What the county council is doing to help during the lockdown

Denbighshire County Council is calling on the county’s residents to comply with the ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown introduced yesterday in a bid to halt the spread of coronavirus cases across Wales.

Its leader Councillor Hugh Evans said: “Over recent weeks we have seen a significant increase in the number of cases of coronavirus across the whole of Wales and the Welsh Government has made it clear that urgent measures need to be taken to try and avoid going into a full lockdown.

“Now that we have clarity on the circuit breaker, we now need to make sure that we all play our part in working through the restrictions. 

“We fully recognise that some people may find the idea difficult, especially given the sacrifices made by people earlier in the year, but compliance is essential. We really need to do this to try and protect our most vulnerable in our communities.

“On top of the new restrictions, we must also continue to adhere to the social distancing measures, as well as wearing face masks to visit the essential shops and following stringent hygiene measures.

“The council and its partners will continue to remind people of the restrictions being introduced through local media, websites and social media feeds."

Information about the restrictions can be found on: www.gov.wales

* The council says it is resuming its wellbeing checks on vulnerable residents during this new lockdown.

It will begin contacting people on the shielding patients' list from Monday, October 26.

Staff from the library service will be making calls to check on people’s wellbeing, to see if they need any help, and to check that they will be keeping warm over the winter. 

Any residents who are concerned about the legitimacy of these calls should hang up and call the Council back direct on 01824 706000. 

Cllr Bobby Feeley, the Council’s Lead Member for Well-being and Independence, said: “We want to reassure vulnerable residents that we will be resuming the wellbeing checks we carried out during the first lockdown.

“These calls will provide a service to those members of our community who need extra support during this difficult time.  

"During the first lockdown we contacted more than 5,000 people and were in regular contact with a majority of those. 

The council’s telephone befriending service, which is staffed by council employees and volunteers, including a number of county councillors, continues during this period.

* Work has been carried out by Denbighshire County Council officers with input from county councillors and town and community councils to map out a list of resources available during the Covid-19 outbreak across Denbighshire.

You can find the list at https://www.denbighshire.gov.uk/en/coronavirus/community-resources.aspx

The list contains information about local emerging groups and businesses across Denbighshire offering support including information about food deliveries, grocery services and support services. 

As well as community based information it also contains links to a variety of support agencies and networks which operate locally, regionally and nationally.

This list of key information will be updated on a regular basis and should you have any information or links that you feel would be useful to residents please email to: communitydevelopment@denbighshire.gov.uk

Chancellor’s statement doesn’t go far enough says Finance Minister

Finance Minister Rebecca Evans (pictured) says the job support measures set out by the Chancellor yesterday are ‘a step in the right direction’, but warns that the level of support does not go far enough to guarantee a decent income for workers.

The Minister also expressed her disappointed at the news of a one-year spending review and called on the UK Government to put an end to its "stop-start approach" to handling public finances.

Rebecca Evans said: “Whilst the Chancellor's announcement is a step in the right direction, I am calling on the UK Government to ensure that under this new scheme employers will not be any worse off than they were under the Job Retention Scheme. 

“Throughout the Covid crisis, the package of support we have provided to businesses in Wales has been more generous than that in any other part of the UK. We are still working through the details of the announcement, but we anticipate that the support we will be providing to businesses who have to close as a result of the two week firebreak will still be more generous than that provided in England.”

The Minister continued: “We also need to see an end to the UK Government’s stop-start approach to handling public finances. This approach, coupled with a lack of multi-year investment, is deeply unhelpful and makes the task of managing our budgets an extremely difficult one.

“We need long term spending commitments from the UK Government to enable us to continue to protect the people of Wales from the worst impacts of the pandemic, and to help us better manage our public services and start to lay the foundations for our recovery.”

Fresh roadworks to start on Horseshoe Pass on Monday

Denbighshire County Council is advising motorists and residents in the south of the county about planned roadworks on the A542 at the Horseshoe Pass near Llangollen.

The road will be closed from Monday, 26^th October for preparatory works, ahead of essential road surfacing works to take place. 

The road is expected to be closed for three weeks, but will be open for traffic over the weekends whenever possible.  

The area affected is between the quarry and the lay-by near the summit of the Horseshoe Pass.

Diversions are in place and will be signposted.

Councillor Brian Jones, Cabinet Lead Member for Waste, Transport and the Environment, said: “We have previously undertaken some works along the Pass to carry out some drainage works ahead of the main surfacing project.

“This work due to be carried out over the next few weeks is essential, as it will provide some quality improvement to the road surface.  

"We will try and minimise the disruption and we would like to thank motorists in advance for their co-operation and understanding."

Residents asked to exercise in local areas during lockdown

Denbighshire residents are being encouraged to exercise in their local areas during the upcoming lockdown.

As part of the Welsh Government’s ‘firebreak’ lockdown which starts at 6pm today (Friday) residents are asked not to travel to exercise or visit beauty spots in the county such as Loggerheads and Moel Famau country parks. 

People are advised to take exercise from their homes and the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley AONB will be posting ideas for local walks throughout the lockdown period on its social media account. 

Cllr Tony Thomas, the council’s Lead Member for Housing and Communities, said: “During the lockdown residents are asked not to travel to exercise so we are encouraging residents to take advantage of their local areas.

“Exercise is vitally important for everyone’s wellbeing and from the coastal areas with their beaches to the rural areas of the county there are a wealth of local walks and opportunities for exercise.

“We are encouraging residents to take advantage of their local area, to exercise from home and to continue to practice social distancing and good hygiene to stop the spread of the virus and protect our communities.”

Residents are advised that the Countryside Centre at Loggerheads Country Park will be closed during the lockdown.

 

MP explains why he voted against free school meals extension

* Clwyd South MP Simon Baynes.

Clwyd South Conservative MP Simon Baynes has sent a statement to llanblogger explaining why he voted against the move by Marcus Rashford to extend free school meals over the half term break during a House of Commons debate yesterday evening.

The footballer, who is leading a campaign on child hunger, urged MPs to "unite" and stop being influenced by "political affiliation".

MPs eventually rejected the Labour motion for an extension by 322 votes to 261.

Amongst them was Simon Baynes who has told llanblogger: "Yesterday there was an Opposition Day debate on extending the provision of school meals in England over the school holidays. 

"It did not relate to Wales as this is a devolved responsibility of the Welsh Government. The vote was not binding, nor was it a proposed law.

"The reason for my vote was because Free School Meals have always been a school provision while students are in school. 

"In England it was rightly extended back in March 2020 to the start of September 2020 as the overwhelming majority of students were told not to come into school. 

"Therefore it was appropriate that Free School Meals via vouchers were given to students. In total £380m of vouchers were redeemed in supermarkets and elsewhere over that time.

"Students, though, are now back in school and those eligible for Free School Meals in England are getting that provision once again in their school setting. 

"This is a really positive policy which has my full support. I do not feel, however, that extending Free School Meals over the school holidays is the proper long term solution to tackling food inequality and food poverty in this country and I am working with colleagues across the House of Commons for a long term, sustainable solution. 

"The best long term approach lies in measures such as the UK government’s recent increase in funding to Universal Credit of £9.3bn or an average increase per household of £1,040 per year and the additional £63m given by the government to English Local Authorities in funding to get food, essentials and meals to those most in need, both young and old, which was praised by the Trussell Trust."

Reminder to parents/guardians of schools arrangements

Parents and guardians are being reminded of the arrangements for the next two weeks, following the Welsh Government’s decision of a fire break to try and halt the increase in the number of coronavirus cases across Wales.

Schools are closing on Friday, 23 October for half term.    Primary and special schools, together with years 7 and 8 at secondary schools will re-open the week commencing Monday, 2 November.  Parents and guardians are urged to check messages from their schools for any local arrangements that may differ).

Those students in secondary schools sitting examinations will be able to go into school for the examinations themselves.  All other pupils at secondary level will be learning from home for that week.

All schools are due to fully  re-open as normal on Monday, 9 November.

Councillor Huw Hilditch-Roberts, Cabinet Lead Member for Children, Education and Public Engagement, said: “We would like to thank parents and guardians for their continued support.

“We recognise that the fire break or circuit breaker being implemented by Welsh Government may cause concerns and practical difficulties and people have already made big sacrifices during the previous lockdown. However, it’s essential that we all play our part in trying to stop the increase in cases in Denbighshire. That is down every one of us in Denbighshire communities working together.

“We will be issuing messages on social media during half term to remind parents and guardians of the arrangements for the following week and when we expect pupils to attend.  This will be supported by communications messages from individual schools.  

"School children up to and including year 8 will be returning after the half term. Other pupils from year 9 onwards will work remotely from home and will receive work packages that will be arranged through their school." 

Welsh Government brings rail franchise under public control

In the face of dramatic falls in passenger numbers the Welsh Government has decided to bring the Wales and Borders rail franchise under public control.

Transport Minister Ken Skates said the move will help secure the future of passenger services, protect jobs and maintain the Welsh Government’s ambitious plans for Metro.

The move comes after a challenging period in which Covid-19 has significantly impacted passenger numbers and rail revenue across Wales.

The new arrangements will see day to day rail services become the responsibility of a new publicly owned subsidiary of Transport for Wales, which includes a new partnership between Transport for Wales, Keolis and Amey.

Ken Skates said: “The last few months have been extremely challenging for public transport in Wales and across the UK.  Covid has significantly impacted passenger revenues and the Welsh Government has had to step in with significant support to stabilise the network and keep it running.

“We have decided to transfer of day to day rail services to a new publicly owned subsidiary of Transport for Wales”.

The decision follows the collapse of rail franchises across England as the privatised model comes under strain from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“In Wales we continue a partnership approach between TfW and Keolis Amey as we work together to protect services for the Welsh public, safeguard jobs and secure the important Metro projects we have been working so hard on over the last few years.” Ken Skates added.

RMT union General Secretary Mick Cash said: “RMT welcomes this decision by the Welsh government and believes this is the best way to protect rail services in Wales. We will also be  seeking urgent assurances that railway workers jobs and conditions will be fully protected and the railway will be properly funded.

“RMT is also seeking reassurance that rail infrastructure maintenance will also continue to be provided by the public sector as it was under Network Rail.

“There is huge public support for public ownership because privatisation and profiteering has never been an efficient way to provide value for money, and  this is even more the case when extra funding has been needed during the Coronavirus pandemic.   

"So as well as supporting this decision we are calling on the UK government to give the Welsh Government the necessary powers and support to ensure the railways in Wales have a  safe, secure and sustainable future in public ownership.”