Minutes:
The Chairman invited the Leader of the Council to make her announcements.
Councillor Morley announced the following:
Covid-19
The Leader expressed her support for all those who have been directly and indirectly impacted by the pandemic over the last year with thoughts and prayers going to those who have lost family and friends across the world, and of course, in particular to residents in Mid Suffolk.
The Leader thanked all of the Council’s staff, partners, particularly in the NHS, Police and County Council, and fantastic communities and local volunteers; who had worked tirelessly over the last year to tackle Covid 19.
Progress with the distribution of the vaccine across Suffolk, and particularly in Mid Suffolk continued to be extremely effective. The Leader stated she was confident that all those who have not yet been offered the vaccine would do so in line with the Government’s roadmap, and also that this would be the case for all second doses and any boosters that may be required. She would continue to meet regularly with the Chief Executive of the CCG and through the regular Local Outbreak Engagement Boards to ensure this remained on track.
The infection rates, hospitalisations and deaths continue to fall in Suffolk; but it is essential that people don’t become complacent now. There was no such thing as a ‘post Covid’ world and people needed to learn to adapt to living with Covid.
It was essential that the Council had effective recovery plans and in particular an economic recovery plan. This work was developing well, in line with the timetable for the roadmap out of lockdown, and the Leader would ensure that it was shared with all Councillors, and progress reported to all Councillors during the pre-election period, which started today.
Gateway 14
The Chancellor’s Freeport announcement, which included the Council’s site at Gateway 14, was really welcome news, this will inevitably help strengthen economic recovery; enabling the district to ‘thrive’ rather than just ‘survive’.
The Leader was pleased to have launched the Council’s business Innovation Network. This built on the success of Innovation Labs in Stowmarket, which the Council had helped fund; and the inaugural Innovation Awards which was hosted virtually before Christmas. Innovation formed a key plank of the Council’s economic recovery plan; and subject to planning, the Council looked forward to seeing a new Innovation Centre coming forward at Gateway 14.
The Leader took the opportunity to remind local businesses to recheck whether they were eligible for additional financial support from the Government’s Covid-19 Business Support Grant schemes that closed on 31 March 2021.
Environment
The Leader commented that is was reassuring to see the Garden Waste service restart again on 8th March. The service was paused for a short period earlier in this year due to the impact of Covid. The Leader reassured all of the Council’s customers that they will not be charged whilst the service was not being delivered.
The Leader was pleased to share two environmental projects which the Council have been able to secure with external funding. The first was the £1.4m of Government grant received jointly with Babergh District Council for carbon-saving measures at leisure centres and other buildings. Cabinet has also now confirmed funding of £300k for a pilot solar carport scheme at Mid Suffolk Leisure Centre in Stowmarket; match funded by the Government’s Getting Building Fund.
This project will enable the Council to produce energy through solar panels to help run the leisure centres, as well as providing battery storage, and a number of electric vehicle charging points. The work was due to be completed by Spring 2022.
The Cabinet had also recently approved £50k to enable the Council’s transfer from diesel to Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil fuel which will reduce the Council’s carbon emissions from vehicles by up to 90%.
Communities
Despite the impact of Covid, and the huge pressure that this had placed upon on the Environmental Health Officers, the Council has successfully prosecuted a company selling baked goods at various Suffolk markets, including Stowmarket. The company in question had been fined nearly £10,000 for food hygiene offences including failure to maintain high risk foods at safe temperatures, selling unfit food, failure to provide adequate hand washing facilities and failure to protect food from contamination.
Cabinet has also awarded £370k of Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) to support the Council’s vision to build communities with bright and healthy futures. This included over £239,000 towards the expansion of Mendlesham Health Centre, to provide increased clinical space for a variety of health care professionals, including clinical pharmacists, physiotherapists, chiropodists, phlebotomists and counsellors. It is hoped that the expansion will encourage hospital consultants to have outpatient clinics at the health centre, providing vital services for local residents on their doorstep and alleviating the need for them to travel miles to the nearest hospital. Sustainable transport options will also be promoted with patients benefitting from the installation of two new electric vehicle charging points and cycle racks.
The Cabinet had also invested in a number of health and wellbeing projects through CIL. These include:
Finally, the Leader shared the news that the Council has been shortlisted for 3 different awards at this year’s iese awards. These nominations reflect the improvements and innovation with regard to planning enforcement, virtual high streets programme, and most proudly, shortlisting for ‘Council of the Year’.
For those who haven’t already seen them, you can watch the Chief Executive and other officers being interviewed by iese online and the video submissions. This is a wonderful endorsement for the Council, for how the Council works, for the priorities and direction set by Councillors, and for the amazing skill and effort of all Officers. The actual awards will be decided at a ceremony (which will hopefully be face to face) in September.
Councillor Eburne acknowledged the work of John Grayling (Corporate Manager for Environmental Services) who was retiring after 38 years of service with the Council.
Councillor Eburne then asked whether the Council would support tourist destinations to install electric vehicle charging points on their premises.
Councillor Morley advised that she was uncertain whether the Council was able to install electric vehicle charging points on private premises and confirmed she would clarify this after the meeting.