In the interest of transparency Cllr Imran Khan stated that he was based at Grange Interlink, one of the 5 Area Hubs that had been set up during the current pandemic.

ACTION: City Solicitor

There were no appeals submitted by the public to review decisions to restrict
documents.

(Councillor Hinchcliffe)

The Chief Executive will submit a report (Document “BO”) which provides Members with an overview of the response to Covid 19, and the financial impacts of both government decisions, and the decisions taken locally using emergency powers.

Recommended –

That the Executive

(1)       Thanks all Council staff and everyone involved across all sectors,        in the NHS, in statutory services and VCS, in our communities and          in our businesses, for their incredible efforts to tackle the            emergency.

(2)       Note the contents of this report and the actions taken to manage          the issues highlighted in the report.

(3)       Recognise the on-going financial and resource implications to the       Council of tackling the emergency and requests that a monitoring    report be brought to each subsequent meeting of the Executive     providing details of on-going costs and approvals sought for     necessary expenditure.

(4)       Approves a temporary one off payment to Support the Care sector       at a cost of £1.3m as outlined in Para 4.14, and that decisions         regarding the release of further funding are delegated to the             Strategic Director of Health & Wellbeing in consultation with the            Portfolio holder.

(5)       In relation to the to the Food Supply Chain as outlined in Para 5.5,        delegates decisions regarding the release of further funding to the          Strategic Director of Place in consultation with the Portfolio             holder.

(6)       Requests that on-going dialogue be maintained between the      Council and the Government in order to make the case to national   decision makers for the impact of Covid-19 to be funded             nationally with neutral impact on Council budgets.

(7)       Requests the Chief Executive to prepare a further report to the Executive setting out plans and proposals for the recovery of         Bradford District from the impact of Covid-19.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee: Corporate

(Nigel Smith, Principal Executive Officer (7582103578) Andrew Cross, Head of Budgeting, Management Accounting & Projects (01274) 436823)

The report of the Chief Executive (Document “BO”) provided Members with an overview of the response to Covid 19, and the financial impacts of both government decisions, and the decisions taken locally using emergency powers.

The Leader expressed her immense gratitude to the people of the district for following the Government’s advice to stay at home, in order to save lives and protect the NHS. The Leader expressed her deepest condolences on behalf of the Council, to all those in the district who had lost loved ones to the virus, and she stressed that the Council was here to support all its residents during these difficult times.

The Chief Executive gave an overview of the activities the Council was undertaking to support residents and businesses in the district. She highlighted that the Councils’ primary role was to manage and lead on the response to Covid 19. To this end the Council was working tirelessly with partners and with the businesses, as well as with the community and voluntary sectors to ensure essential services are kept running and that we supported the most vulnerable and offer businesses the help they needed during these unprecedented times.

She added that as a Council we had made 5 pledges at the outset of the pandemic, namely to:

•           Ensuring vulnerable people get the health and care that they need.

•           Supporting our communities

•           Helping business and workforces to stay resilient

•           Maintaining essential services

•           Keeping people informed.

To this end a new command structure had been established in order to oversee decision making and to shape and respond to key issues across Council services and across the Bradford District

As a consequence of the pandemic, there had been a huge financial cost to the Council in terms of its ability to generate income and collect revenues and we were now projecting a deficit in the Council’s finances for 2020/21.

Strategic Directors gave a brief overview of the activities they were undertaking in their respective service areas during the Pandemic.

The Strategic Director Health and Wellbeing stated that the Service had taken a very proactive approach to contact vulnerable people and offer appropriate help and support where required.  33 rough sleepers had been taken off the street and provided with suitable accommodation.  Most aspects of Adult Social Care were functioning as normal and services enhanced where possible, alluding to the number of people who had passed away in a care setting, she stressed that the Service was determined to offer support and help to ensure there was adequate infection control measures in place in those settings.

In the area of Place the Strategic Director highlighted the community response to the pandemic and how support was being offered to communities via five area based community hubs, with a particular ward level focus.  To date the voluntary effort had been excellent particularly in terms of food distribution and home shopping services for the most vulnerable. A number of hardship payments had also been made.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 121.