Agenda item

To submit a report by the Chief Executive.

The report of the Chief Executive outlining the Council’s response to date to the Covid-19 crisis was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

The Chair and Leader of the Council introduced the item by thanking  the Council’s staff for their work thus far many of whom had gone over and above their normal duties to support the Council’s response to the challenges created by the  Covid-19 outbreak and to protect the Council’s essential services and keep the residents of the Island safe.

Each Portfolio Member then provided an overview of the actions taken within their service portfolio both to respond to the crisis specifically and also to ensure the continued delivery of key services (outlined in Appendix 1 to the report). All expressed their appreciation of the efforts of their service’s staff in dealing with the very challenging circumstances posed by the crisis whilst at the same time ensuring that the Council’s day to day work continues and normal business is conducted as far as possible.

Themes from individual service areas both current and moving forward included the following –

•           Resources – Grant payments made to 1,518 businesses on the Island to a total value of £17.7m; processing of Free School Meals Direct Payments with a weekly average of 1,489 children to a value of  £29,035 ; provision of food packages for a small number of children; continuation of routine work in the form of council tax payments etc.; ongoing monitoring of the Council’s financial position and balances.

•           Education – establishment of care centres for children of key workers and vulnerable children; provision and delivery of a packed lunch for children eligible for free school meals; provision of education by remote means using a variety of digital platforms; collaboration with ALN and Inclusion Teams and Children’s Services to maintain regular contact with vulnerable children; planning for schools’ reopening; ensure continued emphasis on the welfare of children and young people and general well-being of the workforce.

•           Housing and Community – supporting vulnerable individuals in the community via food banks, providing shopping and prescription service for shielding individuals; supporting the homeless, maintaining community safety, resuming emergency housing maintenance work in line with national guidelines.

•           Highways, Waste and Property – prioritisation of the most critical waste services in consultation with Biffa; planning for and executing the reopening of the Penhesgyn Recycling Centre; resumption of essential highways maintenance work, closure of coastal car parks, coastal paths, parks and beaches.

•           Council Business and Legal – creation of Covid-19 Guidance and Regulations Library; creation of a Committee meetings strategy; provision of guidance on remote meetings, minuting and tracking actions from daily EMRT and other emergency meetings.

•           Human Resources, Transformation, Communication and IT – proactive work in producing regular press releases, maximising use of the Council’s social media to relay key messages and sharing information on Môn FM; collecting staff data on a daily basis to enable workforce planning and redeployment of staff to ensure the continuation of frontline services; collection of data on aspects of Covid-19 and development of a dashboard for the purpose; facilitating and supporting Council staff to work remotely; developing an online booking system for access to the Penhesgyn Recycling Centre; updating the Council’s obsolete laptops to help  children who do not have access to IT equipment with schoolwork.

•           Regulation, Economic Development and Public Protection – engaging with local businesses to offer support and guidance in relation to the issues and challenges faced; supporting businesses that are closed; working to ensure recognition for Holyhead Port and to seek an appropriate support package from the Government; collaboration with the Health Board and Field Hospital; involvement in local and regional efforts to establish a contact tracing team; increasing the capacity of the Registrar Service; ensuring compliance with new guidance and regulations in the wake of the Coronavirus Act; monitoring cases in residential homes and providing training on infection control; contributing to the development of a regional plan for arrangements for excess deaths.

•           Social Services – dealing with the challenges of obtaining and maintaining sufficient PPE levels; testing; mitigating the risk of not being able to staff care homes adequately; tracking and responding to shielding letters; supporting vulnerable families; continuing to fulfil all statutory duties and performance indicators and data.

The Portfolio Member for Finance reported further that whilst it was difficult to assess the pandemic’s long-term effects on the Council’s finances, in the short-term the Council has suffered the additional costs of dealing with the crisis (£52k in March and £279K in April) including IT costs; PPE; accommodating homeless people, providing community support, setting up school care centres, paying families for free school meals, and higher cleaning costs. Whilst these costs will be met by Welsh Government, it is expected that costs will continue to rise in May and June. Although the closure of services reduced the Council’s expenditure by about £100k in April it has also reduced the Council’s income levels with a loss of £360k in April, which is expected to rise to £400k per month during the summer months. If services do not return to normal in 2020/21, then the lost income will run into  millions of pounds. Looking ahead, the pandemic has clearly had an impact on the economy and will result in more unemployment which is likely to lead to increased applications through the Council Tax Reduction Scheme particularly when the furlough scheme comes to an end. The Council is fortunate that in having purposefully planned for and maintained a level of general balances over the years it can now draw upon this funding to help it weather the storm in the short-term.

The Chief Executive reported on the governance arrangements established at national, regional and local level to respond to the pandemic and outlined the structures which the Council had put in place to facilitate its own response to the local challenges created by the crisis. Information sharing has been a key element in keeping the public up to date on developments and avenues of support available and the Council has deployed a range of measures to ensure the flow of information. In the short-term the Council will continue to focus on managing the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic; on conducting business as usual as best it can and on managing the lockdown period and preparing and implementing recovery plans. The Council’s response has been made with the support of many others and thanks are due to Elected Members; town and community councils, all the Council’s partners, the volunteers and the Island’s residents for the way they have responded to the crisis.

It was resolved –

•           To accept the report and the Council’s response to the crisis to date.

•           To confirm that the SLT should report progress on relaxing lockdown issues and Recovery work to the two standing Programme Boards. In addition, to extend membership of the Boards to include the four Group Leaders.

•           To authorise Officers to prepare an update on the preparations and the Recovery work for submission to the next meeting of the Executive.