District Matters

Business as usual?

November 2020

Winter is coming, the clocks have altered and the days are getting much shorter. As I write this COVID-19 numbers are increasing and another four week lockdown has been announced.

I am picking up a much greater divergence of opinion on COVID-19 now. There appear to be an increasing number of people saying that we need to accept that we are just going to have to get used to living with the virus. Yet, there are still many people extremely worried about catching the virus. The next month may be a time of increasing tensions and we will all have to appreciate that people may have very different views for very valid reasons.

I cannot help but think that this will be the last time such drastic action as a lockdown can be taken. It appears to me as though the emerging reality is that, even with and effective vaccine, we are going to have to recognise that COVID-19 will become endemic, a bit like flu. There appears to be a reluctance to consider what this means and how we all have to adapt to a new situation. It is also clear that it will take many months for the vaccine to protect a substantial part of the population. So, in the meantime it will be ‘business as usual' closely monitoring the situation and with the prospect of ending up in higher tiers with greater restrictions.

For our District there is no doubt that the month long lockdown will increase the damage to our local economy. Hospitality, tourism and retail will again be hard hit. Unemployment will inevitable increase and any recovery will be pushed even further into the future.

It is amazing how much bad news one can get into four short paragraphs. However, denial and a refusal to face reality is the worst possible response.

I have said before that we have a good Cabinet team and a good officer team. We have no doubts as to the scale of the challenges we face.

On the subject of challenges; we are now turning our minds to the Council Budget for 2021/22 and the Medium Term Financial Plan, which runs for five years from 2021/22. Even before the announcement of the lockdown the picture did not look good. We have established a cross party Council Recovery Advisory Group to ensure that we fully understand the position and that we appreciate the scale and nature of decisions that we will have to take. There is much detailed analysis work underway. The missing part of the equation at the moment is the level of funding that we will receive from central government and the scope we will have for raising council tax. Until we have that information, which we may not get until January then we will not know the scale of the actions we have to take. We will, however, be fully prepared'

Working together with Warwick District to create a ‘Super District' and the potential cost savings that will unlock assumes increased significance. Work on joint procurement of a new waste contract is now well underway and will be a significant help in containing costs in the medium term.

One action we desperately need to take is to invest in the future. This is difficult when our finances are crippled. We are working very hard to secure funding from external sources. However, what is not helpful is the picture people have of Stratford-on-Avon as an extremely prosperous area that does not need short term help. This is why it has been so important to get across the message that we are the fourth hardest hit local authority in the country and the worst hit in the West Midlands. My view is that we need short term help to get us over two potentially difficult years then we will bounce back.

Our recovery will depend on the resilience, adaptability and skills of our people. Despite all the short term issues there are there is a strong foundation on which we can build. These strengths give me great confidence in our future. Meanwhile we will do our very best to navigate safely through the storms that are upon us.