Pendle News Room

But the Council is concerned this won’t be enough to cover the cost of what it will potentially need to spend to ensure that vulnerable people within Pendle are protected.

Over the past six weeks Pendle Council’s support includes:

• setting up Pendle Community Support Hub for vulnerable residents who don’t have a network of friends or family nearby
• contacting both clinically and socially vulnerable people to make sure they have what they need
• making sure that homeless people have access to somewhere to live
• providing food for those who need it.

Councillor Mohammed Iqbal, Leader of Pendle Council, said: “During the pandemic, local councils are recognised as playing a crucial role within their communities.

“We’re supporting those who need it most, as well as continuing to delivering frontline services and meeting new pressures.

 “£900,000 sounds like a lot of money, but nobody knows how long this emergency will continue.

“Like many councils across England, it means that it’s likely we’ll be facing a shortfall in our income in the coming months which could affect our day to day services. This could run into millions of pounds.

 “Many of the Council’s services have been affected, including the temporary closure of all of Pendle Leisure Trust’s leisure centres.

 “After 10 years of cuts we need a clear assurance from Government that our loss of income since the lockdown will be covered.

“To this effect I will be writing to government asking for 100% reimbursement.”

Dean Langton, Chief Executive, added: “Coronavirus has had an immense impact locally and we’ve been doing all we can to make sure that our vulnerable residents are protected as much as possible.”

Individuals who are struggling to pay their council tax because of measures to tackle coronavirus can get support.

This includes:

• applying to Department for Work and Pensions for Universal Credit – www.gov.uk/apply-universal-credit
• applying to Pendle Council for Council Tax Support – www.pendle.gov.uk/counciltaxsupport
• the option to pay Council Tax over 12 months instead of 10 to spread the cost – request via email council.tax@pendle.gov.uk
• Council Tax payment holidays of up to two months – request via email council.tax@pendle.gov.uk

And using funding provided by the Government, the Council is also providing additional help of up to £150 for working age people on Council Tax Support.

Councillor Iqbal added: “We’ve received around 2,000 grant applications from businesses and have paid out more than £15m of funding provided by the Government.

“This support is still available to eligible businesses so if you haven’t applied yet you still have time!

“We know there are some businesses affected by coronavirus which aren’t currently eligible for a business support grant so we’re lobbying the Government to have the rules changed so that we can support them.”

For more information on support from Pendle Council visit www.pendle.gov.uk/coronavirus