Agenda item

Cabinet Portfolio: - Leader of the Council  

Strategic Directorate: - Assistant Chief Executive

Consideration was given to a report that was submitted for pre-decision scrutiny ahead of the Cabinet meeting scheduled for 22 March 2021 that provided an update on how the Council was currently responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and also sought approval for the allocation of an additional £350,218 allocation of COVID Winter Grant in accordance with the priorities agreed by Cabinet in December 2020. The Leader of the Council and the Chief Executive attended the meeting to present the report.

The Chair advised that due to the need for Cabinet to make a decision on the report as soon as possible, that in accordance with the procedures set out in the Council’s Constitution that the decision was being taken using the “General Exception” procedures as it had not been practicable for 28 days’ notice of the intention to take the decision to be given.

The Chair also advised that due to the urgency of the decision, that in accordance with the procedures set out in the Council’s Constitution surrounding call-in, that he as the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board, in consultation with Councillor Cowles, as Leader of the Opposition had agreed that the decision should be exempt from the Council’s call-in processes.

In introducing the report the Leader advised that as part of the Government’s COVID roadmap, the COVID Winter Grant Scheme had been extended up to 16 April, and that this would provide an additional £59.1 million across England of extra targeted financial support for those in need during the pandemic, with Rotherham having been allocated an additional £350,218 of funding. The Leader advised that in order to ensure that the additional grant was spent within the permitted timeframe and for the benefits to be realised by Rotherham families, proposals had been developed to allocate the grant in accordance with the priorities previously agreed by Cabinet through extending and enhancing the established provision.

It was proposed that the additional funding would be used as follows:

·       £315,000 to provide food vouchers for the Easter school holidays, and support for school uniforms, to children eligible for free school meals. The food vouchers were to be to the value of £15 per week for each eligible child. Support for school uniforms would be £20 per eligible child.

·       £35,218 to increase the funding available to support families struggling with utility costs / debt.

The Chief Executive provided a summary of how the Council was currently responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and on the current situation Rotherham including:

·       Latest infection levels in Rotherham.

·       The roll-out of the vaccination programme.

·       Testing sites and the introduction of workplace testing.

·       The provision of laptops for children.

·       Financial support for businesses.

·        

The report provided a full narrative of how the Council was currently responding to the pandemic.

Members asked whether the effectiveness of local contact tracing being carried out by the public health team had been impacted by poor quality data being received from the national contact tracing service. The Chief Executive advised that there had been problems with the quality of data that had been received but assured members that activity was continuing that would address these problems.

Members asked whether the problems that had impacted on the effectiveness of local contact tracing would impact on the delivery of any surge testing for variants of Covid-19 that may be required in Rotherham in the future. The Chief Executive advised that the processes for surge testing were separate from the standard contact tracing processes, and as such would not be impacted as surge testing involved offering tests to every resident in a defined geographical area.

Members welcomed the activity that had been carried out to ensure that children across the Borough that had not had access to IT equipment or the internet had been assisted throughout the pandemic, but noted that ideally this support should have been provided directly by the Government. Members asked for information on the number of laptops that had been provided in Rotherham. The Chief Executive advised that exact information on numbers would be circulated to members of the Board. The Leader advised that around 2,000 devices had been provided, with the information on those children and young people in need being provided by schools.

The Chair thanked the Leader and the Chief Executive for attending the meeting and for answering member questions.

Resolved:  -

That Cabinet be advised that the recommendations be supported.