Councillor Pat Hackett introduced a report on the New Ferry Explosion Scrutiny Review carried out by a cross party panel set up by the Business Overview & Scrutiny Committee, consisting of Councillors Dave Mitchell, Jo Bird, Steve Hayes, and Mike Collins.  The agreed outcomes were:

·  to ensure that all necessary steps had been taken to address those residents, traders and other people affected by the incident; and

·  to consider what improvements could be made by the Council and partner organisation in their response to future disasters. 

The review had been carried out during November and December 2019 when there had been several interviews and stakeholder sessions held.  The full report, recommendations and scoping document were attached as appendices to the report.

The eight recommendations were as follows:

“

1.  The Council should focus on putting people directly affected first. For example, making hardship payments to victims as soon as the scale of a disaster and needs of the victims has been fully identified. In certain urgent circumstances, the Local Authority should consider making these payments without the approval of full Council. Bespoke support should also be included, through the NHS, housing services and Victim Support or other advocacy providers.

2.  The Panel notes that some residents and traders felt they didn’t know who to turn to. Contacts numbers for the public to use should be coordinated, up to date and available for the public to use immediately, via a centralized 0800 number. This should be publicised online and through the media as well as in paper copies. Translators and British Sign Language should be made available for those who need them. Social media to be used to convey information and updates and special information channels to be created such as text messaging. Key numbers such as victims, injuries and property damage should be put out by communications to avoid any media under reporting.

3.  Any future incidents that involve significant damage to a site or area, the local authority should ensure that the site is ‘made good’ and landscaped once they are able to access it legally. This could be through grassing, hoardings or involving the local community with murals. Where possible the area should be screened to reduce the visual impact of the site on the community. The council should also actively attempt to improve the sites before we have legal access to the properties. Once the site is available for regeneration, the wider community should be consulted as much as possible to include their ideas and should be delivered.

4.  There should be pro-active support for traders, as stated in the All Hazards Emergency Plan. More communication, promotion and marketing with council support. Open for business signs should be installed as soon as the area is secure. National government should be approached and requested to make payments for loss of trade to businesses consistent with other places affected by disasters such as Salisbury and Whalley Bridge.

5.  The authority should delay billing until insurance companies are taking claims and/or  ...  view the full minutes text for item 115