Councils were today ordered by the Government to keep parks open after some closed their gates in recent weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick told the Downing Street daily press conference how he had ‘made it clear’ that green spaces should not be shut.
However he warned that people must abide by social distancing rules, and not congregate in parks – but they must be accessible for ‘the health of the nation’.
Mr Jenrick said the lockdown measures in place since March 23 were harder for those without gardens or open spaces and that ‘people need parks’.
It came as he said councils across England will be given an extra £1.6billion in funding after complaints from local authorities that services could suffer.
The Local Government Association has said the situation during the pandemic could cause some councils to ‘take extreme cost-cutting and rationing measures soon’.
The crisis has raised pressure on council services like support for those living with disabilities and social care, while income from areas like parking fees has dropped.
Robert Jenrick says Captain Tom Moore will be guest of honour at Nightingale opening
Second World War hero Captain Tom Moore will be the guest of honour when the new NHS Nightingale Hospital for the Yorkshire region is opened in Harrogate next week.
The 99-year-old’s bid to raise money for the NHS by walking laps of his garden hit £23 million this afternoon – less than two weeks after he started the challenge.
Captain Tom Moore completes 100 laps of his Bedfordshire garden on Thursday
On April 6 he set out to walk 100 laps of his garden in Bedfordshire before his 100th birthday on April 30, but he completed the challenge on Thursday.
Mr Jenrick thanked Captain Moore for his fundraising efforts for the NHS, stating: ‘We have all been humbled by the gestures, large and small, by people across the country to show support for those working so hard to protect the NHS and save lives.
‘None more so than Captain Tom Moore, who has raised an astonishing £23 million this week for NHS charities.
‘I can’t think of a more worthy person to be the guest of honour at the opening of the new Nightingale Hospital in Harrogate next week.’
Mr Jenrick said the extra money will boost the backing councils have received to cope with the pandemic to £3.2billion.
An extra £300million will go to devolved administrations, with Scotland getting £155million, Wales £95million, and Northern Ireland £50million.
Mr Jenrick said: ‘I promised local government would have the resources they need to meet this challenge.
‘We stand shoulder to shoulder with local government and my priority is to make sure they are supported so they can continue to support their communities through this challenging time.
‘Up and down the country council workers are the unsung heroes as we tackle this virus. They are in the front line of the national effort to keep the public safe and deliver the services people need.’
Mr Jenrick also said the Government will pay out £850million to councils this month to help the most vulnerable.
He added: ‘We are also helping councils with inevitable cash flow challenges by deferring £2.6billion in business rate payments to central government, and paying them £850million in social care grants upfront this month.
‘Working with councils and charities, we have made huge progress in protecting the most vulnerable during this national emergency.’
Mr Jenrick also said has is ‘very proud’ of the effort of councils to help vulnerable people in their own areas, including securing safe accommodation for rough sleepers.
‘And our plan to protect rough sleepers has resulted in over 90 per cent being offered safe accommodation,’ he said.
Mr Jenrick added: ‘Of course, this is not the end of rough sleeping. There is still a great deal of work to be done. And my department and I will be at the heart of that.’
Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick speaks at 10 Downing Street this afternoon
Mr Jenrick appears with NHS England national medical director Professor Stephen Powis during the daily Downing Street press conference today
On the subject of high streets and local businesses, he said: ‘I’m delighted that so many cafes and restaurants and other businesses have taken up the opportunity to switch to offering delivery, take away, and click-and-collect services.
‘This expands the supply of food available to people, alongside the supermarkets, as well as allowing businesses that would otherwise have closed to remain open and to keep paying their staff.’
Richard Watts, the leader of Islington Council in North London, told BBC News today: ‘We are faced with this double whammy of spending money that we in normal circumstances wouldn’t have to spend on things like adult social care, as in the homeless, providing food and support for residents who are personally in financial crisis, at the same time as losing money hand over fist because of a loss of income from parking charges, of rents where we rent out our own buildings, people aren’t using leisure centres for obvious reasons.
Richard Watts, the leader of Islington Council in North London, told BBC News today (pictured) that councils are ‘going to have to start taking some pretty quick decisions if we don’t get the support we think we need’
‘So councils who are already struggling financially given ten years of pretty hard spending cuts imposed on us over the last decade are really teetering on the edge without further backing.’
He added: ‘We’re going to have to start taking some pretty quick decisions if we don’t get the support we think we need. We need to hear that the Government is going to carry on standing by local government.
‘At the rate we’re going we are probably going to need a similar size further tranche of money at some point down the line because it’s a really challenging situation for us.’
In a letter to Mr Jenrick before the extra funding was announced, the LGA said ‘radical action’ to prevent councils ‘rationing spending’ was needed
The organisation said that unless more funding was received, the situation would end up ‘harming both the long-term continuity of existing services and the Covid-19 response at a time when both are so vitally needed, something we all wish to avoid’.
The letter also stressed the loss of income being generated by councils.
It said: ‘Local authorities are suffering severe income loss from a range of services from leisure, parking, bus operations, planning and commercial waste.
‘Many councils rely heavily on this income to fund their annual expenditure – on average, 10 per cent of total gross service costs are funded through fees and charges, going up to 25 per cent on average for shire districts in particular.’