Council announces pandemic outbreak and control plan
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Ealing Council Announces Covid-19 Outbreak and Control Plan: Government Grant of £2.262 Million
On 30 June 2020, 100 days into national Covid-19 lockdown, the Council published its Covid-19 outbreak prevention and control plan. It has a ring-fenced Government grant of £2.262 million. To be fair to the Council, it only discovered the grant amount on 10 June 2020 and only received the cash on 19 June.
This is clearly a well thought out plan, but is it too little, too late? Apparently phone-based contract tracing went live in Ealing on 27 May 2020. Clearly staff and contractors will need to be hired, but there’s no clarity as to who and how many. You can access the plan and find out how you can view the Council discussing it on 7 July 2020 online.
This is a statutory meeting and it begins at 6:00pm. You can submit questions which might be asked and answered. Send your questions to DemocraticServices@ealing.gov.uk by 5:00pm on Friday 3 July 2020.
Ms Wendy Meredith has been upgraded from Acting Director of Public Heath, London Borough of Ealing (LBE) to full director status. When one analyses the identified risks in the plan, it’s clear she will have her work cut out to prevent and control Covid-19 outbreaks in Ealing. Top of the identified risks’ list is:
‘Care homes, schools, high risk settings: significant increase in community transmission could overwhelm the system. Insufficient power and resource to enforce local lockdown’.
Other clearly quite valid identified risks include lack of trust in the Government’s Test and Trace system and ‘lack of information regarding the provision and timeliness of data provided to LBE’.
In what is a very full agenda the meeting will also discuss Ealing care homes and discharge from hospitals to care homes within the context of Covid-19 and the 130+ Covid-19 Ealing care home deaths.
Number of Covid-19 Cases in Ealing is Rising
On Tuesday 29 June 2020 the ‘Daily Express’ revealed Government information that in 36 cities, counties and boroughs the incidence of Covid-19 is still rising. Ealing is on this list. As yet there has been no announcement in response to this by Ealing Council.
Covid-19 Council Tax Payment Holiday
Residents who applied for a three month Council Tax holiday must begin making payments again this month (July 2020). Self-employed residents can benefit from an extra three months postponement till October 2020. For independent advice:
See – www.ealingadvice.org
Call – 03000 125464
Ealing Pubs to Re-Open
Not much firm news on this, but what has been announced includes:
Saturday 4 July 2020
‘Sir Michael Balcon’, The Mall, W5
‘The Duke of Kent’, Scotch Common, W13
‘The Greenford Hotel’, Whitton Avenue, Northolt
‘The Red Lion & Pineapple’, Uxbridge Road, Acton
Monday 6 July 2020
‘Grove’, The Green, W5
‘Mylett Arms’, Western Avenue, Greenford
‘Railway Hotel’, Oldfield Road, Greenford
‘The Greystoke’, North Ealing, W5
Monday 20 July 2020
‘Bridge Hotel’, Western Avenue, Greenford
‘New Inn’, St Mary’s Road, W5
’The Grange’, Warwick Road, W5
Only two households will be able to meet in pubs, one way systems will be in operation, there will be fewer seats and restrictions on entertainment. Pub visitors will be asked to give their name to the pub landlord. One metre separation between all people on the pub premises is required.
Other challenges facing pub landlords include getting rid of all the stale beer and flat lager in barrels in their bar cellars. This is to make room for barrels of newly brewed beer and lager – whenever they might arrive! The requirement for landlords to collect the contact details of anyone who drinks inside (and possibly outside) their pub is baffling for some. The Chief Executive of the Marston brewing and pub group summed it up in the ‘Financial Times’ on 28 June 2020: ‘I don’t understand why pubs are taking contact details when supermarkets and retailers aren’t’.
Transport for London (TfL) Says No to Ealing Council’s LBE’s £1+ Million Covid-19 Response Traffic Measures
Ealing Council actually got £205,714 for ‘Low Traffic Neighbourhood’ (LTN) schemes as part of its war on the car. LTNs are all about blocking vehicular exits and entrances to roads using bollards and planters.
The Council got a big NO from TfL to its desire to spend £100,000s on segregated cycle lanes – especially along the whole of the Uxbridge Road. 67 other Ealing roads will now be deprived of TfL funding for cycle lanes. To be fair, one of the reasons the Council did not get the cash requested is that TfL has distinct financial problems.
The LTN roads to be created (in order of spend) are Loveday Road (W13), West Ealing Centre north and south, Mattock Lane (W5 and W13), Junction Road (W5), Olive Road (W5), Adrienne Avenue (UB1), East Acton Golf Links and Bowes Road (W3).
Eric Leach
eric.alan.leach@gmail.com
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July 1, 2020
