Our work goes on
While much of the country remains on lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic, it has not stopped the Council continuing to deliver many of its front line services for residents.
Our crews are still out collecting waste, including green waste, bumper recycling collections and food waste, road resurfacing and potholes are still being fixed, teams are still out removing litter and fly tips and cutting grass. Elsewhere our social workers and care workers are at the forefront of supporting and caring for vulnerable adults and children in our community.
This is addition to a range of new tasks the council has taken on in the response to the coronavirus outbreak. This includes to date:
• Co-ordinating a 1,000 strong volunteer army to support vulnerable people in the borough
• Setting up special helplines for residents and businesses, taking around 3,000 calls
• Delivered letters to every home and business in the borough
• Supporting around10,500 residents’ requests for council tax “holidays”,
• Contacted over 4,000 people on the Government’s shielded list to make sure they are ok and to check if they need anything
• Allocated over £23 million in grants to borough businesses
• Delivering food parcels to hundreds of people in our community
• Delivered more than 50,000 free school meals to the homes of those children most in need
• Supporting Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital to free up capacity to deal with the current crises
• Supporting the borough’s care providers, GP surgeries and the PRH with emergency PPE supplies
• Supporting the care sector around additional recruitment and also recruiting more care staff for the Council’s in-house care team as well as supporting others
• Keeping most schools and other early years providers open each weekday for children of key workers and vulnerable children – for example on Mon 20 April 66 schools and 69 early years providers were open
• Supporting and funding a range of voluntary sector organisations, such as food bank providers and charities helping to tackle homelessness, so they can continue to provide services in the community
Councillor Lee Carter, cabinet member for Neighbourhood, Commercial Services and Regeneration, stressed that the council is continuing to deliver a wide range of services despite the challenges presented by the coronavirus pandemic.
“We are working for our residents ensuring that services are delivered safely and professionally for as long as we are able. I want to thank all of our front line staff and our Highways, Grounds and Waste contractors Balfour Beatty, Idverde and Veolia who have adapted the way they work so we can continue to provide these valued services but safely.
Council leader Shaun Davies added “Whether it is waste collection or social care, calling the vulnerable or fixing the roads, however long this lockdown lasts, we will still be there for the people we serve, ensuring that even in these difficult times, we are protecting and caring for people in our borough.”
