Covid impacts revealed in council FOI update

EXCLUSIVE by DOUGLAS SHEPHERD

Some of the buildings currently used by Scottish Borders Council [SBC] to deliver its services may not reopen after the Covid-19 emergency while working practices in other local authority establishments will be 'very different', a Freedom of Information requester has been told.

SBC has received a significant number of FOI requests about the local impact of the pandemic, according to an update of the information posted on its FOI web pages. The requests and responses for April through to July are now available.

The enquiry concerning staff safety and future working practices was lodged in June.

The FOI request asked: "What steps has your organisation taken to ensure the safety of employees that are still required to work in the office over the course of lockdown?; What steps has your organisation taken to prepare or ‘COVID Proof’ the workplace for the full return of your workforce to the office when mandated by Scottish Government guidelines? "

In its response SBC wrote: " Risk assessments carried out and appropriate controls put in place covering social distancing, hygiene and PPE as a last resort for those who need to be in the office.

"Scottish Borders Council are currently undertaking a full assessment of the requirements of any building which may be re-opened for either public or staff access. This is likely to include a combination of decisions such as: to not re-open some buildings; to re-open buildings with very different working practices; or to work in very different (more remote) ways to previous arrangements.

"It will include new policies on cleaning regimes, social distancing and other steps aimed at protecting staff. Regardless of any future guidance from Scottish Government suggesting it is possible for a full return of a workforce to offices, Scottish Borders Council will make further local decisions over whether this is necessary, desirable or safe; and will take the opportunity to explore alternative ways of deliver key Council services in a way that protects the safety of staff."

Another request, also submitted during the pandemic, asked about the financial impact of Coronavirus on the council.

The FOI in this case read as follows: " What was the value of the council’s usable reserve funding in March 2020?; What is the value of the council’s usable reserve funding in July 2020; How much of the council’s useable reserves has been spent on measures related to the coronavirus pandemic; What was value of the council’s usable reserve funding at start of the current financial year? 5. What is the predicted value of the council’s usable reserves at the end of the current financial year?"

These responses were provided by council officers: "At the 31st March 2020 the usable reserve was £30.1 million; the 30th June position will be reported to the Executive Committee in September 2020; £2.2 million has been approved under delegated authority to be directed to the COVID-19 response reducing the usable reserve down to £27.9 million; £2.2 million has been approved under delegated authority to be directed to the COVID-19 response; The usable reserve as at the 1st April 2020 was £30.1 million; The first forecast on the year end position based on June month-end information will be provided to the Executive Committee in September 2020."

SBC was also asked a question about additional funds made available to the Borders local authority by the Scottish Government.

This time a requester asked: "Since 1 March 2020 how much additional funding has been received by the council from central government? 2. How much of this additional funding has been apportioned to be spent on education? 3. Please provide a breakdown of what the additional central government funding is being spent on?"

The reply from the council showed:"1. £31.9 million (80% of a £39.9m commitment) has been received to date from Scottish Government specifically ring fenced to provide business grants including support to the newly self employed and Bed and Breakfast businesses.

"The arrangement is that any unspent funding will be reclaimed by the Scottish Government. Scottish Government has specifically provided £0.576 million through the Food Fund to support ongoing provision of Free School Meals and addressing food insecurity in communities. In wider support to contribute towards addressing the financial impacts of COVID-19 the Council has received £5.587 million from Scottish Government. £1.078 million of this funding has been directly provided for support to the Integration Joint Board budget (Social Care).

"2. The Council is currently undertaking a piece of work to assess the projected financial impact of COVID-19 whilst at the same time establishing a Council reserve (which includes the £5.587 million above).  This has been a corporate exercise with no funding as yet being allocated to specific services. 3. The exercise explained above is gathering projected additional costs (eg PPE, additional staffing costs) and loss of income (eg school meals, planning fee income, the Council’s significant trading organisation, Council Tax)".

In the period between January and the end of April 2020 The Council incurred expenditure totalling £21,974,223 in relation to Covid-19. A breakdown provided in another FOI response showed the following categorisation of expenditure: COVID-19 Business Grants £21,250,000 Personal Protective Equipment £255,406 Additional staff overtime £185,365 Ongoing provision of Free School Meals £112,444 Food Fund - payments to Community Council's to support residents £67,000 Additional Health and Social Care costs £81,947 Early Learning Childcare provision to key workers £13,426 Mortuary Costs £8,635.

SBC was also asked how many of its 4,000 employees had been furloughed under the UK Government's Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. The council confirmed that no-one on its books had been furloughed.