Minutes:
The Mayor
provided an update in respect of the following:-
The Mayor
acknowledged that the previous year had presented many challenges but he paid
tribute to the resilience of the members of the public, council staff and community
groups for the way in which they had worked together to address the many
challenges that the town had faced.
Covid-19
In relation
to Covid-19. Infection rates had continued to fall but the number of people
requiring hospitalisation had increased. Infection rates had peaked at 600 per
100,000 but this had fallen to 400.
The Mayor
advised that the figures were encouraging but he emphasised the requirement to
protect the NHS and to protect life. He stated that the vast number of people
were following the rules.
Holocaust
Memorial Day Event
The Mayor
reminded members with regard to an on-line Holocaust Memorial Day event hosted
by the Council which was due to be held on 27 January 2021. He urged members to
join in with the event.
Group
Meetings
The Mayor
suggested that Group Leaders or those members who were not in a group should
get together with him to share ideas and provide feedback on issues relating to
the Council and the community. He stated that he wanted to be questioned,
challenged or just to listen to any ideas that members wished to put forward.
He urged members to get in touch.
Vaccinations
Members
were advised that over 8000 residents had received the Covid-19 vaccination so
far which was above the national average. Residents would be contacted by their
GP practice to advise when their vaccination would be available.
The Mayor
stated that he hoped things would get back to some sense of normality after
February in order to protect jobs and mental health and create the futures that
young people needed.
Councillors
The Mayor
commented on the work and conduct of a councillor.
Homelessness
The Mayor
stated that the Council had received funding which enabled them to provide accommodation
for homeless people to prevent them sleeping on the streets. He congratulated
council staff for their work with the homeless, which was ongoing.
Government
Jobs – Levelling up Agenda
The Mayor
advised that his fear was that Government jobs would not come to Teesside. He
urged people to write to their MP, the TVCA and the Prime Minister, urging them
to relocate Government offices to the Tees Valley area. The Mayor was also
concerned that the offices would be located at Teesside Airport. He emphasised
that the jobs needed to be located in the centre of town in order to boost the
economy.
Gap
between the affluent and the deprived
The Mayor
stated that he was concerned about the gap between the affluent children and
the deprived, particularly in relation to education. Schools could help
rebalance this and it was important that children could get back to school and
to ensure that children had the appropriate hardware and connectivity to enable
them to catch up on lost schooling.
The Mayor
advised that the future did look promising. The spring and summer of 2021 would
be better and there would be many announcements.
Councillor
McTigue acknowledged the comments by the Mayor about
her work as a councillor, but challenged the Mayor on comments regarding the
use of the Council’s one-stop system and issues that she had raised with him
previously. The Mayor advised that he was willing to meet with and work with
Councillor McTigue.
Councillor
Cooke also commented on the use of the Council’s one-stop system. With regard
to homelessness, Councillor Cooke advised that he attended the official count.
He had attended at 4am in the morning and found many homeless people sleeping
in the rain. He stated that he was disappointed that Councillor Storey’s Notice
of Motion on the subject of homelessness had been rejected, He advised that he
was concerned about the fact that as the homeless were not registered with a GP
they could be prevented from receiving the Covid-19 vaccine.
Councillor
Cooke stated that he would be willing to help tackle poverty. He stated that he
had experienced this situation as a child and he emphasised that it was
important to challenge the issues of poverty and education.
The Mayor
acknowledged the work that Councillor Cooke had been carrying out as a
Councillor, particularly in relation to homelessness
Councillor
Uddin queried whether the Mayor was liaising with the Combined Authority and
other local authorities.
The Mayor
advised that he attended regular scheduled meetings between the leaders and
Chief Executives together with having regular telephone conversations between
other leaders and there was a Whats App Group. It was
important to balance between working as a group and working for your own
authority.
Councillor
Cooper highlighted the fact that the Council offered assistance and specialised
services to staff and members who were struggling with issues.
The Mayor
advised that people should try and recognise signs and talk to them
Councillor Furness
commented with regard to child poverty and the provision of free school meals
and he queried whether the Council was going to assist?
The Mayor
advised that he had been involved in a number of phone calls to schools about
the provision of free school meals. The Council was providing hampers and
although the schools were receiving the money, the Council was involved in the
provision of the hampers.
The Executive
Member for Communities and Education advised that it was a decision between the
Government and each individual school whether they issued vouchers or
distributed hampers however the hampers produced by Middlesbrough
Council were of a decent standard.
Councillor
M Storey stated that it was right to say that the
Council could be relatively confident with regard to the vaccination programme. He advised that he had met with some NHS
representatives and they had advised that GPs were already visiting care homes
to give the vaccination to residents and care staff. Over two thirds of the
staff at JCUH and over 2000 care home staff had been vaccinated. TUVE the
Mental Health Trust and NEAS, the Ambulance and paramedic service staff were
also due to receive the vaccination. He
stated that the government needed to be careful about relaxing the rules too
quickly as those who had been vaccinated could still transmit the disease.
He stated
that he and the MP for Middlesbrough had written to
the Chancellor with regard to bringing jobs to Middlesbrough.
There were new offices available in Middlesbrough to
accommodate the government service.
Councillor
M Storey stated that the Holocaust Memorial day service was very important. He
commented that future generations needed to remember and educate themselves
about it. He stated that he welcomed the Mayor’s invitation to meet with groups
and he looked forward to the invitation.
Councillor
Higgins stated that she agreed with Councillor Cooke regarding disappointment
about the fact that the Notice of Motion on homelessness had been rejected and
she stated that the Council needed to look after those who could not look after
themselves. She also agreed with Councillor Cooke’s
sentiments about children going hungry.
Councillor
J Walker stated that she agreed with much of what the Mayor had said about
infection rates falling and the Council’s work with disadvantaged children and
she acknowledged the work of community and voluntary groups throughout the
pandemic. Councillor Walker stated that it was unfair to criticise members and
make derogatory remarks when members were working hard at all times of the day and
enforcing the rules set by the government.
The Mayor
stated that his comments had not been a criticism of Councillor
Walker or any political group. There had been criticism aimed at a member who
had been stuck outside the country and the Mayor stated that as long as the
member was working hard it did not matter where they were located.
Councillor
Coupe stated that he agreed with the Mayor’s comments regarding the Holocaust
and he agreed with Councillor M Storey about the fact that it should never be
forgotten. He stated that he was pleased that the number of Covid-19 cases was
falling.