Covid 19 update for Council members
Dear Colleague
Firstly can I wish all of you a very Happy New Year. I hope that it proved to be a safe and peaceful time.
As you will now be aware the First Minister announced today a further national lockdown. I hope to get further guidance tomorrow on what impact this will have for members and where the extension of home working can be managed in line with new Scottish Government guidance.
Any member who has been issued with a Shielding letter should work from home. If home working is not suitable due to the type of job then you need to have an urgent conversation with your line manager and a risk assessment undertaken.
In the meantime I have cut and pasted below a message from corporate comms which helpfully provides a link to the SG website.
I expect to be back in touch over the next day or two.
Robin Taggart
Branch Secretary
Unison (Inverclyde Branch)
“Colleagues,
This may not be the happiest start to 2021 but, before I let you know some important information, I would like to wish you a Happy New Year.
Following the announcement by the First Minister to the Scottish Parliament today of a new temporary lockdown from tomorrow (Tuesday 5 January 2020) for mainland Scotland, including Inverclyde, I wanted to let you know about some immediate action taken.
This afternoon members of the council’s Corporate Management Team (CMT) met to review the announcements made and examine any immediate issues.
Tomorrow morning the council’s resilience management team (CRMT) and the health and social care partnership’s Local Resilience Management Team (LRMT) will meet and following that the CMT will review any further issues raised.
It is likely that some services during this temporary lockdown may need to be prioritised to make sure that the council and health and social care partnership can support the measures that will be required to support our community through this. We will communicate these through the covid-19 briefings and direct through your line manager or supervisor.
Before Christmas at the announcement of the move to level four, managers were reminded of the need to maximise homeworking where possible. Clearly as a public service supporting our communities through this difficult time, that is not possible for every service, but if you are unsure please speak to your line manager or supervisor.
It is crucially important that, as you did throughout 2020, you continue to do what you can to support our community while as an individual sticking to the national guidance and the arrangements within your service.
The Scottish Government has published guidance about this new temporary lockdown at their website. Supporting the temporary lockdown and the public health guidance is the way we protect ourselves, protect others and protect Inverclyde.
Regards
Aubrey Fawcett
Chief Executive
Inverclyde Council“
