PHIL CREIGHTON reports on a special Wokingham Borough Council executive meeting held online on Thursday, February 25

Leader’s gratitude for covid support

THE meeting opened with the leader of the council, John Halsall, paying tribute to the way in which the borough has handled the coronavirus pandemic.

“I would like a big thank again to everybody who has stepped up to the plate and made it possible for life to continue during these appalling times,” he said, adding his condolences for “those who have suffered so much”.

He urged residents to continue to obey lockdown measures designed to thwart the spread of the virus.

“It has never been more vital that we play our role and continue to observe the rules,” he said, adding that the council was using the government’s roadmap out of restrictions as part of its recovery strategy.

This included helping health partners to roll-out the vaccine and provide spaces for lateral flow testing.

“To be successful this testing needs to be part of everybody’s daily routine. We need to change behaviour and continually check for positive cases. So that these cases can then self-isolate,” he said.

“We need to be ready to rapidly deploy thousands of PCR tests door to door should the data suggest we have a problem in the borough.”

The council would also focus on the following areas of recovery: supporting business and job creation; physical and mental wellbeing; maintaining services; using data for insight; focusing on education; tackling inequality and social inclusion.

‘Vaccine recipients need more parking’

MORE car parking spaces should be provided for people heading to Wokingham town centre for their covid vaccine.

Resident David Dunham told Cllr Pauline Jorgensen, the executive member for highways and transport, that the Bradbury Centre was able to vaccinate between 900 and 1,400 people a day, and that they needed to be monitored for 15 minutes before leaving.

The turnaround is around four people every eight minutes, and as such the 14 allocated spaces  weren’t sufficient.

“Could the Rose Street car park be allocated vaccine centre car park only for that one day a week?” he asked.

“The loss of revenue would be minimal in comparison to the benefits, especially as there are many who still need to be vaccinated who are on the vulnerable list.”

He added that on occasion traffic wardens had “been hovering”, while the volunteers at the centre were able to use the Waitrose store car park.

Responding, Cllr Jorgensen thanked Mr Dunham for the question, and said that the council had set aside space for the vaccinations and it was being managed.

She promised that they would review the situation and make adjustments.

“It is important to bear in mind, that if the Rose Street car park were used solely to serve the Bradbury Centre vaccination clinics this would unfairly disadvantage those using it to visit the few businesses that are currently managing to remain open as well as those needing to attend the Wokingham Medical Centre for non-covid medical care.”

Mr Dunham again called for more parking, saying another line was all that was needed.

“I am very happy to make sure there is enough parking,” Cllr Jorgensen promised.

Children’s services visits update

With lockdown continuing, Anne Chadwick, Conservative’s candidate for Loddon Ward, wanted to know how many face-to-face children’s services visits were conducted during this time.

She noted that in June last year, during the first lockdown, 97% of child protection visits were face-to-face.

Cllr UllaKarin Clark, executive members for children’s services, that the borough council’s social workers had been “committed” to this system, delivered to a set of practice standards, within the usual statutory timescales.

“Between January 1 and February 19, 2021, a total of 783 Child Protection visits have been completed by Wokingham social workers,” she added.

“Out of this number 5.4% have been virtual and 94.6% of visits have been undertaken in person and face to face by a social worker.”

Covid in care homes update given

Daniel Hinton, Conservative candidate for Candidate for Evendons Ward, asked for an update on the level of covid in the borough’s care homes.

Responding, Cllr Charles Margetts, executive member for health, wellbeing and adult services, said that there were now relatively low case numbers in Wokingham.

“Across 52 care homes in Wokingham, there are two covid positive residents and three positive members of staff,” he said.

“Following a peak in the case rate in Wokingham at the beginning of January, the weekly rate has fallen steadily, at all times remaining below the national and South East comparable rates. 

“Wokingham currently has the lowest weekly rate in Berkshire, a rate of 54.3 per 100,000 (for the week February 10-16) and has a very low rate in residents over the age of 60 at just 35.5 per 100,000, well below the equivalent figure for the South East of 69.8 per 100,000.”

 He added: “Central Government has, however, announced this week that Care home residents will be permitted one designated visitor from March 8.

“Our Task Force will continue to work with colleagues from across the sector to minimise the risk of community transmission and ensure that Lateral Flow Testing is fully to facilitate designated visitors.”

Mr Hinton, who is also the Conservative group leader on Wokingham Town Council, wanted to know if there was a message for residents from all this.

Cllr Margetts said the response had been encouraging with residents working hard to follow covid rules.

Cllr Gary Cowan (Ind, Arborfield) wanted details on the way in which the council had supported those in and near care homes during the pandemic.

“Is the Council satisfied that it has worked just as proactively to deliver support and advice to our residents and businesses in the vicinity of the care homes where there has been reported cases of infection and sadly loss of life in the Borough?”

Responding, Cllr Margetts said: “Outbreaks in care homes have been managed effectively and contained through all necessary infection control measures and public health action to manage this risk of community transmission.”

He added that the council has worked with residents and businesses to minimise the risk of community transmission, including covid marshals and a support team.

“Where we have seen care home outbreaks, the council has targeted resources within local community,” Cllr Margetts continued.

“This has included marshal patrols and an increase in signage, with staff working alongside local residents and businesses to highlight any risks and ensure compliance.

“For example when there was an outbreak at the Shinfield View care home we arranged daily covid marshal patrols and located four large temporary feather signs in Shinfield outside key shops and the garage and a number of additional standard signs to reassure the community.”

Council’s response to covid praised

There was praise for the Executive for “standing up for the borough where necessary” during the pandemic.

The comments came from Sam Akhtar, Conservative candidate for Candidate for Charvil, who wanted to know more about the council’s plans for the other side of lockdown.

He asked: “What is its strategy?”

Cllr John Halsall said: “It is pleasing  to hear the appreciation of the council’s response to the pandemic.

“It means a lot to know that our endeavours were felt among the community at such a vital time.

“Our response is not over yet of course, so we must keep focused on this and doing all we can.”

He pointed out that the budget for the year ahead was one about “recovery” as it provided £500 million worth of investment over three years.

“A considerable amount of this will stimulate our local economy and seek to address the housing
needs in the borough for those not currently able to afford to buy their homes,” he said.

And there was also money for care services including a domestic abuse support service, and work on its poverty strategy.

He also hoped to refresh the vision and corporate delivery plan next month, and would be bringing a recovery strategy to a May meeting of the executive.

“Most of the recovery work is of course already progressing, for example; improving our offer for low to medium mental health support, stimulating economic recovery and helping our children achieve their development potential,” he continued.

“This strategy will help us bring all these work-streams together and ensure they are not forgotten as we embark on our significant role in helping create a brighter, purposeful and happier future for our community.”   

Concerns over child poverty levels

UP TO 17% of children in certain wards are living in poverty according to a Conservative election candidate.

Shahid Younis, who is standing in Bulmershe and Whitegates ward, wanted to know what the council was planning to do to reduce levels of child poverty.

Cllr John Halsall, the leader of the borough council, said that while Wokingham had one of the lowest poverty rates in the country, “even if one person or one child does not have fair and equal opportunity in our Borough that is one too many and we are committed to fighting this”.

He said that the work was already ongoing to alleviate this, including maxmising affordable and council housing and addressing homelessness.

A fuel poverty scheme has seen energy efficiency measures installed, which could save more than 30% on annual bills.

And Cllr Halsall also praised the council’s partnership with the voluntary and community sector which means it could “support our residents to lead self-sustaining lifestyles, including addressing
food insecurity through initiatives such as Grub Club and Social Bites which has positive benefits for children”.

He added: “Notwithstanding this positive work that has been taking place and is being strengthened in response to the pandemic, we know we can do more to ensure those who really need our support can get it.”

Approval for covid review

TWELVE recommendations to the council borne out of the coronavirus pandemic were approved by the executive.

They were voting on a report by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee based on the experiences of the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic.

The report was introduced by Cllr Pauline Helliar-Symons (Con, Wokingham Without): “I have great pleasure in introducing this report,” she told the executive, saying that “We felt the council has done a superb job in coping with this pandemic”.

Some of the 12 issues were already being addressed, such as council staff and councillors undergoing mental health first aid training.

Recommendations include a commendation to the efforts of staff, councillors, partners and community volunteers to ensure that key services remained operational.

On care homes, the executive wants to ensure that staff do not work in more than one home and appropriate social distancing measures are applied.

The welfare of council staff during the next phases of the pandemic was highlighted, as was the ‘relative sparsity of data’ on domestic violence.

This led to a new support contract being approved at the January executive. A similar approach to poverty is being worked on.

A call to ensure that people aged 21-25 who have left care settings should be exempt from paying council tax has been met and comes into force from April.

Going forward, the council will tailor its covid response to specific community groups and ensure the messaging is appropriate for that setting, be it for a ward area or to targeted communities.

The report calls on the council to continue the partnerships with external organisations including the voluntary sector, health, police, schools and town and parish councils.

There is also scope for the council to learn from the operational issues learnt during the pandemic, which has seen staff redeployed to maintain essential services while others were shut due to government restrictions.

 Cllr UllaKarin Clark asked for an amendment to be made to the report, saying she was not happy with the first sentence in the section about children’s services being amended to ensure staff and children were safe, as it “gives the impression that this was not the case before … that’s definitely not true”.

Cllr Gregor Murray noted “how pleased I am at the amount of focus the report has given to mental health across our community”, urging all councillors to undergo mental health first aid training “as soon as they can”.

Summing up, Cllr John Halsall said that the report was being considered almost a year to the day that the first case of covid was confirmed in the borough.

“I have been extremely proud to be leader in this period … the emergency planning regime kick in, we involved the voluntary sector, the health sector and, I must say that, by and large, we did a pretty good job.

“We have phenomenal officers who have stepped up to the plate.”

The report was approved unanimously.