Decisions

On 1st March 2022 the Department for Health & Social Care (DHSC) published details of the ADULT SOCIAL CARE OMICRON SUPPORT FUND.  This was the final specific ASC Covid funding stream.

Surrey County Council (SCC) has received £1m of Omicron Support Fund monies.  Funding was provided so that “Local authorities have discretion to use the funding as needed locally, to support the adult social care sector, including relevant local authority staff, in its COVID-19 response, and in particular increased challenges posed by the Omicron variant”.

The funding was unringfenced and did not have to be spent within a set period.  When the funding was received, the Council was paying out the final allocations of the Infection Control and Testing Fund 3 and Recruitment & Retention Fund round 2 funding streams to ASC providers.  It was agreed therefore that Omicron Support Fund monies would be retained on the balance sheet so they could be utilised to support ASC providers in the early part of the 2022/23 financial year.

As with all previous Covid grant funding streams, the Council consulted with the Surrey Care Association to seek views on the best way to dispense the limited grant funds across Surrey’s broad ASC provider base.  Following this consultation the Adults Leadership Team determined that given this funding stream is unringfenced it would be most appropriate to invite all ASC providers to bid for funds against a set of criteria.  Providers were invited to submit applications for a funding allocation towards:

•The cost of staff sickness in April 2022.

•Hardship payments to pass onto staff members who have suffered loss of earnings due to sickness and/or the need to self-isolate.

•The cost of facilitating safe visiting in April 2022, with the option to submit a claim for the period May-June 2022 as well if funds could accommodate.

•Other cost pressures caused by the pandemic in April 2022, with the option to submit a claim for the period May-June 2022 as well if funds could accommodate.

Due to the limited value of grant funds, a decision was taken to prioritise funding for providers who provide services to residents whose care is funded by the Council.  This was made clear on the application form.

An online form was prepared to gather applications and this form was sent to providers on 20th May 2022 inviting them to apply with a deadline of 10th June 2022.

Applications were received from 165 providers, totalling £3.1m.

It was AGREED that:

The following applications met the agreed criteria for financial support during the COVID-19 pandemic:

A one-off payment of £64,403.00 will be made to support the above organisations.

It was AGREED that:

The following applications met the agreed criteria for financial support during the COVID-19 pandemic:

A one-off payment of £74,354.00 will be made to support the above organisations.

It was AGREED that:

The following applications met the agreed criteria for financial support during the COVID-19 pandemic:

A one-off payment of £54.8k will be made to support the above organisations.

It was AGREED that:

1.           £100,000k is contributed to the Community Foundation for Surrey to supplement their COVID-19 Appeal Fund to offer support of up to £5000k to smaller charities and voluntary bodies.

Decision made:

It was AGREED that:

The following applications met the agreed criteria for financial support during the COVID-19 pandemic:

It was AGREED that:

The following applications met the agreed criteria for financial support during the COVID-19 pandemic:

A one-off payment of £23,000.00 will be made to support the above organisations.

It was AGREED that:

1. Payments would be made to 11 contractors (Arriva, Carlone, Compass, Falcon, Hallmark, London United, Metrobus, Reptons, Southdown, Stagecoach and White Bus), totalling £447,232 to be funded by the government’s Covid Bus Service Support Grant.    

The Cabinet Member for All-Age Learning considered and took into account the rationale for the implementation of charging a contribution for Post 16 travel assistance for SEND learners and the recommended charging levels, the equality impact assessment as well as the mitigations for young people or families in severe financial hardship and

1. agreed to the implementation of charging for Post 16 travel assistance for learners with an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) who are deemed eligible;

2. agreed to the proposed charges for academic year 2020/21, which are the same as for eligible Post 16 learners without an EHCP, and which are:

2.1       £547.20 for learners whose families are in receipt of the maximum Working Tax Credit and /or who continue to meet the eligibility criteria for Free School Meals; learners in care; care leavers; those on Income Support/Universal Credit in their own right; disabled young people who receive Employment Support Allowance/Universal Credit and either Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payment in their name, or

2.2        £756.20 for all other learners;

3. agreed the circumstances when the Council will consider delaying, reducing or waiving contributions for young people or families in severe financial hardship and the process for dealing with any such applications. 
4. noted and agreed minor grammatical amendments to the Council’s Home to School/College Travel and Transport Policy which was published in February 2020 (paragraphs 21-22).

A response to the petition was published in a supplementary agenda on Monday, 8 June 2020.

A response to the two public questions was published in a supplementary agenda on Monday, 8 June 2020.

It was agreed that an application be made to the Magistrates’ Court for an order stopping up the land identified on the plan at Annex 1 of the report as highway, in accordance with the provisions of Section 116 and 117 of the Highways Act 1980 and subject to the conditions of the County Council’s approved policy on stopping up applications.

It was agreed that:

1.               Bus lanes in Guildford should operate 24 hours per day, 7 days per week with corresponding restrictions on waiting and parking in them (unless site specific circumstances prevent this) to enhance the Quality Bus Corridor Project.

2.               By default, the bus Lanes are prioritised for use by local buses, pedal cycles and hackney carriages. Other vehicles such as motorcycles and HGV’s should be excluded unless circumstances provide justification.

3.               A statutory consultation is carried out to implement these changes, initially in Guildford (in conjunction with other proposals to improve bus routes, Guildford Quality Bus Corridor schemes) with the Cabinet member for Transport reviewing the outcome of the consultation before confirming any changes.