Consultancy Support: System Level COVID-19 Recovery

Tender description

You are invited to submit a quotation for delivery of a collaborative exercise to research the system level responses to COVID-19 across public services and identify the opportunities for recovery. The West Midlands has been the hardest hit region outside London in terms of COVID-19 cases and deaths, and many reports indicate that it will suffer the worst economic and social impact in the coming months and years. The Covid-19 global pandemic and associated economic and social lockdown has brought profound impacts on global and national economies with far reaching consequences for regions, communities and individuals. Legislative changes to local authority (LA) duties arising from the Coronavirus Act 2020, commitment to existing statutory service responsibilities and revenue losses have placed unprecedented operational and fiscal pressures upon local Government, amounting to an estimated financial deficit of £4bn. In that challenging context the West Midlands has nonetheless transformed and innovated at scale across its public services, including local authorities, the emergency services and across its health and care system. The proposed research from WMCA’s Public Service Reform Directorate will explore how public services have changed in response to the pandemic, what we can learn from these changes, and how we move forward to a ‘new normal’ to create a fairer, greener and healthier West Midlands.