The NHS has offered the first COVID vaccinations to all care homes in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, and contacted all local patients in the top priority cohorts too, with the vast majority having had their first jab.

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough now have 23 Primary Care Sites, four Hospital Hubs, six Large Scale Vaccination Centres, and two Pharmacy Vaccination Sites open.

All vaccination sites that are currently live are now listed on the CCG website here. Click on the blue tab labelled ‘Which vaccination sites are now open in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough?’

Latest vaccination figures

215,034 doses of the vaccine have been administered in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough as at 14 February. More than 90 per cent of residents aged 70 or over in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccination.

Advice for patients over 65 or clinically extremely vulnerable

If you are aged 65 or over, or Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (previously on the shielding list), and haven’t had your first dose yet, please come forward now and make an appointment at www.nhs.uk/covidvaccination, or by phoning 119 if you can’t use the internet.

Information for carers

Carers are included in the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s advice to Government regarding the priority groups for the COVID-19 vaccine. Carers should be included in cohort 6 for COVID-19 vaccination if they fit the definition of ‘adult carers’ in the Green Book chapter on COVID-19 vaccination.

This definition is: “Those who are eligible for a carer’s allowance, or those who are the sole or primary carer of an elderly or disabled person who is at increased risk of COVID-19 mortality and therefore clinically vulnerable.”

Eligible adult carers will be contacted via the National Booking System (NBS) to receive an invitation to book a vaccination once a list has been compiled by NHSE/I in conjunction with local authorities.

Information to patients added to the Shielded Patient List

A number of patients are being added to the Shielded Patient List because they have been identified through the COVID-19 Population Risk Assessment as potentially being at high risk of serious illness if they catch the virus. 

The COVID-19 Population Risk Assessment is based on a model known as QCovid, which was developed by a group of researchers led by the University of Oxford. It combines data on a number of factors to estimate the risk of catching and then being hospitalised by or dying from coronavirus. The model has been used nationally by NHS Digital to calculate risk assessments for a group of individuals in England who are likely to be at high risk, based on patient data that is held centrally.

More information on the COVID-19 Population Risk Assessment can be found on the NHS Digital website.

If you have been added to the Shielded Patient List, the NHS will contact you to offer you the vaccine as soon as appointments become available. The NHS may contact you via text message, letter or a phone call to offer an appointment.

You can find answers to Frequently Asked Questions about the Shielded Patient List here.

Finally

NHS staff are doing an incredible job to deliver the vaccination programme, at the same time as continuing to be there for everyone who needs care.

We the public have an important part to play to help them do this.

• Unless you are over 65 or Clinically Extremely Vulnerable, please don’t contact the NHS to seek a vaccine. The NHS will contact you when it is the right time.
• When the NHS does contact you, please attend your booked appointment at exactly the time you’re asked to, to avoid queues in the cold weather.
• And whether you have had your vaccine or not, please continue to follow all the guidance in place to control the virus and save lives.  

The Census comes every ten years (every year ending in a 1) and this year’s Census Day is Sunday 21 March.

The Census is organised by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and gives us the most accurate estimate of all the people and households in England and Wales.

These estimates are vital for our communities as they help decide Government funding and priorities for public services. Under-counting of local populations could mean districts like East Cambridgeshire missing out.

The Census used to be carried out on paper, with a Census enumerator visiting every household. This year for the first time the Census will be predominantly online. Whilst Census day will be on 21 March, households in Cambridgeshire will receive a letter with a unique access code, allowing you to complete the questionnaire online from early next month.

Paper questionnaires can be requested for those that need them, and the ONS is also issuing paper questionnaires in areas where it has identified residents are highly likely to need them.

Around the end of February you should receive a postcard about the Census. Then in early March you should receive a letter with a unique access code so that you can complete the Census online. You will also be advised what to do if you cannot complete the Census online.

Former Deli@65 to become hot food takeaway?

The former Deli@65 at 65 High Street Sutton could become a hot food takeaway, if an application for change of use is approved by East Cambridgeshire District Council.

The application is reference number 21/00220/FUL and details can be found here on the District Council’s planning portal.

The deadline for comments to the Planning Department on this application is Thursday 18 March. Comments may be made

• online using the council’s public access web page (the link above);
• by email to plservices@eastcambs.gov.uk;
• or by post to the Planning Department, The Grange, Nutholt Lane, Ely, CB7 4EE.

Action Fraud has received over 750 reports in the last week about Bitcoin-related phishing emails that use fake celebrity endorsements to try and lure victims into investment scams. The links in the emails lead to fraudulent websites that are designed to steal your money, as well as personal and financial information.

How you can protect yourself:

• Investment opportunities: Don’t be rushed into making an investment, legitimate organisations will never pressure you into making a transaction on the spot.
• Seek advice first: Speak with a trusted friend or family members, and seek independent professional advice before making significant financial decisions.
• FCA register: Use the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) register to check if the company is regulated by the FCA. If you deal with a firm (or individual) that isn’t regulated, you may not be covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) if things go wrong and you lose your money.
• For more information about how to invest safely, please visit: https://www.fca.org.uk/scamsmart
• Forward suspicious emails: If you have received an email which you’re not quite sure about, forward it to the Suspicious Email Reporting Service (SERS) at report@phishing.gov.uk

To see examples of the Bitcoin-related phishing emails that have been reported to Action Fraud, follow them on Twitter or Facebook.

And remember: just because an email says Martin Lewis (Money Saving Expert) endorses it, doesn’t mean it’s true!

No new planning applications in the Sutton division this week, but a significant application in Ely.

Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust has submitted an outline application to East Cambridgeshire District Council for major works at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Ely. These will involve putting up new hospital buildings, demolishing existing structures, and redevelopment including inpatient and outpatient facilities, a new multi storey car park, access and associated infrastructure.

The reference number for the application is 21/00160/OUM and further information can be found on the district council’s planning pages.

If you would like to respond formally to the council about any planning application, comments should be addressed to the district council and not to me.  Comments may be made

• online using the council’s public access web page (the link above);
• by email to plservices@eastcambs.gov.uk;
• or by post to the Planning Department, The Grange, Nutholt Lane, Ely, CB7 4EE.

8,000 pupils in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough don’t have suitable equipment or internet access at home, meaning they are unable to benefit from online resources, support from teachers, or even interact with classmates during the pandemic, a survey of schools has found.

Cambridgeshire County Council, Peterborough City Council, Cambridge 2030, the Cambs Youth Panel, Cambridgeshire Digital Partnership, and Cambridgeshire Culture Foundation have launched a campaign to encourage businesses and residents to donate spare laptops or make a financial contribution to purchase new equipment to support young people in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough who do not have access to a computer or the internet at home.

The target is to ensure every child and young person in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough has both the equipment and broadband access they need to maintain their learning at home.    

There are two ways individuals and businesses can help.

Give an unwanted laptop

If you have an unwanted laptop you’d be willing to give to help a local child learn, you can drop it off at your local library:

• Cambridgeshire: https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/residents/libraries-leisure-culture/libraries/visit-a-library 
• Peterborough: https://vivacity-peterborough.com/libraries-archives/your-local-library/ 

The library will deliver the laptops to the Cambs Youth Panel where all data will be securely wiped in line with guidance provided by the National Cyber Security Centre, before they are repurposed ready for a child or young person to use.

If you would like your laptop to go to a named school or a school in a particular area, add this information when you leave it at the library collection point.

Make a cash donation

If you would like to help in another way, you can make a cash donation to help buy refurbished laptops and 4G routers for internet access for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough children and young people. You can do this quickly and securely online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/cambridgeshire-laptops-for-children

Cambridgeshire Conservatives have voted through their budget for the County Council, with a council tax rise of 2.99 per cent.

Despite Conservative claims that their budget is ‘aimed at keeping the council tax burden as low as possible for local residents’, this 2.99 per cent consists of a 1.99 per cent increase for general services (the biggest rise permitted by law without a referendum) plus a 1 per cent rise for adult social care.

Councils are allowed to increase council tax by 3 per cent for adult social care over the coming two years, meaning that if re-elected in May the Conservatives will be able to double the adult social care tax rise next year.

The Conservative budget amendment concentrates totally on a £30M package of spending on highways, with no extra funding for helping communities cope with the effects of the pandemic, or reducing the council’s carbon footprint, both of which featured in the Liberal Democrat budget amendment.

What would the Liberal Democrats have done differently? I wrote about that earlier, at https://lornadupre.mycouncillor.org.uk/2021/02/09/cambridgeshire-county-council-budget/

My speech in the County Council budget debate is on YouTube and begins at https://youtu.be/W1cWwHra2vA?t=11096

Many congratulations to the Coveney Village Hall Support Group (COVID-19) on being awarded a Chairman’s Commendation by the Chairman of Cambridgeshire County Council for their support of local residents during the COVID-19 pandemic.

More details of their well-deserved award at https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/council/county-councillors/chairman-of-the-council/chairmans-commendation-scheme

Lib Dems focus on COVID, climate, highways and drainage

Support for communities battered by COVID, more speed in meeting Cambridgeshire’s climate commitments, and better maintenance of highways and drains are the three key priorities of Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats’ budget proposals.

At Cambridgeshire County Council’s budget-setting meeting today, the Liberal Democrats will propose

• a £7.8 million programme over five years to help local people rebuild and strengthen their local communities after the pandemic
• £200,000 this coming year, doubling from the following year, for support for small businesses and new green apprenticeships
• £3.6 million extra into green energy over five years, and £1.8 million over five years for biodiversity and our natural environment
• £11.3 million more over five years to improve maintenance of roads, pavements, cycleways and—crucially, after the recent floods—gullies and ditches.

“We know the impact the coronavirus has had on individuals, families, communities, and jobs,” says Cambridgeshire’s Liberal Democrat group leader Cllr Lucy Nethsingha.

“That has to be our focus right now, and it’s astonishing that the effect of Covid doesn’t feature anywhere in the Conservatives’ budget proposals.

“At the same time, we also need to meet the climate crisis head-on, and maintain the county’s basic physical infrastructure. “We propose to do all that, while proposing a council tax rise that is lower than the ones in Tory Norfolk, Tory Suffolk, Tory Hertfordshire, and Tory Peterborough. And our budget also leaves a smaller budget gap for the years to come than the Conservative proposals, meaning less financial strain on the council for the next five years.”

The following planning applications in the Sutton division have been published by East Cambridgeshire District Council.

20/01687/FUL
Coveney
Land adjacent 2 Gravel End Coveney CB6 2DN
Four-bedroom detached family home and associated works.

21/00098/FUL
Coveney
24 Main Street Coveney CB6 2DJ
Oak framed external seating area with associated works. New air source heat pump external unit. Increase in northern boundary to 2m.

Further information can be found on the district council’s planning pages. If you would like to respond formally to the council about any planning application, comments should be addressed to the district council and not to me.  Comments may be made

• online using the council’s public access web page (the link above);
• by email to plservices@eastcambs.gov.uk;
• or by post to the Planning Department, The Grange, Nutholt Lane, Ely, CB7 4EE.