District Matters

Changing the way we all operate

April 2020

I am writing this column whilst I am recovering from COVID-19. In my case I think I have escaped fairly lightly, just extreme tiredness verging on exhaustion. (Reading the finished article I realise the impact it has had).

Since my last column the world has changed. We have had a council meeting where only the minimum number of councillors needed to ensure a quorum were present (nine). At that meeting we, in effect delegated decision making to officers and the Leader. We were seated 2 metres apart which gave the meeting a surrealistic feel.

The way in which we operate has had to change out of all recognition. As an example, on 16 March there were 44 officers working from home, on 9 April there were 209. We have increased the number of desktop licences from 100 to 400, and accelerated the procurement of 100 laptops. All have now been delivered.

The way we work has changed dramatically, until last week every morning the Deputy Leader and I had a video conference with the CEO and Deputy. The Deputy Leader and I then had a video conference on the evening with the portfolio holders. We then set up a ‘buddy system' where we briefed all the other councillors between us. Video and teleconferencing has become very much the norm, I have these with; the District Councils network, the Department of Housing Communities and Local Government, the WMCA and one that includes WCC, all the Districts and Boroughs in the County and the local MP's. After a few early failures I have now got the hang of how to do these properly. I think we have all had to learn new skills very quickly.

The District Council has been stretched by the need to respond to the sheer scale of crisis. To pick out some of the salient areas of activity:

• Support to the Vulnerable
  This has been the most significant priority for the Council. There has been strong partnership working across the three tiers of government on this, together with the establishment of local volunteer groups that are providing vital support to many of our residents. Shielded Hubs have been set up to support those who have been identified as the ‘extremely vulnerable'. Nationally there are 900,000 people identified as being in this category. Until the national arrangements became fully operational the Council was undertaking food deliveries and over 300 deliveries have been made.
  
  
• Support to Businesses
  There are two schemes which need to be administered, the Business Support Grants Fund of £10,000, where we estimate 2,413 businesses qualify and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Business Grant Fund where we estimate 321 businesses qualify. So far we have processed payments of over £6 million to 414 businesses. Businesses need to complete an online form in order to be eligible for payment. As of 7 April 1,088 forms had been completed. We are deploying more staff to the Business Rates team to cope with the workload. Businesses need to be mindful that the Government Legislation for awarding the Grants is using the date of 11 March 2020 in terms of being on the Valuation Register. We are also very conscious of the potential for fraud which is why we need businesses to complete the online form as a matter of urgency.
  
  
• Environmental Health
  In the first week of the crisis the Food Safety team contacted over 400 food businesses to advise them of the new business closure rules. They investigated 31 reports about businesses either not complying with the law or concerns about social distancing amongst employees or customers. Appropriate enforcement action was taken.
  
  
• We have maintained our waste collection service in full. As of last week 137 councils had suspended green waste collections.

Overall the sheer scale of the activity required has put everyone in the Council under significant pressure. Groups worth particular mention are, the staff in the Contact Centre who have been dealing with a doubling in calls - it is not only the volume of calls that is stressful but also the nature of the calls where individuals and families are struggling to manage a sudden and dramatic change in their circumstances. We have had discussions about whether these people should work remotely or whether for support they are better working together as a team in Elizabeth House. Our staff are used to dealing with challenging customers but the complexity and the emotional nature of many of the calls can be seen by looking at the weariness and stress etched on people's faces at the end of each day. Our concern for our staff is balanced by the need for us to continue to provide the services that people are reliant on in these challenging times, is a major consideration.

The other group is IT, with the huge increase in the number of people working remotely and 100 new laptops to configure to our requirements they have enabled us to ‘keep the show on the road'. The concern with this team is that again we are reliant on a relatively small number of staff to maintain the level of work over what could be an extended period.

Given the sheer scale of the challenges and the need to respond rapidly it should be no surprise that some people and businesses will ‘fall through the cracks'. We do need to remember how much has been achieved and how many businesses and individuals have been helped. I am proud of the way in which everyone in the Council has responded.

I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank them all.