Agenda item

The Leader explained that everyone had been horrified by the scenes in Ukraine. Within Worcestershire the County Council and District Councils were agreed that there should be a One Worcestershire response, and the County Council would use the Here2Help scheme to provide support. The County Council had agreed to participate in the Ukraine Family Scheme and Local Sponsorship Scheme.

All of the contracts held by the Council had been reviewed, and none were directly with Russia or Belarus, however contractors’ supply chains would now also need to be looked at. Pensions investment had been considered, and the small 0.15% of assets which were affected would be looked at to see if they could be divested.

The Leader noted that he had hosted the first Leaders Board with the District Council Leaders to consider what could be done, but at present there were more questions than answers. He thanked the OSPB for the in-depth discussion which had taken place the day before. Cllr Matt Dormer would lead the response for the Council, as Cabinet Member for Communities.

The Chairman of OSPB noted that they had held a constructive meeting. The situation was evolving rapidly but the Council were committed to helping refugees. There were various points he wished to raise with Cabinet.

·         He was aware that all Councillors were being asked by the public what could be done to help, and it was recommended that Councillors receive regular updates on the situation,

·         Information on the website should be very prominent, perhaps as a banner,

·         He welcomed the One Worcestershire approach but noted that there needed to be a clear strategy and vision,

·         Here2Help had performed well during the pandemic, and that approach  could help support the Ukrainian refugees, but the challenges were recognised, including how to help hard to reach refugees,

·         Many refugees would have family members serving as soldiers in Ukraine, so it was proposed that the Council work with military organisations to explore how charities associated with them might support such families,

·         The situation was very fluid, but consideration of what action might be needed should take place while further information was awaited,

·         How the pooled allocation of £10,500 for each person should be best utilised, needed to be considered and then monitored by the appropriate Scrutiny Panel.

Members from outside the Cabinet spoke of their disappointment that their request for an extraordinary meeting of Cabinet had not happened, but they appreciated that the discussion at OSPB had been thorough. They were disappointed at the lack of information coming from Central Government, but Cabinet Members gave assurance that local MPs were being lobbied; the Minister had been approached through the LGA and they were working with the County Council Network.

It was recognised that the Voluntary and Community Sector would be involved in the response to the invasion of Ukraine and tribute was paid to them for the work that they do. It was also noted that there could be an effect on the economy and disruption to the supply chain which could have an impact on people’s jobs within the County.

RESOLVED that Cabinet:

a)    Endorsed the joint ‘One Worcestershire’ approach to support Ukraine and the Ukrainian people following agreement between the County Council and six District Councils to work together and co-ordinate response;

b)   Approved our participation in the Ukraine Family Scheme and Local Sponsorship Scheme;

c)    Agreed that the Council uses its resources to help the co-ordination of efforts across the County and to work with voluntary and community groups to support local community response; and

d)   Noted the work being done to review existing contracts and investments with our intention to immediately suspend any further investments in Russia and Belarus and review our approach to exit from all of the investments in Russia and Belarus.