Agenda item

To receive a verbal report from the Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holders.

The Leader of the Council reported on the latest progress with the Council’s response to and recovery from COVID-19.

The start to 2021 had seen someone admitted to hospital every 30 seconds in England with coronavirus.  The importance of staying home and reducing contact with others remained the best action everyone could take to save lives.

With 200 people being vaccinated every minute and jabs given to nearly 10 million people, there was light at the end of the tunnel.  The Leader welcomed the many wonderful stories of how the New Forest community were pulling together to support each other, including help with the online booking of appointments.  The UK was well on course to offer 15 million jabs to the most vulnerable by mid February.

The Leader and Cabinet placed on record their thanks to all the NHS staff who were part of the vaccination programme locally, and to the many volunteers who continued to offer invaluable support and assistance. 

In terms of the Council, there were currently three staff with coronavirus and five staff self isolating, out of the total 1,234 employees.  In addition, there were nine staff who were clinically extremely vulnerable and unable to work from home. 

Staff continued to work tirelessly, with a further £13.4M paid out to local businesses through the Government backed business support schemes during the Winter lockdown.  The Food and Safety Team visited 105 supermarkets and other food retailers in the past couple of weeks to support them with continuing to implement Covid measures.  37 other premises, such as garden centres and builders merchants were also visited, to offer advice.

The Council continued to work alongside health colleagues to set up vaccine and testing sites, and ensuring the clinically vulnerable could access food shopping, medicines and befriending services.  The Council continued to provide its day to day normal services.

It was reported that last week, the Local Tracing Service went live in the New Forest District, alongside a bid being put forward for a community testing site at Totton Health and Leisure Centre for critical and essential workers.

The Leader encouraged residents to look at the information on the Council’s website for how the Council may be able to help.  The Leader and Cabinet recognised that the community and businesses of the New Forest all did so well during 2020 to come together to support the local economy, protect jobs and enable the general wellbeing of residents.

The Portfolio Holder for Housing Services reported on the progress of the Greener Housing Task and Finish Group, lead by the Chairman of the Housing Overview and Scrutiny Panel.  There was a clear direction at recent meetings to bring greener housing initiatives to Council tenants, especially those on lower incomes.  The Portfolio Holder was pleased to report on the recent award of over £250,000 from Central Government to install 50 heat pumps in tenants’ homes where there was no mains gas supply.  This would make a huge difference to these homes and lead to a reduction in energy bills for tenants. The work of the Task and Finish Group continued, and it was anticipated that a Greener Housing Strategy would be brought forward in due course.

The Portfolio Holder for Economic Development reported in more detail on the grants to businesses in the New Forest.  Approximately half of the funds reported by the Leader of the Council had been distributed under the discretionary grants schemes organised by the Council, assisting those smaller businesses not covered by some of the earlier Government lead initiatives.

The Portfolio Holder for Environment and Regulatory Services confirmed that the take your litter home campaign in the Summer of 2020 had resulted in a reduction of over 10 tonnes of litter throughout the Summer on the beaches within the District.  It was hoped that this progress would continue into 2021, with a focus on reducing litter from cars.

The Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Wellbeing placed on record his thanks to those people supporting the efforts at Applemore Leisure Centre for vaccinations, and it was hoped that positive news would soon be received in relation to the bid for a testing site at Totton.

The Portfolio Holder for Planning and Infrastructure reported on the Government award of £13.4M for repairs to the Redbridge Causeway, a vital link in this part of the District.  In conjunction with Hampshire County Council funding, a total of £25M would be committed to ensuring the availability of this route into the future.