For anyone senior in a local authority right now, one scenario has quickly turned from the unimaginable to the familiar. The scrabble for masks, goggles, gloves and aprons has some of the hallmarks of a farce when those involved describe the reality of the situation, in conversations sometimes underpinned by a mix of anxiety and thinly-veiled hysteria.
Two weekends ago, for example, a national delivery of protective equipment for the social care sector finally appeared in Greater Manchester.
Government delivered 42 pallets of kit for social care staff, a development that was welcomed by the region’s mayor Andy Burnham, with the caveat: “I have to say, it was difficult to get it and took a lot of negotiation.” Some senior officials in the