Coronavirus: Council preparing for multiple eventualities

Oldham Council chief executive Carolyn Wilkins has said local staff and services are absolutely prepared for all eventualities as the Coronavirus crisis continues to grip the UK.

All Council services, including social care, are set to be affected, but effective planning is going to be crucial.

Ms Wilkins said: “We are using a structured red/amber/green plan, to ensure the most essential services continue (red), to those that can be suspended or restructured (green).

“As a Council, we are taking a flexible approach to their workforce, and they could be deployed to different departments.

“The council don't run all care homes, but will engage with the private sector.

“The Health and Social Care sector have already been working to ensure business continuation.

“Libraries are being considered for closure, but at the same time the council is concerned about social isolation.

“Bin collections will be affected, with a reduction on non-essential collections, depending on the health of the workforce.”

There are huge concerns surrounding Oldham’s economy, with Ms Wilkins offering the following advice: “We are led by central government policy.

“The council will do what it can, and will ensure invoices are paid on time, for example.

“The GM Business Growth Hub are providing advice to businesses.

“There has been a central Government announcement for business support of course, but businesses should start recording sales information, and measuring losses to ensure they have data to hand.”

Council revenues will be affected, but Ms Wilkins (pictured below) has confirmed that cash reserves will be used if the situation gets much worse.

She added: “We will lose revenue on car parking, as less people leave home, but also business rates and the use of council facilities (OCL).

“The council may need to use its reserves if revenue is significantly down.”

Finally, the Council is also preparing itself for home schooling as the education sector continues to see more and more schools closing.

Ms Wilkins said: “We are being led by national government on schools.

“The council, of course, don't operate academies who are free to develop their own policies.

“However, there may be individual circumstances - for example staff shortages due to illness.  They will assess case by case in this instance.

“Digital options are being looked at for remote schooling.

“The Easter holidays are coming up anyway, so this could help.”

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