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Matter for
Decision
The report provided
a brief summary of the actions taken by Cambridge City Council in response to
the Coronavirus emergency in the Spring of 2020, and set out the key areas of
activity and emerging issues that the Council was working on as it developed
its recovery plan.
Decision
of Executive Councillor for Strategy and External Partnerships
i.
Noted the
Council’s response to the Coronavirus emergency.
ii.
Agreed the priorities for recovery.
Reason for the Decision
As set out in the Officer’s report.
Any Alternative Options Considered and Rejected
Not applicable.
Scrutiny Considerations
The Committee received a report from the Chief Executive that outlined
the council’s rapid responses to the crisis, which
had continued to evolve in the subsequent weeks and months since the City
Council put its business continuity arrangements and pandemic plan into
operation in March 2020.
The Committee made the following comments in response to the report:
i.
Reiterated the comments of the Chief Executive at
how hard the staff had worked during this period and what had been achieved.
ii.
Asked if the council had begun the furlough scheme
early enough.
iii.
Noted it was difficult for some staff working at
home such as poor internet connection, lack of space and not being able to work
in an environment that was removed from ‘life at home’.
iv.
Believed working from home could result in an
unequal work / life balance with staff working more hours; there were no
boundaries away from work.
v.
Queried what help was being given to staff who were
finding it difficult to work from home.
vi.
Virtual meetings suited some members of the council
but not all; some felt that they did not offer a quick resolution of issues and
could be tiring for those members who attended on a frequent basis.
vii.
Questioned what tools the council had to encourage
and work with businesses to continue to employ furloughed staff as Government
funding ended as stated in the officers’ report.
viii.
Asked how the council would
sustain the appropriate support and care packages for those rough sleepers who
had moved into emergency accommodation.
ix.
Requested feedback on the city centre reopening
since lock down, particularly when public houses, restaurants and cafes opened
the previous weekend.
x.
Asked if there was a local lock down plan.
xi.
Queried where the level of business support grants
sat in comparison to other local authorities.
xii.
Cambridge Sustainable Food spending had increased
due to COVID-19. The organisation was quickly spending their council grant to
meet demand. Questioned if it was possible for the council to increase their
funding due to the exceptional circumstances.
xiii.
Enquired if steps had been taken to encourage staff
to take leave or was there an option to wait until travel was permitted.
xiv.
Queried what could be done to encourage the wearing
of face masks when shopping and in public places. Although not compulsory it
should be supported.
The Chief Executive and Strategic Director said the following in
response to Members’ questions:
i.
At the beginning of the furlough scheme the council
had been advised it was not appropriate for local authorities to apply, this
advice quickly changed. At the start, there were service areas where staff
still had work to do, such as Estate and Facilities working on void properties
or staff under Cambridge Live who were dealing with immediate issues such
cancelling shows. They were subsequently furloughed when that work ran out
ii.
The Council began to enquire about the furlough
scheme on 20 April and applications were backdated to 16 March.
iii.
Agreed that working from home did not suit
everyone. Arrangements had been made for staff who required additional
equipment to be delivered. Preparations
were made for staff to work at Mandela House who needed to do so or were
finding working from home a challenge.
iv.
Moving forward, the Council would facilitate staff
to work from home as much as possible but recognised it will not be right for
everyone.
v.
Work / life balance was a challenge for some staff
before COVID-19; working in a virtual environment was intense and staff were
encouraged to take regular breaks, physical activity advice, mental health
advice and the counselling service was
regularly shared with staff.
vi.
Senior Management enforced the message that working
from home did not mean you were permanently on call and boundaries needed to be
set.
vii.
Recognised it was also hard for Members to work
virtually and there would be a time when meetings would take place in the
committee rooms or council chamber but could not say when that would be.
However, there would be an opportunity to continue some meetings and briefings
virtually.
viii.
It was an aspiration of the council to work with
businesses to continue to employ furloughed staff as Government funding ended.
Currently the tools available were the council grants available, the council
was also the landlord of commercial tenants and ran the market
ix.
Moving forward the council would work with the
Combined Authority and other agencies who had funding available to look at how
businesses could be supported.
x.
The council would continue to support the homeless
and rough sleepers, it was not just about supplying bricks and mortar, but the
right services and support would be given working with various agencies while
looking at individual’s needs.
xi.
Following the opening of public houses and
restaurants on 4 July, the Police had acknowledged the hard work of the
Environmental Health Team who had worked closely with licensees to ensure the
correct safeguarding procedures were in place.
Not all the public houses had opened; there would be challenges moving
forward but the Environmental Health Team would continue to work with the
licensees and other external agencies.
xii.
The weekend before the meeting, there had been
challenges enforcing social distancing in the parks and open spaces, such as
Midsummer Common and the Police approach had been one of education.
xiii.
The council had been involved in developing a local
lock down plan for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough should this be required
xiv.
Officers were currently working on specific
arrangements for Cambridge, ensuring the right environmental health response
would be communicated, how to mobilise community groups efficiently and
effectively, and how to support those in quarantine.
xv.
At a meeting with the Director of Public Health,
the Chief Executive and Head of Community Services had suggested training for
community leaders such as faith groups and councillors, looking at the different
languages required to spread preventative communication and public health
messages throughout the city.
xvi.
Over the last three months the council had awarded
1400 businesses support grants of £21,500,000 funded by central government and
provided rate relief for a year.
xvii.
Discretionary grants were available to those
business who did not meet the criteria for the business support grants. Since
these grants became available (three weeks ago) £500,000 had been paid out to
140 business, charities and not for profit organisations.
xviii.
Funding had been allocated from central government
based on the business rate relief list, therefore the allocation of funds was
different for each local authority.
xix.
Could not answer the question regarding funding for
Cambridge Sustainable Food but would make enquires and respond outside of the
meeting.
xx.
Staff were encouraged to take leave by their line
managers. The Chief Executive had reminded staff on the importance of taking
leave during this lockdown period; she had reinforced this mentioning her own
annual leave at the beginning of June in her regular communication to all
staff.
xxi.
A certain number of holiday days had been permitted
to be carried over to next year which would help staff and spread the holidays.
xxii.
The council had provided advice about wearing masks
but was not enforcing this as the government had not yet made this compulsory.
This was in line with the current public health messages. Face masks had been
purchased for staff.
The Executive Councillor for Strategy and
External Partnerships spoke of the financial impact Covid-19 had placed on the
council and how some of the issues would be addressed at the next meeting of
full council. He also acknowledged the
phenomenal effort of the council’s response to the pandemic lead by the Chief
Executive and the senior management team and the effect this had had on all
council services.
The Committee resolved by 5 votes to 0 to endorse the
recommendations.
The Executive Councillor
approved the recommendations.
Conflicts of Interest Declared by the Executive Councillor (and any
Dispensations Granted)
No conflicts of interest
were declared by the Executive Councillor.