Report from County Councillor Ray Gooding

The work of the County Council has, not surprisingly changed immeasurably over the last few months and the issue of Highway matters has taken rather a back seat with preference for many of the things that we always do but never figure very highly on most people’s agenda .  Having said that Highways are continuing to work on all of the normal pothole filling and some resurfacing work together with general repairs.  However, that work is at a slower pace than normal because of the issues around staff safety and social distancing that needs to be maintained  throughout.

The main areas that we are concentrating on are our roles in Social Care and particularly Care homes where we have seen considerable challenges, many of which have been highlighted in the media. Managing those pressures has been extremely challenging and the ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic have been significant.  Indeed one of our own members, Terry Cutmore who was a much respected member from Rochford died early in April and we later heard that his son had also succumbed to complications including the virus.

The challenges around the lockdown have been significant and we have seen a significant increase in the referrals made to our family support units and it is clear that when the lockdown is released there will be an increase in reports of both Domestic and child Abuse.   From this point our schools have done sterling work in remaining in contact with families that are classed as vulnerable but it is evident that there are emerging problems within households that were not previously registered as in need of additional support.

Essex Youth services have however been at the forefront of this work and not only are they conducting more than 2500 contacts with young people both remotely and by other intervention but they have also put in place a number of initiatives that young people can take up whilst they are otherwise constrained.  This has included a virtual Duke of Edinburgh scheme that will enable all of the preliminary works to be carried out from home whilst the practical and expedition sections will be completed when possible.

Clearly the matter concerning many families is that of when schools will open again and we await guidance from government in relation to this.  However, we have been working with schools across the County to ensure that they are ready and properly supported when this is progressed.

Busses and Passenger Transport is a major concern and currently many services, particularly within Uttlesford are running at about 1% of their normal amounts.  ECC have maintained their statutory payments to the operators but inevitably many of the companies will suffer and may not be around at the end of the crisis.  We are envisaging that it will be some time before people feel safe in using busses so we are working to ensure that the services can evolve to meet the shifting pattern of need.

Thanks and wishing everyone well.