By Cllr Greg Peck

We have all been struck by the speed of change that has occurred over the past few weeks.

Friends ask me if I am bored with self-isolating. The truth is I am working every day on the county council’s response to the coronavirus crisis. I have daily video conference calls with my officers and cabinet colleagues, even though they are also working from home as much possible.

This may be a controversial view, but I do not think the local press and TV give enough credit to our hard-working council staff and officers: my own officers are providing seven-day coverage by sharing working on either Saturday or Sunday.

I have seen the look of exhaustion and strain on their faces in my video calls. It is easing off a bit now as we have avoided the overwhelming of the NHS we all feared.

In particular, I would like to pay tribute to adult social services and children’s services for the excellent work their frontline staff and officers have been doing in what are extremely challenging and testing times.

I would also like to formally recognise the many staff and officers who have helped deliver the background infrastructure that is keeping this county safe and operational.

Our officers moved quickly to safely close down the council “estate” (all the property and land owned by the county council) following the lockdown being announced, at the same time keeping our critical frontline services operational.

They have worked with NHS and adult services colleagues to deliver step-down facilities that have helped keep our hospital wards from being overwhelmed.

In the case of the redundant care home in Cawston, which we acquired for that purpose, this included fitting it out and providing catering and cleaning in record time.

Fortunately, this facility has not yet been needed, but should the dreaded second wave of coronavirus occur (if people don’t behave responsibly and obey the social distancing rules) it will help prevent the risk of overwhelming the NHS in the coming months.

I am also particularly proud that they delivered – from inception to operation in six working days – the central logistics function that provides personal protective equipment to our frontline workers and food boxes for the districts to deliver to vulnerable and shielded people.

In addition to sufficient PPE, up to 500 food boxes a day are being processed from this redundant factory site in Norwich, which is managed by the Norfolk County Council property management team and operated by volunteers from our library services and Norse.

Some of the more difficult work, such as helping the Norfolk Resilience Forum deliver a temporary mortuary facility at Scottow in record time, has meant that the county knows that during this difficult time our residents will be treated with respect and the vulnerable will be looked after.

We now face a difficult time co-ordinating the recovery. However, I am sure that the county council, with the efforts of all partners pulling together, will deliver.

Meanwhile, normal council work continues, so if you have any issues where you require my assistance or advice, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Cllr Greg Peck, Norfolk County Council, Reepham Division
Tel: 07972 230282
Email: greg.peck.cllr@norfolk.gov.uk