Agenda item

a)    Mayor

·         Remembrance of Councillor Tony Dobson

b)    Leader of the Council

c)    Chief Executive

·         Update on the COVID-19 Pandemic

1)         Remembrance of Tony Dobson

The Mayor announced that shortly after lockdown had begun, Members received the sad news that Councillor Tony Dobson had passed away, unexpectedly, on Tuesday, 31st March 2020.

Councillor Dobson was only 53 years of age, and had been a serving Conservative Councillor since May 2000, elected to the same ward the Mayor, Barnfield.  He had realised numerous political achievements, serving as Mayor of Hyndburn in 2007/08 and as Leader of the Conservative Group from 2015/16 until his untimely death.

Councillor Dobson sadly leaves behind his much loved wife Trish, his sons Matthew and Daniel, his dad Arthur and half-sister Marilyn, his cousin Colin, his mother in law Barbara and father in law David.

The Mayor invited her colleagues to say a few words in Councillor Dobson’s memory.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Miles Parkinson OBE, the Leader of the Conservative Group, Councillor Marlene Haworth, and Councillors Patrick McGinley and Terry Hurn all spoke warmly about their experiences of working with Councillor Dobson and about his dedication to helping the community, particularly during lockdown.

Resolved                             -   That the respects of the Council in commemoration of Councillor Tony Dobson be duly noted.

2)         VJ Day – 75^th Anniversary

The Mayor announced that she had been delighted to visit the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of VJ Day at Churchfield House in Great Harwood, on 15th August 2020.  At the same time, the Deputy Mayor had attended a similar service in Oakhill Park, in Accrington.  VJ Day marked the end of all hostilities in the Second World War.

3)         Great Harwood, Crying of the Fair

The Mayor also indicated that she had beenthrilled to attend the traditional Crying of the Fair on the Town Hall Square, in Great Harwood, on a rather damp Friday, on 21 August.  The Town Crier, members of the Civic Society and other political colleagues were also present to mark a tradition dating back to 1338.

4)         Community and Business Response to COVID-19

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Miles Parkinson OBE, offered his thanks to the citizens and communities of Hyndburn who had come forward at the time of greatest need and done so much.  Business leaders too had given generously during this period.  The Borough was not yet through the effects of the pandemic and it was likely that a hard winter was yet to come.  However, past experience showed that everyone would come together for the benefit of local residents and the economy.

He reiterated his thanks to everyone for their efforts and sacrifice.

5)         Update on the COVID-19 Pandemic

The Chief Executive of the Council, David Welsby, provided an overview of the impact of COVID-19 on the Borough.

Nationally, by 15 September 2020 there had been around 323,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in England and around 374,000 cases across the UK.  In Lancashire, there had been 12,751 cases, of which 632 were Hyndburn residents.

Since the start of the outbreak infection in Hyndburn had reached 780 per 100k population.  This was higher than the corresponding figure for England 574/100k, but below the level for NW England 846/100k.

In the worst cases, infection had led to loss of life.  There were several ways to calculate those figures, but for consistency the Government’s Dashboard figures were being use in this update.  Up to 15 September the number of deaths within 28 days of diagnosis were as follows:-

Different definitions of COVID-19 related deaths were sometimes used.  An alternative measure in use showed where COVID-19 was mentioned anywhere on the death certificate.  Locally those numbers were as follows:-

The Government’s Dashboard figures showed the following death rates:-

Accordingly, the statistics demonstrated that Hyndburn had a higher number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 than the England average, but a lower incidence of deaths.  Of those persons who had sadly died in Hyndburn, the following locations were noted:-

During the first wave of infection in late March to mid-April, the number of infected, hospitalised and deaths had peaked.  From mid-April to June the respective figures had dropped and numbers were relatively stable.  From mid-June onwards the number of deaths had returned to pre-virus levels.  Unfortunately, from July to mid-September the UK had started to experience a sharp rise in the number of COVID-19 cases.  In fact, the number of cases in England had doubled during this period to around 33/100k.  The highest infection rates were now being seen in the 15-44 age range.

As at 11 September 2020, 30 of the 39 local authorities in NW England were identified as ‘Red’ status on Public Health England’s risk rating, based on observed cases exceeding the numbers of expected cases.  The North of England in general had the highest infection rates in the country, with double the national average.  Hyndburn too had seen a sharp increase in infection.  For the seven day period from 7-13 September infection in the Borough was at 132/100k population, or in other words 107 cases.  Over the last 2 weeks approximately 10 new cases per day had been identified.

Around half of all cases were clustered across a small number of households, i.e. 30 households.  These were distributed across all townships, age groups and all communities.  A disproportionate number of cases were from the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) community.  However, 60% of all cases were White British.

The rising number of cases in Lancashire was not yet mirrored by hospitalisation or deaths.  For the last 7-8 weeks the total number of deaths across the whole of Lancashire was in the low single digits, as death rates had plateaued.  However, it was now a priority again to protect the NHS, especially during the coming winter months.

Regarding Test and Trace in Hyndburn, over the 7 day period 5-11 September, 311/100k population tests had been conducted each day.  This was the second highest rate of testing in the North West.  Some 5.8% of tests had been positive.  For those residents with symptoms, the Mobile Testing Unit (MTU) at Hyndburn Sports Centre provided testing on an appointment basis.  Once their quota was reached testing was suspended, as was the case across the rest of Lancashire and the UK.  In addition, a locally resourced community walk-in centre had been provided for those with or without symptoms.  The centre had been based firstly at locations in Accrington, then in Great Harwood.  Even with this extra resource, increasing demand could still not be met and it was acknowledged that queues of up to 3 hours had developed at times.  It was with deep regret that some people had had to be turned away.  There was a pressing need for an effective and properly resourced testing system and it was hoped that the Government would prioritise the North of England for such support.

The story of the pandemic could not really be told in numbers.  Human factors, such as the hardship faced by residents and the changes to people’s lifestyles were significant.  Also, there was a likelihood of further restrictions to come, based upon the increasing infections rates.  All residents were thanked for following the guidance issued to date and people were urged to continue to follow future advice.  The community had pulled together in a remarkable way.  The Community Hub had involved hundreds of people including volunteers.  Thousands of food parcels had been distributed as well as work undertaken to provide assisted shopping and medical supplies.  The NHS and social care sector had worked tirelessly.  The Council’s own staff had continued to work throughout the incident.  Lancashire County Council, the Police, Fire and Rescue Service, military planners and countless others, such as supermarket workers, delivery drivers, the hospitality sector and pharmacies, to name just a few, had all played a part.

The thanks of the Council was offered to all.  A final thought was that communities might need to live with the effects of the virus for some time to come.

The following Members spoke on the impact of the virus: Councillors L Cox, M Haworth, P Cox, J Allen, M Dad, J Addison, G Harrison, K Pratt, T O’Kane, M Miller, B Parkinson, P McGinley, K Walsh and S Britcliffe.  The following points were raised:-

• The good work undertaken to quickly establish the Hyndburn Hub;
• The efforts of numerous volunteers across the Borough and thanks for their work, including those supporting the Hyndburn Hub, Great Harwood Response Team, Food Banks, Baby Bank, who collectively offered a broad range of support, particularly to those who were isolated;
• The continuous services provided by the Waste Service and the amount of additional domestic waste collected during lockdown;
• The efforts of Finance staff to distribute business grants quickly;
• The work of licensing staff to provide advice to pubs and adapt rules around taxi licensing;
• The efforts of Hyndburn’s taxi drivers ensure key workers were able to get to their jobs;
• The work of the Raza Jamia Masjid to help disseminate important messages to the Islamic community, which had been recognised nationally;
• The work of fellow councillors to promote local businesses with the Shop Local messages and to help businesses reopen safely;
• The efforrts of Hyndburn Council officers and their Lancashire County Council colleagues, many of whom were having to work from home, while still providing responsive day to day services;
• A warning that greater unemployment might be on the horizon, including announcements at local employer Senator, and a national call by the Labour Party to protect jobs by extending the furlough scheme;
• Criticism over the Government’s handling of the testing regime, examination results, and infection control in care homes;
• Thanks to the MP for her work to represent the views of all constituents;
• Concern about the medicines supply chain with COVID-19 and winter flu, in the light of a potential no-deal Brexit, given that 45% of pharmaceuticals arrived from the EU via Dover;
• Thanks to all who had helped so far during the outbreak and a message to everybody to stay safe and to follow the rules;
• The cross-party working between all councillors to support the community;
• The Government’s commitment to providing financial support at an unprecedented level, more so than any other country;
• Criticism of the Government-backed testing system leading to pressure on the locally funded community testing sites, resulting in a lack of access to tests by children, students and employees;
• A call not to assign blame to certain sections of the community, such as BAME or young people, since all of us were required to work together.
• A recognition that lockdown and local restrictions had been and continued to be difficult for all, but were necessary.
• Reiteration of the work done by local heroes and thanks for their efforts;
• Consensus between the Council party leaders and MP on the way forward;
• National recognition of Hyndburn Borough Council for its speed and success in distributing Government grants to businesses.

A final message was to remind residents that we were all in this together and that everyone wished to emerge from the crisis.

The Chief Executive mentioned the exceptional work carried out by the Cemeteries Team at the peak of the crisis.  The Mayor paid tribute to the Hyndburn Hub and reminded all that the Mayor’s Charity this year would continue to help fund its work.