Issue 35 - May 2020 - page 1 Parish and Partners Foreword It is hard to believe that it has only been two months As you will be aware following the Prime Minister’s are lobbying hard for further financial support, without since the Government introduced restrictions in the announcement, Elizabeth House has been closed to the which the Council will need to severely restrict its spending. way in which we lead our lives due to the COVID-19 public since 24 March. With the Government now starting We will also be making the case for dedicated resources Pandemic. to lift restrictions, we are making arrangements to reopen to support the efforts of our Town and Parish Councils. as soon as is safe to do so. I am sure that you will also Whilst these are very worrying and unprecedented times, We are starting our planning with our partners in relation be aware that we have put in place arrangements for the there have been some positive elements that have come to the recovery following this crisis. We are concentrating vast majority of our staff to work from home; I can see that out from this crisis. I am massively impressed by all of the these on three areas: these will stay in place for some time. efforts from voluntary/community groups and our town • Our Communities and parish councils in ensuring that the vulnerable within We are planning to hold our first fully virtual meeting of • Our Economy our communities are looked after. Thank you for all you Council on Wednesday 27 May, following this we are • Our Council have done there is no way that we could have coped with also seeking to reinstate our other meetings including, the level of demand across our very large district area. In Overview and Scrutiny and Planning Committees in the It is envisaged that all of these areas of recovery will also the future when we have moved passed the worst of the very near future. consider what climate change benefits can be achieved in emergency we will consider how we can jointly celebrate the new normal. As soon as we have more information to The financial impact upon our district has been enormous, in our achievements. share in these areas we will be in touch. in a recent study published by the Centre for Progressive You will see in this special edition of Parish and Partners Policy the Stratford-on-Avon District Council area is Head of Community and Operational Services the type of activities that we have been concentrating on, considered to be the fourth worst hit area of the country. Julie Lewis started with Council on Monday 18 May, at the very beginning of the outbreak as a Council we We are working with all of our partners to determine what following the meeting of the Employment & Appointment established 5 priorities which have guided us over the last help we can provide and what pressure we can put on Committee which was held on 13 February. Julie will couple of weeks, these being: the Government to support our local businesses. During be picking up the majority of the services previously the last month we have paid out nearly £30m of grants to managed by Tony Perks, these will include Refuse / • Protecting our residents, staff, and Councillors from our local business as part of the Government’s support to Recycling, Leisure and Car Parking, and she is joining us coronavirus small business and the retail and hospitality sectors. from Daventry District Council where she held the role of • Maintaining the Council’s business critical services Deputy Executive Director. I’m sure that you will all join • Maintaining the decision making capability of the As well as the significant impact on our business with me in welcoming her to SDC. Council community, the Council itself is facing severe financial • Supporting our businesses issues. The estimated cost of the crisis so far to the Finally, please continue to stay safe, hopefully • Supporting our vulnerable Council is in the region of £8.1m, although Government we will start to see real progress over the has provided some funding, this only amounts to £1.3m coming weeks as further restrictions are For all the latest information, updates and advice in total, therefore leaving a gap of around £6.8m. It was lifted. from the District Council on Covid-19 please visit therefore impossible for the Council to share any of the Very best regards our dedicated webpages. second tranche of funding that we have received and we David www.stratford.gov.uk [email protected] www.facebook.com/StratfordDC twitter.com/StratfordDC www.linkedin.com/company/stratford-on-avon-district-council Issue 35 - May 2020 - page 2 Stratford-on-Avon District Council Management Arrangements - May 2020 David Buckland Communications Chief Executive Human Resources and Head of Paid Service Switchboard: 01789 267575 PA Team Telephone: 01789 260425 Performance, Consultation & Insight Unit Email: [email protected] Email: david.buckland@ Safeguarding Website: www.stratford.gov.uk stratford-dc.gov.uk Twitter: @StratfordDC Facebook: StratfordDC LinkedIn: Stratford-on-Avon District Council Tony Perks Building Control Deputy Chief Executive District Council’s Press Office Telephone: 01789 260620 Policy Team Telephone: 01789 260105 / 07969 168538 Email: [email protected] Email: tony.perks@ Project Management stratford-dc.gov.uk George Hill Phil Grafton Robert Weeks Julie Lewis David Platts Interim Head of Resources Head of Law & Head of Regulatory Head of Community Head of Customer & Transformation Governance Services & Operational Services Services and S151 Officer and Monitoring Officer Telephone: 01789 260100 Telephone: 01789 260400 Telephone: 01789 260810 Telephone: 01789 260107 Telephone: 01789 260434 Email: george.hill@ Email: phil.grafton@ Email: robert.weeks@ Email: julie.lewis@ Email: david.platts@ stratford-dc.gov.uk stratford-dc.gov.uk stratford-dc.gov.uk stratford-dc.gov.uk stratford-dc.gov.uk Central Administration (including s106 / CIL monitoring) Community Enhancement Business Continuity Construction (Shopmobility) Emergency Planning Business Rates and Property Democratic Services Community Leisure Services Environmental Health Customer Services Finance Information Governance Community Safety and Accountancy Housing Services Health and Well Being Land Charges (including Social Inclusion) Environmental Sustainability Internal Audit ICT Legal Services Streetscene Licensing Print and Design Risk Management (Refuse & Recycling, Parking Services, Planning Applications Grounds Maintenance) Revenues and Benefits and Enforcement SDC/0059/MAY20 www.stratford.gov.uk [email protected] www.facebook.com/StratfordDC twitter.com/StratfordDC www.linkedin.com/company/stratford-on-avon-district-council Issue 35 - May 2020 - page 3 Stratford-on-Avon DistrictYour Council’sDistrict Council’s response response to to COVID-19 coronavirus (COVID-19) Since the beginning of March the District Here are some of the key things we have done in Business Rate Grants: We’ve paid out £28.87m to 2,345 local Council, staff and Councillors have been businesses across Stratford-on-Avon District. Current number response to the COVID-19 emergency: working hard alongside local voluntary of applications 2,167. (current figures 19 May) sector and community groups, parish, • Ensured that other than those services impacted by social distancing We’ve delivered over 1,000 food parcels from the rules all District Council services have continued to be delivered. town, and county council to ensure that Stratford-upon-Avon Community Hub across the district to our the important services we all rely upon most vulnerable residents. • Set up over 200 members of staff to work from home. continue to be delivered at this time. • Maintained refuse, recycling and green waste collection service as This has involved establishing a food We’ve taken over 13,500 calls in our contact centre. normal. delivery network; responding to hundreds • Being a first point of contact for residents, businesses and the local of calls and emails from residents every community. Overall call numbers are up 25% although some days saw day; putting in place new financial support 90,000 waste / recycling collections made each week. calls up by over 100%. mechanisms and housing some of the • Set up a fully functioning and operational Community Hub for food most vulnerable. Received a donation of PPE from Meishan City, China deliveries. for Warwick Hospital - 25,000 masks and The District Council also established the 200 disposable protective suits. • Provided emergency accommodation for the homeless to protect them following priorities: from the additional risks of COVID-19 caused by living on the streets. Issued 50 news releases - including 22 COVID-19 updates. • Set up an online business grants application form to speed up • Protecting our staff, councillors and Published three Leader columns (March, April & May) in residents from coronavirus. The Stratford Herald, online and on social media. processing in a secure manner. • Maintain the business critical services • Provided individual support to residents struggling to pay Council Tax. Posted / shared 250+ tweets on Twitter for the Council, including our Council Posted / shared 300+ posts on Facebook • The Environmental Health Team have had a very important role in Tax Reduction Scheme. - seen by almost 300k individuals. relation to keeping residents safe through enforcement and working • Maintaining the decision making with local businesses on the new Government guidelines and capability of the Council. We’ve reached over 14K hits on our COVID-19 website pages. legislation. • Support to businesses through the • Set up a dedicated COVID-19 information section on the SDC website rapid processing of the reliefs and where detailed updates are available. grants to business. Stratford-on-Avon District Council is here to support • Made parking free in SDC car parks for NHS staff and Registered • Support to the vulnerable through the local community and we want to continue to Volunteers.