The Cornwall We Know

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Welcome to The Cornwall We Know, where you will find a variety of intelligence and insight, selected from internal and external sources, to help inform our understanding of Cornwall and the impact that COVID-19 has had on our residents and businesses.

Welcome to The Cornwall We Know, where you will find a variety of intelligence and insight, selected from internal and external sources, to help inform our understanding of Cornwall and the impact that COVID-19 has had on our residents and businesses.

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  • Intelligence Bulletin - 24th June, 2020

    over 3 years ago
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    Local Impact 

    • The cumulative number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly stands at 594 as at 22 June (Source: UK.GOV) which is a rate of 104.5 per 100,000. This represents an increase of 3 cases since Tuesday of last week. Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly is now the 5th lowest rate of all Upper Tier Councils in England (falling from 4th in previous weeks) with Devon’s rates remaining lower – Rutland (88.2), Dorset (98.8) North East Lincolnshire (103.2) and Devon (104.2) have lower rates.  
    • 203 deaths have been registered for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly residents (up to and including the 12 June) which mentioned "novel coronavirus (COVID-19); accounting for 7% of all deaths over the period.  
    • Overall; there were no additional COVID-19 related deaths from the previous week (week ending 5 June). This is the first week without any COVID-19 related deaths since week ending 13 March.  
    • There were no COVID-19 care home deaths in the latest reported week. The cumulative number of deaths involving COVID-19 in care homes that occurred up to and including 12 June remains at 66 accounting for 8% of all deaths in care homes over the period.  
    • The cumulative number of deaths involving COVID-19 in hospital remains at 119 deaths, with a further 18 in the community/ at home.  
    • Taking into account the size and age structure of the population, there were 28.9 deaths involving COVID-19 per 100,000 people across Cornwall between March and May this compares to 81.9 per 100,000 persons in England and the South West, which saw the lowest age-standardised of all regions, with a mortality rate of 41.2 deaths per 100,000 population. 

    SOCIAL IMPACT 

    • VCSE sector survey results show that 92% of organisations have cancelled part of their usual provision, and just a quarter reported that their services were operating as normal, with the rest having moved their services online in order to still support their regular users, and new ones. Most groups reported a downturn in income (78%), with previous fundraising activities and events, membership fees, shops and charges for premises hire and courses disappearing.   

     National Impact 

    ECONOMIC IMPACT 

    • ONS data shows a fairly substantial regional variation in the proportion of businesses seeing a decrease in turnover. 
    • A new report by the County Council's Network outlines the financial impact of Coronavirus on councils, which could run over several years, leaving England’s largest local authorities in an unsustainable position. The study, carried out by Grant Thornton and based on data provided by county and unitary authorities, shows that all 39 of councils included in the study could use up their available reserves in 2021/22 to cover a funding shortfall of £2.5bn. The report sets out that England’s largest councils could be facing the prospect of ‘large scale reductions’ in services to set legal budgets this year. 
    • An LGiU round up provides an outline of each of the new funding streams and looks at how they are being allocated. 
    • The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has published a report detailing the financial risks to local government posed by the COVID-19 crisis. It has found that local authorities in affluent areas are more at risk from loss of income and those authorities with higher levels of deprivation face more financial risk from increased service demands. 
    • The Local Government Association (LGA) has responded to the above report by the IFS stating that although the Government has provided funding for local government to assist with the cost of the COVID-19 crisis, further funding and financial flexibilities are now needed to help councils meet a shortfall which we estimate could reach at least a further £6 billion this year 
    • New report by the Centre for Policy Studies (written by Sajid Javid) states the crisis will exacerbate regional inequalitiesIt is the regions which were already suffering from low productivity, low levels of capital intensification and lack of investment which have been most affected by the crisis. The report recommends “a revitalised devolution agenda to level-up the UK, with more City Deals and increasing the powers and capacity of devolved authorities to invest for growth”.  
    • A report by DevoConnect looks at local variation in recovery from past recessions and current national recovery projections. It then estimates long run recovery rates for different local areas. The results show clear regional differences. The average GVA loss relative to trend after 5 years is highest in the North East, at 11.7%. The lowest average GVA loss is in the South East, with a 5.4% decline relative to trend predicted by 2025. Given this regional effect, with the North and the Midlands likely to be hit much harder that the South East and parts of London, we outline a roadmap to recovery that goes from ‘shoring up’ to ‘levelling up’. The government must shore up local economies in the short-run to limit economic hardship and to head-off greater unemployment down the line. In the long-run the government must return with renewed commitment to the levelling-up agenda it outlined pre-outbreak. This means closing the economic gaps that persist across the country and are set to be exacerbated by Covid-19. 
    • The Resolution Foundation has done an audit of household wealth and the initial effects of the coronavirus crisis on saving and spending in Great Britain. It finds that household wealth in the UK is distributed very unevenly and the pounds-and-pence gap between richer and poorer families has increased markedly over the past decade. The primary driver of larger wealth gaps between families has been rising asset prices driven by falling interest rates. Key workers and workers in shut down sectors are less likely to have savings. This means those more exposed to the health and economic crises are less likely to have savings to protect living standards if their incomes fall. Poorer families are more likely to be saving less or increasing debt as a result of the coronavirus crisis than wealthier families. 
    • ONS data highlights the possibility of widening economic inequalities as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown. With most people having been expected to work from home where possible, we can see that people in jobs that had previously allowed homeworking had higher average incomes in the financial year ending 2019. 
    • Research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) shows that the pandemic crisis has caused 
      • 7 in 10 families with children claiming Universal Credit or Child Tax Credit to cut back on essentials;
      • 6 in 10 to borrow money; 
      • over 5 in 10 to be behind on rent or other essential bills.  
    • JRF are calling for an urgent, temporary, £20 per week increase to the child element of Universal Credit and Child Tax Credit as this would directly ease the pressure on care-givers and help to support parents to nurture and look after their children in the way that we want all children to be cared for. 

    HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE  

    • The annual Budget Survey by ADASS (Association of Directors of Adult Social Services) reveals the scale of the financial impact of the pandemic and its very real consequences on the care and support of millions, the ability of local authorities to fund adult care, and the very viability of thousands of caring organisations that provide vital support that enables millions of us to live good lives. It shows that next year there will be a lack of resources to ensure decent levels of service.  
    • Millions of people across the UK have become unpaid carers for loved ones due to the coronavirus outbreak, new research has found. Data estimates that 4.5 million more people are now caring for older, disabled or seriously ill family or friends as a result of the pandemic. This is on top of 9.1 million people who were already caring for loved ones before the crisis erupted. 
    • Children are developing serious mental health conditions, including post-traumatic stress, because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Childhood Trust who provide services to disadvantaged children in London says disadvantage is leaving children extremely vulnerable. As well as anxiety about their loved ones' health, many children are facing social isolation and hunger. Lack of internet access is also setting disadvantaged children back. 

    ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT 

    • The effects of lockdown are on course to reduce emissions this year by nearly four times the UK's target for becoming carbon neutral by 2050. Analysis shows that if we progress in a linear way, carbon emissions will reduce by 11% this year - a much bigger drop than the 3% target set by the Committee on Climate Change, a group that advises the government 
    • Traffic on Britain's roads is now at a similar level to that seen in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the AA says. It slumped to between 35% and 40% of the pre-coronavirus volume at the beginning of lockdown but has since doubled to around 75%. 
    • London congestion charge rises to £15 a day and extends to 7 days a week. The temporary measures are being introduced under the terms of Transport for London's £1.6bn rescue package from the government.  
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  • Interactive Dashboard

    over 3 years ago
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    Please click on the arrows in the bottom right to expand the screen, and click through the coloured priority buttons below to navigate interactively. 


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  • Intelligence Bulletin - 17th June, 2020

    over 3 years ago
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    LOCAL IMPACT

    ECONOMIC IMPACT 

    • Analysis by the Resolution Foundation shows that some of the UK’s most deprived towns and cities, many reliant on tourism or with workers concentrated in low-paid service jobs, look set to be hit hardest in this crisis. Taking a place-based focus, they note an additional impact on not-strictly-tourism businesses in tourism-reliant areas (including hospitality but also stretching to retail, leisure, and other parts of the economy) because their demand has not been able to travel to them. In this sense, areas traditionally reliant on tourism have suffered a double whammy in lockdown – encompassing both supply restrictions and a significant reduction in demand 


    National Impact 

     YouGov polling shows that government approval ratings in the UK and USA continue their decline. Only 41% of Britons say the government is managing the outbreak well, versus 56% who say it is mishandling it. This gives a net score of -15, down from -6 the week previously. This means that domestically the British government are seen by the population to be handling the crisis less well than Americans think of their own government. The Trump administration’s response to the crisis currently generates a net score of -12, down from -7 the week before, with 41% of Americans saying the government is performing well compared to 53% who say it is performing poorly. 

    ECONOMIC IMPACT

    •  ONS data shows that of businesses in the UK continuing to trade, and who sell goods or services online, 32% responded that online sales have increased. The volume of job adverts in catering and hospitality between 29 May and 5 June 2020 declined to a record low of 18.1% of its 2019 level. 
    • The Resolution Foundation shows that while the effects of this crisis on the labour market have been bottom heavy, with lower earners most affected, falls in income have been more evenly shared across the income distribution. 37 per cent of adults in the bottom 40 per cent of working-age incomes report income falls since the outbreak began, compared to 35 per cent of adults in the top 40 per cent of incomes. 
    • Changes in spending, though, have a much stronger distributional gradient. 57 per cent of adults in the top quintile of working-age family incomes have experienced falling outgoings, compared with 30 per cent in the bottom quintile. Rather than being indicative of income falls, this is likely to reflect ‘enforced saving’ as a result of lockdown restrictions on non-essential spending. 
    • More than one-fifth of usual household spending has not been possible during the lockdown, ONS analysis reveals. In the financial year ending March 2019, UK households spent an average of £182 per week on activities that have since been largely prevented by government guidelines (such as travel, holidays and meals out). This is equivalent to 22% of a usual weekly budget of £831, money that households could be saving, spending in other areas or using to cover any loss of income. 
    • Step Change shows that one in five (19%) new clients said experiencing unemployment or redundancy was a main reason for debt, up from 16% at the same time last year. 
    • The Resolution Foundation finds that while the earnings hit has been widely experienced across tenure groups, renters are one-and-a-half to two times more likely to have fallen behind with their housing payments compared to mortgaged home owners. Young people and those renting may find it difficult to cut back on spending because they spend a lower proportion of their budget on goods and services that are not essential. Renters also spend a higher proportion of their budget on essential items that cannot be cut back: private renters spend more than 60% of their weekly budget on household essentials. 
    • RSN survey results show that 53% of respondents noted a rise in reports of homelessness /rough sleeping in rural areas due to covid-19, particularly with those who were unable to stay with family, friends or sofa surfing due to households isolating. 

    SOCIAL IMPACT 

    • An RSN survey shows that 40% of those that responded, (there were 92 responses from organisations), had noted an increase in reports of domestic abuse. There were concerns that people may not be able to report incidents, due to being isolated with the perpetrator during lockdown.  In addition, lack of public transport which has been further reduced in lockdown and normal places of face to face support only being available online have created additional issues for those in rural areas. 
    • Contacts to NSPCC helpline about the impact of domestic abuse on children have increased by 32% since the start of the lockdown, to an average of one an hourSince the lockdown 1,500 adults contacted the NSPCC Helpline about the risks to children who are trapped behind closed doors. 58% led to referrals or a referral update to the local authority. 

    HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE  

    • ONS interactive map to explore the number of COVID-19 deaths in your area. 

    • Between 25 May and 7 June 2020, ONS estimated that an average of 0.06% of the community population had COVID-19 (95% confidence interval: 0.02% to 0.12%); this equates to an average of 33,000 people in England (95% confidence interval: 14,000 to 68,000). 
    • ONS data also shows that people living in more deprived areas have continued to experience COVID-19 mortality rates more than double those living in less deprived areas. General mortality rates are normally higher in more deprived areas, but COVID-19 appears to be increasing this effect 
    • The pandemic, and the wider governmental and societal response, have brought health inequalities into sharp focus. People facing the greatest deprivation are experiencing a higher risk of exposure to COVID-19 and existing poor health puts them at risk of more severe outcomes if they contract the virus. This is exposing the structural disadvantage and discrimination faced by parts of the black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. The Health Foundation argues that restoring the nation to good health will require a new social compact, backed by a national cross-departmental health inequalities strategy. Action needed will include protecting incomes, improving the quality of jobs and homes, and supporting critical voluntary and community services. 
    • There is clear evidence that black and minority ethnic groups are at higher risk of dying from COVID-19 than the rest of the population though that risk may not be the same for all ethnic groups. Data from the ONS published on 7 May show that, after adjusting for age, men and women of black ethnicity were at highest risk. They were more than four times as likely to die from COVID-19 compared to people of white ethnicity. Why? The answer to this question is complex. Ethnic inequalities in health in the UK have been extensively documented before COVID-19. A wide variety of explanations for these have been examined, ranging from upstream social and economic inequalities to downstream biological factors. Given the complexity of the systems that produce poor outcomes for black and ethnic minority groups, there is a real risk that the imprudent use of statistical adjustment techniques in studies of COVID-19 deaths may obscure the role of some upstream issues. 
    • New data shows a significant increase in deaths of people with a learning disability as a result of Covid-19. Between 10 April and 15 May 2020, 386 people who were receiving care from learning disability and/or autism services died. In the same period last year 165 people died. This represents a 134% increase.  There are concerns about access to testing for people with learning disabilities in care homes. Until 5 June 2020 care homes could only order testing kits if they were looking after people aged over 65 or people with dementia. This left care homes for younger people with learning disabilities without access to testing kits. Mencap said this might result in “more people with a learning disability falling through the gap when it comes to accessing vital social care support.” 
    • ONS data shows that in May 2020, just over 7 in 10 disabled adults (73.6%) reported they were "very worried" or "somewhat worried" about the effect that the coronavirus (COVID-19) was having on their life (69.1% for non-disabled adults); this represents a decrease compared with April 2020, when nearly 9 in 10 (86.3%) disabled adults reported this. A higher proportion of disabled people than non-disabled people were worried about the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on their well-being (62.4% for disabled people compared with 49.6% of non-disabled people); their access to groceries, medication and essentials (44.9% compared with 21.9%); their access to health care and treatment for non-coronavirus-related issues (40.6% compared with 21.2%); and their health (20.2% compared with 7.3%) in May 2020. 
    • IFS shows that the COVID-19 episode has had substantial negative impacts on mental health across the population. The biggest impacts have been on the gender and age groups – broadly women and the young – that already had relatively low levels of mental health. Pre-existing inequalities in mental health have therefore been exacerbated by the crisis. 

     

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  • Performance Report

    about 3 years ago
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  • Performance Report

    almost 3 years ago
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  • Performance Report

    over 2 years ago
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  • Council Performance Report - 2021/22 Q2

    over 2 years ago
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  • Council Performance Report - 2021/22 Q3

    about 2 years ago
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  • Equality and Diversity Dashboard

    almost 2 years ago
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  • Council Performance Report - 2021/22 - Q4

    almost 2 years ago
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Page last updated: 22 Mar 2024, 11:51 AM