Minutes:
57.1 The Chairman invited the Leader of the Council to make her announcements.
57.2 Councillor Morley announced the following:
Covid-19
The progress that had been made in recent weeks with regard to the delivery of the vaccine had been amazing. Despite the snow, this progress had catapulted Suffolk up the league tables in terms of delivery of the first doses to the first 4 cohorts.
The Leader had met with Ed Garrett from CCGs to ensure that the Council was working as closely as possible with the NHS to support the delivery of the vaccine. Together they would be targeting the Council’s resources in getting to the minority that qualify but have not yet received their jab.
It was also fantastic to see the new asymptomatic testing site being rolled out in Stowmarket, which will shortly be followed be even more local sites too.
The Leader was also proud that the Council have been able to extend the Council tax hardship scheme to further help the most vulnerable in the district who have been most impacted by Covid.
In terms of Covid, she was sure the Council would all be glued to the TV on Monday to hear the PM outline the Government’s plans for leading us out of this lockdown. There were lots of reasons to be hopeful but in the meantime, she would like to reiterate the Suffolk wider messages that Suffolk Needs You… to follow the guidance: hands, face, space; to get tested regularly if you are unable to work from home; and to get your Covid jab when it’s your turn. In return Suffolk Supports You… through Home But Not Alone and our community involvement, the distribution of business grants, self-isolation payments and practical support for those most in need.
She wanted to pay tribute to our bin crews who were back out within 48 hours including working on Saturday, making collections and clearing the backlog as best they could despite the weather. They were currently 2 to 3 days behind and so unfortunately the delays would run into early next week even with working on Saturday again. This was particularly difficult since the Council had Covid related staff absences within the team which had caused the garden waste service to be suspended for now.
As it was half term, she also wanted to highlight the fantastic initiative in place, building on what had been done during the winter half term, to tackle holiday hunger. This scheme involved food parcels containing ingredients for five meals for a family of four distributed to families during half term. The initiative, delivered on behalf of the Council by Abbeycroft Leisure’s Explore Outdoor team, ensured no child went hungry when free school meals were paused during the school holidays. Families in need were identified by local schools and the food parcels also included ideas on how to make food stretch further in future – making a real difference to the lives of low-income families in our district.
Gateway 14.
She was really pleased to see that the planning application had been submitted. she wanted to make all Councillors aware that officers, together with the Council’s development partner Jaynic, were meeting on a 4-weekly basis with the newly formed residents’ group. Finally, she was of course really pleased to be able to lend the Council’s support to Gateway 14 being part of the wider Freeport East bid to Government; alongside colleague Councils, businesses and our MPs in Suffolk and Essex. Members would all be continuing to lobby Government and keeping fingers crossed that the Council would be one of the 10 freeports that will be announced.
57.3 Councillor Passmore asked if the Leader of the Council and the Chairman would like to join him in expressing thanks and admiration to all involved in the roll out of the vaccination programme, including officers from the Council.
57.4 Councillor Morley agreed with Councillor Passmore and reported that in her meeting with the CCG she was informed that despite the snow, 57,000 people were vaccinated across Suffolk in one week. Councillor Morley also stated that she was enormously grateful for all the work that the NHS and CCG’s were doing and was happy to support them in any way that the Council could.
57.5 Councillor Mansel enquired if there was any information available on the Covid-19 vaccination transport programme, which she had supported with monies from her locality budget.
57.6 Councillor Mansel queried why there was not written record of the Leader’s announcements to which the Leader responded that there was no requirement for such and that she was working on the updates until just before the meeting in order to provide the most accurate announcements. A written record would be recorded in the minutes in due course.
57.7 Councillor Morley reported that over 150 community organisations had been contacted to assess the requirements and needs for the vaccination transport programme. However, only 2 had given information, the Council was working with these organisations and would continue to work with any other groups, who had an identified need.
57.8 Councill Geake enquired how many families were in need of the half term food parcels across the district.
57.9 Councillor Morley informed Councillor Geake that she would provide that information after the meeting.
57.10 Councillor Eburne enquired what the Council was doing to help reach the minorities that were difficult to reach with regard to vaccinations. Also. with regards to the suspension of brown bin collections, would residents be getting further reductions to the cost of their brown bin subscription if there were any further suspensions.
57.11 Councillor Morley replied that the same process would be in place to make sure that no-one was paying for a service that they were not receiving. In response to Councillor Eburne’s first question the Council was working closely with the CCG to resolve any issues to reach minorities.
57.12 Councillor Welham enquired what the makeup of the Gateway 14 Residents Group was and how Members would be informed of relevant discussions and agreements.
57.13 Councillor Morley informed Councillor Welham that she would clarify this information after the meeting.
57.14 Councillor Warboys asked whether the Council was giving unqualified support to the freeport bid bearing in mind the issues that had been raised about freeports not being environmentally sustainable, socially responsible and lacking proper governance arrangements.
57.15 Councillor Humphries in response felt that the Leader would not have this information to hand and asked that the questions be picked up outside of the meeting.