Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council

Doncaster has more people in hospital with Covid-19 than ever before - but nurses and doctors are better prepared to tackle it, the council’s health boss has said.

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Dr Rupert Suckling, director of public health at Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council, said the rates were "doubling every 10 to 12 days" but the increase was "not getting any faster".

Transmission is said to be across the borough, with household visits still the main way the virus is spreading.

Across the Doncaster hospital trust, as of Tuesday 28 October, 199 people are in hospital with coronavirus and of those, 165 are being treated at Doncaster Royal Infirmary (DRI).

Dr Suckling said: “DRI has more people in hospital with Covid-19 than they did at their peak in April.

"It’s fair to say we now have widespread community transmission and it’s prevalent in all age groups.”

But Dr Suckling added: “What’s different this time is the doctors, nurses and other staff know what to expect and are much better at risk assessment and are starting people on oxygen treatment sooner than before.”

More Yorkshire councils have pledged to provide food vouchers over half-term as the row over free school meals provision during holidays continues.

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A motion to extend free school meals over holidays during the coronavirus pandemic was rejected by MPs.

The campaign to extend them was championed by footballer Marcus Rashford.

Doncaster announced this morning that it was to provide vouchers for food for more than 11,000 eligible children.

Councils in York and Sheffield have both also said they're to provide a £15 voucher which will be distributed through schools.

Councillor Keith Aspden, leader of City of York Council, said: “We want to ensure children who receive free school meals don’t go hungry this half-term. Nearly 3,000 children can access this support, with vouchers of £15 per child provided to all who are eligible for free school meals.

“Staff at the city’s schools have been incredible in supporting children and families and once again they are stepping up to help administer this programme. I am incredibly grateful for all they are doing.”

Councillor Julie Dore, leader of Sheffield City Council, said: "The vouchers will provide support to people who are most in need and even though the council budget is under massive pressures due to Covid-19, it feels like the right thing to do.

“No child should go hungry. I hope this support goes someway in stopping that and encourages everyone who needs the help to claim it.”

Doncaster Council will provide children with free meals over the school holidays, mayor Ros Jones has said.

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MPs were asked to vote on a motion on Wednesday offering free school meals during holidays until Easter 2021.

The motion was backed by footballer Marcus Rashford, who is leading a campaign on child hunger, and he urged MPs to "unite" and stop being influenced by "political affiliation".

On Wednesday evening, MPs rejected the Labour motion by 322 votes to 261.

Today the mayor said it was "not party politics, but the right thing to do".

She added Doncaster Council will provide a £15 food voucher for "hard-hit" families.

These will be administered by individual schools and paid for the local authority, with more than 11,000 children being eligible for the vouchers, the council added.

Doncaster Council will not meet its planned savings targets, even with government financial support to combat the economic downturn due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it's been revealed.

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Documents seen by councillors show the authority is expecting a shortfall of around £5.3m, but this is manageable for the financial year, bosses said.

However, pressures on budgets may become more apparent in the next financial year with finance chiefs at the council saying the budgetary situation is "fluid and ever changing".

Finance chiefs said the council had acquired "new and additional costs" to support the continuation of vital services.

Lost income through reduced trading activity or the ending of services along with a delay in delivering savings to achieve a balanced budget was also experienced, they added.

Council tax payments and business rates payments were dramatically reduced as lockdown began, businesses closed and staff furloughed.

Bosses anticipate the cost of local authority services will increase at the same point the available income through council tax and business rates will come under pressure.

About £21.8m of government help has been provided to Doncaster Council to date.

Sennette Wroot, senior policy and insight manager at Doncaster Council, said: "Over the last six to eight months, Doncaster has had to deal with significant disruption with the flood emergency, the Hatfield Moor fires and the response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"During this quarter, we have been presented with significant challenges to service delivery as a result of the pandemic lockdown and restrictions applied."

South Yorkshire's devolution deal will be finalised in Parliament later, four years after it was first announced.

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The county, under Sheffield City Region mayor Dan Jarvis, will have new powers and receive about £30m from Whitehall.

Local Government Minister Simon Clarke said the deal would "unlock real benefits for people across South Yorkshire".

Mr Jarvis said it would bring "significant transformations" across the county.

He added: "We have to make the most of the benefits devolution has to offer."

The order for the deal will be laid in Parliament after letters of agreement were submitted by the mayor and council leaders in Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

The deal is set to be approved and then the devolved money will be available, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The mayor will have power over transport, strategic planning and skills in the region, plus £900m over 30 years.

Doncaster Council overspent by more than £100,000 on its flagship off-road cycling track, documents show.

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Council bosses admit the purpose-built track at Doncaster Dome in Lakeside went £108,000 over budget.

The shortfall had to be made up from extra council funding, documents on the local authority records page shows.

Council finance chiefs made the decision to source the rest of the money internally because it could have delayed the opening planned for the UCI Road World Championships, which came through Doncaster last year.

The track had been built ahead of the cycling championships, with the women’s junior race and the men’s under-23 event starting from the Lakeside facility.

Reports show the overspend resulted from the construction of the cobbled hill section of the track.

The track – at a cost of £1.6m – was funded by British Cycling, Sport England and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with a contribution from Doncaster Council.

A disastrous attempt to move a dead whale from a beach by blowing it up with dynamite has been used to warn people about not staying at home during the coronavirus outbreak.

Doncaster Council shared the story from 1970s America as they encouraged people to follow government guidance on social distancing.

It said the decision to blow up the whale went "horribly wrong", spraying pieces of blubber big enough to destroy a car, but that it carried an important lesson for people about our response to Covid-19.

The council said: "The problem hadn't gone away, only now there were thousands of bits of problem spread for miles around."

The authority said there were three lessons to be learnt:

1. Don't ignore the advice of experts
2. Let nature take its course
3. Stay home and stop being selfish.

The post proved popular and was retweeted more than 16,000 times within a couple of hours.

One Twitter follower delighted by the post said: "Whoever is running your twitter feed is pure genius."

Devastating floods which hit Doncaster cost the council over £650,000 to respond to the situation and deal with the aftermath, a new report says.

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The report seen by councillors details the impact of the November floods which hit several communities in the borough such as Bentley, Fishlake, and Conisbrough.

The area had a month’s rainfall in just one day which led to 51 road closures, 1,200 homeowners being advised to evacuate their properties and the council receiving 2,000 calls to its emergency helpline.

Figures also show 80,000 sandbags were issued and 700 properties were flooded or deemed "unlivable".

The flood recovery and response has cost the council about £650,000, the report suggests.

Political leaders have agreed to move forward with a South Yorkshire devolution deal more than four years after the deal was initially announced.

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In a statement the leaders of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield councils together with Sheffield City Region Mayor, Dan Jarvis, announced the deal had been agreed and would be put to public consultation later this year.

Under the original deal struck in October 2015 the Sheffield City Region deal would grant a directly elected mayor power over transport, strategic planning and skills, as well as £900m over 30 years.

Efforts to secure an agreement have been dogged by a rival plan for a pan-Yorkshire agreement, but, today's announcement suggests the South Yorkshire deal will now come to fruition, almost two years after Mr Jarvis was elected mayor.

Mr Jarvis and the four council leaders said: "This represents a significant step forward in securing additional powers and resources for our region.”

People living in Doncaster have been temporarily rehomed following flooding.

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So far, 16 people have been given accommodation, the council says.

It comes as the council says almost 2,000 people called their emergency helpline in the past week asking for help.

More than 40,000 sandbags have been handed out, with the Army also helping efforts.

A number of community hubs have been set up to help residents who have been forced from their homes following the floods in Doncaster.

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The nine council-run hubs offer help and advice when it comes to planning to return home.

Centres have been set up in Stainforth, Thorne, Askern, Bentley, Consibrough, Denaby Main and Swinton.

A council spokesperson said since the flooding began its teams have knocked on more than 700 doors to check on residents and helped with filling and handing out more than 31,000 sandbags.

Doncaster Council says its staff are working 24/7 to help those affected by flooding.

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They've even been able to give one resident who's unable to get out themselves some bird seed to feed a pet parrot.

The authority says it owes a "massive thank you" to all its staff.

The Environment Agency (EA) "got it wrong" over the flooding of a Doncaster village, the council has claimed.

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Doncaster mayor Ros Jones said Fishlake wasn't identified as a risk area by the EA.

A severe flood warning, meaning there was a threat to life, was issued for the village by the EA after heavy rain last week.

Hundreds of homes in the village were later evacuated due to flooding.

Ms Jones admitted the council itself could have reacted quicker, but had to base it's response on information from the EA.

She said: "In some instances, at the very beginning, the Environment Agency didn't get it right.

"But after that, we got it and as soon as we got that advice we got out there with the sandbags."

The EA is being contacted by the BBC for its response to Ms Jones' claim.

Nearly £50m worth of government cash could be on its way to Doncaster in an effort to improve transport links across the borough.

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Doncaster Council has drawn up a list of potential schemes, including local railway station improvements, extra cycle routes, congestion alleviation projects and bus lane developments.

Councillors serving on the mayor’s cabinet are expected to give the go-ahead to the list of schemes soon.

Money will be passed from government to the Sheffield City Region from its bid for up £220m of Transforming Cities Fund cash for South Yorkshire.

If successful, Doncaster is likely to receive between £40m-£49m to improve transport links.