Communities in Portsmouth to help shape plan to control coronavirus in the city

Under government guidance Portsmouth City Council will set up its first ever local engagement board made up of councillors and health bosses specifically to work with members of the public and community groups.

The board, which will be one of many set up by upper-tier councils across the country, will work with Portsmouth's local health protection board - made up of health authorities and portfolio holders such as education, leisure and housing - to create a tailor-made local outbreak plan.

Councillor Matthew Winnington, the council's health and wellbeing boss, said: 'Everything that's been done so far has been done on a purely national level. A lot of it has been poor and confusing and not very helpful for local action.

'It doesn't take into account local conditions, which could cause problems for us especially when looking at some of our issues as a seafront city. We are a city that attracts tourism, we have got different areas of deprivation in the city and we have got lots of people from different backgrounds spread across the city.

'We will be reaching out to community centres and community groups. The key is to keep people informed, to let them feed into this as well and to help them understand why we are doing certain things.'

The local engagement board will also include members of Healthwatch Portsmouth and the voluntary Hive network to boost the connection to the local community.

And both boards will work with neighbouring authorities to reduce the risk of the virus spreading.

Helen Atkinson, director of Public Health at Portsmouth City Council, added: 'In order to help life return as close to normality as possible for the greatest number of people in a safe and controlled way, it's a sensible approach for areas to have their own local outbreak control plans. This will help us monitor and quickly respond to any increase in cases of coronavirus in the city.

'A key part in the success of the local outbreak control plan is going to be a co-ordinated effort with local government, the NHS, businesses and employers, voluntary organisations and other community partners.

'This will be within the city and across the wider Hampshire and Isle of Wight region as we recognise that people may live and work in different areas.'

The final make up of the local engagement board and local health protection board will be decided at a health and wellbeing board meeting on Wednesday, June 17.

So far the government is allocating £300m of funding for the boards across the country but it is not yet known how it will be allocated.

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