Your questions about the next West Lindsey District Council budget answered

Questions were posed to the council which has now responded to those queries and one concern was about the council staff and offices during the lockdown.

A West Lindsey Disirict Council (WLDC) spokesman said: “You asked us if any staff were furloughed during Covid 19 and if the public was entitled to a rebate.

"You wanted to know how many employees worked from home during lockdown and if they can continue in future to save the environment and usage in the office and you asked if the council is likely to increase employee wages

"Staff are WLDCs most valuable resource. During the Covid 19 pandemic all West Lindsey staff have continued to work.

“Where possible this has been at home and 76 per cent of staff who are normally based in the office are now working from home.

"The remainder provided services such as our waste collections, street cleansing, customer services, building maintenance, IT.

"This has enabled the council to retain all services although of course the response to the pandemic has meant that some services have been provided differently.

"No West Lindsey officers have been furloughed during the last four months.

“Also 50 staff have been redeployed as part of the response to the pandemic this includes working in the community hub providing support to the vulnerable and the administration and distribution of grant funding to support more than 1,500 local businesses.

"There have been changes as a result the pandemic that the council is considering retaining.

“The reduction in travel costs, time and environmental impact are among those being considered. We estimate we have saved 27kg of CO2 through no business miles being undertaken.

"It is important to understand that Local Government pay is determined by National pay bargaining agreement and not at a local level and the council now operates with a chief executive and a single director.”

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