Narrative Report
Suffolk County Council 3 Narrative Report
be 3.3% higher in 2021 - 2022 compared to 2020 - 2021. Using the Institute of Public Care forecast
data for Suffolk, the elderly population with a long-term illness (and consequently a more likely need of
social care services) is growing at an even faster rate than the national average. It will be 5.6% higher
in Suffolk in 2021 - 2022 compared to 2020 - 2021. For every 100 elderly people within Suffolk with a
long-term illness, there are 27 customers receiving social care. If this ratio continued, by 2021 - 2022
there would be an additional 404 customers. The Directorate was particularly impacted by the COVID-
19 pandemic, having to fully orient itself to manage the response to it. In particular this required the
Directorate to support care providers financially and practically to re-configure their provision to support
effective infection control, ensuring that social care could continue to be delivered to elderly and
vulnerable adults in a safe and secure manner. In addition, the Directorate worked closely with the NHS
to ensure hospital discharges were managed effectively, and in so doing help enable health
professionals to focus on the treatment and management of COVID-19.
2.2 The Children and Young People Directorate deliver a range of statutory duties in relation to the safety
and welfare of children and young people. These include Early Help services, 0-19 year Healthy Child
service, Education & Learning, Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, Social Care Services,
Fostering & Adoption, Disabled Children’s Services, and Youth Justice. In Suffolk, at 31 March 2021
there were 113 maintained schools and 210 academies and free schools. In addition, there were 498
children subject to Child Protection Plans, 2,129 other Children in Need, 1,580 children supported by
Early Help Services, and 5,907 children with Education, Health and Care Plans. This data is in line with
that of Statistical Neighbour Local Authorities. The impact of COVID-19 has been that families have
been trying to contain issues for longer and children have been less visible to services. The mental
health and wellbeing of children and families have been affected. The longer-term impact may be seen
in financial hardship and a potentially widening attainment gap for disadvantaged children.
2.3 The Public Health Directorate consists of the following service areas: Health Improvement and
Protection Services, Localities and Partnerships (which includes Libraries) and Knowledge &
Intelligence. Public Health provide and commission a wide range of services to improve the health and
lives of Suffolk people including healthy lifestyles, health protection and advice.
The Directorate was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Alongside its business-as-
usual activities, it needed to substantially scale up its activities in order for it to be able to lead the
Council’s response to COVID-19 within the community, and coordinate with the NHS and other partners
in the delivery of the Suffolk Local Outbreak Control Plan. This included ensuring there was effective
testing and tracing for COVID-19 within Suffolk, managing and containing COVID-19 outbreaks where
these occurred, and providing assistance and support for the vulnerable within the community.
2.4 The Fire and Rescue and Public Safety Directorate consists of the Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service,
Trading Standards and the Joint Emergency Planning Unit.
The Fire and Rescue Service vision is to work together to make Suffolk a place where people lead safe
and healthy lives. To do this it provides prevention, protection and emergency response services to
local communities across the county and supports neighbouring and other fire services in the event of
larger incidents. The county has 35 fire stations with 4 full time, 2 day-crewed and 37 on-call fire engines
with associated 999 control, training and support functions. The service is increasingly provided from
collaborative bases with blue light and other partner services.
Trading Standards vision is for a ‘Rogue-Free Suffolk’. The delivery objectives supporting this are: To
build resilient communities who say ‘no’ to scams and rogue traders, to support genuine Suffolk
business, to take action against rogue traders, and to carry out market surveillance and use intelligence
to target available resources most effectively.
The Emergency Planning and Business Continuity functions enable the Council to work in partnership
with other organisations during emergencies to protect the public, to ensure critical services continue
and to rebuild communities after any incident. These services are provided through a Joint Emergency
Planning partnership with Suffolk District and Borough Councils.
2.5 The Growth, Highways and Infrastructure Directorate is responsible for economic and industrial
growth within Suffolk and the provision of Waste Disposal, Transport, Highways and Planning services.
In 2020 - 2021, the Council disposed of, recycled or composted an average 981 kg of waste for each
Suffolk household, a significant increase on 2019 – 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions meaning people
tended to be located at their home for longer periods. Passenger Transport was also impacted heavily
by the pandemic as public transport journeys dropped significantly and schools closed. In particular,