They’ve had months to sort. No tests available in hotspots. Dido Harding has to go. You can’t allocate jobs to your mates. Sad to say but Boris Johnson is out of his depth and it’s endangering lives.
News Section: Covid-19
Covid-19 cases cause temporary closure of Dinofalls and Golf Centre
Bosses say the closure is due to the discovery of ‘some Covid-19 cases connected to the site’.
This is a sign of the new norm in terms of localised closures and lockdown. It’s something we’ll have to get used to as businesses get much more agile in identifying infections and reacting appropriately.
Full story on MENImpact of Covid-19 on Council Finances reported
An in-year shortfall of £17.7m is projected for Trafford as a consequence of Covid-19. This is the initial figure and could get worse if we’re hit by a second wave. The council publishes regular reports throughout the year on its finances known as out-turn reports and the first of these is to be presented to the Executive on Monday 20th July.
Covid Impacts
Children’s Services
- Anticipated the surge in demand for children’s placements will continue, adding an extra £1.2 million to costs
- Additional transport costs for children due to social distancing £0.8m
- Surge in demand for children’s early stage support £0.6m
- Income from nurseries down £0.23m
Adult Services
- Additional £4.3m to care providers
- Additonal client demand £1m
- Efficiency Savings planned for the year reduced by £0.9m
Public Health
- Most of £1m+ extra spend on Test and Trace to be covered by Government Grant but additional £33k has been incurred.
Environment – Total change from budget: £6.8m
- Primarily loss of £5.5m of income (parking fees and fines £887k, property rentals £763k, outdoor media advertising £651k, planning fees £581k, building control fees £168k, licencing £132k, highways permits £116k, street trading £60k and pest control £38k) but additional £955k of waste disposal costs and £114k related to waste collection, £140k for rough sleepers, £50k for inclusive neighbourhoods, £35k traffic management. Within this is also the cost of supporting Trafford Leisure.
People £4.2m
- Lost income on council services that are bought in by schools and other agencies accounts for almost all this total
Other impacts
The anticipated airport dividend of £5.5m is no longer expected but government grants of £6m have reduced the overall impact of covid-19 from £23m to £17m. The effect on council tax and business rates are still being felt and the council’s finances will be very much dependent on the extent to which Government honours it’s agreement to support councils in doing what needed to be done.
Full ReportThe crisis in Adult Social Care: Trafford’s Jo Harding calls for change
In a piece for the Labour Uncut website, Cllr Jo Harding provides a chilling update on how Adult Social Care services have taken the brunt of austerity cuts with providers closing down or withdrawing from the market, shortages of places and waiting times increased.
With Covid-19 leaving councils with a £10 billion black hole, the impact on social care would be the equivalent of 176,000 long term adult social care places for over-65s and 23,000 short-term places.
If Covid-19 has taught us anything it’s how much we need to support our care services. It’s well worth reading Jo Harding’s article.
Councillor Jo Harding is Executive Member for Adult Social Services at Trafford Council
Quite a relief – ‘R’ rate drops below 1
The ‘R’ rate for the North West looks to have taken a significant drop. Keep washing your hands. We’re getting there.