Issue - meetings

Report of the Director – Neighbourhoods

The Service Manager Corporate Services delivered a presentation to support the report of the Director – Neighbourhoods concerning the specific work undertaken by the Council to support communities and businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic. It was explained that the report focused on the external impact of Covid-19 on the Council’s delivery of services and it complimented the previous report presented to the Group which focused on the internal impacts.

The presentation to the Group covered:

·       Impact of Covid-19 on communities and businesses, sports clubs, voluntary and community groups, contracted services

·       Community Support Hub

·       Business support

·       Covid Compliance

·       Contracts Management

·       Communication

·       Critical Success Factors

The Service Manager Corporate Services explained that the Community Support Hub, hosted by Nottinghamshire County Council, had received 133 requests from individuals for support with medication collection, emergency food parcels, access to food supply, telephone befriending, physical wellbeing checks and dog walking. The Borough Council responded to these requests, by redeploying staff where required, to support Rushcliffe residents.

In Rushcliffe, the level of requests for such support was lower than in other districts in the Local Resilience Forum (LRF) area due to the strong response received from volunteers in local communities, which was supported by local Councillors who, in many cases, took a leading role in facilitating and bringing together networks.

Examples of the support provided to and by communities were highlighted to the Group and included:

·       Radcliffe to the Rescue, which generated 150 volunteers to support the whole community

·       Over 100 activity packs (including physical activity packs, recipe packs, Active Minds packs and bespoke Family Packs) developed and issued under the Reach Rushcliffe Initiative to homes/families and those who were socially isolated and lonely

·       Radcooks Community Kitchen which provided meals and social interaction to vulnerable Rushcliffe residents

·       Cotgrave Community Kitchen, which offered food delivery to residents

·       Holiday Activities and Food Programme, funded by Nottinghamshire County Council via the Department for Education, to provide children in receipt of free school meals with physical activity, nutritional education and a healthy meal during school holidays

·       Summer and Christmas programmes delivered in 2021 provided a total of 786 HAF funded places for 298 children, which will be funded for the further three years with additional provision of 1,524 places in Cotgrave, Bingham, West Bridgford, Edwalton, Radcliffe-on-Trent, Kinoulton and East Leake.

The Group was informed that the Council had also supported those who could not work as they were self-isolating or were on low incomes with payments of £500 provided from Government funding. 1,158 applications had been received and 531 payments made, amounting to £265,500. Currently, there were three applications awaiting further information. The Group was assured that the funding would be processed by the deadline (June) as monies unspent had to be repaid to the Government

The Council’s Communities Team had supported community groups, voluntary organisations, and charities across the Borough to apply for Social Recovery Funding and Community Food funding again allocated by central government through Nottinghamshire County Council. A total of £220,732 was awarded to support social recovery  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23