Minutes:
28.1 The Chairman invited the Leader of the Council to make her announcements.
28.2 Councillor Morley announced the following:
CIFCO Acquisitions – CIFCO had purchased three further properties this month totalling almost £10.5m, to bring in future income for Councils to invest back into local communities. These were two neighbouring warehouse buildings on Cosgrove Way Industrial Estate in Luton for £2.475m and an office building in Epsom town centre, in Upper High Street, for £7.97m. The industrial units were both let to building supplies company Wolseley UK Ltd. The office building was home to Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust on a long-term lease. This ensured low risk returns for the Councils at a time when Covid-19 was significantly affecting other traditional income streams.
Covid-19 Support Grants - This scheme had been expanded and the Additional Restrictions Grant was open to businesses, who were trading up to and including 4 November, who were instructed to close because of the national lockdown or could demonstrate that they had been significantly financially impacted by the National Coronavirus restriction measures. The funding available through the grant ranged from £1,334 to £3,000, in line with the Local Restrictions Support Grants. Applications for first round of Additional Restrictions Grant funding must be submitted by Friday 18th December.
Covid-19 Tiers - when national lockdown finished - Central Government had placed Suffolk in Tier 2 local restrictions from 2nd December. The main reasons cited for this were Suffolk’s current COVID infection rates, local hotspots, and pressure on hospitals. Whilst Suffolk had so far seen comparatively lower levels of infection than elsewhere in the region and country, the current infection rate (85 cases per 100,000 people) was more than double what it was when Suffolk entered Tier 1 on 14 October (35 cases per 100,000 people). At the beginning of September, there were just 5 cases per 100,000 people. There were 116 COVID patients in Suffolk hospital beds as of the 23 November. Although Mid Suffolk numbers were fewer than the Suffolk average, residents still needed to “Stick With It Suffolk” because the virus was no respecter of boundaries. As Stuart Keeble said, “Every one of us needs to keep following the rules to stop the spread of COVID-19”. People needed to ensure hospitals could continue to care for people who urgently needed help, including those without COVID. People needed to be responsible today for a better tomorrow.
28.1 Councillor Matthissen enquired if the Council would be seeking to borrow £30m for both authorities from the PWLB, to which Councillor Morley responded that the Council would be considering all aspects of the Government’s announcement regarding authorities borrowing funding from the PWLB including the consequences for CIFCO.
In response to Councillor Field’s question regarding the rental return and further acquisitions by CIFCO, the Chief Executive responded that the Covid-19 Pandemic had an influence on the rental market, and that CIFCO would take this into consideration for any future investments, as rental return was central in the decision-making process for the company.