CABINET MEMBER QUESTIONS - LEADER OF THE COUNCIL
Verbal Update
Minutes:
Cllr Ejiofor, the Leader of the Council gave a short verbal presentation to the Committee which set out some of the key actions taken by the administration in response to the current Covid-19 crisis as well as the next steps. The following key points were noted:
· A huge effort had been undertaken to transform the way that the Council worked and a number of services had to be reconfigured to fundamentally change how they operated. This was done almost overnight. The Leader characterised the scale of change being akin to implementing all of the emergency planning scenarios that the Council have conceived and tested, all at once.
· Operating remotely, limiting face-to-face contact to only when it was absolutely necessary, was crucial in changing the practical way the Council operated.
· The focus of the Council’s response was to protect the most vulnerable residents. The Council also prioritised the need to support the Public Health England advice which was to ‘Stay at Home’ and ‘Protect Lives’. The Council ensured that its staff were protected whilst also continuing to provide services to its residents.
· In addition to day-to-day services, the Council had a key role during the crisis to shield vulnerable people, to provide housing and ensure that parks and open spaces were used properly. The Council supported its NHS partners with seven-day discharge and in many cases this was being done within two-hours.
· A food distribution organisation was established which provided 300 deliveries a day.
· The entire Customer Services operation was reorganised to work remotely.
· A temporary mortuary was also established.
· Another key aspect of the Council’s response was to work with our voluntary and community sector partners to create the Connected Communities programme.
· The five key issues identified for the next phase of the Covid response were identified as: a planned phased return to school; access to funding; local economic development; supporting walking and cycling and how the Council supported the delivery of services going forwards.
· The Council has received additional funding from government to support the Covid response but this had almost been spent already in providing shielding, additional housing, food supplies etcetera.
· The Committee was advised that there was a projected £45m of additional expenditure as a result of the crisis. The Council had received £15.5m from government, which left a £29.5m gap. In addition, it was anticipated that there would be a drop in income of around £8m from a loss of domestic and commercial rents and as well as £12m reduction in business rates for next year.
· The Leader set out that, combined, this left a £70m black hole in next year’s budget which had been a balanced budget when it was agreed in February. The key task for the administration going forwards was to agree how it could balance the books and mitigate a £70m funding shortfall. The Leader advised that it was crucial that Council’s continued to engage with the government and kept the pressure up to ensure government promises around funding were kept.