social wellbeing programmes (knit keepsakes, gardening in care homes/households, singing outside care homes)
• Disinfecting (cash machines, petrol stations, play parks, trolleys)
• Community support (maintaining queues, filling petrol, maintaining community areas)
• Support for the food chain (picking fruit, tending small farm animals)

There is a wide range of support that volunteers could provide that go beyond the important task of supporting vulnerable people, and beyond the immediate needs of response and into long-term recovery. Consideration can be given to maintain the surge in volunteerism and community spirit to foster a culture of care.

1https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/apr/13/a-million-volunteer-to-help-nhs-and-others-during-covid-19-lockdown

2 https://page.bsigroup.com/COVID-19-Community-Resilience-and-Volunteers

Consider how this service can be sustained, how expectations are managed and the welfare of volunteers is considered.

Reference: UK County Council

In the UK, 26,000 people have responded to the call for a 'land army' of UK-based workers to fill the potential 80,000 person seasonal farm labour shortage in the fruit and vegetable sector as it enters the crucial spring and summer harvest period.

Reference: Resilience expert, UK

Local government plays a key role in building trust in new measures and tackling misinformation. There may be a need for this in the UK. Of 2,250 adults surveyed:

• 15% of people thought seasonal flu was deadlier than coronavirus
• 31% believed "most people" in the UK had already had the virus without realising it
• 39% think they should be shopping "little and often to avoid long queues", when the advice is only to go out to shop for basic necessities and as infrequently as possible.
• 25% believed the conspiracy theory that coronavirus was "probably created in a lab" - one of several conspiracy theories currently circulating on social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube.

Surveys like this help your organisation identify areas where their messaging is not as clear as it needs to be. Local government would benefit from continuing surveys on public opinion.

In this briefing, we present an initial framework to assess the impact of COVID-19, building upon the UK Government’s National Recovery Guidance and Emergency Response and Recovery Guidance. This framework provides the structure to document national/international early recovery lessons for COVID-19 in The Manchester Briefing.

The framework asks you to consider types of impact, and how you can address each to enable recovery to take place. To view this framework, follow the source link below to TMB Issue 1 (p.7).

Local government should analyse the impact of Covid-19 on all aspects of their cities. These should be formed as impact assessments that analyse:

• Local Community Impacts (from national guidance)
• Humanitarian Impact Assessment (from ERF Humanitarian Assistance Plan)
• Equality Impact Assessments
• Multi-agency impact analysis

Local government should assign appropriate senior officers and other knowledgeable parties to the Recovery Coordination Group. These staff will plan recovery by designing and implementing aspects of recovery and decide how this can be done more effectively for the recovery of all of society. Key roles in the Recovery Coordination Group includes:

• Strategic Lead
• Tactical Lead
• Secretariat/Programme Management Officer
• Functional representatives: Appropriate staff from relevant sectors

Reference: Essex County Council-Emergency Planning & Resilience, UK

Local government should ask the Recovery Co-ordination Group to develop a wide-ranging recovery strategy and action plan, focussing on short, medium and long term activities. This group should include governance arrangements and sub-groups to address particular aspects of recovery and should plan for the transition between response and recovery phases of Covid-19.

Reference: Essex County Council-Emergency Planning & Resilience, UK

Local government should collect stakeholder and community feedback on actions and their delivery. This will monitor and evaluate strategies to ensure stakeholders' needs are being met and that actions are having the desired impacts.

Reference: Essex County Council-Emergency Planning & Resilience

Local government should support community recovery by disseminating free international standards to enhance community recovery. The British Standards Institution (BSI) has made the following standards available for free to planners:

• BS ISO 22319:2017 Community resilience - Guidelines for planning the involvement of spontaneous volunteers
• BS ISO 22330:2018 Guidelines for people aspects of business continuity
• BS ISO 22395:2018 Community resilience. Guidelines for supporting vulnerable persons in an emergency
• BS ISO 22320:2018 Emergency management. Guidelines for incident management

Local government should support business recovery by disseminating free international standards to the business community. BSI has made the following standards available for free to businesses:

• PD CEN/TS 17091:2018 Crisis management: Building a strategic capability
• BS EN ISO 22301:2019 Business continuity management systems - Requirements
• BS EN ISO 22313:2020 Business continuity management systems. Guidance on the use of ISO 22301
• ISO/TS 22318:2015 Guidelines for supply chain continuity
• ISO 22316:2017 Organizational resilience. Principles and attributes
• Risk Management
• BS ISO 31000:2018 Risk management - Guidelines
• BS 31100:2011 Risk management - Code of practice and guidance for the implementation of BS ISO 31000

Local government should strengthen and support public health systems by ensuring representation of all sectors on the Recovery Coordination Group. The Recovery Coordination Group should take multiple actions simultaneously to ensure swift progress on recovery is made.

Local government should offer a 'Mutual Aid Fund' to help those charities and other community organisations that are in financial difficulty and support the comeback of the economy through city activities. This should receive donations from all aspects of society including, individuals, organisations, and others.

Reference: Chief Resilience Officers, Italy & UK

Local government should ensure empathy is prominent in the Recovery Coordination Group including in all strategic decision making and activities and the application of 'Principles of Resilience' to provide an all-of-society approach that considers need and their circumstance.

Reference: Essex County Council-Emergency Planning & Resilience, UK

Local government should identify strategies to tackle spikes in gender based violence as a result of isolation, social distancing and quarantine measures. They should consider requirements for increased social and legal support for elongated/reoccurring lockdowns, and holistic partnerships with the voluntary sector to support and protect those at risk and educate both men and women.

References: Professor from the International Center for Collaborative Research on Disaster Risk Reduction; Hospital Executive; Chief Resilience Officer; UK Local Resilience Forum

Local government should target recovery plans to different communities based on how they have been impacted and their resultant recovery needs. This should take a strategic approach to ensure that all of society are considered in the plans and that these vary across regions (e.g. levels of unemployment, age of population). This should develop briefing packs to assess the needs of recovery in a variety of sectors.

Additional reference: American Red Cross, USA

Local government should create a Recovery and Humanitarian Advisory Group to specifically address the multifaceted needs of vulnerable people during the recovery. This group should provide strategic overview, co-ordination, and direction of work being done across the response and within local governments which is relevant to 'humanitarian assistance' and 'recovery'. This group would aim to minimise duplication of efforts and gaps and reduces the risk that people assume that widespread help is being delivered when actually more targeted is being done - leaving gaps.

The Recovery and Humanitarian Advisory Group should:

• appoint a Chair and identify members
• provide advice during the response phase
• encourage empathy in strategic decision making as well as a people-focused approach
• appoint a co-ordinator to help administer the group

The RHAG will provide specific humanitarian assistance information into the Recovery Coordination Group (and may eventually be subsumed into that group).

Reference: Essex County Council-Emergency Planning & Resilience

Local government should create a Recovery Co-ordination Group to co-ordinate a wide ranging, county-wide approach to recovery. This group should provide strategic leadership and coordination to all partners across the city as it seeks to recover from Covid-19. This group has a broad remit, and thereby differs to the narrow remit of the Recovery and Humanitarian Advisory Group which will provide reports into the Recovery Co-ordination Group.

Reference: Essex County Council-Emergency Planning & Resilience, UK

Local government should initiate a Recovery Coordination Group to begin planning the recovery of the effects of Covid-19. At a strategic level, the Corporate Leadership Team should appoint a lead strategic officer to provide strategic oversight and decision making for the recovery.

Reference: Essex County Council-Emergency Planning & Resilience, UK