Playing our part during the Coronavirus pandemic

Working with communities

• Recruited 2,100 volunteers and encouraged neighbour to neighbour support
• Establishing a community response fund of £250,000 to support community groups
• Centralised food resources to ensure food is available to residents in the short and medium term - a partnership between the Welcome Network, food banks, Cheshire West Voluntary Action, Changing Lives Together and supported by Cheshire Connect.
• Offered all rough sleepers a place to stay with around 164 individuals now in accommodation
• Prepared to manage the increase in bereavements to ensure dignity for the bereaved and their families

Transforming how we work

• More than 70 per cent of staff are working away from an office base, continuing to deliver services
• We created webforms quickly to help residents transact with us
• Increased digital support by adapting our web chatbot and allocating more staff to online webchats
• Introduced virtual public meetings

Prioritising social care and public health

• Moved staff from other areas of the Council to increase resource
• Trained workforce with new guidance and practice standards
• New Hospital Discharge Service guidance from Government implemented across acute hospitals
• Increased services to support NHS, e.g. supporting people after a hospital stay to return to release hospital beds
• Moved critical teams to seven days a week working
• Refocused mental health teams to telephone calls and practical support to new and existing service users
• Provided 1,091 food parcels to shielded residents and arranged for the delivery of medication
• Made 9,462 calls to, and answered 2,626 calls from, shielded residents
• Worked with Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service to visit vulnerable residents
• Gave financial support to adult social care providers that is forecast to cost up to £2.4 million plus funding of £6.1 million already budgeted for
• Distributed 111,106 masks, 84,171 aprons, 1,903 litres of hand sanitiser and 10,675 pairs of goggles

Providing great Library resources

• Handled 1,500 electronic/online enquiries
• Over 2,800 new users registered for e-lending (e-books, e-magazines, e-newspapers, audio downloads)

Looking after the road network and environment

• Reshaped our approach to maintain key repairs and maintenance safely, and deliver improvement schemes during times of quieter road
• Worked with bus operators and residents to maintain routes for key workers where possible
• Introduced two zero emissions street-cleansing machines to clean streets with high pressure water and disinfectant
• Supported the new waste and recycling company to adapt quickly to make sure domestic and recycling rounds could continue whilst protecting staff

Keeping people informed

• Shared thousands of social media posts gaining 4.5 million social media impressions
• Advertised on local radio and in local newspapers
• Issued 115 media releases
• Launched Inspire Cheshire West to support communities to exchange ideas, good practice and gratitude for community driven support
• Sent information postcards to 161,875 households

Supporting the economy

• Handled 1,800 COVID-19 related business enquiries 
• Supported 583 Council commercial tenants with a three-month rent deferment
• Enabled 94 new customers to improve their employability through our Work Zones, 45 of those have found work
• Organised payment of £65.875m million to 5,437 businesses - around 91.2 per cent of eligible businesses have received grants so far
• Arranged hardship funding, totalling £2.44 million to support 5,891 people that need help
• Mobilised our Help in Emergencies for Local People (HELP) team to support with food or fuel for vulnerable including issuing over 400 additional foodbank vouchers

Looking after children

• Supported schools and around a third of early years settings to stay open
• Ensured permanently excluded and medical needs students have a care offer
• Our Virtual School has funded extra IT equipment for all schools where our Children in Care attend