Dorset residents thanked for making huge sacrifices and urged help stop the spread of coronavirus SENIOR council and police figures in Dorset have come to urge residents to ‘keep up the good work’ and ‘help stop the spread’ of coronavirus. Agencies tasked with curbing the spread of coronavirus have written an open letter to everyone across the county thanking them for their efforts and urging them to keep following the restrictions. Local authorities, NHS services, police, fire, utilities and voluntary and community sector organisations, under the banner of the Local Resilience Forum (LRF), are speaking with one voice. They have all acknowledged the ‘huge sacrifices’ residents have made in the last 12 months and how emergency services have had to often adapt to the ever changing rules and circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic.
He raised concerns that the “vast majority” of assessments by social workers were “unfit for purpose” and particularly about the quality of management. A spokesman for the Department for Education said it was now “closely monitoring” the council and that it would “not hesitate” to take action where children are being put at risk. Alongside the department’s appointment of an improvement supervisor, Anthony Douglas, to monitor work, it has also made North Tyneside Council, itself rated as ‘outstanding’, the council’s mentor. Speaking at Wednesday’s cabinet meeting, Ms Redding said the council had now produced an action plan “to address every single point” raised by Ofsted.
Under one of the clauses now removed from the PSPO, people could be fined for leaving belongings unattended LEGAL action against BCP Council over its controversial “begging ban” in Poole has been dropped. Human Rights organisation Liberty has closed its challenge over the PSPO (public spaces protection order) after the council agreed to withdraw the most contentious of its clauses in September. The move has been welcomed by Poole campaigner Sarah Ward, who brought the challenge. She said the order was “neither a legitimate nor fair” way to treat rough sleepers. The now-abolished Poole council introduced the PSPO in 2018 which it said would help tackle issues of anti-social behaviour in the town centre.
JOB cuts planned as part of the merger of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole councils are to be made earlier to help meet the costs of the coronavirus pandemic. BCP Council is hoping to save millions of pounds by shedding hundreds of roles years earlier than had originally been planned. But opposition councillors have warned the move could be “a major risk”, placing extra demands on its “stretched” workforce. The council is forecasting it will have a budget gap of more than £13 million next year with the net financial impact of the pandemic now at £15.1 million after government support. In a bid to cover this, it is now planning to make hundreds of job cuts earmarked as part of the council merger earlier than expected.