Issue - meetings

This report sets out the Council's response to the COVID-19 emergency and the help and support it has provided to residents, partners, local businesses and staff.

The Director of Partnership & Corporate Services introduced the report to the Panel. He explained that it contained a consolidation of the activity carried out since the crisis began and that although some information had been released through press releases it was good to share this with members of the public and Councillors.

He stated that the priorities have been to protect our most vulnerable, support local businesses and maintain Council services.

He added that there was a need to recognise the excellent work of staff for adapting their current roles, for those that have taken on additional work and those that have been redeployed.

He said that £33m of Business Grants had been distributed locally and that this had been done by a number of staff that had come together from across different departments.

He stated that the Council in partnership with Virgin Care, the CCG and 3SG have worked around the clock to set up the Compassionate Community Hub, combining resources to ensure the system can provide sustainable and appropriate responses to meet community needs.

He explained that it operated via a dedicated public phone number and that the Hub offers advice and support for those who are self-isolating, shielding or simply in need of help.

He said that the Hub is an excellent example of a strong working partnership bringing together the Council, Virgin Care and the 3SG plus other third sector partners across different organisational boundaries and making a real difference on the ground.

He added that our residents and communities also deserve praise for adapting to changes that have been put in place.

He concluded by saying that the report gives the Panel an opportunity to consider what they wish to look at further as we move into different phases of crisis.

The Director of Finance & Section 151 Officer addressed the Panel. He said that early on in this process it became apparent that the Council would be exposed to a big loss to its income due to how the crisis would affect Heritage and Parking Services in particular.

He explained that the report showed that the financial impact of coronavirus due to the extra expense and income loss added together was currently predicted to lead to a circa £43m shortfall in revenue funding for Council services this year.

He stated that a pragmatic approach was required by the Council and that the next cycle of reporting would focus on how we can look to deliver recovery measures.

He highlighted the funding measures from within the report.

He informed the Panel that the B&NES allocation of the £3.2bn of Government grant funding had given the Council £10m to meet new expenditure pressures, however this would not mitigate the projected reductions in income and further support from government would be essential to enable the Council to manage its 2020/21 budget.

He stated that a further grant of just over £2m had recently been released to B&NES to address the pressure to deliver safe practice  ...  view the full minutes text for item 61