Dear Residents,

Government funding support
The Government announced last week a new tranche of funding to help local authorities (tranche 4) and TDC benefit to the tune of £264,280. This funding will be taken into account as we assess the likely position for the second half of the financial year. The Executive report for 3 November highlights the deficit for the current year and how this may be supported by the income compensation scheme.
We still have to assess whether we may be forced into further restrictions over the winter and any impact that may have on our operations. Any deficit on council tax and business rates is to be financed over the next three years so the receipt is a welcome boost to fixing our revenue gap and medium term financial plan as we work on budget proposals leading up to Christmas.
Councillors’ community fund
Implementation of the on-line application for the Councillors’ Community Fund has been deferred for two weeks and will now go live on Monday 16 November. Lorraine and Richard pledged this past years grant to Hennock & Chudleigh Knighton defibrillators.
Turning Corners Update
A bid to fund ground-breaking work to prevent vulnerable adolescents becoming involved in criminal activity has been given almost £1million from the Police and Crime Commissioner.
Led by our Community Safety Manager Becca Hewitt on behalf of the South Devon and Torbay Community Safety Partnership, Turning Corners is a partnership approach to reduce the risk of young people in Devon becoming

involved in violence, antisocial behaviour and crime through early intervention and prevention.
Hardship Fund
Against the background of the Marcus Rashford campaign to ensure children do not go hungry in school holidays, Cllr’s are reminded that the Covid Hardship Fund, set up in the early stages of the pandemic, aims to help people facing hardship to pay for basic necessities.
So far people’s needs have been individually assessed and the Fund has helped to cover transport costs of children to get to school, paid gas, electric and water bills and provided groceries. More than 25 households have had discussions with the Fund to prevent them becoming homeless.
The Fund can help people whose income has been reduced by the impact of Covid to levels which do not cover their basic costs such as being made recently unemployed or furloughed, whose business can’t trade or who are self-employed and not covered by government support schemes and can demonstrate they have less than £500.
The latest news release issued this week is on our website.
Residents’ survey COVID-19 recovery
This survey is designed to find out more about how Covid-19 has impacted on Teignbridge residents, businesses and communities so as to help shape the District’s social and economic recovery.
Separate targeted surveys are being run in relation to Business and Procurement, Environment and Place and those businesses which have received covid related business grants.
Closing dates for all is 23 November.
Council Tax Reduction (CTR) Consultation 2021
From Monday until Sunday 13 December, we will be running a six week public consultation on a proposed change to the Council Tax Reduction scheme from 1st April 2021.
It will invite comments on the proposed change which, if adopted, would ensure that any additional support given by Government to mitigate the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic would be ignored when calculating a person’s entitlement to Council Tax Reduction.
November start for digital makeover

Next month will see the phasing in of a new digital logo which meets accessibility requirements and provides stronger digital council branding.
In line with Government legislation we have over recent months made substantial changes to our website content to make it more accessible and are currently updating other digital channels, including social media, e- newsletters and third party systems (such as websites hosted by one of our providers) where our branding appears.
Our website, intranet, social media accounts and e-newsletter mastheads are being updated with the digital logo, which was designed in house and was approved earlier this month by the senior management team and council leader. In the coming weeks we will be applying it as new material is created but we will not be incurring cost and resource updating material retrospectively.
Moving forward, we will use logo styles for print and digital material, expanding over time the application of the new logo to other material as it is replaced.
To ensure application consistency, new brand guidelines and templates are being shared with staff who will also be asked to adopt a common council wide email signature sign-off.
Flu vaccination campaign well underway
Over recent weeks priority groups such as pregnant women, parents of 2-3 year olds and those with long term health conditions have been targeted in an effort to persuade them to be vaccinated.
If you know of someone who falls into these categories please encourage them to get in touch with their GP practice, local pharmacy (or if pregnant) their midwifery service and arrange to be vaccinated.
The next priority group will be the over 65s followed by those aged 50 to 64 who have a health condition that puts them more at risk seasonal flu.
Once these priority groups are tackled, the national campaign will seek to target the wider population but this will only be done when there are sufficient supplies available to respond to demand.
Details of the benefits of vaccination and how to get one are on the NHS website.
CouncilsCan day – 10 November
This is the day (10 November) when local government is encouraged to share with the public some of the great things we do every day to help our residents and communities.

Unsurprisingly the focus this year is on how councils have protected lives and livelihoods and kept their communities running throughout the pandemic.
Plea to local MPs to back Bill
Executive member for climate change Cllr Jackie Hook has written to our MPs urging them to support the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill.
This follows the Full Council’s September meeting where Lorraine and I voted to declare an Ecological Emergency alongside its Climate Emergency Declaration and committed to accelerate the pace of work we are doing to address biodiversity and habitat loss.
In her letter, Cllr Hook emphasises that the council cannot do this alone and without the Government’s commitment to pass legislation necessary to achieve change across our landscape in particular our agricultural landscape. “At Teignbridge District Council we have demonstrated our commitment to address the Climate and Ecological emergencies and we would ask you to show your commitment also, alongside registering your support for the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill” she concludes.
Guy Fawkes celebrations
In the coming week we will be promoting safety messages for using fireworks as well as reminding people of the importance of following the rule of six and of keeping distance if celebrating.
Remembrance
In a call to local people to overcome the Covid-19 restrictions which will prevent many Remembrance events taking place this year, Armed Forces Covenant Champion Cllr Richard Keeling has urged people to observe the Two Minute Silence in their homes or on their doorsteps. And he highlighted the live joint streaming from 11am on Sunday 8 November on the Facebook pages of Exeter Cathedral, Exeter City Council and Devon County Council of the traditional Exeter and County Remembrance Sunday Services.
The Economic and Fiscal Case for Investing in Rural Affordable Housing to Drive Post-Pandemic Recovery
The RSN (Rural Services Network) commissioned a study with English Rural Housing Association and The CPRE (the Countryside Charity) to consider the case for investing in rural housing. It argues that investing in affordable

housing in rural areas could play a huge role in rebuilding the economy and balancing the government’s books after the pandemic.
A brief presentation on this study will be made at our RSN Seminar: Rural Housing this upcoming Monday, 2nd November. Bookings for this seminar are currently closed but if anyone wishes to make a late booking, please contact events@sparse.gov.uk.
New domestic abuse duty – consultation underway
As part of the Domestic Abuse Bill, MHCLG is introducing a new duty on local authorities in England to provide support for victims and their children in domestic abuse safe accommodation.
If the Bill becomes law local authorities under the new duty will be required to assess the need for and commission support to victims of domestic abuse and their children in safe accommodation services in their areas, and report back to central government that they have met these obligations.
MHCLG has launched a consultation on the government’s proposals for allocation of new burden funding associated with the new duty which runs until 13 November.
New Chair of Homes England
Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has confirmed Peter Freeman as the new Chair of Homes England, the Government’s housing delivery agency on a three year term.
Yours Sincerely
Richard
Cllr Richard Keeling
District Councillor for the Chudleigh Ward
? richard.keeling@teignbridge.gov.uk ? 07958500783