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Supporting Vulnerable People During an Emergency at Wigan Council

Thank you for your interest in the SAVVI case study of how Wigan Council engaged with the SAVVI method to design how they will support vulnerable people.

Executive Summary

SAVVI, a Scalable Approach to Vulnerability via Interoperability, is a data project that aims to support early identification of vulnerable people and households, and to make smarter interventions and referrals. To do this, SAVVI defines an iterative model process that councils can use to ‘find, assess, and support’ people in need. SAVVI pulls together practical guidance, frameworks, standards, templates and resources in an online playbook to support every stage of the SAVVI model process.

This is a case study of how Wigan Council engaged with the SAVVI method, during 2023, to improve how they support vulnerable people in the event of a civil contingency emergency, such as in the event of a flood. The purpose of the document is to share the Wigan experience to inspire other councils looking to adopt a similar SAVVI-style approach to finding and supporting vulnerable people in their area. The case study is structured in sections that follow the stages of the SAVVI model process to enable readers to understand where each stage of the Wigan Here for You project maps to SAVVI.

This case study will be of particular interest to: civil contingencies teams, regional local resilience forums, and project teams who want to find and support people in need; data and digital teams who want to handle and share data to a reusable standard; Information Governance teams who want to ensure that data is being shared and reused legally, ethically, and transparently; and performance and BI teams who want to evidence that a project is effective in reducing hardship. ‘Here for You’ is Wigan Council’s project to develop a data driven approach that builds a picture of who is vulnerable, providing valuable intelligence as to who may need support in the event of a civil emergency. In particular, this new approach identifies the risk factors that can be used to find vulnerable people; regularly extracts those risk factors from various computer systems so that the data is up-to-date and emergency ready; and uses the council’s existing GIS system to link Risk Factors to properties. The Here for You case study refers to all six stages of the SAVVI model process, with a particular focus on: PURPOSE, ‘FIND’, and ‘ASSESS.

This case study shows how a clearly defined purpose for a SAVVI project can successfully drive design through the six stage model process. Moreover, establishing the clear purpose for the project at the outset provided a solid structure for the information governance work in the FIND stage, particularly when considering purpose compatibility and the need to find a lawful basis for the re-use of data. Establishing lawful, ethical and transparent data-use as part of the design process was foundational to project success, validating the need for the SAVVI IG Framework, and other practical IG tools that SAVVI has prototyped to support councils working on a vulnerability project.

Wigan council now has a more reliable and significantly improved capability to find people at risk with vulnerabilities in an emergency. The SAVVI model process and IG framework allows others to adapt Wigan’s learning and approach, and also allows Wigan council to apply this method to other vulnerability projects.

Introduction

This is a case study of how Wigan Council engaged with the SAVVI method, during 2022 and 2023, to design how they will support vulnerable people during a flood and other emergencies, via their ‘Here For You’ project. The project was the first stage in Wigan fulfilling its broad ambition to improve its approach to supporting vulnerable people.

Wigan Council's biggest challenge before the project was being able to develop a complete picture of who is vulnerable in their area because the information needed to assess the risk of vulnerability was held in several different datasets, all with their own definitions and usage rights. This made it challenging to assess the risk of vulnerability legally, ethically and transparently.

The purpose of this document is to share Wigan Council’s experience and to inspire other councils looking to adopt a similar SAVVI-style approach to finding and supporting vulnerable people in their area.

Supporting Vulnerable People in an Emergency

Wigan Council is a Category 1 Responder as defined by the

Civil Contingencies Act 2004⁠

. These responders need to be ready to identify residents who are most likely to be at risk in a wide range of emergencies, some of which come with a warning period, such as a storm that may cause flooding or property damage, while others require an immediate response, such as a terrorist incident, utility outage or the accidental release of a dangerous substance.

The main objectives of the initial response by Category 1 Responders to emergencies are to:

Warn and inform.

Save and protect life.

Relieve suffering.

Prevent escalation.

Protect the health and safety of personnel.

Safeguard the environment.

Protect property.

Maintain or restore critical services.

Information sharing during an emergency is necessary so that responders can make the right judgements. If responders have access to all the information they need, they can make the right decisions about how to plan and what to plan for. If they do not have timely access to all the information, their planning and decision making will not be as good and vulnerable people may not receive the support they need in a timely manner.

Some people may be less able to help themselves during an emergency. People who might be vulnerable will vary depending on the nature of the emergency, but plans should consider people

who may struggle with their mobility

who may struggle with cognition and may need additional support to understand the situation.

with a sensory disability.

with other vulnerabilities and who live alone.

Wigan Council holds and owns data about people, on various computer systems, which can identify vulnerabilities, and higher risk locations. While it is possible to interrogate these separate systems as an emergency is occurring, it is resource intensive in terms of staff time and frequently means that this information cannot be supplied to Incident Commanders in time for it to inform their decision making and planning.

Emergencies occur at any time and often outside of the normal working hours of most Council staff; so, a common experience for Wigan Council was having to arrange access to data, very quickly, during an emergency.

This typically elevated the risk of either using data inappropriately, e.g. sharing far more data than was strictly necessary, or delaying the response to the most vulnerable residents.

An alternative for Wigan Council was to use a less data-driven approach, for example approaching all residents in a flood area, much of which is unnecessary and, again, delayed, or reduced help to those who needed it the most.

This demonstrates that advance planning is essential because it allows ethical factors to be fully considered without the limitations of acting during an emergency period, and allows the council to consult and inform residents about the use of their data.

Planning the use of data well in advance of an emergency has enabled all of these activities, including the processing of personal data, to be designed and implemented legally, ethically and transparently.

Here for You - Wigan’s Data Led approach

Wigan have created a new approach that

identifies the Risk Factors that can be used to find vulnerable people

regularly extracts those Risk Factors from various computer systems so that they are up-to-date and ready for use in an emergency

uses the council’s existing GIS system to link Risk Factors to properties

During an emergency, the geographic area affected by the incident can be plotted so that properties with Risk Factors can be presented visually on a map, and listed for use by responders.

Reuse of existing personal data in this way needs to be compliant with data protection, privacy and ethical considerations. Wigan have designed the solution to be GDPR compliant, including being secure, with restricted access and with an auditable trail of who accessed it and when.

The solution can be accessed 24/7 and provides the information within minutes to inform Incident Commanders, enabling targeted support to be offered to the most vulnerable residents during an emergency.

As phase one of the project, which is now complete, was to establish internal data reuse processes, no data sharing arrangements with other organisations were developed. During the next phase of the work, Wigan Council intends to form data sharing agreements with partners such as Health and Utility organisations, to acquire additional Risk Factors data.

How SAVVI supports the Wigan approach

About SAVVI

⁠

SAVVI⁠

, standing for ‘a Scalable Approach to Vulnerability via Interoperability’, is a programme hosted by

Tameside Council⁠

on behalf of the local public sector, and funded by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ (DLUHC)

⁠

within the

Local Digital Fund⁠

SAVVI is proposing the

SAVVI Playbook⁠

, to promote how data can be used to improve early identification and smarter interventions, particularly where no single organisation has access to all the data and insight that can predict who may be struggling. Finding people or households who may be vulnerable requires that we are able to routinely bring existing data together, from many sources.

The playbook includes

common process⁠

to find, assess, and support vulnerable people and households;

⁠

data standards⁠

to support the common process, and promote interoperability;

Information Governance Framework⁠

to ensure that data is handled legally, ethically and transparently;

The rationale for the SAVVI Playbook is that it can be applied to all vulnerability scenarios so that

investments in technologies and data sharing can be reused across initiatives;

we are ready for the next emergency

Phases of the SAVVI Process

The SAVVI Process is organised into six phases.

⁠

PURPOSE - setting up a Vulnerability Initiative

FIND - using data to find people who may be at risk

ASSESS - listening, to understand needs and circumstances

SUPPORT - addressing needs by offering support

REPORT - monitoring outcomes over a caseload

IMPROVE - reviewing data to get better results

There are no rows in this table

⁠

Establishing the Project Team

SAVVI recommends a project team structure that includes

vulnerability or operational subject matter experts

data analysis and integration expertise

information governance professionals.

Additionally, SAVVI recommends a governing group to sign-off key decisions and definitions that are set out in the SAVVI Playbook.

Wigan Council’s project team included:

members of the Civil Contingencies team who were able to specify the Risk Factors they wanted to use to prioritise residents at highest risk in different emergencies

representatives of the Joint Intelligence Unit who were able to identify the required sources of data

the council’s information governance manager and policy officer, who could ensure the project complied with its information governance policies and processes, and

a technical support analyst and information developer to design data movement processes

The project team was overseen by Wigan Council’s Director of Public Health, Strategic Lawyer (and data protection officer) and the Joint Intelligence Unit service manager. Additional governance was provided by the council’s Caldicott Guardian.

Applying SAVVI to the Wigan ‘Here for You’ project.

PURPOSE - setting up a Vulnerability Initiative

This is the first phase of the SAVVI process. During this phase, the vulnerabilities are defined, together with the ‘purpose’ that gives the organisation the remit to address them.

Defining the Vulnerabilities

The SAVVI Concept Model defines ‘Vulnerability’ as

Vulnerability

The increased risk of a poor outcome

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⁠

Wigan defined three Vulnerabilities that are in scope of the ‘Here for You’ project.

Vulnerability

Description

Being unsafe during Adverse Weather

Risk of harm caused by Adverse Weather such as

high winds

flooding

… which might require evacuation or support at home. The risk could be higher for those with

mobility issues

physical and mental health conditions

sensory impairment

type of accommodation

living alone

Being unsafe during a Utility Outage

Risk of harm during a utilities outage such as

electric

water

sewerage

… which might require support at home. The risk could be higher for those with

dependency on equipment

physical and mental health conditions

living alone

Being unsafe during an Environmental or Terrorist threat

Risk of harm caused by an Environmental or Terrorist threat such as

pollution

unexploded bomb

toxic agent

… which might require evacuation. The risk could be higher for those with

mobility issues

physical and mental health conditions

sensory impairment

living alone

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⁠

Defining the Purpose

An organisation needs to demonstrate that it has a remit to address vulnerabilities. This becomes important when data that was collected for an original purpose, is to be re-used for this new purpose. This is best expressed as powers and/or duties that define the Purpose.

The SAVVI Concept Model defines ‘Purpose’ as

Purpose

The remit that an Organisation has to carry out an initiative covering one or more VULNERABILITYs.

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⁠

Wigan defined one Purpose as

Purpose

Civil Contingencies - Preventing and Mitigating harm to people and households during an emergency.

Powers and Duties

The

Civil Contingencies Act 2004⁠

requires that a Local Authority will

(d)maintain plans for the purpose of ensuring that if an emergency occurs or is likely to occur the person or body is able to perform his or its functions so far as necessary or desirable for the purpose of—

(i)preventing the emergency,

(ii)reducing, controlling or mitigating its effects, or

(iii)taking other action in connection with it,

See -

⁠

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/36/section/2⁠

⁠

FIND - using data to find people who may be at risk

The FIND phase defines a set of Risk Factors and how they can be used to find people who may be vulnerable.

Defining Risk Factors

The SAVVI Concept Model defines ‘Risk Factor’ as

Risk Factor

A single fact about a Person or Household that can be combined with others to categorise the risk of a VULNERABILITY , and predict NEEDs

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⁠

Wigan defined 15 Risk Factors

Risk Factor

Definition.

Sight Impaired

A person who has a sight impairment.

Receives homecare

A person who is in receipt of domiciliary social care.

Hearing impaired

A person who has a hearing impairment.

Health Condition

A person known to have a health condition.

Care Home resident

A person who is a care home resident.

ASD diagnosis

A person known to have been diagnosed with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder.

Mental Health diagnosis

A person who is known to have been diagnosed with a mental health condition.

Disability

A person known to have a disability.

Assistive Technology service

A person who receives an assistive technology service.

Single person-household Council Tax discount

A household that receives the single person-household discount to their Council Tax.

Assisted refuse collections

A household that is in receipt of the assisted refuse collections service delivered by a local authority.

Sheltered Housing

A household that lives in Sheltered Housing.

Blue Badge

A person who has been granted a Blue Badge.

Mobility issue

A person who has mobility issues.

High-rise building

A household that lives in a high-rise building.

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⁠

Defining how Risk Factors are applied

The SAVVI Concept Model defines ‘Risk Policy’ as

Risk Policy

The Rules by which RISK_FACTORs will be used to prioritise VULNERABILITY risk and predict NEEDs.

There are no rows in this table

⁠

Wigan defined a Risk Policy that covers the three Vulnerabilities and how they are categorised. Categories can be used to prioritise a response. Wigan have chosen to have two categories of Risk

At Risk

At Risk and Living Alone

Being unsafe during Adverse Weather

ANY of the following Risk Factors:

Assistive Technology service

Receives homecare

Disability

Assisted refuse collections

Blue Badge

Mobility issue

Health Condition

Mental Health diagnosis

ASD diagnosis

Sight Impaired

Hearing impaired

Care Home resident

Sheltered Housing

High-rise building

AND ANY of the following Risk Factors:

Single person-household Council Tax discount

At Risk and Living Alone

ANY of the following Risk Factors:

Assistive Technology service

Receives homecare

Disability

Assisted refuse collections

Blue Badge

Mobility issue

Health Condition

Mental Health diagnosis

ASD diagnosis

Sight Impaired

Hearing impaired

Care Home resident

Sheltered Housing

High-rise building

AND NONE of the following Risk Factors:

Single person-household Council Tax discount

At Risk

Being unsafe during a Utility outage

ANY of the following Risk Factors:

Assistive Technology service

Health Condition

ASD diagnosis

Mental Health diagnosis

Disability

Hearing impaired

Sight Impaired

Receives homecare

AND ANY of the following Risk Factors

Single person-household Council Tax discount

At Risk and Living Alone

ANY of the following Risk Factors:

Assistive Technology service

Health Condition

ASD diagnosis

Mental Health diagnosis

Disability

Hearing impaired

Sight Impaired

Receives homecare

AND NONE of the following Risk Factors

Single person-household Council Tax discount

At Risk

Being unsafe during an Environmental or Terrorist threat

ANY of the following Risk Factors:

Assistive Technology service

Receives homecare

Disability

Assisted refuse collections

Blue Badge

Mobility issue

Health Condition

Mental Health diagnosis

ASD diagnosis

Sight Impaired

Hearing impaired

AND ANY of the following Risk Factors

Single person-household Council Tax discount

At Risk and Living Alone

ANY of the following Risk Factors:

Assistive Technology service

Receives homecare

Disability

Assisted refuse collections

Blue Badge

Mobility issue

Health Condition

Mental Health diagnosis

ASD diagnosis

Sight Impaired

Hearing impaired

AND NONE of the following Risk Factors

Single person-household Council Tax discount

At Risk

There are no rows in this table

⁠

The SAVVI process highlights that the choice of Risk Factors needs to be supported by some evidence that demonstrates that they are effective in finding people at risk. This becomes important when arranging for data sharing so that the data controller can be assured that their data is necessary to make the Risk Policy work.

Wigan set their evidence as - The evidence for the use of these Risk Factors was generated via a retrospective review of the response to previous emergencies, including flooding during Storm Christoff in 2021. The Risk Factors included in this risk model are those that the operational team found would have been most indicative of Needs and priority.

Defining How Risk Factors are Accessed

SAVVI sets out a Data Flow Map, to show where Risk Factor data can be drawn from.

Rather than refer to specific computer systems, or suppliers, SAVVI uses a more generic ‘Information Type’ so that other organisations can re-use parts of the map.

The SAVVI Concept Model defines ‘Information Type’ as

Information Type

A generic description of a dataset that one or many organisations may hold, collected for a single PURPOSE.

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⁠

Wigan defined their Data Flow Map as

Local Authority

Adult Social Care

Health and Social Care Act 2008

Sight Impaired

Receives homecare

Hearing impaired

Health Condition

Care Home resident

ASD diagnosis

Mental Health diagnosis

Assistive Technology service

Mobility issue

Local Authority

Social Housing

Housing Act 1985

Disability

Sheltered Housing

High-rise building

Local Authority

Council Tax

The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992

Single person-household Council Tax discount

Local Authority

Environmental Protection Services

Environmental Protection Act 1990

Assisted refuse collections

Local Authority

Mobility services

Disabled Persons' Parking Badges Act 2013

Blue Badge

There are no rows in this table

⁠

So far, Wigan are reusing their own data, but this approach will also map out data controlled by other organisations.

ASSESS - listening, to understand needs and circumstances

The ASSESS phase sets out how people on a Risk Index are then assessed to understand their Needs.

At Wigan, this assessment is carried out by the council via the Health Protection and Civil contingencies Service.

Defining Needs

The SAVVI Concept Model defines ‘Need’ as

Need

A requirement of a Person or Household that can be addressed.

There are no rows in this table

⁠

Wigan defined 5 Needs for which they can arrange support offers.

Need

Definition

Enhanced communication

Enhanced communications during an emergency, targeted at those who might otherwise be unable to receive messages given to the general population.

Support to evacuate

Support to evacuate, for example to evacuate to a place of safety during an emergency.

Support to remain safe at home

Support to remain safe at home during an emergency.

Support to protect property

Support, above and beyond that which would be offered to the general population, to protect property from damage, such as placing sandbags over doorways or moving items to the 1st floor elevation or higher.

Post-incident support with property damage

Support, above and beyond that which would be offered to the general population, to restore their domestic dwelling from damage to avoid being vulnerable following an emergency.

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⁠

SUPPORT - addressing needs by offering support

The SUPPORT phase sets out how people with one or more Needs could then be supported with a Service or Intervention, which might be referrals to other organisations.

Define Services

The SAVVI Concept Model defines Service as

Service

The ability for a Delivery Organisation to carry out one or more predetermined methods designed to deliver an OUTCOME.

There are no rows in this table

⁠

A selection of the Services Wigan can deliver or refer to is listed below.

Rescue to a place of safety

Support to evacuate

Fire and rescue service

Ambulance transport

Support to evacuate

Ambulance service

Bariatric ambulance transport

Support to evacuate

Ambulance service

Temporary power supply

Support to remain safe at home

Utilities supplier

Medicines delivery

Support to remain safe at home

Pharmacy

There are no rows in this table

⁠

REPORT - monitoring outcomes over a caseload

The REPORT phase uses many of the definitions already set out. With this language in place, a multi-agency dashboard and outcomes framework could be put in place to answer questions such as

How many cases, for each risk category, are on the Risk Index?

What Needs have been determined?

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