Just finished a conference call with the Council’s Chief Exec, the Head of Finance and the Head of Adult care, with my councillor colleagues Cllr Craig Martin (North Lodge) and Cllr Amanda Hopgood.

We discussed PPE, care home safety, financial assistance for care homes and a few other issues related to council services generally.

The Council is working hard to make sure that all concerns being raised are being addressed and further help for Care Homes is likely in the coming weeks on top of the extensive help already being offered.

Where care homes are struggling with PPE, the council and the government are working closely together to ensure no care homes run out of kit and care homes are being contacted daily by the Council. If any care home has any issues they can contact their council representative for help, but if anyone finds that there are issues, please do let your local councillors know.

Separately we also asked about other council services and when we may see reopening/restarting. There are no plans for Waste Sites to open in the near future, however there may be more positive news on garden waste soon.

Many residents are rightly concerned about what is happening in our care homes across the County. One care home in Stanley has seen a large number of elderly residents dying from the Virus.

If anyone knows of any facility which does not have the equipment or staffing that it needs or of any other problems please do let us know.

COUNCIL ASSISTANCE FOR CARE HOMES

The Council is giving extensive help to care home providers including:

Increasing fees for the current new financial yer by 5%

Making immediate cash advances to care homes to assist with cash flow

Paying an additional 10% uplift in fees until the end of June to help with additional costs on top of the inflation increase.

Helping to fast track applications for new carers including with references, DBS checks and training.

Our biggest concern right now is whether all care homes and their staff are getting the personal protective equipment they need and whether care homes all have sufficient staffing.

The government has also relaxed access for relatives to make sure they can visit elderly family members who are seriously ill. If you or anyone you know find that this advice is not being followed please do let us or the council know.

If you or anyone you know has seen their income fall because of the current Coronavirus crisis, call the councils Welfare Assistance Service straight away. They can be contacted on 03000 267 900 and will be able to help identify all the possible help there is. If for an reason you have problems with this service or any of the other government or council schemes let us know.

From the Council:

We have also been actively encouraging businesses to take advantage of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which will see the Government pay 80 per cent of employee’s salaries up to £2,500 per month to maintain employment and support their workforce. Claims can be made here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wage-costs-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme

Lobbying the Government to assist the self-employed has been another key priority and we are now directing sole traders in County Durham to information about the support being offered through HRMC. Applications can be made here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-coronavirus-covid-19-self-employment-income-support-scheme

I’m delighted to be able to confirm that following a number of phone calls and emails I have had with Lidl they have confirmed that they are providing a Foodbank donation point at their local Pity Me store. Durham Foodbank are also now contacting them about other locations in the County.

Of course there are also donation points in Sainsbury’s and Coop. Please think about popping something in when doing your shopping.

The Foodbank are concerned that they are going to run low on basics. There should be a sign on each donation box listing the items in most need but any donations [not fresh or frozen] are more than welcomed.

Priority list:

Tinned spaghetti, Tinned fruit, Instant mash, Fruit juice (long life)

The following are also currently needed:

Tinned: soup, veg, fruit, spaghetti, fish, meat, tomatoes, rice pudding, sponge pudding

Pasta sauce, Long life Fruit juice, Powdered milk, Custard, Sugar, Chocolate bars, mini eggs

Toiletries – soap, hand gel/sanitiser, sanitary products

Any items for people with special dietary requirements – eg Long life milk alternatives, gluten free

Saw this in Framwellgate Moor and decided to share it!

At the moment as always our refuse collectors are working really hard. We can help them by making sure we leave enough space for the bin wagon to get through.

Some roads are quite narrow and bin wagons are much wider than a family car.

This week one road in our area was missed due to cars blocking it. All credit to the refuse team who came back the day after but this may not always be possible, so we all need to double check we are keeping the road clear.

All park and rides will close in Durham tonight. All council car parks are currently free and NHS staff can use County Hall car park.

Details of reduced Arriva and Go North East services can be found here:

https://www.arrivabus.co.uk/coronavirus/important-service-information—north-east/

https://www.gonortheast.co.uk/

Changes start this weekend 28/29th March. Most services will reduce to 1 an hour whilst some main routes will still run every 30 minutes.

So the 64 and 21 services will run every half hour.

The 62, 14 and X21 will run hourly.

Following on from the post I made last week about mental health (https://markwilkes.mycouncillor.org.uk/2020/03/17/mental-health-advice/)

The Council has created a new page with help:

http://durham.gov.uk/article/22992/Look-after-yourself