Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils
Democratic Services

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Agenda item

Minutes:

 

105.1         The Chair of the Council invited the Leader to make her announcements.

 

105.2         Councillor Morley made the following announcements:

 

I would like to begin today by taking a moment to reflect on the effect that the coronavirus pandemic has had on our lives and on our district.

 

Our world has changed dramatically in the course of just a few months – and we have had to adapt quickly in order to support our residents and communities.

The virus has affected us all, leaving an indelible gap for those who have lost friends and family.  Our thoughts and sympathies are with everyone who has lost loved ones during this time.

 

I doubt any of us could have accurately predicted the events of recent months, or the role that we would come to play – and continue to play – in supporting our residents, communities, and businesses through lockdown and beyond.

 

I would like to take a moment to thank my fellow councillors, who – regardless of political persuasion - have united to support our towns, parishes, and communities through this crisis.

 

I would also like to pay tribute to our council officers, working long hours on the frontline or behind the scenes to support those most in need and to keep our services running for residents.

 

And I would like to recognise the resilience of our amazing communities – whose rallying efforts have truly demonstrated why Mid Suffolk is a place I am proud to call home.

 

·       Together, we have protected the most vulnerable members of our communities.

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·       Together, we have supported our businesses and economy.

·       And together, we have kept essential services running safely throughout.

 

The ways in which we have supported the district are too varied to list in full, but to give just a few headlines:

 

·       Our council has provided community groups across Mid Suffolk with more than £91,000 in financial support in order to help them to help others – including over £16,000 for the district’s foodbanks.

 

·       The Home But Not Alone helpline – manned by redeployed council officers to provide 7-day a week support through the height of the crisis – has taken almost 1,000 calls from people in need of food, medical supplies or advice.

 

·       To date, we have helped more than 1,700 businesses across Mid Suffolk access more than £19m in funding through the Small Business Rates Relief Grant, Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant and Discretionary Grants.

 

·       And we continue to work with partners across our districts to get our high streets re-opened and trading safely.

 

·       Emergency temporary accommodation has been found for all rough sleepers or those at risk of homelessness – with support in place to avoid them returning to the streets in future.

 

·       Meanwhile, our waste teams have kept household and recycling collections going for the duration – despite increased demand during lockdown.  Although temporarily suspended, garden waste collections are now back up and running too.

 

·       Essential repairs and safety checks in our council houses have continued, keeping our tenants safe.

 

·       Our public realm team has continued to ensure our facilities are maintained and safe to use in line with government guidelines.

 

·       And our environmental health, enforcement, building control, and emergency planning teams continue to keep our residents safe.

 

All this has been achieved at pace by officers who have found themselves redeployed into new roles, or working remotely from their kitchen tables whilst home-schooling their children and juggling the same fears and challenges as those they have been working tirelessly to help.

 

This council meeting itself is, of course, another example of how we have all had to get used to new ways of working – with virtual meetings held publicly via livestreams to ensure democracy continues to be open and transparent.

I’m sure that during our emergency response, there will have been things that could have been done differently.  There was no ‘tried and tested’ solution that we could simply take off the shelf and we needed to work quickly to meet unprecedented requirements.  But I defy anyone to say that our councillors and officers have not given their all to support our communities when they needed us most.

 

As we now transition from the ‘response’ phase to ‘recovery’, our challenge is to build on the lessons we have learned from this experience and continue to work together to find ways to help Mid Suffolk safely recover and emerge from this crisis, stronger and more resilient than ever.