Local Digital support for COVID-19 response
The MHCLG Local Digital team are supporting local government digital teams in their response to COVID-19 by:
This document is managed by the Local Digital team at MHCLG. We’re working closely with LOTI who are supporting London borough councils.
You can suggest additional links in this doc by posting in the #covid19 channel on the LocalGov Digital Slack workspace or emailing campaigns@localdigital.gov.uk.
You can apply for membership to LocalGov Digital Slack here. The channel we have recently set up is called #MHCLG-covid19-reseponse
Contents
Next event - Agenda can be found here
Virtual meeting and collaboration tools
Guidance for virtual meetings and workshops
Suppliers and other stakeholders
Directory of services - Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
Directory of Services - Buckinghamshire
Find a Support Service - London Borough of Hackney
Next event - Agenda can be found hereFriday 26 June 2020, 2:00pm - 3:30pm Topic: TBC How to joinRequest details for weekly call (you only need to do this once, details remain the same each week) Previous events20 March: Introduction - meeting notes & hangout chat text 27 March: Vulnerable residents - meeting notes & hangout chat text 3 April: Connecting volunteer support - meeting notes & hangout chat text 9 April: Local government functions - meeting notes & hangout chat text 17 April: Common COVID-19 challenges - meeting notes 24 April: Digital and data challenges - meeting notes & hangout chat text 1 May: Local Digital in the Ether - meeting notes 1, meeting notes 2 15 May: Phased recovery of services 1; Organisational culture 1 27 May: Phased recovery of services 2; Organisational culture 2 29 May: Reopening libraries; Digital inclusion meeting notes & recording 12 June: Organisational culture & remote working - meeting notes, recording & slide deck | Attendee etiquette
How to ask questionsWe will be using the chat function of Hangouts for attendees to ask questions. You can type your questions throughout the call, and other attendees will be able to answer. You’ll need to download the ‘Hangouts Meet’ app online (also available for Apple devices) to use the chat function from mobile. All useful links and resources shared in the chat will be added to the Local Digital support for COVID-19 response (master doc) after the call. |
Guidance and resources from the Local Government Association and key partners, including the latest official Government information relevant to local government. The LGA have also provided a summary of their COVID-19 support offer. | |
GOV.UK Coronavirus Information service on WhatsApp. | The GOV.UK Coronavirus Information Service is an automated ‘chatbot’ service which will allow the British public to get answers to the most common questions about coronavirus directly from the government. To use the free GOV.UK Coronavirus Information Service on WhatsApp, simply add 07860 064422 in your phone contacts and then message the word ‘hi’ in a WhatsApp message to get started. |
Official updates | Receive updates on COVID-19 from the World Health Organisation via WhatsApp/Facebook |
Slack |
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Meet-ups | OneTeamGov has taken London and #NotJustLondon meet-ups online every Wednesday morning, 8:30 - 9:30am |
Tool | What is it for? | Mobile app available? |
Groups video calls with internal and external participants. | Yes (‘Hangouts Meet’) | |
Used for large scale, participant-led events online. | No | |
Another free option. Also see these new Zoom resources to support the spike in new people using the tool. | Yes | |
Basic online whiteboard. Good for retros, allows you to vote on things. | No | |
Similar to above. Good for card sorting. | Yes | |
Online whiteboard. Good for mind mapping, user research mapping. | Yes | |
List-making tool. Good for Kanban boards, collaborating on to-do lists, and task tracking. | Yes |
Guidance | Source |
Rob M (Hackney) | |
Hackney | |
Paul B (Adur & Worthing) | |
Emma M (Camden) | |
Local Government Association | |
How to hold online committee meetings that are accessible to the public | Eddie C (LOTI) - this is still very much a working draft. Please comment in the deck if you have more specifics on the use case, process or best way of using the tech |
SocITM guidance on remote working | |
Guidance from Liverpool city council | |
What happened when Kirklees held it’s first remote cabinet meeting | Kirklee’s council guidance on virtual meetings |
Series of resources from Apolitical on topics such as remote working | |
Home-based work in the public sector: 8 immediate recommendations | Article from the World Bank regarding remote working |
Guidance from the National Cyber Security Centre |
Source and link | About |
GOV.UK is using 'coronavirus (COVID-19)’ | |
Mobile networks remove data charges for online NHS coronavirus advice | |
The suppliers in the catalogue have been contacted by CCS to confirm the offer and add more detail about what is available. Each of the goods and services offered has been categorised by what’s on offer and the region it is offered in. | |
Crown Commercial Service support with urgent commercial activity | |
Start sending emails and text messages within minutes | |
Start taking payments online instead of in person | |
Use GOV.UK PaaS to host your service in the cloud without worrying about infrastructure | |
GOV.UK - Offer coronavirus support from your business | Use this service to tell the government how your business might be able to help with the response to coronavirus |
Source and link | About |
Avoid repeating work that’s already been done by using GOV.UK styles, components and patterns | |
‘Design for crisis’ - Lou Downe | Lou Downe hosted a Zoom call on Monday 23 March about how we design services for crisis situations.
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Guidance for continuing user research while people must stay at home because of coronavirus | |
LocalGov Digital user research library - Coronavirus collection | User research conducted and shared by councils in response to coronavirus |
Survey for all councils to complete: https://localdigital.gov.uk/cybersurvey
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/digital-connectivity-portal; https://digitalinclusionleeds.com/
https://www.eventbrite.com/o/100-digital-leeds-17658106513
https://www.ifla.org/covid-19-and-libraries#reopening
https://read.alia.org.au/australian-libraries-responding-covid-19-checklist-reopening-libraries -
Recommendations-for-handling-physical-material-in-libraries-in-relation-to-covid-19.docx
Refuse tips
Bulky waste collections
Garden waste collection
Transport
Sport facilities
Gas safety checks
Other countries:
Directory of services - Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames | |
Link | |
Code | https://github.com/RoyalBoroughKingston?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=ck-&type=&language= |
Agency | |
Directory of Services - Buckinghamshire | |
Link | |
Code | |
Agency | |
Find a Support Service - London Borough of Hackney | |
Link | |
Code | |
Agency | |