Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council

Councils across Beds, Herts and Bucks have received details of their latest round of emergency funding from the government to help deal with the pandemic.

In the second £1.6bn handout, Luton Council, which has said the shutdown at Luton Airport will leave them with a £45m shortfall, will get a further £5.8m, which is a slight increase.

Hertfordshire County Council is getting less this time around and the government has said this payment is not ring-fenced for adult social care like the first round of funding, so the council could spend it on whatever it wants.

After the first allocation, there were concerns from district councils that they had missed out, having arguably lost more since the start of the pandemic because they get a lot of funds from car park charges and revenue from leisure centres that are currently closed.

This time, the districts have got a much larger share, some having gone from thousands to more than £1m.

• Bedford Borough: £4.7m - up £600,000
• Broxbourne Borough: £958,000 - up £917,000
• Bucks Unitary Authority*: £14.9m - up £4.5m
• Central Beds: £7.9m - up £2.4m
• Dacorum District: £1.5m - up £1,447,000
• East Herts District: £1.4m - up £1,353,000
• Herts County Council: £21.7m - down £4.4m
• Hertsmere Borough: £1m - up £953,000
• Luton Borough: £5.8m - up £400,000
• Milton Keynes Borough: £7.4m - up £1.4m
• North Herts District: £1.3m - up £1,252,000
• St Albans City and District: £1.4m - up £1,356,000
• Stevenage Borough: £871,000 - up £826,000
• Three Rivers District: £920,000 - up £885,000
• Watford Borough: £959,000 - up £909,000
• Welwyn Hatfield Borough: £1.2m - £1,149,000

* the Bucks Unitary Authority replaced Bucks County Council, Aylesbury Vale DC, Chiltern DC, South Bucks DC and Wycombe DC on 1 April.

People didn't just applaud to show appreciation for the NHS on Thursday evening.

In Welwyn Garden City, the Coronation Fountain turned blue.

Welwyn Hatfield Council said it was to "honour our NHS workers and all the other heroes out there taking care of us".

With more councils being declared, two trends are emerging: the Conservatives taking a hit and the Liberal Democrats gaining ground.

In Welwyn Hatfield the Conservatives are now two short of a majority, having previously controlled the council by a whisker. The Lib Dems saw their seat tally here increase from eight to 12.

The Tories kept firm hold of East Hertfordshire Council, albeit with a reduced majority. The Lib Dems here have seen their ranks swell from just one councillor to six.

Little changed in Labour-held Stevenage and Luton.

The Green Party have two new seats in East Hertfordshire,

We're not even halfway there with the results yet, but 3 May is not a great day to be waking up as a Conservative in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.

Although they've held on to Broxbourne, Hertsmere, Dacorum and East Herts councils, they've lost overall control of both Welwyn Hatfield and St Albans, where Tory Leader Alec Campbell has lost his seat.

The Lib Dems have been the biggest benefactors from all of this, gaining more than 20 seats, while Labour have held Luton and Stevenage.

Friday's counts include all of Central Beds, Bedford's Mayoral election and a third of Milton Keynes Council, where the Tories are defending 12 seats.

And that means the day could yet get worse for the Conservatives.

Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council has moved to No Overall Control as the Conservatives lost power.

The Tories lost two seats to the Lib Dems, who also took two seats from Labour.

The Conservatives have lost power in Welwyn Hatfield as the council goes to No Overall Control.

All 10 lower-tier councils in Hertfordshire have had ballots.

In Welwyn Hatfield, a third of councillors are standing - that's 18 seats. The Conservatives currently hold power but the council nearly went to no overall control in 2018.

In Hertsmere, the whole council is up for election with the Tories expected to retain power.

There have been no county council elections this year but all 10 lower-tier councils in Hertfordshire - the districts and the boroughs - have had ballots on Thursday.

In Dacorum, East Herts and Hertsmere, everybody is up for election, while a third of all councillors are standing in the other seven authorities: Broxbourne, North Herts, St Albans, Stevenage, Three Rivers, Watford and Welwyn Hatfield.

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The Conservatives run seven of the 10 authorities, with the Liberal Democrats in charge of Three Rivers and Watford, and Labour responsible for Stevenage.

The Tories are expected to hold Dacorum, East Herts, Hertsmere, Broxbourne and North Herts, while Labour should hold on to Stevenage and Watford is likely to stay Lib Dem.

But Welwyn nearly went to no overall control in 2018 and St Albans could also be interesting. There the Conservatives are defending 14 seats but have a majority of 12.

Three Rivers could go to no overall control, although the Tories are defending lots of seats.

Plans for a homeless night shelter in Hatfield have been given a £120,000 lifeline from Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council.

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Addiction charity Resolve plans to open a permanent night shelter and community cafe in Queensway House (pictured).

It has secured most of the funding needed to convert the premises, to include washing facilities, a laundry and a "pay what you can" cafe, and the council has now agreed to put additional funds towards staffing and running costs.

Resolve chief executive, Joe Heeney, said: "We need to find a core of staff to work permanent night shifts, who will be supported by volunteers. This money will go a long way to making that happen."

The council's executive member for housing and community, Councillor Tony Kingsbury, said: "Our priority is to ensure people get the right support to help them deal with any underlying problems that may be contributing to their rough sleeping."

A night shelter with 18 beds for rough sleepers could open in Hatfield this winter.

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Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council backed plans for the facility at Queensway House (pictured) by committing £9,450 - the equivalent of 30% of the conversion costs - to Hertfordshire charity Resolve, which will run it.

It will include the accommodation, washing facilities, laundry, advice and pay what you can cafe.

Resolve's chief executive office Joe Heeney said: "A resource like this is essential for any large borough or town."

The plans are subject to planning permission.