Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils
Democratic Services

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Issue - meetings

Meeting: 22/09/2020 - Babergh Council (Item 5)

5 BC/20/2 ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM THE CHAIRMAN AND LEADER pdf icon PDF 17 KB

In addition to any announcements made at the meeting, please see Paper BC/20/2 attached, detailing events attended by the Chairman and Vice-Chairman.

 

Minutes:

5.1       The Chair drew Members attention to Paper BC/20/2, which was for noting.

 

It was RESOLVED: -

 

That Paper BC/20/2, Announcements from the Chairman be noted.

 

 

5.2       The Chair invited the Leader of the Council to make his announcements.

 

5.3       Councillor Ward commented on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic within the District and highlighted the ongoing financial implications and said:

 

5.4       It was great that the technology was available to enable Members to meet in these difficult times and that everyone had adapted very quickly to this new way of working. Further improvements were being trialled – particularly to enable online voting through the latest version of the Modern.gov app.

 

5.5       He wanted to take this opportunity to thank all officers for the huge effort they have made over the past four months to maintain services, whilst at the same time supporting businesses, communities and residents to cope with the effects of lockdown. Many had been redeployed to focus on the Council’s response to the Covid-19 crisis and had been working very long hours, including weekends. The response in Babergh and Mid Suffolk and across the whole county had been exemplary. The Council had distributed government financial support to a wide range of small businesses very quickly and been part of the county-wide response to support the homeless and eliminate rough sleeping.  The Council had distributed its own community grants and supported those who had been shielded by ensuring they have food and medical supplies, and advice and support. Everyone involved deserves thanks and gratitude. But this would not have been possible without the senior leadership team who had been simply inspiring to work with. The Council was now moving from the ‘response’ phase to ‘recovery’, which would have its own challenges, as the Council focused on giving as much support as possible to businesses to safeguard existing jobs and provide new ones.