The tennis court is reopening at King George’s Field in Framwellgate Moor from Monday 25th May. From 9am-3pm. Email framwellgatemoorparishcouncil@yahoo.co.uk to arrange a booking.
The carpark, toilet and changing facilities will remain closed. The play area will also remain closed until further notice.
Updates at framwellgatemoorparishcouncil.co.uk
The Council has confirmed that the household waste sites will reopen this coming Monday.
It is likely that there will be long queues, so it might be worth waiting a few days before going along.
The Pity Me site will be open from 9am-6pm. Biggest queues are likely from 9am-11am so perhaps try the afternoon.
Durham County Council has decided to cut the maximum financial assistance in a key scheme for homeless and vulnerable people from £1000 to £500. So far the government has provided £33 million extra to the council to help in the current crisis, so surely this help shouldn’t have been cut?
Durham County Council’s Welfare Assistance Scheme helps people in urgent need of rehousing. It assists with their moving and set up costs. The program can also help make sure someone does not end up having to move into a care home.
I discovered the change hidden in a “delegated report”. The Council should reverse the change immediately but the lead councillor for this department is refusing to do so. I emailed all other 125 county councillors asking for their support, but only Lib Dem councillors have responded positively.
I am struggling to believe that in the current crisis the Council would even contemplate such a change. It’s plain wrong.
These are the most vulnerable people of all in our society and the Council are cutting help in half. It would be an unacceptable policy in normal times. Right now it beggars belief.
Delegated decisions are made by the Council in consultation with the appropriate Labour Cabinet member at the Council, without any prior consultation with back bench councillors.
How can a policy can be passed, and up and running weeks before councillors even find out about it?
The decision was listed amongst a dozen other reports like road closures, but it was implemented weeks ago on the 1st April.”
Such an ill-timed, undemocratic and frankly wholly unreasonable policy change by this Labour-run council should not have happened at all: Never mind be hidden away like this.
Up to 800 people apply for assistance through the scheme in any twelve month period.
The lack of morality in this decision floors me.
This change should be scrapped right now. Please spread the word, perhaps getting this message out on social media will make Labour think again about cutting this help
The Council has issued some advice on how to make sure you are not a victim of scammers. This could be on the doorstep, over the phone, by email or social media – in effect any way in which someone can contact you.
Please make sure your elderly relatives are also aware of this:
https://www.durham.gov.uk/article/23249/Advice-on-guarding-against-coronavirus-scams
Earlier this week and last week we had discussions with senior officers at the council and raised concerns about a number of problems our care and nursing homes face.
The Council was following national guidance and insisting that for homes to access a new financial package they would have to guarantee to accept Covid cases. Something we did not feel was sensible and which many care homes felt would put residents at higher risk.
This policy has now been scrapped.
The government has provided significant funding to the Council towards Covid costs. The Council proposed to increase funding to care homes a few weeks ago by 10% for those residents paid for by the Council. This was in addition to the inflationary increase.
We felt that care homes should ALSO receive this uplift in funding for residents who are funding themselves as contracts were already in place and extra costs for homes was significant.
This was not council policy but I am delighted that the Council has listened to the concerns raised by care and nursing homes and ourselves and is now providing this additional funding which will make a significant difference.
Thank you for listening DCC.
We have been asking when this might happen and I pleased to be able to report that it will restart for us very soon. Most of us have a Tuesday pick up day in our area.
This will change to Saturdays for most of us, with the first pick up being 9th May for most of us. You will get a letter detailing this shortly. One little bit of good news and an excuse to do some more gardening – assuming your bin isn’t already full!
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