Fife councillors go online for first meeting

Councillors are set to meet for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic.

Fife Council’s policy and co-ordination will be held online with elected members, officers and the media all logging in to hear a detailed analysis of the impact the virus has had on the Kingdom.

The report, by Tim Kendrick, community manager, will go before councillors on Thursday.

It gives the first comprehensive picture of how services have been impacted over the eight weeks in lockdown - and how rapidly the council had to re-think the way it operated a raft of services.

The preparatory work began with the first meeting of its Incident Management Team (IMT) on February 27 - before a single positive test result had been reported in Scotland.

Mr Kendrick said: “The pandemic has had an enormous impact on our communities. We have been have been working closely with our partners to help protect the most vulnerable people in our communities.

“This has involved substantial changes in the way we operate.”

Seven Community Hubs were set up to get food to people who were shielding from the virus. The Levenmouth area hub alone has delivered over 930 emergency parcels.

There are now over 70 local voluntary groups working to support communities across Fife, while over 700 Fifers volunteered to join the national Scotland Cares programme.

There are also eight active community resilience groups- - Burntisland, Kinghorn, Kettle, Leslie, Newport, Wormit and Fogan, and across the East Neuk - which have been instrumental in coordinating volunteers in their areas.

During lockdown, the council’s contact centre has replied to an average of 260 emails per day while social media enquiries have trebled to 150 per day. The centre has dealt with 1000 contacts each day

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One key area which sparked complaints was street cleaning and grounds maintenance.

The services effectively ceased at the start of lockdown and, the report notes, the impact “was c;early visible within a few weeks.”

“Parks, streets and open spaces were left unattended for five weeks, and only a minimal waste collection service was maintained for the worst fly tipping cases. “ it said.

Uncut grass, litter and illegal dumping dew significant levels of complaint prompting a re-think and a decision to re-instate the work.

Added Mr Kendrick: “Within days, grass open spaces and tenant's gardens had been cut and the worst of the litter cleared from streets.

“The improvement was noticeable, and the public feedback confirmed the importance of having attractive parks and open spaces at this time.

“These maintenance activities will return to their normal frequency cycles and a business as usual position should be achievable within weeks.”

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Thank you

Allan Crow, Editor, Fife Free Press