As the UK enters its fourth week of lockdown, Monmouthshire County Council continues to function around the clock to support communities affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Council Leader Peter Fox has urged residents to stay safe and stay home to minimise the spread of coronavirus while staff and volunteers work exceptionally hard to ensure key services continue to operate. Everyone, including the most vulnerable in the community, is being supported at this difficult time, though there have been some inevitable disruptions to services to enable the council to concentrate on keeping the county’s residents safe.
The council’s Emergency Response Team (ERT) meets daily to assess pressures on services, respond to requests and support the authority’s many partners as they minimise impacts to the best of their ability. The ERT will focus on the likely consequences on services and the community of a further three week lockdown.
Children of key workers have been looked after over the Easter holidays at three hubs – Deri View Primary School, Abergavenny, Raglan Primary School and Caldicot’s Dewstow Primary School – by staff from the council’s MonLife services.
The two week period saw 493 attendances for children aged four to 12 with childcare provided from 8am to 6pm. This vital provision enabled key workers to continue their work, confident that their children were in good hands and having fun. MonLife staff (including sport development, youth workers, leisure and outdoor adventure workers) offered a range of activities from sports, arts & crafts and forest schools to team building activities, the Daily Mile, singing and much more.
The team received much positive feedback from parents and children. One enthusiastic child remarked, “It’s just amazing!” while a parent was delighted by her child’s soaring confidence. She said, “Thank you for all you are doing to make sure the kids feel secure, happy and are having fun”. The MonLife team handed back responsibility to school staff today (20th April) who will operate from seven hubs across the county.
The council’s trading standards team continues to support businesses in relation to Covid-19 related restrictions and respond to complaints of those failing to comply. They also advise on PPE (personal protective equipment) and safety requirements, especially by clamping down on the sale of inferior and unsafe products following the lifting of restrictions on normal requirements.
In addition, the team is keeping a watchful eye on current scams. Councillor Sara Jones, Monmouthshire’s cabinet member with responsibility for trading standards said: “Residents should be aware of fraudulent activity related to the coronavirus pandemic and we have issued warnings about this on the council’s website: https://www.monmouthshire.gov.uk/trading-standards/ She continued: “Just this week a resident received a specific Monmouthshire County Council tax rebate scam email and I’m sure this will not be an isolated incident. Anyone receiving an email from ‘support@covid.gov.uk’ should not respond – but please report it to our trading standards team at tradingstandards@monmouthshire.gov.uk or telephone 01873 735420.”
Meanwhile, the animal health service has reported that welfare problems are starting to increase, bringing significant impacts on the council’s resources and the wider community. Councillor Sara Jones said: “It’s vital that any concerns are brought to our attention as soon as possible and that includes keepers of livestock who may be struggling for all manner of reasons – the sooner we know, the sooner we can help and support.” The animal health service may be contacted at: animalhealth@monmouthshire.gov.uk or by telephoning 01873 735420.
The council’s food safety officers continue to provide a rapid response to any issues that come to their attention while enjoying cooperation from food businesses. They have provided advice on social distancing and changes in legislation, and guidance as it is updated.
Food safety officers are also working closely with Public Health Wales to offer support in the care home sector as well as liaising with owners of holiday homes over offers of accommodation for key workers.
By Friday 17th April the council had issued nearly £14m worth of Welsh Government grants to give a huge boost to local businesses, thanks in some part to staff working over the bank holiday weekend. Businesses that have not yet registered are urged to do so quickly, in order that the council can support them. Their first step to check eligibility is to visit: https://businesswales.gov.wales/covid-19-grants and then register at https://www.monmouthshire.gov.uk/business-advice/
The Community Support Team set up to support the local response to the pandemic has already received 227 requests for support with 185 volunteers offering to help their communities. The team is working with 60 volunteer-led community action groups and volunteers are engaged in essential food shopping, collecting prescriptions and other wellbeing based support. In addition, volunteers have prepared and delivered over 2,600 hot meals or food packs free of charge to people in need.
Residents needing support or wishing to volunteer should contact: partnerships@monmouthshire.gov.uk or call 01633 644696.
The coronavirus pandemic has placed a considerable amount of pressure on the council’s housing team. Its priority has been to provide accommodation and a place of safety for homeless and vulnerable clients with a focus on identifying options for new accommodation. The team is working closely with partner agencies, the Welsh Government and private landlords and has made 50 offers of accommodation while enabling 41 individual moves.
The council’s Careline service has exploited new technology which continues the provision of lifelines without the requirement for staff to enter people’s homes. Since lockdown was announced the council has provided 24 new Careline units and attended ten urgent maintenance calls to help older residents remain safe at home.
Communication has been a key factor in the council’s approach to the pandemic. Regular press releases have been issued with advice and information placed on the council’s Facebook and Twitter social media channels. Chief Executive Paul Matthews has kept staff up to date with daily bulletins while the Chair of the Council, Councillor Sheila Woodhouse, sent a message to residents at Easter. Council Leader Peter Fox has featured in a number of informative social media videos and in the latest he urged residents to take every precaution against coronavirus. He said:
“Thank you for everything you’ve done over the past four difficult weeks. It’s so important to stay inside and it’s really making a difference – without this action, our hospitals would have been overwhelmed.
He added: “We will need to continue lockdown for a few more weeks. That will be hard, but it’s crucial we don’t stop now. We can’t let the virus take a further hold. We must keep it under control and the only way we’re going to do that is by maintaining social distancing, sticking to the rules, staying at home and saving lives. We can beat this together.”