Report of the Elected Mayor

A report of the Mayor had been circulated with the agenda.

The Chairman invited members to indicate whether they wished to ask a question of the Mayor. Councillors Dhindsa, Martins, Turmaine, Bell, Hofman and Bashir indicated that they wished to ask questions.

Before councillors put their questions to the Mayor he advised that he wanted to provide members with an update on the activities the council was taking in response to the coronavirus.  He wished to pay tribute to the hard working officers across the council who were working above and beyond, with long hours, including the weekend, to ensure the council could respond properly to this crisis. He highlighted five priorities.

Rough sleepers – a lot of work was going on to ensure there was adequate accommodation for rough sleepers or those experiencing homelessness.  The council was working with New Hope, the YMCA and Watford Community Housing.  In addition ensuring space was available for people to self-isolate.

Volunteers – it had been amazing the number of people who wanted to volunteer and help in the current situation.  This needed to be co-ordinated and the necessary safeguarding was in place.  The council was playing a crucial role.  Alan Gough, the Group Head of Community and Environmental Services, and others were working on how this would be co-ordinated.  They were bringing together voluntary groups, including Watford and Three Rivers Trust and others.

Information – he had spoken to many residents and many were uncertain.  In the following week all households would receive a leaflet from the council advising them where to get up to date and accurate information.

Business support – he noted the government’s announcement earlier in the day of £330 billion business support.  There was lots of funding available, including business rates reductions.  The finance team was working proactively to ensure businesses had that support.

Resilience of the council – it was necessary to ensure the core activities continued.  Donna Nolan had been leading the work to ensure the council’s activities could continue under these trying circumstances.

The Mayor echoed the Chairman’s earlier comments and that all members were community leaders and had a role in providing support to the most vulnerable.  Earlier in the day he had spoken to older residents, he had been struck how unfazed they were and the support they were receiving from their friends, families and neighbours.  Members needed to provide support to the most vulnerable, businesses and ensure that all were provided with accurate information.

a)      Councillor Dhindsa commented that he hoped those staff who were having to self-isolate would not trigger any sickness absence alerts or receive sickness warning letters.

         He asked the Mayor about those residents who were in private accommodation and had council tax arears.  He hoped they would not be pursued for outstanding payments and the council would be sympathetic, allowing them time to pay.

         The Mayor advised that there would be no sickness absence penalties for those staff who were self-isolating.  From Wednesday most officers would be working remotely.  There would be very few based in the Town Hall.  Systems had been put in place over the last year to allow that remote working, causing less disruption to council business.

         In response to the second point, the Mayor said the council would want to show flexibility.  There were hardship funds available.  Those residents on the lowest income had had their council tax reduced to zero.  The council would work closely with families to mitigate the impact.

b)      Councillor Martins commented that there had been a football club in Watford since 1881 and at Vicarage Road since 1922.  He had been sad to read that there was a danger the club may move from Vicarage Road to another site.  There would be an economic impact on the town.  There would also be a social impact and the football club and town were entwined.  He asked if there was something the council could do to make the club rethink.

         The Mayor advised that the club was keen to expand and had looked at various sites.  It was a serious proposal.  The council did not want the club to leave the borough.  They had been told the club was valued; it was at the heart of the town centre and the council wanted to work with them to ensure it continued to thrive in their current location.  At the moment it was not definite the club would move to the site in Bushey; it was on green belt land.  The council would continue to work with the club.  For many it was the emotion and history of the club.

c)      Councillor Turmaine referred to the information about the changes to waste collection.  Residents had contacted him and were confused whether garden and food waste could go in the black bin.  Possibly the information could be included in the frequently asked questions (FAQs).

         The Mayor responded that he thought the information had been included on the website and FAQs on www.watfordrecycles.com .  A letter had been delivered to 40,000 households with his email address included.  He had received a handful of enquiries but none had referred to garden waste in black bins.  Under the new arrangements food waste would be collected every week alongside dry recycling.  However, he would ensure a detailed answer was provided to the councillor.

d)      Councillor Bell said that he wished to reply to the Mayor’s announcements.  He was pleased that reference had been made to Alan Gough and that organisations were being contacted and brought together.  He asked if a list could be sent out to all members.  The county council had provided information to all county councillors, for example about Herts Help.

         Councillor Bell mentioned that for some residents English was not their first language and they were not exactly sure what was happening.  He asked that the council tried to get the information across to all residents.

         Finally, he stated that his original question was going to be about the recent news regarding Intu.

         The Mayor commented that he had discussed with the Chairman about the matter of English not being the first language for some residents.  He needed to ask officers whether there needed to be a bilingual leaflet provided next week to ensure all residents understood.

         With regards to Intu, he had discussed the matter with the Managing Directors.  Intu Watford was one of the company’s most successful sites.  He reminded members that the council was the freeholder of the site and would continue to have influence over it.  There would still be a shopping centre on site.

e)      Councillor Hofman referred to the Chairman and Mayor’s earlier comments about local leadership.  He said there was a lot of confusion and unease about things, for example opening hours of GP surgeries, restricted opening hours of supermarkets and supplies around the town.  There appeared to be disinformation about local services and government advice.  He appreciated these were not the responsibility of the local authority.  He asked if it would be possible for a helpline to be set up to answer some of the residents’ questions.

         The Mayor noted the comments about supplies in supermarkets.  Councillors should recommend sensible behaviour.  There should be continued support for the foodbank.  He referred to the Iceland supermarket which had agreed to open up initially for older and vulnerable people and hoped that other supermarkets would follow. The helpline had been mentioned during discussion about the mail out; and a telephone number was to be included as well as details of the website.  He suggested that councillors contact the older and vulnerable people in their local communities.

f)       Councillor Bashir said that he was originally going to ask about financial support but this had already been answered.  Instead he wanted to ask about the Metropolitan Line Extension (MLX) project.  He commended the Mayor’s efforts to resurrect the project and wondered if he had received any response from the Prime Minister.

         The Mayor advised that he had not received any response from the Prime Minister.  As London Mayor, the Prime Minister had been very supportive.  The project was ‘spade-ready’.  Other partners, including the county council and the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), needed to lobby for the project to continue.  The benefits of the project would not only be seen in Watford, but in the whole region.