Agenda item

To receive a statement from the Leader of Council

The Leader of Council made the following statement:

The cases of Covid are going up in Wokingham in line with our neighbouring Boroughs across Berkshire and in line with the national figures. Our current case rate is 831.9 per 100,000, that was for the week 9-16 March.  These cases need to be interpreted with caution, as they are dependent upon testing behaviour, the true case number and the rate of covid is likely to be significantly higher. There is no doubt that there has been a sharp rise in cases that continues. This is likely to be fuelled by a number of elements:

• The spread of the new subvariant of Omicron (BA.2) which is more transmissible than the original Omicron strain.
• Changes in behaviour as we move towards April. There is likely to be less testing, less isolation, less mask wearing and consequently significantly more transmission.
• The waning of the pre-Xmas booster (still effective against serious illness but waning in terms of contracting Covid) and
• The return of schools post half term, primary school children remain unvaccinated.

There has also been a rise in hospital admissions with Covid locally (accounting for both with and because of Covid admissions) but no increased admissions to critical care.

The Spring Booster campaign is upon us and I am pleased to say that our local vaccine centre in Wokingham Central Library is open weekly on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday and will be delivering vaccines to all those eligible, so please take advantage of that.  We are also working with health colleagues to launch the 5-11 year old vaccination programme in the first week of April, also accessible at the Wokingham Library clinic.  All residents who are eligible can walk up to the library and receive their vaccine at a time convenient to them. 

Covid has, understandably, taken a back seat in the national headlines over recent weeks but we must remember that the virus is still circulating at high and growing numbers. We need to continue to work together, to be understanding of those who live alongside us, and to take actions to minimise transmission and protect vulnerable residents, by staying at home if you are unwell, testing if you have symptoms, wearing masks in crowded spaces and ventilating indoor spaces.

“In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved.” Since Ronald Reagan,  Margaret Thatcher and the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, we in the West have taken freedom and peace for granted.

This has directly led to the Uighurs, Hong Kong, Georgia, Syria, Chechnya and many, many, more.

This appeasement was the cause of the Crimean invasion in 2014 and the war in the Donbass.  President Putin was sure that the West would do nothing. This inactivity has led to the invasion of Ukraine.  Again, Biden and Scholz assured him they would do nothing.

This appeasement has also led to China manufacturing in slave conditions for the West and Russia providing the oil and gas. Our short-term prosperity has been dependent upon this slavery; this dependency is a form upon Russia and China is modern slavery. We have willingly put the yoke around our necks for temporary cheaper goods and energy, given away our technological advantage and closed our capacity.

Everything I have striven to do within Wokingham has been to encourage and create a framework for everyone to lead the life that they wish to lead without harming others.

Events have now overtaken us, and we cannot ignore the failures of the past. The war in the Ukraine is now at our doorstep. The ramifications are immense and will affect everyone in the Borough for the foreseeable future.

We must and will welcome an indeterminate number of refugees. Currently we foresee about 29 matched households and 46 refugees, 17 of which are children. Whilst the initial scheme foresees sponsorship, it also foresees immediate settled status. Therefore, if the initial arrangements are disturbed, the responsibility will fall on the local authority, which is us. This will inevitably put pressure on our housing list, and we will need more social homes. We will also need to support people who are restarting their lives having suffered trauma.

The Russian objective is to flatten the Ukraine. There is nothing to go back to, so we must plan that our refugees are likely to be here indefinitely and possibly for ever.

We must be welcoming and do the best that we can to ensure that our residents are safe, secure, and happy. We are fortunate in having fantastic staff with fantastic leadership, and we will do a great job.

We have a Ukrainian community, which we are reaching out to. We must ensure that we are doing all that we can for them.

We also have a Russian and Belorussian community within the Borough, who should not be penalised for Vladimir Putin. We do not have an argument with the Russian people but with the Russian government, its dictator and his acolytes. We need to make this clear in everything we do and say.

We may well see certain commodities rise substantially in price particularly energy, some foodstuffs, and mined materials. This will hit certain sectors of our community particularly hard.  In time we may see shortages and rationing. We will need to increase our vigilance for those who find themselves in hardship.

I have written to the Prime Minister expressing my support for his six-point plan, which is to:

·         mobilise an international humanitarian coalition;

·         do more to help Ukraine defend itself; 

·         maximise the economic pressure on Mr. Putin’s regime;

·         no matter how long it takes, prevent any creeping normalisation of what Russia does in the Ukraine; 

·         be open to diplomacy and de-escalation; and 

·         act now to strengthen the Euro-Atlantic security.

Moving on to Domestic Abuse.  Given the seriousness of the subject it is necessary to correct the misleading and potentially dangerous impression given by the front page article of last week’s Wokingham Today.

Contrary to the headline, the current domestic abuse service is not ‘failing victims’ nor is there any ‘lack of refuge for those fleeing homes’ – in fact, this inaccurate claim is particularly worrying as it may deter victims from leaving abusive situations. We must be completely clear refuge is provided to any Borough resident who is fleeing domestic abuse, without exception.  We take that responsibility very, very seriously.  In addition, our domestic abuse service is meeting all its statutory requirements, this is not a failing service.

However, that does not mean that we are satisfied with the current level of service: our aim is to go well-beyond just meeting our legal requirements, which is why we increased the funding this year for this service by 55%.

We have not yet seen the full benefits of that increased investment and so have intervened to improve the performance of our contractor Cranstoun. We acknowledge that this has been necessary, and it would be perfectly reasonable for the newspaper to highlight areas where improvement is needed, but that is very different from the irresponsible suggestion that domestic abuse victims are being failed.

To be clear, part of Cranstoun’s contract is to open a new refuge to increase capacity in the Borough and they have failed to do this to date, which has left the Borough relying on the existing refuge only. We are requiring that Cranstoun either open a new refuge within the Borough or surrender that part of the contract, and the funding accompanying it, so we can find a different provider who can open up an additional refuge. The new refuge will provide self-contained accommodation rather than shared facilities and so will be useable by a wider range of victims.

We are also requiring Cranstoun to have a 24hour staffed phone line rather than the current phone line that has only voicemail out of hours. This will be up and running within a few weeks.

Beyond that we are closely monitoring Cranstoun’s performance as well as helping them improve so that we can get what we want, a first class domestic abuse service for all those who need it.