To report to cabinet on the response by Herefordshire Council to the coronavirus epidemic in the county and its impact on the council and the county.

The chief executive spoke on the report, highlighting the actions taken by the council independently and in conjunction with partners locally, regionally and nationally. Points noted included:

·         Challenges in sourcing personal protective equipment (PPE) with the council using around 18,000 facemasks per day, gloves, aprons and goggles were also being used where appropriate;

·         Local companies had adapted their manufacturing capabilities to produce hand sanitiser within a week of the council’s request;

·         The council was working closely with care homes and was in a comparatively sound position compared with other areas of the county, the situation was being closely monitored as Herefordshire was behind the peak curve regionally;

·         The council was making use of technology to hold virtual meetings and recognised the opportunities this presented in reducing unnecessary travel and reducing pollution from traffic;

·         Systems imposed from central government had generally been less effective than measures designed and implemented locally, this was being communicated back to the government;

·         The council had the lowest known staff sickness levels across the region;

·         Many staff had been redeployed to assist with the response to the virus, for example car parking charges had been suspended which allowed key workers to park as close as possible to their point of work and released enforcement staff for other duties;

·         In the long term it would be necessary to get a vaccine distributed across the county, in the interim full hygiene protocols including washing hands, social distancing and where appropriate in specific roles, use of PPE remained key tools;

·         The resource implications were enormous for councils across the country and the impact was still being calculated, councils were signalling that the additional costs could not be met indefinitely without extra funding and would be pressing the government in this regard.

Following the presentation by the chief executive the meeting observed a minute’s silence in remembrance of those who had lost their lives to the coronavirus.

In discussion of the chief executive’s report the cabinet noted that:

·         £45.5m worth of grants had been approved to businesses across the county, the council had been unable to reach a number of businesses that might be eligible for grants and would be sending letters out in the following days to encourage them to make contact;

·         Planning applications continued to be registered and validated, site notices had been suspended initially but had now been reinstated with appropriate social distancing measures for staff and the first virtual planning committee meeting had been scheduled for 12 May;

·         Close working with the care home sector had resulted in a relatively small number of cases in comparison with other parts of the country, a proactive approach was supporting care providers with infection control processes and the council had submitted its model to the Local Government Association as an example of best practice to inform work across the country, however Herefordshire was behind the regional peak curve;

·         The chief executive and other senior officers continued to provide regular updates to cabinet members.

In considering comments and questions from  ...  view the full minutes text for item 142