Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Extra £3m to tackle unique challenge
JUDITH TONNER
North Lanarkshire Council is allocating its £3 million in additional funding for this year to battling Covid-19 – with leader Jim Logue calling it “the most significant public health and economic challenge we have ever faced”.
He said that the extra money made available after the Scottish Government finalised its budget earlier this month would be put towards the authority’s response, including supporting older and vulnerable people and maintaining the delivery of essential services.
Chief executive Des Murray says staff are being moved from closure- affected services “to those desperately in need of additional staff and resource”, and has asked council workers due to retire in the coming months to consider postponing this in order to assist with the challenges ahead as a result of the coronavirus emergency.
Schools across the authority area closed on Friday to the vast majority of pupils – with this year’s SQA exams being cancelled for the first time in their history – and special provision being made this week for the children of key workers to allow their parents to continue their vital work in the health service or other specified jobs.
Access to free school meals is being maintained for those requiring it, while the weekend and holiday food project Club 365 provided takeaway packed lunches at its eight venues including Airdrie and Coatbridge but not its usual programme of activity sessions.
Councillor Logue told the
Advertiser : “The council agreed to allocate an additional £ 3million to supporting our response to the current challenging circumstances we face in fighting Covid-19.
“Understandably, people are anxious, a significant number of businesses are affected and our services are impacted.
“This is the most significant public health and economic challenge we have ever faced and we are working tirelessly to provide support to our people and communities.”
Councillors met on Thursday for a special meeting which had originally been intended for discussion of how to spend the additional funds made available following the finalised Holyrood budget.
It proved to be North Lanarkshire’s last such assembly for the foreseeable future, with all meetings and councillor surgeries now having been suspended, and the authority advising: “Any business of an urgent nature will be progressed via the chief executive’s delegated authority.”
All registration offices, including the one in Airdrie, are closed to the public until further notice, while non-urgent housing repairs are suspended as where access is needed to tenant homes, including heating upgrades, window/ door replacements and kitchen/ bathroom renewals.
The authority also announced last week that all its libraries, gyms, museums, community centres and culture and leisure facilities would close immediately and “for the foreseeable future”.
Mr Murray wrote to council staff: “We are working to move people between the services most heavily affected by closure to those desperately in need of additional staff and resource [ and] trying to align these opportunities to those who have recently lost their primary income.
“I would like to ask all staff due to retire in the coming months to stay if you are able. We have never faced, and hopefully will never face again, the enormous challenge in front of us and need your extensive knowledge, experience, skills and resources to support the people of North Lanarkshire.”
He added: “Our schools are at the front line of the impacts unfolding across our staff and communities, and are essential to providing the supports our communities so desperately need.
“They continue to feed and look after some of our most vulnerable children
“I know that pupils and staff working towards exams are distressed and uncertain about the decision for those to be cancelled; coursework and individual assessment needs to be delivered so that pupils can be affected as little as possible.”
Mr Murray added: “We serve the people of North Lanarkshire and I know we will continue to do that in these hugely uncertain times.”
A dedicated section has also been set up on the council’s website with the latest updates and guidance on Covid-19, at www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/ coronavirus.
It links to the latest health advice including information about wellbeing and managing anxiety plus the Age Scotland helpline for older people, as well as money, benefits and welfare advice.
There is also a section relating to businesses, with a dedicated email address for employers, links to Business Gateway Lanarkshire and information on all the Scottish and UK support and funding.
A message on the page states: “Coronavirus represents the biggest challenge to all public sector organisations.
“We are putting in place contingency measures to ensure we can continue to deliver the services which are essential to so many people in our communities, and will keep these pages updated to communicate key decisions about service delivery to you as clearly as we can.”
It also asks individuals and groups offering assistance to email communitymatters@ northlan. gov. uk to allow offers to be co- ordinated, saying: “During these difficult times, people across North Lanarkshire are rallying together to offer support and assistance to help our communities stay connected and equipped with essential items.
“We are receiving lots of offers of assistance from individuals, local groups and businesses large and small; everyone is keen to play their part to support vulnerable people in our area which are very much appreciated.”