The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
The leader of South Holland District Council says he is “massively proud” of the way staff and councillors have adapted to the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.
No staff at the district council or Lincolnshire County Council have been furloughed. Instead, many have been redeployed to help in other service areas.
Of South Holland District Council’s 248 directly-employed staff, 157 are working from home.
Meanwhile, on-site teams such as refuse collectors and grounds maintenance have had to alter the way they work to comply with safety guidelines.
Coun Gary Porter says employed staff have done the “heavy lifting” with councillors playing a supporting role.
“I’m massively proud of how the staff have adapted with the minimum of fuss and without complaint,” the council leader said. “Two of the staff teams which are normally very short – communities and business – have had two of the biggest workloads.
“Both have benefited from other services which we were told to close, such as with staff from the South Holland Centre and museum.”
Redeployed staff have been assisting with the support programme towards shielded and more vulnerable members of the district, and contacting businesses to help get the
Government’s support grants distributed as soon as possible. Councillors are now chasing up businesses within their patches which are yet to apply.
“The public has been brilliant too,” added Coun Porter. “Even with all the hardships they have had put upon them, they have helped us. For instance, by not putting the stuff they were unable to take to West Marsh Road (tip) in their black bags.
“Overall, I can’t say that everything has run 100 per cent as it should but at the moment everybody looks like they are pulling in the right direction.”
The leader also acknowledged the efforts of councillors who have managed to cope with their roles largely without the benefit of meetings and were also doing great response work within their own communities.
All staff members at Lincolnshire County Council have remained on the payroll. The authority said 266 people have been redeployed to other service areas, including the County Emergency Centre, residential homes and NHS swabbing.
A spokesman said the number of people working from home can vary. As an example, on Monday last week (May 11) out of 5,158 staff, 1,045 were working from council premises.
Andrew Crookham, executive director for resources, said: “Given the vital role our services play in supporting our communities, and particularly our most vulnerable residents, this has been an extremely busy time for the council.
“The vast majority of our staff continue to work in their normal roles, but have had to adapt to new ways of working. This often means working from home and making use of digital technology to connect with colleagues and customers where face-to-face contact is no longer possible.
“A number of staff have also been redeployed to support critical areas, such as the County Emergency Centre, which co-ordinates the response to the pandemic, our residential homes and the NHS swabbing facilities.
“In light of this, there is currently no need to furlough any staff employed by the council and we do not anticipate this changing in the foreseeable future.”
The county council has received a total of £35.5million from the Government by way of support in responding to the pandemic – £21.4m in March and a further £14m this month.
South Holland District Council confirmed that it too had received financial support but did not say how much.
