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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

There are no rows in this table

⁠

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

There are no rows in this table

⁠

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.

There are no rows in this table

⁠

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,