Vaccination online booking available for over 80s

To make it easy and quicker to book a Covid vaccination, an online booking system has been launched. Anyone over 80 years old in the city can now book online here for sites in Nottinghamshire including the Kings Meadow site in Lenton.

Free school meal vouchers set to return

Supporting vulnerable children and families through the Covid-19 crisis is a priority for our council. We have worked hard with our city schools during each lockdown to ensure that the parents of children who normally receive free school meals get a food parcel or a voucher to spend on food.

Images shared in the media and on social media of inadequate food parcels are distressing. Our council?s catering team has ensured that our food parcels have both quality and quantity. I would like to recognise their hard work ? and that of council catering teams up and down the country ? in delivering this vital service. We know that parents welcome these packages ? but, equally, we know that many more will prefer to get the ?15 voucher to allow them to decide themselves what food to buy. I?m pleased, therefore, that the Government has performed another U-turn today and will reopen the national voucher system again next week, giving greater choice to families.

During these difficult times, the voucher scheme will also reduce the number of contacts between families and schools involved in collecting or delivering food parcels and will further reduce the risk of transmitting the virus. We will continue to offer food parcels if schools require them for certain children and young people.

The issue of food poverty continues to be of great concern to our council. No child in our country should be hungry. Until these inequalities are addressed, we will continue to work with partners across the city to support our families most in need.

As a city we are tackling climate change by pursuing an ambition to be a carbon neutral by 2028 and part of this journey will include working with partner organisations and asking them to operate in a carbon neutral way.

I have called upon the Nottinghamshire Local Government Pension scheme, which looks after the pensions of over 300 organisations including the City Council, to play its part in addressing climate change by divesting from fossil fuel to more sustainable, low carbon and renewable investments. There is growing evidence that fossil fuel investments are performing less well than comparators, and with the primary responsibility of a pension fund being to protect the financial benefits of the scheme, the urgency to divest has economic as well as environmental drivers.

I will be raising this issue at the AGM next month. Over 1,300 institutions worldwide have committed to divestment, including at least ten UK local government pension funds and a large number of UK universities and faith organisations. I will be asking the fund to agree to consult with its members on a divestment strategy and timeline before the next AGM in 2022.

The pandemic has changed the way we travel, most notably during periods of lockdown, but beyond that, as we look forward to when the city starts to open up again, it seems likely more people will continue to work remotely.

With this in mind, we are reviewing the Robin Hood Network products ? which is one card that can be used to pay for most bus, tram and train services in Nottingham - to ensure that the ticket options available reflect the evolving needs of people in the city.

We?d like to hear how your work and travel habits have changed, and if more flexibility in tickets would help you in the future. Have your say on what comes next for Robin Hood card, the?survey?will take about ten minutes to complete.

I met with the vice chancellors of both universities this week to hear about their plans for a safe start to their new term. In line with national restrictions, the universities are encouraging students to stay at home unless they meet specific criteria and there certainly does seem to be a lot fewer students in the city than we would usually have at this time.

For those who do return, weekly asymptomatic testing is available for students and front-line staff, while students will be supported to self-isolate where necessary. The universities continue to work closely with Nottinghamshire Police to investigate any lockdown breaches and to keep students informed of the restrictions in place.?

I?d like to thank all the students who are, like the overwhelming majority of us, abiding by the restrictions and doing their bit to help to stem the spread of the virus in Nottingham.