Oxfordshire councils still shouldering the costs of Covid

With stay-at-home orders beginning last March, many people’s eyes turned closer to home than usual, with local Covid cases, the regional tier system of restrictions, and information about the nearest vaccine centre all feeding into a renewed awareness of local government.

In Oxfordshire, the local councils were among the first to help set up a Covid support network in March and April 2020, aided by volunteers.

READ AGAIN: The hubs set up to help vulnerable people get through lockdown

And throughout the pandemic, Oxfordshire’s councils have also been responsible for filling gaps in the test and trace system, cracking down on Covid rulebreakers, supporting school children with the switch to learning from home, paying the costs of social care for some vulnerable people, and overhauling road layouts to encourage an uptake in cycling and walking.

They have also taken charge of the paperwork for big pots of Government cash to help businesses across the UK stay afloat.

Councils have done this on the proviso from Government that extra cash paid out during the pandemic, or income lost through Covid restrictions, will be paid back in future.

In March last year, the Secretary of State for housing, communities and local government, Robert Jenrick, told English council leaders the Government would pay back their extra Covid costs in full.

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick. Picture: PA

So far the Government has given £6.4bn to councils throughout the pandemic, including cash ringfenced for test and trace.

But in Oxfordshire, councils have said this has not balanced the books, with some making cuts to their in-year budget last year.

Since then, all have made cuts to their services in their most recent budget plans due to the influence of Covid, with the results due to come into force in April.

In Oxford, for example, cuts in the latest budget include the council going cashless, so it no longer has to spend money on administration costs, and merge its planning committees into one to save £45k a year.

READ AGAIN about the Castle Quay investment here

The council also continues to be the only one in Oxfordshire which has made use of the Government furlough scheme, a move which is completely legal, but has allowed it to place workers from its contracting company on leave, costing the taxpayer £1,716,000 as of December.

And in north Oxfordshire, Cherwell District Council’s plans for future income have fallen foul of lockdown.

Its decision to invest in Banbury’s Castle Quay shopping centre has added an extra strain of £1.6m to its finances in lost rent, contributing to the £4.4m of cuts and savings it is making for 2021/22.

Oxfordshire’s biggest council, the county council, has been given the option by the Government of hiking council tax by as much as 4.99 per cent.

It has only chosen to take a 2.99 per cent rise this year to help cover the spiralling costs of adult social care.

READ AGAIN: Councillors slam council tax hike after voting to increase it

But some in the council have begun to call for an overhaul in how local government gets it cash.

At the council’s last full meeting, cabinet member Mark Gray described council tax as regressive and said it hits the poorest hardest, suggesting it needs to be reformed.

And only yesterday, John Timpson, founder the high street cobblers, told the BBC that business rates were not fit for the digital age and need to be reformed.

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