Agenda item

To share with the Overview and Scrutiny Panel the future implications and opportunities of the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to service delivery by Fenland District Council.

Members considered the Council Response to COVID-19 - Future Implications report presented by Councillor Boden.

Councillor Boden said it is unprecedented for local Government to be so unsure about what the future holds either financially or otherwise. We face significant challenges in managing our finances and setting our budget next year. However many other local authorities are in a worse financial position than we are and more financial support is required from central Government. The position will be made worse if there is a second or even third wave of COVID-19, not just for this Council but for the economy of the country.  Councillor Boden apologised for the negativity of the report but he needed to stress the scale of the issue and uncertainty we face. He added that officers have been working exceptionally hard to mitigate the issues we are facing and continue to do so in a fast-changing environment. 

Members asked questions, made comments and received responses as follows:

1.    On behalf of all members, and as Chairman of FDC, Councillor Miscandlon thanked all FDC staff for going above and beyond to make the pandemic as bearable as possible for all the residents of Fenland.

2.    Councillor Topgood concurred with Councillor Miscandlon’s comment; local traders had told him it had been a pleasure dealing with FDC in regards to the grant aid on offer. 

3.    Councillor Mason agreed and thanked officers for chasing up those businesses who had not applied for grants.

4.    Councillor Wicks complimented FDC staff for being so proactive with businesses and community organisations; they did not wait for the applications to arrive but went out and openly encouraged them to apply for grants.

5.    Paul Medd said it cannot be underestimated the effect that positive feedback will have following the impact on staff of nearly 5 months of delivering day to day services along with key projects.  He will ensure the Panel’s comments are fed back to staff.  However, we would not have been able to do this without strong and supportive political leadership from Cabinet, Councillor Boden and all members.

6.    Councillor Count echoed all the positive comments that had been expressed. However, he has just received the unsettling news that Fenland is now above the national average for coronavirus; it may be that this is in part due to the outbreak at the Princes Factory and he is currently waiting analysis on this but we had been fairly confident that we had previously been in a low coronavirus area. However, even if it was still low we have to work on the assumption that it is prevalent in our communities. The number of asymptomatic carriers is higher than estimated. He cannot stress how strongly he feels that public health information and messages must continue as a priority to get out the message that the virus is still amongst us and shows no sign of going away.

7.    Councillor Count added that it is encouraging to read in the report the work undertaken with the homeless. He gave his compliments and thanked staff for their work on that issue.

8.    Councillor Booth said that as we move towards providing more online services we must not forget that there are still a lot of people in our area who do not have access to the internet. We must be able to provide them with suitable alternative options to be able to contact the Council. 

9.    Paul Medd responded to Councillor Count’s comment regarding the increase in coronavirus cases within Fenland. He said that the Council constantly monitors the local data and the position changes frequently.  However, it highlights the importance of the local outbreak control plan that was recently adopted by the Health Protection Board and the importance of track and trace and practical interventions that we will implement locally to ensure that if a there is local case outbreak, for example the Princes Factory, we can reduce those numbers and the impact as quickly as possible. We are becoming more accomplished at identifying and intervening where local outbreaks are identified. Councillor Mason agreed that we are all learning all the time.  

10. Councillor Miscandlon commented regarding Zoom meetings. Fenland needs a better internet infrastructure to support working remotely. It is the future and we need to be part of it and not left behind.

11. Councillor Wicks said that in respect of the statistical increase in coronavirus cases within Fenland, this news should be communicated to the public to reiterate that the virus has not gone away and they still need to be vigilant. He added that in respect of Councillor Miscandlon’s comment, it is not only the internet that needs improving within Fenland but also mobile phone coverage. 

12. Councillor Wicks said that he understood that because of the virus FDC had to make changes to the way that staff worked and he was sure risk assessments and analysis had been undertaken in respect of the maximum number of staff allowed to work in all FDC buildings. He asked Paul Medd whether CMT were looking at the viability of the buildings and if so, could he given an insight into how that is going. 

13. Paul Medd thanked Councillor Wicks and agreed that the public do need to be aware of the latest situation, given that the virus has not gone away despite the lifting of restrictions.  There continues to be an ongoing communication’s campaign from Government, Public Health England, local public health colleagues and this council in terms of making it clear to residents that they need to continue to stay alert.  Regarding another way of working, he added that Councillor Wicks made a valid observation but we have been exploring new ways for the past decade in response to austerity.  We are continually reviewing that as we continue to be customer focussed and deliver member priorities. Under our recovery plan we are reflecting on the percentage of people home working now out of necessity, and what percentage might we choose to continue working from home but in a way acceptable to the council and how we deliver services, instead of rushing to repatriate all staff to council buildings. It is not safe or appropriate at present but we are reviewing it. If we do take everyone back when safe to do so we will then assess our accommodation. Assuming we identify extra space, we can look to rent that out or consider if the buildings are fit for purpose. This will take some time but is something that he discusses regularly with the Leader. 

14. Councillor Wicks thanked Paul Medd for his comprehensive response. 

15. Councillor Mason asked if distance working would create implications for South Fens and the Boathouse in respect of small businesses not returning. Councillor Boden said that we have lost a small number of businesses which are no longer trading, but we also have some new ones coming in. There is actually a greater percentage of the Boathouse in occupancy now than at the start of COVID-19 but we do not know how the future will look. 

16. Councillor Boden responded to Councillor Miscandlon’s comment about internet connection and said that thanks to the county wide programme in general, Fenland does actually benefit from a reasonable and reliable high speed internet service across the district. Unfortunately there are pockets in the area to which that does not apply hence Councillor Miscandlon’s comment. Continued rollout of the fibre network across the district is helping to ensure that Fenland remains competitive. FDC continues to work with Connecting Cambridgeshire in connecting “not spot” locations in the district and seeks to address those, and it is the same with mobile phone coverage. Part of the answer to that is in our hands and we need to look carefully at future planning applications for mobile phone masts which previously might have been treated more negatively. 

17. Councillor Boden said that he agreed with Councillor Booth’s comment regarding internet access. Channel Shift is not a matter of pushing people towards the internet and with our new appointments system at the customer service centres we are trying to design this so that those people who do not have internet access get a better service than they did before. He agreed that there will always be people who do not interact with the internet.

18. Councillor Boden referred to Councillor Count’s comment regarding Fenland having above national average COVID figures and said that this is a marginal figure only; they are only slightly above average.  All the numbers are available on the internet.  However, we must continue to reiterate the messages regarding social distancing and handwashing and as councillors we are all in a position to spread that message in our local communities. 

19. Councillor Yeulett added his thanks to all at FDC for their work during this pandemic and also thanked Councillor Boden for his stark presentation on the economic situation. He wanted to highlight concerns raised in the national media  regarding the lack of income from commercial agreements that councils have and asked if we are experiencing similar problems and what effect that may have on our future investments. 

20. Councillor Boden responded that we are not in the same situation as many other local authorities. Our level of commercial income from third parties whilst small has largely been preserved.  All conferences have stopped so we are not getting that income in our business centres but we are not losing income, say, from car parking charges as we do not charge for this. In that sense we are far stronger for not going down that route and previous decisions on car parking have therefore stood us in greater stead. Therefore however bad our financial position currently looks, so many other councils are in a far worse position than we are. Our position, with the exception of the conferences, has been largely stable.

21.  Councillor Booth said he was concerned that the report lacked detail of where extra costs have come from and where income has been lost. It would therefore be useful for future reports to contain budget headings. 

22. Councillor Boden said the difficulty with this is that there are some items where confidentiality is involved but will endeavour to make details clearer in future meetings. He could say that just over half of our additional costs are to do with housing in respect of homelessness and rough sleeping. Also, in respect of income the main reductions are due to the reduction of business rates and council tax that we may be able to collect this year.  We do not know how far under budget we will be as of 31^st March 2021, but also remember we are collecting not on our own behalf but of other precepting authorities, hence the shortfall looks enormous.

23. Councillor Mason thanked Councillor Boden and said that he too, as Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel would like to express his thanks and appreciation to the staff of FDC. 

The Overview and Scrutiny Panel AGREED to note the content of the Council Response to COVID-19 – Future Implications report.