Council leader says schools reopening to be taken 'one step at a time' and praises key workers

Leading the authority under new and unprecedented lockdown rules, which changed the way the council operates day-to-day has been a completely new experience for him and his staff.

But the challenges of an estimated £50 million funding deficit, with about half of the authority's staff working from home and protecting the key workers who must still go out to work has been taken in the authority's stride under Coun Read's leadership.

He says: “My instinct is to maintain services as long as we can, safely.

"We are working our way through the budget deficit - an early assumption for the worst-case scenario suggest we could be about £50 million down for the year.

“So long as the government makes good on their word, it will be manageable. If they don't, or narrowly define the funding, we could have a serious problem."

On March 19, the government announced £1.6 billion of additional funding for local governments to help them respond to coronavirus pressures across all the services they deliver, with a further £1.6bn announced on April 18.

Rotherham Council is due to receive £16,239,092 of this funding - but it will not fully make up for the deficit created through loss of council tax and extra spending on social care services.

Coun Read says: “We are concerned about the budget, but the government deserve some credit, we didn't expect such funding. It's bought us some time.

“Once you're into the tens of millions, councils just don't have the resilience anymore. Undelivered budget savings carry into next year and I worry it will have a cumulative effect.”

He says there have been ‘challenging’ conversations and decisions made about lockdown rules, including when to temporarily shut down cemeteries, household waste recycling centres and around funeral arrangements.

He says: “We have had to have conversations we would never imagine having, about if staff fall ill, how to prioritise services, funeral arrangements and how we can make sure people have access to grieve in the way we'd all hope.”

Despite the far from normal working arrangements, Coun Read says many services continue to run without disruption.

He says: “Across our entire headcount, we have about half of our staff working from home. It's a huge credit to staff and management that services have continued. About a third of binmen were unable to work which put a huge strain on services, as well as having to send out extra bin lorries so they could socially distance.

“The main bin collections have continued, which is impressive. Libraries staff have moved online and provided children's engagement sessions. They are reaching new audiences and may well think about carrying that on.”

He says the reopening of schools will be ‘challenging’, and should be taken one step at a time to ensure children's safety.

Coun Read says: “It's understandable that parents want to know what safety arrangements are in place, and it should be taken one step at a time.”

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