Lincolnshire Talks: Is enough being done to combat hospital waiting times for sick children?

A suggestion by a former council boss that Lincolnshire could “be an island” against COVID has been rebuked by response leaders.

Councillor Jeff Summers, who used to head West Lindsey District Council but now sits as an independent, said that as coronavirus numbers increased, and Lincolnshire’s neighbours headed into higher tiers of alert status and tougher restrictions, the county’s “natural resources” could be used as a blockade.

He suggested police and local authorities on both sides of the Rivers Humber and Trent could restrict movement and only allow “the most necessary of people” into the county, furloughing workers who usually cross the borders unless they could work from home.

West Lindsey District Council Councillor Jeff Summers.

“We have been very lucky [around COVID] so far and that’s mainly down to sparsity [of population],” he said.

Greater Lincolnshire on Wednesday recorded its highest daily figure yet, with 367 new cases confirmed. Nationally 26,688 cases of COVID were recorded.

South Yorkshire, which borders Lincolnshire to the north, will be placed in the toughest measures at tier 3, and Nottinghamshire is said to be in talks to raise their alert status to the same level.

“We are now under severe pressure from two sides – to the north and west of the district – and when we’ve got high and very high tiers it’s going to get worse, there’s no doubt about that,” said Councillor Summers.

“If local authorities and police work together on this, I think something positive could come out of it.”

A chart of Lincolnshire’s cases up to October 22.

A spokesperson for the Lincolnshire Resilience Forum, however, said the idea would “send out the wrong messages” and impact the reputation of the county.

They said: “All partner agencies across Lincolnshire have been working exceptionally hard to help residents keep safe during the pandemic and we’d like to sincerely thank the vast majority of our residents who continue to comply with guidelines.

“As we approach the winter months, we are seeing a national trend of rising infection rates and Lincolnshire is no exception, despite relatively low levels compared to other parts of the country.

“The only way that we can tackle this pandemic effectively is by working in partnership with other bordering counties.

“This is something we are doing on a daily basis, particularly with our colleagues in Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire.

“No county is an island and no-one should be working in isolation when it comes to keeping residents safe.

“Any suggestion of isolating Lincolnshire from the rest of the country will send out all the wrong messages and the reputation of a county that’s historically viewed as inclusive and welcoming will be severely harmed for many years to come.”

A husband and wife from Lincoln exploited and abused agricultural workers, including failing to make holiday payments, and have been banned from acting as company directors for 21 years.

Lincolnshire Recruitment Services Ltd was incorporated in June 2012 and provides workers for the agricultural industry, but Simon Melville, 42, and his wife Julie, 41, have been disqualified for 11 and 10 years respectively.

The recruitment firm began to struggle and entered into creditors’ voluntary liquidation in August 2018. This brought the company to the attention of the Insolvency Service, who established that the duo had breached regulations intended to protect workers from exploitation.

Investigators found that six months before its collapse, the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority inspected the firm in February 2018 before revoking its GLAA licence.

GLAA Inspectors found that between July 2017 and September 2018, the couple failed to make holiday payments to 186 employees.

They charged employees for safety equipment which should have been supplied for free. They also didn’t provide employees with copies of their contracts.

In addition, they didn’t provide clients with formal terms of business, they disclosed employees’ personal details to third parties without consent, and allowed employees to transport staff to various sites without proper driving licences or insurance.

The inspection also found that Julie Melville had acted as the Principal Authority under the terms of the firm’s GLAA licence. However, GLAA had not formally authorised her to do so as she had not sent in her application.

She also concealed her position as Principal Authority from the GLAA during the regulator’s visit and only applied after the unannounced inspection.

Insolvency Service investigators found that Simon Melville had been illegitimately running Lincolnshire Recruitment Services in breach of a previous disqualification. He had been disqualified for nine years in December 2014 following the collapse of Melville Agricultural Contractors.

After the company finished trading he withdrew £45,000 worth of cash which should have been used to pay that firm’s tax liabilities.

Julie was aware of the ban but breached her own responsibilities as sole director by allowing her husband to run the recruitment firm behind the scenes.

Mr and Mrs Melville are now banned from acting as directors or directly or indirectly becoming involved without the permission of the court. This applies to the promotion, formation or management of a company.

The Secretary of State accepted a disqualification undertaking from Simon Melville on October 9, 2020 after he did not dispute that he aced in breach of his prior ban. The latest ban is effective from October 30, 2020.

Julie’s disqualification began on October 9 after she did not dispute that she allowed a third party to act as a director and, like her husband, caused the recruitment firm to abuse the GLAA’s licensing regulations.

Local key workers and those who vitally helped the community during the coronavirus lockdown were recognised at the Lincolnshire Lockdown Heroes Awards 2020.

The awards ceremony, organised by The Lincolnite, Lincoln College Group and Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce and formally recognised extraordinary people who helped others during lockdown.

The eight worthy winners were selected from over 370 nominations and were treated to a three course meal at the college’s Sessions Restaurant on October 22, vouchers and chocolates.

Lincoln College Group CEO Gary Headland said: “This was an opportunity to celebrate the wonderful examples of human compassion, resolve and bravery that we saw in Lincolnshire throughout the lockdown period.

“Reading the hundreds of nominations was a truly humbling experience and every single individual deserves recognition.

“Our winners really stood out as extraordinary and we were delighted to be able to invite them onto our campus for a small socially distanced celebration today.

“We sincerely hope we will not face another lockdown situation in the near future, but if we do, we have learned that we live in a place where people will support and care for each other when the need arises, allowing us to pull through stronger than ever.

“Another fabulous example of Greater Lincolnshire being a terrific place to live, study, work and visit.”

Meet the winners:

Aly Gratrick and Sian Mathews

Aly Gratrick and Sian Mathews were honoured for their respective work as a funeral director and a psychiatric nurse. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Aly Gratrick is a funeral director for Lincolnshire Co-op and was nominated by a colleague. She worked passionately and tirelessly for the families who lost loved ones throughout lockdown, even going as far as calling people after funerals to make sure they are okay.

Sian Mathews is a community psychiatric nurse working for Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust in Grantham and Sleaford, she was nominated by her boyfriend.

She was so dedicated to her job that at the start of lockdown she sent her three children to stay with their dad for six weeks and keep them safe from COVID-19.

Joshua Martin

Joshua Martin, 6, was nominated by his parents for his fundraising work. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Six-year-old Joshua Martin spent lockdown raising thousands of pounds for good causes, not letting his youth get in the way.

He rode 100 miles on his bike during May, raising £1,245 for the NHS Masks for Heroes charity.

His parents said: “We are so proud of his resilience, determination and kindness and think he is a great ambassador for other young children to follow.”

Martha and Ayda Tannock

Martha Tannock, 6, and her sister Ayda, 3, raised over £500 for care homes. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Nominated by their mum, Martha and Ayda Tannock helped the cause by making pamper bags for care homes.

They decorated the bags and wrote personalised letters before delivering them via a district nurse to the care home.

Martha didn’t stop there, and went on to raise £500 and collected donations for over 50 of the pamper bags to be sent to local care homes.

Sarah Usher

Sarah Usher is “an absolute hero” according to her child. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Sarah Usher is the manager at the Lincoln Jobcentre and was nominated by her child.

During April, Lincoln took 8,449 new claims to welfare benefit on Universal Credit alone, and Sarah led the team to ensure 96.8% of the claims were paid on time and in full.

Her nomination said: “As a DWP manager I don’t think mum ever gets the same level of recognition as the most obvious key workers but I really feel this amazing effort by her deserves recognition from all the 12.5k Universal Credit and legacy customers supported by her and her team especially at such a challenging time. She’s an absolute hero.”

Debbie McCartney and Andrew Marchant

Debbie McCartney and Andrew Marchant sacrificed so much to help during the pandemic. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Debbie and her partner are classed as key workers, and their sacrifice during the coronavirus pandemic was the ultimate one.

Both chose to safeguard their children and live apart, moving their children to Debbie’s in-laws in Mansfield, only communicating via FaceTime.

Her work ethic as a care co-ordinator at St Katherine’s Care in Lincoln was recognised by everyone on her team, resulting in this honour.

Andrew Marchant’s work in the Branston area was recognised by many, as he achieved so much with his team of volunteers during lockdown.

Some of his work included delivering 15 boxes to the local food bank, collecting 155 prescriptions and doing 74 shopping trips, as well as regularly helping 95 vulnerable Branston residents.