Agenda item

The Leader gave an update on the progress made by Newport Council and its partners to support the City to comply with the necessary restrictions in place and continued to support Newport’s communities as part of the Council’s Strategic Recovery Aims.

Since the last report presented to Cabinet in November the Council had seen significant steps taken in the rollout of the vaccine across the nation however Covid-19 continued to impact on many families, communities and businesses. 

Covid-19 has continued to and would remain prevalent across Newport’s communities throughout this winter period. 

·         In response, the Welsh Government had implemented further restrictions during December.  This meant that the Council maintained social distancing measures across households and also further restrictions on the City’s indoor entertainment and hospitality sector.

·         We understand the (entertainment and hospitality sectors) frustrations and concerns with these measures at what would normally be their busiest time of the year.  But at this point in time the health and wellbeing of the wider community and the most vulnerable has to be put at the forefront of our minds.

·         The Leader of Newport Council strongly urged all of those businesses affected to seek the necessary financial support and take up the grant funding being offered by the Welsh Government. 

·         The Council echoed the statements of the Welsh Government and leading scientific advisors for households to continue to practice social distancing in this period and to use their common sense in protecting their most vulnerable family members. 

·         The road to recovery would be hard and we must not forget the many lives that had been impacted by the disease and measures taken to restrict wide spread transmission across communities.

·         What Covid-19 highlighted was the inequality that still remained in society and the work that this Council and our partners needed to undertake in order to make Newport a fair place for all to live, work and prosper now and into the future.

·         There were many people that lost their jobs, children and young people’s education impacted, businesses that had closed and marginalised communities that were impacted the most by Covid-19.

As highlighted in the report, Council Officers, supporting organisations and public services had continued to deliver throughout Newport.  The report highlights the challenges being faced by Council Services but also the achievements being made despite the issues faced.

·      Many schools across Newport were still reporting positive cases across different year groups.  The schools in response to these cases have been reacting to ensure Welsh Government guidelines are followed and ensuring young people, children and their families have the necessary support to continue home schooling. 

·      The supermarket voucher scheme had continued to support young people and children since the October half term and would be supporting families during the Christmas period. 

·      Newport Council was completing a bid for the DWP’s Kick-start scheme to help improve the employability and chances of sustained employment for at risk people in the 16-24 year old age group.

·      Continuing work was being undertaken to support BAME community working in partnership with EYST to develop digital literacy skills.

·      Total of 25 grant applications had been approved for the Transforming Towns’ fund. 

·      The Council has been successful in securing over £1million of additional funding for affordable housing in Newport and would support the development of units on two RSL developments.

·      NCC owned car parks were free for visitors and residents in Newport to support the City Centre retail and encouraged shoppers into the centre.

·      Newport City Council alongside its partners in the Public Services Board signed up to the Gwent Healthy Travel Charter.  This aimed to promote active travel, encouraged the use of public transport and agile working for staff.  All of this would help the Council and the City of Newport to achieve its goal of being Carbon neutral by 2030. 

·      Housing support was extended to assist homeless people to move into temporary accommodation.

·      The Council worked closely with Charity and Not for Profit groups to support the homeless and those at risk of becoming homeless to find long term housing and support solutions.

·      Since the Halloween break reflecting back on the Council’s partnership work on the Op Bang initiative was deemed a success adopting a zero tolerance approach. 

·      Perception and engagement work on the delivery of Council’s services was extended to Bus Wi-Fi surveys and the Participatory Budget programme was underway to enable local groups to access funding to support local initiatives.

The Leader Concluded that everyone had a responsibility to keep Covid safe and to Track, Trace and Protect and continued to thank all staff, partners, charities organisations and Councillors for supporting communities and services throughout this very difficult 2020.  Further updates on the Council’s progress would be provided next month.

The Leader invited Cabinet Members to give their comments.

·         The Cabinet were unanimous in thanking the staff for their hard work during this difficult time and urged members of the public to stay at home and take advantage of the Track, Trace and Protect system.

·         The vaccine was in sight however, Wales was in Tier 4 and it was reiterated that everyone have a happy and safe Christmas.

·         The socio economic impact was difficult and thanks to volunteers working at food banks working hard to ensure that families did not go hungry and free food parcels provided by the hub by contacting the City Contact Centre.

·         There was great concern regarding misinformation regarding the vaccine and residents were urged to obtain information from trusted sources, such as Aneurin Bevan University Health Board and Public Health Wales.

·         Staff were also thanked for their continued support for vulnerable young people, IT provision and those officers dealing with skills, supporting young people from 16-25 to find work.

The Leader echoed comments of the Cabinet and reiterated that information should be obtained from trusted sources, including Newport City Council.  There would also be impact on service provision due to staff self-isolating or suffering from Covid themselves therefore the Leader thanked residents for their patience.

Finally the Leader’s key message was that residents contacted by Track, Trace and Protect follow the actions indicated to ensure that lives were saved.

Decision:

Cabinet considered the contents of the report and agreed the consultation response for submission by the closing date of 4 January 2021.