Question
Following Councillor Halsall's comments at the last Executive Meeting on 24th June, and widely reported in the press, about Earley and Wokingham Town Councils not contributing to Covid activities; as an Earley Town Councillor I consider the statement both ill-informed and offensive to the hard-working senior officers, who have been at their posts throughout.
Please could lead on Finance tell me exactly how much of the £9.35 million of additional Covid funding received by WBC was forwarded to any of the Town and Parish Councils to assist with the massive reduction in their income due to all facilities being closed down and the additional costs of operating throughout including ETC offices being in use continuously. A very short answer is all that is required thank you.
Minutes:
Question
Following Councillor Halsall's comments at the last Executive Meeting on 24th June, and widely reported in the press, about Earley and Wokingham Town Councils not contributing to Covid activities; as an Earley Town Councillor I consider the statement both ill-informed and offensive to the hard-working senior officers, who have been at their posts throughout.
Please could lead on Finance tell me exactly how much of the £9.35 million of additional Covid funding received by WBC was forwarded to any of the Town and Parish Councils to assist with the massive reduction in their income due to all facilities being closed down and the additional costs of operating throughout including ETC offices being in use continuously. A very short answer is all that is required thank you.
Answer
Thank you, Mr Smith,
The context to my reply was to some preposterous questions posed around the money we have in our budget for our Recovery Strategy. Clearly, organisations target all existing resources where appropriate towards what is most important and include necessary additional budgets to their financial plans, which we did. This is a far more robust and meaningful approach to recovery, as opposed to putting up some lines of bunting for symbolic effect.
Last year all town and parish councils received their full precept from WBC as the collection authority. This will be the same this year. Alas, we do not have the luxury of such security around our primary source of income. Any shortfall in income for the towns and parishes would be from their traded and retail activities. Provided they met the criteria specified by central Government, they would be eligible for appropriate rate relief and the retail grants that this Council paid out on behalf of central Government. Over £166,500 was successfully claimed and paid out to towns and parish councils, of which Earley Town Council claimed nearly £18,000.
Regarding the £9.35 million; whilst this money was gratefully received, WBC received the lowest amount per head of any unitary authority. This was insufficient to cover the impact of Covid and the needs of our residents; the Executive had to pass a supplementary estimate during the last financial year to use its own funds to meet additional pressures arising from the pandemic. This included getting rough sleepers off the streets, supporting survivors of domestic abuse into safe accommodation, supporting the shielding programme for clinically vulnerable people. It also included aspects of the death management process, such as body storage, public funerals, and crematoria. Importantly it meant this Council continued to provide vital services to residents including adult social care and children’s services.
Supplementary Question:
According to the Earley Town Clerk we received £8,906 in additional monies, direct from WBC, that is 1/1000th of the funding that you received from central Government. I would say that I think that they coped admirably with the unplanned 25% loss of income from their commercial activities and still produced a positive bottom line. They kept their health shop open, and they have not delegated any decisions to officers, and the material activities have included replacing their out-of-date finance IT systems, as well as enhancing the green spaces, which have been so important for mental health over the last 15 or so months. My question is aimed at Councillor Kaiser not Councillor Halsall, would you agree that Earley Town Council has not been asleep for the last 16 months as claimed?
Supplementary Answer:
Interestingly enough, your returns suggest that your reserves went up by £300,000 last year. You did receive £18,000. A question and a similar one from your Leader were extremely offensive to the Officers and the Members of the Borough Council who have worked very hard to keep residents safe during the pandemic. I think that you should apologise to our Officers Mr Smith.