Norfolk’s Response To Coronavirus
The latest COVID information is available on the Norfolk County Council website: https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/care-support-and-health/health-and-wellbeing/adults-health/coronavirus
Norfolk Resilience Forum (NRF)
Norfolk’s public services are working together to protect the public and minimise the disruption to key services. This effort is coordinated through the Norfolk Resilience Forum.
The Norfolk Resilience Forum is made up of the emergency services, councils, and other key organisations. They make sure Norfolk is prepared for any emergency situation by looking at the risks we face and running regular exercises to help us prepare.
They are now working together to make sure Norfolk’s response to the coronavirus pandemic is coordinated and effective.
How It Works
The forum has created working groups that meet daily to tackle the biggest challenges we face. This includes making sure we look after our most vulnerable residents, that vital infrastructure is maintained, our key workers have what they need and we are doing everything we can to minimise and delay the spread of the virus.
This is overseen by the Strategic Coordination Group (SCG) which is led by Tom McCabe, Executive Director and Head of Paid Service at Norfolk County Council.
The forum also works closely with central government and the military to support the national fight against coronavirus through dedicated liaison officers.
The membership of the Norfolk Resilience Forum is made up of:
- Local councils- Norfolk County Council and each district council
- Hospitals- Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kings Lynn and James Paget University Hospital.
- Emergency services- Norfolk Police, East of England Ambulance and Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service.
- NHS clinical commissioning groups (CCGs)- Primary care services including GPs
- Key Norfolk partners
- National organisations
See our full membership list.
Our Key People
Tom McCabe
Head of Paid Service at Norfolk County council
Tom McCabe is Executive Director of Community and Environmental Services at Norfolk County Council. This role is responsible for a wide range of services including Norfolk Fire and Rescue, Public Health, Highways, Trading Standards, Economic Development, Culture and Heritage, Libraries and Community Learning. Tom is also the Head of Paid Service for the County Council.
Tom has a wealth of experience in the public sector. He previously held the role of Corporate Director at Shropshire Council and Director of Environment at Cheshire County Council. He has also worked for a number of county, city and unitary councils including Kent, Lancashire and Liverpool. He was previously the Non-Executive Chairman of the Norse Group.
Stuart Ruff
Chairman of the Norfolk Resilience Forum and Chief Fire Officer of Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service
Stuart was appointed as Chief Fire Officer last year and proudly heads up a service which strives to protect all in our large rural county.
Since joining Mid Glamorgan Fire and Rescue Service in 1994, which went on to become part of the South Wales Service, Stuart has gained experience in services around the UK.
He has held positions at Hereford and Worcester before moving to spend ten years working for Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service. During this time he progressed through various management positions and was seconded to the Chief Fire and Rescue Advisors’ Team to support the safety and security arrangements for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Stuart moved to Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service in 2018 as Deputy Chief Fire Officer.
Trevor Holden
Managing Director of Broadland and South Norfolk Councils and Chair of the Norfolk Chief Executives Group
Norfolk born and bred, Trevor has been a Local Authority Chief Executive for more than 12 years, prior to which he held a number of senior appointments in the Royal Air Force at home and overseas. Since January 2019 he returned to his Norfolk roots as the first ever MD of the merged staff, supporting the councils of Broadland and South Norfolk.
An experienced and highly motivational senior leader of large and complex organisations with a strong track record of delivery across the private and public sectors. A highly motivational respected and established senior executive having built and led high performing teams across national and local organisations. Experienced at working within differing political and economic environments and within super diverse communities. Possessing strong core values and integrity bringing a high performance culture and ethos to any organisation. Delivery is underpinned by a probing mind and a depth of understanding with a pace of delivery.
He has clear record of delivering high performance improved productivity and innovation across a range of different environments including the UKs 5th largest airport, Local Government at District and Unitary levels a national housing provider and as an RAF officer.
Simon Megicks
Temporary Deputy Chief Constable, Suffolk Constabulary
Simon joined Norfolk Constabulary in June 2017 and usually leads Protective Services and Joint Justice Services for Norfolk and Suffolk. For the last five months he has been the temporary Deputy Chief Constable in Suffolk.
Simon began his policing career with Cambridgeshire Constabulary in April 1996. Simon served in a number of roles across the constabulary before becoming Superintendent in 2005 and Head of Public Protection in 2010. In 2013, Simon was promoted to Chief Superintendent before becoming the Temporary Assistant Chief Constable for Hertfordshire Constabulary in September 2015.
Simon is a Strategic and Specialist Firearms Commander, Public Order Gold Commander and is Multi-Agency Gold Incident qualified. He is also a qualified Senior Investigating Officer.
Simon has a degree in Physics, has a Masters in Police Leadership and is a graduate of the University of Cambridge’s M.St programme in Applied Criminology and Police Management.
Melanie Craig
Executive Lead of the Norfolk and Waveney Healthcare Partnership
NHS Norfolk and Waveney Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is accountable for co-ordinating the health response for our population, liaising with regional NHS colleagues and providers as well as the wider health and care system through the Norfolk Resilience Forum.
The NHS has prepared a number of practical solutions to effectively respond to the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak. The CCG’s directors led by Melanie Craig the Accountable Officer have established a strategic command to help co-ordinate our health system response. Practical measures include redeploying CCG staff to support frontline clinical services, supporting Primary Care by setting up a single point of contact for raising queries and seeking information, providing GP practices with technology to enable remote working and supporting the rapid deployment of technology for video consultations.
Health providers and the CCG have been brought together under a Health and Social Care Cell to coordinate the health and social care response led by the CCG’s Chief Nurse. This reports into the system Tactical Coordination Group made up of partners of the Norfolk Resilience Forum.
Alan Hopley
Executive of Voluntary Norfolk
Alan is chief executive of Voluntary Norfolk, which is a county-wide membership organisation promoting, supporting and developing volunteering and the work of voluntary organisations.
He currently provides a link between the Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector and Norfolk County Council to improve engagement, support, and working together to achieve better outcomes for the communities and residents of Norfolk.
Alan has both a commercial and a voluntary sector background, working for the Youth Hostel Association (YHA) and Addaction before joining Voluntary Norfolk in 2016. His background includes being a volunteer for a children’s disability charity for more than 25 years.
