Decisions

Persona Care and Support Limited is the Councils arms-length Local Authority Trading Company (LATCo). The contract commenced in October 2015 and runs until March 2021.
See attached form for full details.

Permission to commission 19 Rapid Hospital Discharge Nursing Beds at Heathlands:

The Council has undertaken an engagement process with contracted providers of adult social care services in order to define both the fee proposals for 2020/21 and determine the final fee recommendations.

The embedded report details the recommendations for initial fee proposal to contracted providers of adult social care services for the period 2020/21.

Older Adults Residential Care 2020/21 Fee Proposal
The Council proposes to increase the weekly fees paid per person to providers for the provision of Older Adults Residential Care as shown in the attachment.

An opportunity inviting qualified ‘Economic Operators’ to Tender for: The Provision of Security Services, was placed on the procurement portal ‘The Chest’ in accordance with Contract Procedure Rule 4.1.

The contract period is from: 1st May 2020 to 30th April 2022. With an option to extend for a further 2 years on an annual basis

Following evaluation and scoring of the submitted tender, it is recommended that the contract is awarded to:

Lockdown Security Specialists,
Liley St,
Rochdale,
OL16 2AS

To extend the previously procured contract with BT-Wifi for public access wifi for an additional year. The Wifi is available in 3 library locations and 10 other locations across the authority. This contract has a relatively low value and it is the only wifi in some of the COVID-19 Community Hubs.

See attached form

To instruct Legal Services to make a bridleway creation order under s25 of the 1980 Highways Act for two sections of the Bury Bolton Railway Path at
• Spen Moor (Parcels B and F on attached plan)
• Lower Spen Moor (Parcel H)
and a bridleway creation order under s26 of the 1980 Highways Act for four sections of the Bury Bolton Railway Path as shown on attached plans at
• Hardmans Fold (Parcels A, C, D and E on attached plan)
• Lower Spen Moor (Parcel G)
• Land east of Lower Spen Moor (Parcel I)
• Land off Buckingham Drive (Parcel L)

For parcels F and H the landowner has given consent to bridleway creation via a s106 agreement under the 1990 Planning Act. For sections A, C, D, E, G, I, and L landowners have been asked to enter into a voluntary creation under s25 of the Act but have not, to date, consented. Parcels J and K already have bridleway status.

The path is a long-standing proposal of the Council’s adopted development plan (UDP Policies HT6/3 and RT3/4/2). Parcels A, B, C, E and G involve improvement to an existing public footpath. Parcels F, H, I and L involve the designation of existing tracks with no existing highway designation. Parcel D is partly improvement of an existing public footpath and partly a new link path. Parcel L would be a new link between an existing bridleway and an adopted highway.

It is anticipated that should the order be granted, compensation will be payable at Parcels, C, D E and G. The scheme would be 100% funded through the GM Growth Fund Transport Programme and a provisional allocation has been made for it. The scheme is part of a long-term project to deliver a quiet road/off road cycle route between Bury and Bolton. A continuous route already exists in Bolton.

Should the order be confirmed, the Local Highway Authority would acquire the responsibility of ensuring the route is maintained to a standard commensurate with its designated use.

To accept the application and to instruct Legal Services to make the appropriate orders to secure the diversion of Public Footpath Number 39, Bury. The path (shown on attached plan PRW/39/BURY/DC/01) is located at Bradshaw Hill, Bury, to the north of Chesham Road, close to the M66. The land is owned by the applicants and they wish to move the path away from their living accommodation for reasons of security and management of the site. The proposed diversion takes walkers away from the M66 and provides open views to the west. The existing path is 465m in length (running A-B on the plan). The proposed diversion is 440m (B-C). Both routes are unsurfaced, the existing running on grass and through a woodland. The diversion runs across grass, adjacent to woodland.
Preliminary Consultations have been carried out with the prescribed bodies (utility companies and path user groups) and there have been no objections to the proposal.
The diversion meets the criteria of being for the benefit of the landowner and no less commodious for the users of the public right of way.
To facilitate the proper opportunity for consultation, advertisement of the proposals / posting of notices will be postponed until such times that business has returned to normal following the current emergency measures in place to control COVID-19/coronavirus.

Approval to the temporary closure under Section 14(2) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, of Bradshaw Road from its junction with Harwood Road for a distance of 50 metres in an easterly direction from Monday 11 May 2020 for a period of 5 days to enable a United Utilities manhole frame and cover replacement works to be carried out (anticipated duration one day). The diversion route is via Tottington Road, Longsight, Hardy Mill Road, Arthur Lane, Bury Old Road, Church Street, Cockey Moor Road, Lowercroft Road and Hall Street and vice versa

Approval of 10 temporary Direction Signs on street lighting columns. To be sited at various points along Bolton Street, Bolton Road West, Bolton Road, Lumb Carr Road & Holcombe Road, Ramsbottom.

Approval to the application to Secretary of State for the extension of the temporary closure under Section 14(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, of the above. The existing temporary order is due to expire on 15 May 2020. An extension of 6 months is required in order for the said length of Footpath to remain closed in the interests of public safety while demolition/asbestos removal works for the school are undertaken. The diversion route is via the remainder of Public Footpath 8, Whitefield, Public Footpath 6, Whitefield, Public Footpath 89, Bury, Restricted Byway 85, Bury, Parr Lane and Public Footpath 101, Bury and vice versa.

Bury Council’s Planning/Development Management Section currently receives circa 1200 planning applications per year.

The Council’s constitution is currently written to enable planning decisions to be issued in a reasonable and timely manner by a set of criteria that determines which applications are to be considered by the Council’s Planning Control Committee and which are delegated decisions to be made by the Director for Business, Growth and Infrastructure.

Presently, some 93% of decisions are delegated to the Director and the remaining applications are made by the Planning Control Committee. This is consistent with the Government’s view on the levels of delegated decisions.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) provides guidance on how the decision making process should be done so as to ensure that most applications that are straightforward are decided as early as possible thus to enable the economy to maintain momentum. Those applications that are considered to be place making and have more widespread public interest, are heard and decided in public meetings made by the Council’s Planning Control Committee. The Local Government Act and the Council’s constitution require meeting of this nature to be held in person and in public. There is no right to speak or address the Committee, but Bury Council chooses to permit it.

The United Kingdom has been hit by the worldwide pandemic of Coronavirus/Covid-19 which has seen over the last few weeks and in particular days, restrictions being introduced by the Government on social interaction, which is seen as a key way to slow how the highly contagious infection spreads.

The issue therefore arises on how the planning process can still continue to function at all levels and this paper seeks to pay particular attention to the Committee decision making process.

Current Government Restrictions Affecting Planning Decision Making
The situation in the UK has been changing quickly in the most recent days. The latest guidance found on https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public that has direct implications upon public decision making processes are:

• Broad Advice
o Only go outside for food, health reasons or work (but only if you cannot work from home)
o Stay 2 metres (6ft) away from other people
o Self isolation for certain groups and following recent illnesses
• Stopping public gatherings
o To make sure people are staying at home and apart from each other, the Government is also stopping all public gatherings of more than two people.
• Exceptions for very limited purposes:
o where the gathering is of a group of people who live together – this means that a parent can, for example, take their children to the shops if there is no option to leave them at home
o where the gathering is essential for work purposes - but workers should try to minimise all meetings and other gatherings in the workplace

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government Advice/Response 24 March 2020
• It is important that authorities continue to provide the best service possible in these stretching times and prioritise decision-making to ensure the planning system continues to function, especially where this will support the local economy.
• We ask you to take an innovative approach, using all options available to you to continue your service. We recognise that face-to-face events and meetings may have to be cancelled but we encourage you to explore every opportunity to use technology to ensure that discussions and consultations can go ahead. We also encourage you to consider delegating committee decisions where appropriate. The Government has confirmed that it will introduce legislation to allow council committee meetings to be held virtually for a temporary period, which we expect will allow planning committees to continue.
• We encourage you to be pragmatic and continue, as much as possible, to work proactively with applicants and others, where necessary agreeing extended periods for making decisions.

From 4 April 2020
• https://www.gov.uk/government/news/councils-given-new-powers-to-hold-public-meetings-remotely
• Local Government Secretary confirms local authorities can hold public meetings remotely by video or telephone;
• Government removes requirement for physical attendance at meetings;
• Public will still have access to public meetings through remote means;
• Change ensures effective local decision making and transparency during the national effort to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
The Planning Inspectorate (PINS)25th March 2020
Appeals can still be made for non-determination of planning applications and proposals, appeals against decisions issued and conditions imposed on consents and permissions. PINS have restricted submission to on line only and existing appeal hearings and site visits have been cancelled and will be rescheduled.

Planning Officer’s Society
This is a professional group represented by Planners across all sectors. The depth of expertise has been pooled to put together a practical solution to all the angles of decision making for the Development Management process and can be found using this link https://www.planningofficers.org.uk/news/dm-decision-making--covid-19. The report is attached for information and provides a good guide to the options available under the current difficult times.

Bury Council’s Issues and Options
Issues
24th March PCC was postponed due to the rapid increase in precautionary and mandatory measures required by the Government at the time. The current stated period will be reviewed broadly on 13th April 2020. The next PCC meeting is scheduled for 21st April 2020. Indications are that restrictions will be maintained in some way but as yet there is no firm outline or proposal of what this would be. There is therefore uncertainty.

Statute has not changed to remove timeframe restrictions which heavily controls the planning process be that on publicity or determination dates. Planning decisions are required to be made within statutory timescales (8/13 weeks). Risks of not doing this - Appeal for non-determination and costs claim / LPA “designated” if numbers fall below Government threshold / have to re-pay fee after 26 weeks.

PCC meetings are normally publicly attended. However, high numbers of people that normally attend would mean that social distancing would not be achievable for either the public or Members and Officers. In any event, this would be classed as a gathering, which currently is prohibited.

The agenda requires a two week time for report writing, production and publication. The agenda must therefore be ready and publicised no later than 13th April 2020.

Postponement – 5 items have already been delayed. Whilst applicants and agents were accepting of this one off, the Council’s Local Planning Authority must have provisions in place so that postponement does not become indefinite or without end.

Streaming – The Council Chamber has web streaming capabilities for full Council meetings and this is used for each meeting. The Government have issued primary legislation to permit virtual meetings, but secondary legislation is not yet in place to permit the intentions to come in to force under regulatory controls. Irrespective of the streaming capabilities, the meeting may involve some Members who are in the at risk group and may exclude Members or staff from attending due to isolation or shielding reasons. The Council does not have streaming/conference capabilities to all would need to be involved.

Executive/Extraordinary Emergency Provisions – The Council’s constitution says “In cases of emergency, a Chief Officer after consultation with the Chair of the appropriate Committee or Leader of the Council and with the relevant Opposition Spokesperson and leader of the second largest opposition group, shall be empowered to make urgent decisions when necessary on Council Functions relevant to their service area. Such urgent decisions shall be processed through the Chief Executive and shall be submitted to the appropriate Committee for information.”

This obviously relates to exceptional circumstances which are prevalent at the moment. In very exceptional and extreme circumstances, where decisions are required to be taken, this can be done through agreement between the parties described.

Following this process, the decisions can still be made on planning applications without public or Member and staff health risk. Public responses would not be precluded by still producing the agenda and publicising it as normal. The public can still make written representations up to the point of determination and already received written comments are included in the report in any event. PCC Members would have a working week to provide written comments on the items, which can be collated and feed in to the Executive decision making process.

Legal Challenge - All decisions wherever they are made are subject to potential legal challenge through Judicial Review. It could not be reasonably argued that the current pandemic has not given rise to the need for extraordinary actions and as such all of the above matters would always be subject to challenge.

Applicants - still have the right of appeal if a decision has not been issued within the statutory time or outside any agreed timeframe. Decisions still are required to be taken within the 8,13 or 16 week period and in any event within 26 weeks unless through extended times as agreed, otherwise fees can be requested to be refunded.

Third Parties – Objections and support can be provided to the LPA on applications and are duly reported. These are an important part of the planning process and weigh in the planning balance where they make material planning representations.

Options: Risks/Benefits

1. Need to consider whether it is appropriate/necessary to use emergency powers if the Council can lawfully hold meetings virtually. However, IT is clearly not in place at the moment and the PCC meeting is too close to facilitate delivery of this for the April meeting.
2. Wait until PCC meetings can be safely held again and try to agree extensions of time. This is better for public engagement/openness but not recommended because Government advice is to prioritise decision-making. It could potentially be 6 months or so delay, which is an unacceptable delay for applicants.
3. Coronavirus legislation is now in force with the necessary secondary legislation and hold virtual PCC meetings – The legislation is permits remote meeting and this would maintain transparency / openness. However, the Council is not ready IT-wise but is working upon innovation to deliver this. For clarity, this would not be live-streaming but a video/telephone conference.
4. Use urgency powers – Lacks openness/transparency and to a degree is undemocratic. However, The Council could look at going further than only consulting the Chair - could ask all PCC members for views and contact objectors for a written version of what they would have said in their address to PCC. This option could be used in the interim and cover the April meeting and subsequent for an interim six month period and be reviewed in the meantime whereby, discussions between the Chief Executive, Chair, IT, Planning and Democratic Services seek to deliver the virtual solution as soon as possible in time for when secondary legislation is in place.
Consultation
The Chair of the Planning Control Committee was consulted whom discussed the matter with the Leader of the Council. The response was as follows:
"Having read the report “Planning Control Committee - Application Decision Making Due to Coronavirus / Covid-19 Restrictions” and the accompanying guidance for planners and information from the government, I agree with recommendation 4 of the report.
Emergency powers, with the suggested adjustments, should be used under the proviso that a virtual solution is sought as soon as is reasonable, so that members of the planning control committee can scrutinise applications and members of the public can see that the legally defined processes have been followed.
This decision is made from a purely legal perspective following changes to government legislation to try to facilitate “business as usual” during this global pandemic.
I do however wish to place on record my disagreement with the national guidance that planning should try to continue and would urge national government to temporarily remove the time limits placed on decisions for planning departments meaning that these major decisions can be deferred till such a time as the emergency has abated. Although planning and economic development are very important issues, at this time of global crisis I believe that planning decisions should not be placed in the same category of emergency response as health care.
This however is a personal perspective and does not affect my decision as chair of planning to concur with recommendation 4 of the report."

Recommendation
Option 4 be carried out as the current circumstances lead to the most appropriate means of ensuring that the planning process continues, with as much inclusivity as can be currently delivered. The option includes the use of moving to virtual meetings when IT permits. The use of this power is suggested for a limited period only and reversion to a more open process for Committee decision making when the Council are able to. This process closely follows that of the Planning Officer’s Society recommendations (page 6) and a move to Virtual meetings (page 7 onwards).

Private Sector Housing: Private rented sector, owner occupier, empty properties, Houses in Multiple Occupation.

Home visits will not be undertaken unless the case has been deemed an emergency and that a visit is necessary (risk of death/ no hot water / no heating / defective sanitary provision/fire safety). Any new cases of housing disrepair that come in will be prioritised and our working procedures will be flexible over this period. These cases will be monitored on a daily basis and depending on demand for service if some can be resolved via a phone call, then officers will make any necessary calls or emails/all communication from home.

Any planned (non-emergency) housing inspections over the next couple of weeks are to be cancelled and will be re arranged when the peak of the outbreak has passed and we begin to be more operational.

If it is necessary for a home visit in the case of an emergency, the officer will enquire with the occupier regarding their age and any underlying health conditions and whether they are symptomatic, have been in contact with anyone with symptoms or in contact with anyone who has returned from a county with symptoms in the past 14 days. The occupier will also be asked to take photographs and/or videos to that assessments can be made. That information will be relayed to the manager and head of service and a risk assessment carried out to ensure the safety of the occupier, staff members and contractors of entering and carrying out any necessary emergency remedial action.

Complaints relating to empty properties and nuisance: officers will ask that photographs be provided by the complainant and officers will make effort to contact owner via any details held on council tax but no further action will be taken if we have no details on council data base systems. These cases can be dealt with at a later stage.

The reasons for these changes listed above is to avoid all un necessary contact with members of the public for the health and safety of our (often vulnerable) service users, staff members and their families at home. The service will be operating at a reduced reactive capacity in light of the current climate but the team will be flexible and adapt as this process continues.

Adaptations Team: Staff provide feasibility inspections for Disabled Adaptations, this service is cross tenure private sector and Six Town Housing.

New works to properties to be postponed with immediate effect unless the work is of an urgent nature / to enable a hospital discharge and only if the client/ contractor agree to go ahead. Applicants to be advised of this delay by Occupational Therapists.

The reasons behind this are precautionary and in an attempt to prevent unintentional spread of the virus to those that are least able to fight it given the customers in this group have a medical condition and/or disabled and/or children and elderly. Additionally our only full-time Technical Officer is self-isolating due to coronavirus symptoms and has an immediate family member with chronic asthma. We are left with one Technical Officer who works 2 days a week.

If a home visit is required then the following questions are to be asked:
1. Have you recently returned from an affected country?
2. Have you been in contact with anyone that has recently returned from an affected country?
3. Do you have symptoms? High temperature, cough, difficulty breathing?
4. Is the client ok with us coming into their home?

We have a spreadsheet of all active cases for technical officers to update and for Unit Manager to review – this will help reduce our current backlog.

Major Adaptation Panel (MAP) meeting has been postponed, therefore Unit Manager is looking at the options for virtual meetings going forward for existing cases to progress. In the meantime a spreadsheet is being collated of all previously deferred cases and the new cases to be discussed. This will be circulated for comments from all Officers who attend MAP so that decisions can be made on each case whether to approve or not in the interim.

Other approaches

Urban Renewal have responded to the Coronavirus by gathering information from various bodies’ voluntary/public and private to make sure we can signpost those in need for services/advice that we can’t offer, such as rent arrears, mortgage arrears for Landlords, food banks and homelessness to name a few . This is an evolving situation and we will continue to support all customers as far as possible.

The following alterations have been made to the service delivery of the Building Control function.

Site Visits – Requests for site visits are being recorded as this is the minimum legal requirement as set by legislation. Visit requests are then assessed by the individual officers, where a site visit is not essential then the contractor can provide photographic evidence of the element of work in question.

Where site visits are required then an assessment is made by the officer in accordance with the attached site visit risk assessment form.

Submission of applications – We have contacted our regular agents and advised them that the ability to submit a paper application is likely to be removed at short notice and that they should look to submit electronic documents.

Office Work – Where staff have the ability to work from home then there primary place of employment is now at home, phones have been diverted and new practice and procedure documents have been given to all staff. Nominal costs incurred for head-sets / head-phones so that incoming calls remain private.

Payment Of Fees – All payment of fees to be made online, previously accepted cheques, phone payments and payments at the town hall.

Complaints about unauthorised Work – We will accept photographic evidence, and inform owners of their legal obligations, formal enforcement powers last for up to 2 years so these issues will be dealt with at a later date.

Acceptance of Building / Initial Notice – These applications are being automatically accepted to reduce the processing workload. An electronic note will be added to the case file by the building control manager / team leader to act as the formal acceptance signature.

Legal Notices / Documents – While we have access to the office we will try and issue paper documents, once paper documents are no longer available we will issue electronic documents.

Bury Council, along with 41 other Local Authorities (including all of GM Authorities) is currently a member of North West Employers and has been so for over 20 years. The organisation provides a range of employment services, including training and development programmes, executive coaching, research and innovation, senior leader and Elected Member Development initiatives and spokesperson for the North of England with regards to issues of a National matter, such as pay negotiations.

North West Employers are engaged via an annual subscription, which this year is £16,660.96 and payment for the year 2020/21 is now due.

Over recent months, conversations have taken place with North West Employers at a senior level in an attempt to understand in greater detail the level and quality of provision of services provided to the Council, in an attempt to ensure that we receive value for our money.

Before the pandemic crisis, it had been agreed that NW Employers would deliver a significant piece of work to develop the Council’s Executive Team, as part of a wider organisational development exercise. It was also agreed that they would provide support in relation to a review and refresh of the Council’s suite of HR Policies and Procedures.

This work has not yet taken place due to current events, although it will still go ahead at an appropriate time later in the year.

As such, it is proposed that the Council continue to engage the services of NW Employers for 2020/21. However, they have been advised that due to the on-going scarcity of resources and the need to ensure value for money, any commitment to engage services beyond this year will be subject to scrutiny of the quality of services provided, including evaluation of the planned interventions.

Bury Council is reacting to the ongoing developments concerning COVID–19 in relation to its business tenants that lease Council owned property. The Council is keen to ensure that its tenants are supported during this unprecedented time and that their businesses remain viable and ready to continue to prosper when this emergency is over. The Council’s tenanted estate is important to the Borough for the income that it generates, its contribution to commercial vitality of business, employment and the training of its workforce.

Therefore in response to COVID-19 and requests from many of its business tenants for rent relief, Bury Council has put together a scheme to assist businesses that may now be in a position where they are finding paying rent to the Council difficult.

The Council’s Cabinet has approved a scheme that will offer the Council’s business tenants rent relief for two months.

? Businesses whose annual rent is below £6,000 will automatically receive 100% rent relief for this period.

? Businesses who can show they have been either ‘critically’ affected or ‘significantly’ impacted will be offered 100% or 50% rent relief respectively.

There is an application process for the for business tenants where their annual rent is £6,000 or above. All information, including the application form is on a web page on the Council’s website. The Property & Asset Management team (PAM) will assess each application and inform each applicant of their decision within 5 working days of receiving it.

All relevant business tenants have been e-mailed or telephoned (where they either don’t have an e-mail address or where we have received an undeliverable message).

The scheme will be reviewed during May 2020 and further updates will be provided on the web page.

All business tenants have been reminded that despite this unprecedented time, they must continue to be compliant with the obligations of their lease.

No waiting at any time restrictions, for further details see the attached sheet.

No waiting at any time, see attached sheet for full details.

Temporary closure, Broad Oak Lane, Bury, Utility works. Full details on attached sheet.

Temporary road closures- various roads in Ainsworth. For full details see the attached sheet.

Approval of 1 day temporary road closure. Full details on attached document.

Approval to the temporary no waiting at any time and closure under Section 14(2) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, on Lumb Carr Road Cross Lane and Holcombe Old Road from Friday 10 April 2020 for a period of 5 days in order to prevent the annual Easter massing of people at Holcombe Hill in the interests of public health in light of the ongoing Coronavirus outbreak.

Approval to the temporary closure under Section 14(2) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, of Fairfield Drive from Broad Oak Lane for a distance of 50 metres in a northerly direction from 26 March 2020 for a period of 21 days to enable repairs to resolve interruption of UU supply (anticipated duration one week). The diversion route is via Broad Oak Lane and Fairfield Drive and vice versa.

Passover commences on the evening of Wednesday 8th April, and ends on the evening of Thursday 16th April 2020. The main ritual of Passover is consuming a festive meal of ritual foods (unleavened bread and bitter herbs). The central Passover practice is a set of intense dietary changes.

Prior to Passover taking place, a private Waste Contractor (JWS) is engaged directly by the community, the cost of which is met between the Community and Ward Councillor budgets. For this year, it is proposed that the Council covers the full cost (c£3,000).

As a result of the coronavirus outbreak there is some ongoing disruption to bin collections and as a result, the Waste and Recycling Service is having to make some adjustments to collection schedules and days. The last cycle of brown bin collections was cancelled, however, one further collection will be undertaken before suspending brown bin collections until further notice. Therefore, during/after Passover extra food waste should be put in the grey bin.

In order to support the Jewish community during their Passover festival, it is proposed that the Waste and Recycling Service will collect (in addition to the normal grey bin collection) one additional bag of waste per household, at no additional cost. Communication regarding the arrangements will be circulated via the Council’s website, and through the email reminder scheme.

To date all grey, blue and green bin collections have been maintained, with all collections having been completed as per schedule, whilst brown bin collections were suspended for one full 2 weekly cycle from Monday 23 March, through till Friday 03 April.

The Waste Management service has not suffered a hugely significant loss of staff yet due to the coronavirus, hence the ability to maintain the service as well as it has. With this in mind, the intention is to continue to collect grey, blue and green bins as per schedule, whilst embarking upon a final collection of the brown bin. This is because a large proportion of the brown bins will contain food waste. After this next collection residents will be advised to put their food waste in the grey bin until regular brown bin collections restart.

Delivery of the above plan is entirely dependent upon availability of sufficient staff. To build resilience, a number of volunteer staff from other services such as Grounds Maintenance, Street Lighting and Street Cleaning have been inducted on waste collections.

Despite the above, if the loss of staff (both management and operational) makes the delivery of a ‘normal’ service impossible then all resources will be switched to weekly collections of the grey bin only. Residents will be asked to put all their waste, including food; paper/card and glass, cans and plastic bottles in the grey bin. Garden waste should not be placed in the grey bin and should be stockpiled in the garden or composted at home instead. Grey bin collections will be made on residents’ scheduled day of collection.

All of the above messages will be communicated and explained to residents via the Council’s website, the intranet, social media and via email to those households that subscribe to the Council’s bin alert service. The latter is by far and away the most effective method of communication in that it enables bespoke messages to be sent directly to residents. Every effort is being made to encourage a greater take up of this service. There are currently nearly 33,000 households who have signed up.

To maintain social distancing within the waste collection service, with effect from last Friday no vehicles carry more than 2 people. This means that every bin wagon with a crew of Driver + 2 Operatives is followed by a support vehicle carrying the second Operative.

Note that waste collections will operate as normal on Good Friday, as is the case every year.

Bulky waste collections remain suspended.

Manchester City Council have sourced and started to use the Fairways Lodge hotel for their rough sleepers since Thursday the 26th March and we became aware of this arrangement on Monday the 30th March. Therefore the B&B is already being used for rough sleepers from Manchester to self-isolate.

I have been in contact with MCC to discuss this arrangement and following those discussion’s there is an opportunity to work in partnership to allow Bury rough sleepers to also be placed in this hotel.

The Hotel has 36 rooms and its been agreed with MCC that 18 spaces will made available specifically for Bury’s rough sleepers to use asap.

As at 6th April we have moved 10 Bury rough sleepers into fairway with the intention to move the remaining 8 known rough sleepers into the provision before Easter.

The hotel has 24/7 security to help manage the facility and to ensure the rough sleepers self-isolate within their room as required and lock down. There is also MCC staff at the facility to support the existing B&B staff and security. This is also be complemented by Bury’s homelessness team.

The cost will be £150 per night per person and includes the room, food, security and support staff. Initial discussions with GMCA are that there is an expectation and understanding that MHCLG will meet the full costs of all rough sleeper provision across GM due to Covid-19.

I have also received assurance from MCC that this facility will only be used for rough sleepers during this crisis and once the crisis is over their rough sleepers will be moved back to Manchester and the rough sleeper facility closed down. Bury’s ABEN facility will also then re-open to accommodate our rough sleepers as normal.

Lynne, Geoff and Cllr O’Brien have all been kept fully briefed on the use of this hotel / facility for our rough sleepers.

Therefore I request retrospective permission to use the Fairways Lodge to place and support Bury rough sleepers locally and to enable them to self-isolate and lock down during this crisis.

Bury Market opening hours restricted to full market days only – Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
Access for traders to attend for food preparation on non-market days but not open to the public.
In view of security issues and enforcing social distancing, given only one or two traders would be open, Markets Management have amended opening hours accordingly.

Ramsbottom Market has been suspended until further notice.

As the market is located on a car park and operates on a Saturday only, the temporary nature restricts the ability to implement and enforce social distancing measures which would put both the traders and the public at risk.

All temporary markets and car boots are also suspended for the reasons above.

Suspend all future knowledge tests for existing applicants who have made applications and are currently in the process of becoming a Hackney Carriage /Private Hire Driver during the COVID-19 pandemic, until the current government social distancing and gathering requirements are reviewed and relaxed.

Currently the Licensing Service require any new person applying for a private hire or hackney carriage driver’s licence to under–take and pass a topographical knowledge test. The test consists of a face to face examination at the Town Hall with a member of the Licensing Service being present, these take place every two weeks.

A number of applicants all sit the test together at the same time in the town hall chamber for a 2 hour period supervised by a licensing officer. In order to comply with social distancing rules and gathering regulations it is requested that these tests be suspended until the government changes the current requirements social distancing and gathering requirements.

Approval has been previously obtained on the 24th March 2020 to postpone new driver applications for a three month period. However there are still a number of applicants who have applied in the preceding months earlier this year ,prior to government restrictions who have paid and still wish to take the test.

Commission Vaisala Ltd. to supply, install and maintain a weather station to support winter service in accordance with the attached quotation.

Supply and installation costs of £22,360.00 are to be met the 2020/21 Capital Programme.

Ongoing maintenance costs of £2,710.50 per annum are to be met from existing Winter Service revenue budgets.

Vaisala are the current AGMA supplier for weather stations under the current Weather Bureau Contract.

There is a need to procure time-sensitive, interim capacity to strengthen the Council’s response to supporting businesses in Bury.
The capacity is required to be sourced within a short timescale and the Council does not have the capacity in-house to deliver this work.
It is proposed to appoint Deloitte to deliver this work, in light of the commissions they are currently working on in Bury, as they have a good understanding of Bury’s businesses.
Deloitte will work with Bury Council to create a proactive response to the COVID-19 crisis. There will be a targeting of key businesses within the Borough and an assessment of how national and regional support packages can be best tailored towards their specific needs and requirements. Deloittes will work with Bury Council staff to ensure the staff working in our COVID-19 Business Unit are trained and supported to have the information and know-how to best guide companies. The exercise will use an assessment of the Councils resources and our capacity to deploy them to support the business base.
Advice from procurement is to use the pre-approved MCF2 procurement framework to engage Deloitte. A maximum budget of £35k is proposed to fund the following urgent requirements during April:
Undertake analysis of Bury businesses to establish the main cohorts of business requiring support from the Council. This will involve using information available from public records, Bury Council and other stakeholders engaged with the local economy to identify the “Bury Business Dataset” of businesses in the Bury economy.
Using the information gathered together to identify businesses which Bury Council can target its support. Key factors for consideration will be the business’ alignment with the objectives of Bury Council and whether these businesses are being supported by other organisations, such as the Business Growth Hub.
For the cohorts identified for support set out a “toolkit” of available options to business in attaining support from central government interventions or those of Bury Council. This will be used by “account managers” in reaching out to businesses in the cohort, to guide these businesses to these interventions and possibly assist in their attaining this support.
Understand Bury Council’s core team resource and that available through wider stakeholders (Business Growth Hub etc.) to inform account manager process and role.
Determine the appropriate way to reach out to the businesses in the identified cohorts. This may include central resource available on the “Bury Means Business” website giving general guidance on Covid-19 support for businesses and gathering further information on the needs of businesses in Bury. Using the toolkit developed and resource from Bury Council acting as “account managers” to ensure that this cohort has been contacted and is being guided through attaining support.
Assist Bury Council in determining interventions for local businesses, using results from reaching out to businesses in these cohorts and their feedback on whether other support programmes are sufficient.
Paul Lakin, Director of Regeneration and Capital Growth will be responsible for contract management and there will be a weekly agreement about what will be undertaken each week and the associated costs prior to work commencing. This will be shared with Finance to assist with budget control.
The cost of the work is £35k and will be met from the council’s general reserves.

There is a need to procure time-sensitive, interim communications capacity to support the Council’s response to Covid-19

The Head of Communications is due three weeks paternity leave at the beginning of June and cover will be required should we still be working in an emergency response situation.

It is proposed to appoint Unique Creative Communications to deliver this work, in light of the commissions they have previously undertaken in Bury, as they have a good understanding of the borough, our services and established relationships with key officers and stakeholders.

Budget
Government funding has been received to support the Council in its response to Covid-19. £21,350 provision is required to fund one full-time resource from 26 March 2020 until Friday, 26 June.

The council has received funding from the government to support the additional costs anticipated as a result of COVID-19. It is anticipated that all additional costs will be met by new funding however there is a risk that the funding received will be insufficient to cover all costs. In that event any costs over and above this will need to be managed as a financial risk within the council’s overall financial strategy.

To suspend Corporate Core Complaints, FOIs and members case work.

These services are provided by the contact centre and are Priority 2 from a business continuity perspective. There is a need to divert resources to Priority 1 services at this time, including call agents handling calls to the community hub from vulnerable residents.

Therefore, it is proposed to suspend these services temporarily.

This will be in line with the decision made around Children’s Services Complaints made on 30/03/2020:

1. Unless there is a safeguarding concern, complaints falling under the remit of the following areas will not be responded to:

• Children’s Social Care Complaints
• Children’s Corporate Complaints (including school transport & SEN)

2. The processing of Subject Access Requests (SARs) and Freedom of Information Requests (FOIs) will be temporarily ceased. We will however continue to respond to Protocol Compliance Disclosure Requests (PCDR) to assist the Police in criminal activity.

All schools must issue vouchers in line with Government Guidance to all eligible FSM throughout the usual Easter School Holiday period, and funding should not be the consideration. FSM provision also needs to be sustained for those pupils eligible by age under the Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM) requirements, only where they are attending school as they a children of critical workers.
Schools must meet the costs of supporting their vulnerable pupils and code any additional expenditure to CORONA fund source in the hope it may be reimbursed by the DfE or is covered by the COVID-19 grant being provided to the LA. This could also apply to costs of considering a welfare scheme to support the most vulnerable pupils in Bury.
A central list of all children entitled to Free School Meals will also be cross referenced to those families seeking assistance with food parcels in order that the food parcels can be allocated to other vulnerable families who do not qualify for Free School Meals