Coronavirus York updates; 21st April 2020

City of York Council Leaders in a Coronavirus Q&A, Live on Facebook

Residents are invited to watch and interact with a live #AskTheLeaders Coronavirus question and answer session on City of York Council’s Facebook page on Tuesday 28 April, 5-6pm.

Residents can join live on Facebook to hear from:

  • Cllr Keith Aspden, Leader of the Council
  • Cllr Andy D’Agorne, Deputy Leader of the Council
  • Cllr Paula Widdowson, Executive Member for Climate Change and Environment
  • Ian Floyd, Interim Head of Paid Services
  • Sharon Stoltz, Director of Public Health

Residents can interact with the session by either submitting questions in advance by emailing them to YourQuestions@york.gov.uk or commenting on the live video on Facebook where leaders will read out questions and respond.* Questions may be answered by theme rather than individually, so that the conversations covers as many topics as possible.

Cllr Keith Aspden, Leader of City of York Council, said;

“In these unprecedented times, it’s essential that we try new ways of reaching our residents and enabling them to ask questions and raise concerns about the city’s response to the outbreak of coronavirus.”

“I look forward to hosting the live Coronavirus question time session and hearing from local residents. I hope the live session gives clarity, reassurance and useful information in this ever changing situation.”

Cllr Andy D’Agorne, Deputy Leader of City of York Council, said;

“This is a great opportunity for us to get direct feedback from residents about how the lockdown is affecting them, their families and neighbours in York. We can also share some of the amazing work taking place in every community.

“I want to encourage resident to email us your questions and join us next week to have a conversation about our city’s response to Coronavirus and how we are working together to save lives.”

For the latest York updates on service changes, online support and how you can get involved in supporting your community visit www.york.gov.uk/Coronavirus

*Please Note: Resident do not need a Facebook account to watch the live video however, they will need their own Facebook account to comment on the video with their questions if they have not already submitted questions via email.

Cycle couriers

The media are reporting that cycle couriers – delivering food – are being prevented from cycling though the City centre foot-streets.

If correct then we think that is wrong. The footstreets are virtually deserted and the couriers are part of the solution to food supply issues in the City. Clearly they would need to observe a voluntary code restricting their speed but, in principle, getting food to people quickly is a higher priority than enforcing inessential access restrictions.

Greater use of the pedestrian areas by “exercise” cyclists might also help to address the call for a ban on traffic on some residential roads.

We’re not entirely convinced that all courier companies are responding to the needs of people living in sub-urban areas. It’s two weeks since “Deliveroo” said they would extend their service to Acomb but there is no sign of the promised Morrisons/McColls services actually being implemented.

Council information

Leaflet delivery update

The Council claims that a letter from the Leader, Deputy Leader and Interim Head of paid Service “was distributed to York homes over the weekend and Monday. This letter also included ward information and information on volunteering and how to get help”. Many homes did not receive this letter but it contained little that was new anyway.

 The “Our City” newsletter  will be delivered to all homes throughout the week.

It contains two pages of “look at me” photos of Councillors but omits to provide their contact telephone numbers. The space would have been better utilised giving details of food doorstep deliverers, and information about continuing pharmacy, supermarket (pipeline) and takeaway delivery arrangement.

The Council says that a a leaflet sharing the names and contact details of local independent food suppliers who can deliver or arrange collection will be “delivered soon”. The draft list circulated last week was far from comprehensive so hopefully any new list will have been updated.

Millies Fruit and Veg boxes

There are several small independent shops who are providing outstanding customer service. These include, to our knowledge, Millies Greengrocers (tel. 01904 677035), Heslington Fresh Foods (01904 728905) and Richardson’s Woodthorpe Butchers ((01904 707876). There must be many more in other parts of the City. Any trader undertaking home deliveries, who wants to be added to the Council list, should email:  food@york.gov.uk

The Council also says, “We are also finalising a booklet providing more information to support residents’ health and wellbeing over this difficult period”.

Job retention scheme

 The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is now open for applications. Employers can now go online to claim cash grants worth up to 80% of wages, capped at £2,500 a month per worker. 5000 HMRC staff will operate the scheme, which is expected to help thousands of firms across the UK.

 Please note the following key guidelines : 

  • To receive payment by 30 April businesses will need to complete an application by 22 April. This is because it will take six working days for the claim to be processed, issued and received.
  •  Decide whether businesses want to make their own claim or if they want their agent to act on their behalf – if they have an agent that has authorisation to act for you on PAYE matters, they can make a claim for CJRS on their behalf.
  •  Businesses are being asked to only call the government if they can’t find what they need on gov.uk – please, wherever possible, leave the phone lines open for those who need it most. All applications will be processed online. After a claim has been submitted it will take six working days for it to be paid – businesses are being asked to please not chase up payment during this time.
  •  Employees should speak to their employers with any questions, not HMRC. The government won’t be able to answer queries from individual employees.

The York and North Yorkshire LEP have provided a handy step by step guide for businesses to help them through this process.

Information on financial support

On top of this the government has launched a new tool to help people find coronavirus financial support for their business. Businesses may be eligible for loans, tax relief and cash grants; this support finder will help you to see what support is available for you and your business.

 Support package for innovative firms hit by Coronavirus

 Finally, a new billion pound support package for innovative firms hit by Coronavirus has been announced. The package includes a £500 million investment fund for high-growth companies impacted by the crisis, made up of funding from the government and the private sector. SMEs focusing on research and development will also benefit from £750 million of grants and loans.

  Cancellation of GCSES and A LEVELS

 The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak is expected to continue having a significant impact on the education system, and the country, for months to come. Therefore, exams have been cancelled now to give pupils, parents, and teachers certainty, and enable schools and colleges to focus on supporting vulnerable children and the children of key workers.  More information about the cancellations is available:  https://www.york.gov.uk/COVIDExamCancellations

 Local government funding

 Over the weekend the government confirmed an additional £1.6bn of funding for local authorities. This funding has been welcomed.

Coronavirus York updates – 10th April 2020

Food

The council says, it “is connecting residents with a wide range needs, from those unable to get an online delivery slot to those who would normally rely on food banks, to food suppliers. Where possible we are supporting local businesses by highlighting those in operation.

This involves a regular check with local suppliers to connect people with the means to pay to the businesses still operating in their area. We use this list to signpost callers who reach us through the COV-19 helpline. We are finding that the information on which businesses operate and their capacity is changing on a daily basis, so printed lists will be out of date very quickly, and for larger print runs before they are distributed.

Those suppliers with confidence in their stocks and delivery arrangements are encouraged to add their listing to the council-sponsored listings at www.yorkmix.com/yorkbiz . This listing is growing daily”.

The list referred to still falls short of requirements.

It is framed as mini adverts which maybe fine for the businesses themselves but not for customers.

It falls short in not providing a comprehensive database – which gives all options for contactless ways of buying and having doorstep deliveries of food and medicines.

Pharmacies and supermarkets are a key part of the supply chain.

Funerals

Changing the way York Crematorium provides cremation services has been a very difficult and sad decision for the City of York Council to make, but necessary in light of public health concerns. We have listened to the advice around increasing numbers of Coronavirus cases in York, regionally and nationally, having yet reached the peak period of infection for the Yorkshire and Humber region.

Following further discussions with funeral directors and clergy, we will now be allowing one celebrant or minister to perform a short service, that will be filmed free of any charge.

We have attached our statement and updated FAQs for your information.

Micro-grants for businesses

A £1m City of York Council support fund for small and micro businesses which don’t qualify for government support has now been fully launched, with applications now open.

The City of York Council micro business grants scheme will deliver grants of up to £1000 into 1000 self-employed, micro and small businesses who need it most. 

Applications can be made through https://www.york.gov.uk/COVIDMicroGrant and are available to businesses which:

  • have 50 or fewer employees, including one person business/self-employed;
  • need support adapting to new trading arrangements;
  • are experiencing financial hardship due to coronavirus, and
  • do not qualify for any other government grant or rate relief support packages.

The latest information for business is available at www.york.gov.uk/BusinessSupport.

PPE business ask

We are appealing to the Government for additional personal protective equipment (PPE), and asking local businesses for any spare PPE, so it can be used by the authority’s care workers.

Although the council’s care teams currently have sufficient PPE, stocks nationally are running low, and priority is being given to NHS staff.

All our care workers are following national government guidance on the PPE they need to wear. In a similar way to NHS staff, care staff need to use PPE to keep themselves safe from the risk of infection. The items we need are disposable plastic aprons, gloves, black bags, masks, eye protection goggles, alcohol based hand sanitiser and hard surface wipes.

Anyone who thinks they may have useful PPE is asked to email PPE@york.gov.uk. We thank everyone for their support. In fact a number of businesses have stepped forward already, to whom we are incredibly grateful of what is another demonstration of York’s community spirit.

An update on homelessness

From 23 March we have provided 11 households and 12 single homeless people temporary accommodation. While very few of these cases were connected to coronavirus, as a precaution and with support from local organisations, their accommodation meets social distancing criteria.

All the rough sleepers we are supporting are already known to us. The vast majority have accepted the accommodation which each and every one is being offered. We continue to work hard to persuade them all to come into accommodation and to stay in it while the emergency continues.

We have not yet received any additional Government money relating to homelessness to date, nor have we been told how much York will receive.

Virtual libraries

Thanks to £17K of extra funding from City of York Council, Explore is now able to extend the current range of virtual services to support individuals, families and communities of York during the Coronavirus emergency to help people whilst they stay at home.

The extra funding means Explore can now extend what is on offer:

  • Press Reader. Explore will buy a 12 month subscription to Press Reader This will provide  access to over 7000 daily newspaper and magazine titles from more than 100 countries.  
  • More e-books and e-audiobooks
  • Specialist conferencing software to bring people together in a virtual space and invite them to challenge their imagination in new ways.
  • Support with getting online