Issue - meetings

(Finance and Economic Development) To consider the attached report (C-009-2020-21).

The Finance and Economic Development Portfolio Holder introduced the Financial Issues report on Covid 19. He noted that was a long and detailed report on the council’s response to Covid and he complimented the staff on their work and dedication to the residents.

Covid 19 had presented the Country and this Council with a massive and unexpected challenge.  The changes required to daily life to slow the spread of the virus and protect the most vulnerable were unprecedented and were huge and potentially long lasting.   Even beyond the need to actively control the virus, the impact of this event would live on through the cost to the national finances, the impacts on the economy and employment and the acceleration of changes to the way in which people shop, work and live their lives.

In Epping Forest District, the immediate implications were already being felt in the form of increased unemployment numbers. The number of those registered as unemployed rose by 343% between January and May 2020 and now stands at 4,985, (6.1% of the workforce).  On top of this, a further 16,700 residents have been furloughed and there was a significant concern that many of these may add to the unemployment totals when furlough ends.

So far, the Council has responded incredibly to the immediate challenge. The vulnerable had been looked after, businesses had been supported and the council had worked closely with partners to maintain the safety of the community.  Through all this the council’s workforce had rallied to the challenge and ensured that services had been maintained, as far as rules allowed.  There was much to be proud of in the council’s response.

Financially, the impact on Epping Forest District Council (as with all councils) would be vast.  Over the past decade the Government has encouraged all councils to become more self-reliant through locally generated income streams.  Covid19 has hit these income streams hard and the impact would last for many months and potentially for years.

He emphasised that the Council did not have enough money to do everything that it would like to do or even sufficient finances to do everything it ought to do. Effort needed to be focused to doing those things that would give the most benefit to our district and to our residents.

The financial impacts on our council were huge, maybe up to £8million. He noted that the employees had almost entirely moved to a work from home approach, but this had its own impacts on health and safety. They would need to work properly and safely.  Therefore, one of the recommendations in this report was to allow employees the ability to spend some money to purchase things to allow them to work more effectively and sensibly at home.  We will encourage purchases from local suppliers if possible, so we kept that money within the district. We have budget provision to allow us to do this.

Areas where we had lost significant income was the car parks and the leisure centres. With  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33