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Last Updated: 22/11/2024 10:34:41
Covid-19: Council response, restart and recovery
Wednesday, 24 June 2020 15:09
Dumfries and Galloway Council [25.06.20] will consider a report on its response to the Covid-19 emergency and its arrangements for restart and recovery while continuing to respond to the pandemic.
The arrangements recognise that response, restart and recovery activity will occur simultaneously over an extended period, taking into account the Scottish Government’s route map and phasing plans, Public Health guidance, and long-term forecasts for economic and social impact.
The Council is being asked to:
• note the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Council’s emergency response to protect vulnerable residents, serve the citizens of Dumfries and Galloway, provide essential services, and support those who need it most;
• welcome the positive commitment and significant effort of Council staff, volunteers, all partners, and their individual and collective contribution to the initial emergency response;
• note the sustained pace and effort contributed by frontline staff and officers in this period, which has stretched resources and capacity;
• note the Scottish Government’s route map and phasing and the wide range of changes to regulations and legislation, which underpin the lockdown and phasing of release;
• note the initial learning and organisational development from the initial emergency response activity and future activity to support restart and recovery;
• agree the outline arrangements for planning and decision-making for effective economic and social recovery and service restart, which provide a clear focus on the Council’s 5 priorities;
• consider and agree the arrangements for elected member oversight and leadership, including future reporting and further development of the recovery and service restart programme;
• agree the transition from daily briefings for elected members MPs and MSPs to a cycle of weekly briefings on the ongoing response and restart and recovery arrangements.
• agree a consultation mandate that will ensure that Council restart and recovery decisions are fully informed, and
• note that, due to the nature of the Covid-19 pandemic and to reflect the Scottish Government’s route map, the arrangements will provide flexibility and the ability to respond to the evolving nature of the pandemic.
Council Leader Elaine Murray said: “The Council has sustained essential services through the emergency lockdown despite challenging circumstances. We’ve adapted our delivery models and worked closely with other organisations and partners to achieve this. While it is unlikely that we will see a full return to pre-pandemic operating arrangements, it’s essential that we approach restart and recovery activity with a consistent approach to engagement across the Council. This is important to inform restart plans for services and to ensure our recovery work is appropriately designed and focused.”
Depute Leader Rob Davidson said: “The impact of Covid-19 on the Council as an organisation has been significant. It’s important that we understand and learn from this, and identify actions that we need to take to support the organisation-wide recovery from this pandemic and integrate this into the service restart.”
Economy and business
• Delivered the Small Business Grant, with more that £37m* [3,552 grants awarded] awarded and paid to local eligible businesses since 1 April
• Received 438 applications to the Retail, Hospitality, and Leisure Grant, with 182 grants worth £4.6m awarded
• Handled 184 applications to the Newly Self-Employed Hardship Fund, awarding 121 grants worth £242,000
• Distributed business grant funding worth more than £42m
• Provided rent holidays for businesses and community organisations for Council-owned properties.
• Secured funding for temporary Active Travel measures through the Sustrans Spaces for People Fund
• Provided safe trading advice to business permitted to operate during lockdown and to business preparing for restart
• Developed a Town Centres Restart Plan
Children and young people
• Provided emergency childcare for key workers, sometimes for more than 500 children a day
• Offered remote learning online and through physical learning resources offered to children and families
• Provided safeguarding for our most vulnerable children through childcare hubs and partners, with around 100 children and young people attending each day
• Supported our most vulnerable young people through targeted Youth Work
• Provided around 150,000 free school meals and provided 8,248 free school meal direct cash payments
• Responded to a rise in social work referrals for children and families
• Continued to provide face to face or direct contact with children on the child protection register or assessed as high risk in the family home and other settings
Vulnerable people
• Contacted 6,067 people who are shielding in the region and 8,509* people who asked for help through the national helpline,
• Provided advice on Covid-19 related scams and frauds
• Responded to increases in demand for social work interventions
• Continued out of hours rotas for mental health officers to deal with increased emergency detention certificates and weekend cover
• Sustained care and support to people in their home, working with care providers
• Reconfigured care at home packages, to provide an additional 360 hours of care a week
• Developed a rapid response team of social workers, social care and nursing staff to deliver support care homes on an emergency basis
• Continued to manage 700 high risk offenders
• Delivered 5,120 meal boxes to people who are shielding
• Provided emergency water supplies to properties with private water supplies
• Provided enhanced contact and support to Gypsy/Travellers groups
Communities
• Worked together with more than 300 community groups and over 2,500 volunteers on Covid-19 response
• Distributed hardship funding to food providers and key third sector organisations to support vulnerable people
• Allocated around £400k hardship funding to support the activity of community organisations
• Sustained essential weekly waste collection, supported by redeployed staff
• Re-opened household waste recycling centres [HWRCs]
• Provided bedding plants for community planting projects
• Developed new communications arrangements, including community bulletin, social media webinars, and daily reports for Councillors, MSPs and MPs
The arrangements recognise that response, restart and recovery activity will occur simultaneously over an extended period, taking into account the Scottish Government’s route map and phasing plans, Public Health guidance, and long-term forecasts for economic and social impact.
The Council is being asked to:
• note the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Council’s emergency response to protect vulnerable residents, serve the citizens of Dumfries and Galloway, provide essential services, and support those who need it most;
• welcome the positive commitment and significant effort of Council staff, volunteers, all partners, and their individual and collective contribution to the initial emergency response;
• note the sustained pace and effort contributed by frontline staff and officers in this period, which has stretched resources and capacity;
• note the Scottish Government’s route map and phasing and the wide range of changes to regulations and legislation, which underpin the lockdown and phasing of release;
• note the initial learning and organisational development from the initial emergency response activity and future activity to support restart and recovery;
• agree the outline arrangements for planning and decision-making for effective economic and social recovery and service restart, which provide a clear focus on the Council’s 5 priorities;
• consider and agree the arrangements for elected member oversight and leadership, including future reporting and further development of the recovery and service restart programme;
• agree the transition from daily briefings for elected members MPs and MSPs to a cycle of weekly briefings on the ongoing response and restart and recovery arrangements.
• agree a consultation mandate that will ensure that Council restart and recovery decisions are fully informed, and
• note that, due to the nature of the Covid-19 pandemic and to reflect the Scottish Government’s route map, the arrangements will provide flexibility and the ability to respond to the evolving nature of the pandemic.
Council Leader Elaine Murray said: “The Council has sustained essential services through the emergency lockdown despite challenging circumstances. We’ve adapted our delivery models and worked closely with other organisations and partners to achieve this. While it is unlikely that we will see a full return to pre-pandemic operating arrangements, it’s essential that we approach restart and recovery activity with a consistent approach to engagement across the Council. This is important to inform restart plans for services and to ensure our recovery work is appropriately designed and focused.”
Depute Leader Rob Davidson said: “The impact of Covid-19 on the Council as an organisation has been significant. It’s important that we understand and learn from this, and identify actions that we need to take to support the organisation-wide recovery from this pandemic and integrate this into the service restart.”
Economy and business
• Delivered the Small Business Grant, with more that £37m* [3,552 grants awarded] awarded and paid to local eligible businesses since 1 April
• Received 438 applications to the Retail, Hospitality, and Leisure Grant, with 182 grants worth £4.6m awarded
• Handled 184 applications to the Newly Self-Employed Hardship Fund, awarding 121 grants worth £242,000
• Distributed business grant funding worth more than £42m
• Provided rent holidays for businesses and community organisations for Council-owned properties.
• Secured funding for temporary Active Travel measures through the Sustrans Spaces for People Fund
• Provided safe trading advice to business permitted to operate during lockdown and to business preparing for restart
• Developed a Town Centres Restart Plan
Children and young people
• Provided emergency childcare for key workers, sometimes for more than 500 children a day
• Offered remote learning online and through physical learning resources offered to children and families
• Provided safeguarding for our most vulnerable children through childcare hubs and partners, with around 100 children and young people attending each day
• Supported our most vulnerable young people through targeted Youth Work
• Provided around 150,000 free school meals and provided 8,248 free school meal direct cash payments
• Responded to a rise in social work referrals for children and families
• Continued to provide face to face or direct contact with children on the child protection register or assessed as high risk in the family home and other settings
Vulnerable people
• Contacted 6,067 people who are shielding in the region and 8,509* people who asked for help through the national helpline,
• Provided advice on Covid-19 related scams and frauds
• Responded to increases in demand for social work interventions
• Continued out of hours rotas for mental health officers to deal with increased emergency detention certificates and weekend cover
• Sustained care and support to people in their home, working with care providers
• Reconfigured care at home packages, to provide an additional 360 hours of care a week
• Developed a rapid response team of social workers, social care and nursing staff to deliver support care homes on an emergency basis
• Continued to manage 700 high risk offenders
• Delivered 5,120 meal boxes to people who are shielding
• Provided emergency water supplies to properties with private water supplies
• Provided enhanced contact and support to Gypsy/Travellers groups
Communities
• Worked together with more than 300 community groups and over 2,500 volunteers on Covid-19 response
• Distributed hardship funding to food providers and key third sector organisations to support vulnerable people
• Allocated around £400k hardship funding to support the activity of community organisations
• Sustained essential weekly waste collection, supported by redeployed staff
• Re-opened household waste recycling centres [HWRCs]
• Provided bedding plants for community planting projects
• Developed new communications arrangements, including community bulletin, social media webinars, and daily reports for Councillors, MSPs and MPs
Page last updated: 20/05/2022
