Consideration was given to the report of the Executive Directors which highlighted the Council’s response, to date, to the COVID-19 emergency.

The Council responded in three specific ways and the following salient points were noted:

Support to the vulnerable

·       launched Rother Community Hub (RCH) on 25 March 2020 to support residents who were affected and not identified on the ‘shielded list’;

·       matched and identified need with existing local voluntary groups;

·       provided food supplies for those in urgent need and supported foodbanks;

·       at the end of May, 700 telephone calls were answered, and 369 online forms assessed.  Each resident was contacted to discuss their needs and ongoing welfare calls were being made; and

·       the Council had received £650,000 to support Council Tax payers in receipt of the Council Tax Reduction funding.

Support to local businesses

·       the Council had received £34.8m funding to support small business rate and rural rate relief.  All eligible businesses were contacted that had not applied by 17 April 2020.  As of 22 May 2020, the Council had paid out £23.2m which supported 2,027 businesses (80%); and

·       an additional £1.476m discretionary fund had been received to help businesses who were not supported through the rate relief schemes;

Redesigned current operations and functions to respond to Government measures

·       on 23 March 2020, emergency procedures were agreed to enable officers, in consultation with key Members to make critical executive or regulatory decisions.  To date five executive, one licensing and one planning decision had been approved.  It was considered important to retain flexibility within the Constitution, should a similar situation occur;

·       formal meetings were now being held remotely using Microsoft Teams.  Members were advised that a bespoke hybrid meeting system was being explored.  It was anticipated that remote meetings would continue for the foreseeable future;

·       the majority of staff were working from home;

·       to restrict public access at the Town Hall an intercom system was installed outside the building;

·       100 new laptops were deployed to staff;

·       internal and external communication improvements were implemented including website updates and increased social media messages; and

·       Appendix A attached to the report identified a number of service specific issues which had arisen.

An estimate of the expected financial effects on the Council excluding the Collection Fund was highlighted in Appendix B to the report.  There were a number of assumptions within the figures and it was anticipated that they would change as time progressed.

As a result of the impact of COVID-19, it was noted that the Collection Fund could be in deficit of approximately £3.5m by year end.  Rother’s share would be £425,000.  Rother’s share of Council Tax (CT) relief would be in the region of £160,000, with approximately £1.6m required to support demand.  It was anticipated that CT collection and business rates would fall to 95% predicting a loss of approximately £175,000 and £225,000 (Rother’s share £90,000) respectively.  The deficit would be charged to the General Fund in 2021/22 and potentially, the Council could suffer the interim cash flow impact.  Therefore Government support was critical to replace lost income.

Overall, fees and charges income was expected to reduce by £1.48m which was attributed to the suspension of car parking charges, the closure of Camber car parks, rent deferral scheme for tenants of Council owned commercial tenants, housing benefit subsidy and planning fees.  It was noted that the Government was reviewing Community Infrastructure Levy and Section 106 contributions.  Where appropriate, debt recovery measures had been implemented. Expenditure was rising which was attributed to homelessness costs, establishment and ongoing support of RCH, support package to the leisure contractor, potential support to the DLWP Trust and major technology changes. 

To date, the Council had received £1m Government grant, however it was not known at this stage whether any further funding would be forthcoming.  Over the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) reserves might fall to £4.2m; the minimum level adopted by the Council was £5m.  Without additional Government financial support, the Council would struggle to deliver savings over the life of the MTFP.

The Strategic Management Team, all staff, Members, Parish and Town Councils, statutory bodies, voluntary and community groups were thanked and congratulated on their continued efforts to ensure that services were delivered and the community was supported during these unprecedented times.  Moving forward and dependent on Government guidance, the Council would continue to adapt and adopt new working practices.

RESOLVED: That the Council’s response to the COVID-19 emergency to date, be noted.