PCC back in emergency mode as Covid cases rise in Powys and Wales
Powys County Council has gone back into business continuity mode, as the rates of coronavirus continue to rise in Wales
This means that the council will be concentrating on only the most vital services.
They will be looking for staff to volunteer to be redeployed from non-essential to front-line vital services such as social care.
It also means that several council scrutiny meetings scheduled for this month have been cancelled, as staff are unavailable to discuss issues with councillors and clerking staff are being re-prioritised.
The details were revealed at a meeting of the Economy, Residents, Communities and Governance Scrutiny Committee recently, as thoughts turned to future items to discuss.
Committee Chairman, Councillor Mathew Dorrance asked if the council is in business continuity mode and is that way some scrutiny work is not progressing
Head of Democratic Services and Scrutiny Manager, Wyn Richards, said: “I can confirm we’re in business critical mode at the moment and will continue to be so for the time being.
“We’re now trying to limit the length of meetings as well just to ensure we have officer capacity to be able to do everything.”
Head of Legal Services, Clive Pinney added: “We’re also trying to get staff to go back on the redeployment list so that we can support our front line staff.
“I’m afraid we’re going backwards at this moment in time.”
PCC first entered business continuity mode on March 23 as the UK entered lockdown.
For a six-week period all meetings were cancelled and started again by remotely attendance using Microsoft Teams, from May 5.
On Wednesday, December 16, Wales First Minister Mark Drakeford MS announced Wales would enter a lockdown after the Christmas period, from December 28.
