National Thank You Day

After more than a year of disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Stratford District Council has paid out around £72 million in grants to over 5,000 business and organisations across the district.

David Platts, Head of Customer Services at Stratford District Council, pays tribute to the unsung council staff who worked tirelessly to get grants into bank accounts and keep businesses going that otherwise might have gone under.

"When the pandemic took hold in March of last year, I don't think anyone realised just how much of an impact it would have.  The council went from working normally in the office to having to shift virtually all of its operations to remote working very quickly.

"When the government announced a full lockdown, they also announced that councils would be paying out grants to businesses. All of the schemes were funded by central Government and the key issues were we didn't have the funding or the software to process and pay the grants.

"A common misconception was that when Boris Johnson or another Minister came on TV for the nightly press conference announcing a new grant or help and support, many people thought they had briefed us beforehand about what they would say.

"Far from it. We heard about the new grant schemes at the same time as the general public. Sometimes, we'd make a plan at 11am about how to administer a new grant, only to have a new government announcement in the evening which meant we'd have to come up with a different plan.

"I'd sit watching these press conferences and I'd be getting messages in real time from businesses about when they'd be able to get their grant money - quite understandably, as Ministers would be on live TV telling them to contact their council.

"It meant we were under real pressure to process people's grant applications, get money into their accounts and keep businesses going while they were forced to close.

"And our teams stepped up massively. Many worked seven days a week to get applications approved and paid, as well as trying to deal with normal workloads.  Sometimes, we got some negative comments from individuals who felt they did not get paid quickly enough or did not receive the amount of money they were expecting, which was difficult for staff to deal with.  But many other businesses sent messages of thanks to the team, which was really nice for them to receive.

"I used this to help motivate the team. They could see their hard work was paying off, and I told them every grant they processed was making a difference to people's lives.

"We were pro-active too. If a business hadn't contacted us immediately, we would contact them to inform them of the grant schemes and encourage them to apply.

"We also tried to make the grant process as straightforward as possible for the businesses and staff. For example, as new grant schemes were announced further down the line, our strategy was not to make people re-apply, but wherever possible use existing details and applications to pay them automatically.

"At one point last winter, there were seven different grants all available at the same time, which could have been a minefield for applicants if they had to apply seven different times, as well as creating lots of extra work for our staff.

"As time went on, the team developed a kind of siege mentality, became more resilient and extremely efficient, which has produced fantastic results for businesses and organisations in our district.

"The government department BEIS has shown we have now paid over 95 per cent of Restart grants - which are being paid to help businesses re-open after the last full lockdown - putting us 22^nd in the country. A brilliant achievement.

"Ultimately, I have to say a huge thank-you to every single member of the teams involved in getting these grants processed, taking the calls from residents and businesses, and dealing with council tax and benefits work which never went away while this was all going on.  They've been absolutely incredible.

"Many people may not realise or appreciate just how hard council officers have been working throughout the pandemic. From the feedback we have had, it's fair to say that had they not done so, some businesses may not have survived.

"Portfolio holder Cllr Jo Barker and leader Cllr Tony Jefferson have also been fantastic at supporting staff throughout the period.

"We are currently processing some late applications and may have some additional funding from Government over the summer depending on the national COVID guidance."