Issue - meetings

LEADER OF THE COUNCIL'S STATEMENT

Meeting: 03/03/2021 - Council Meeting (Item 454)

LEADER OF THE COUNCIL'S STATEMENT

 

To receive a statement from the Leader of the Council in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 9.

Minutes:

In welcoming everyone to the final meeting of the Municipal Year, the Leader noted that no one would ever want to experience another year like the last one.

 

The Leader advised that he was hopeful, however, that there was a glimmer of light on the horizon with Covid case numbers dropping nationally and locally. The Leader advised that as of 1st March there were 56 patients in hospital in Rotherham with Covid and that also there were currently no Care Home resident positive cases being reported. The Leader advised that there had been a good reduction in positive cases being reported for those aged over 60 and amongst school age children, however, there was still a way to go with working age people, with cases numbers remaining higher than would be liked.

 

The Leader thanked the Clinical Commissioning Group and local volunteers for the remarkable progress that they continued to make in delivering vaccinations. The Leader advised that the target to vaccinate 56,000 people during the initial 8 week period had been exceeded, with over 60,000 residents being vaccinated, with over 90% of residents in the top four priority groups having been vaccinated. The Leader noted that over 75,000 vaccinations had now been delivered with second dose vaccinations scheduled to start on 9th March.

 

The Leader advised that over 1,500 businesses had now been supported by the Local Restrictions Support Grant schemes, having received support totalling £17.8million. In addition, the Sheffield City Region Combined Authority had also supported over 1,300 businesses with the Additional Restrictions Grant.

 

The Leader noted with sorrow the loss of 776 residents during the pandemic and stated that whilst the vaccination would offer a level of protection against the Covid-19 virus, it did not mean that the risk had gone away. 

 

The Leader advised, however, that the situation would improve and that everyone could help by following the national restrictions, staying at home and getting tested if needed.

 

The Leader thanked all Members for giving their time to serve the community over the last 5 extraordinary years. The Leader reflected on the enormous progress that had been made over the previous 5 years,  most notably with regard to Children’s Services, and in bringing the intervention to a close, but also in the taking of difficult decisions around Social Care in the right way, in the trebling the number of Council homes built each year and the steps being taken to revitalise the town centre. The Leader noted that while Members may have had at times disagreed, that this had been done so with good grace, and where Members had agreed, partnership had not stood in the way of getting things done, a situation that the Leader hoped would continue into the future.