To receive any announcements from the Leader.

The Leader gave the following announcements and the latest service updates from various Council departments:

As part of this Council’s continued support for our most vulnerable residents, we are working to ensure no child goes hungry this half-term.

We are working with food banks across the Borough who, last week, received funding from the Council to support families in Spelthorne.

The Council will also be providing food parcels, which consist of either hot/cold meals or a sandwich through our community centres via our Support4Spelthorne community hub. We understand that it has never been more important to ensure no child is ever left hungry.

As part of this commitment to support our most vulnerable residents, I am pleased to inform that, following a thorough procurement process, Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTVH) have won a five-year contract to provide an intensive housing management and resident support service at two of the Council's residential developments. The White House and Harper House, both in Ashford are due to open for new residents in May 2021.

Once completed, Harper House will bring local homeless families back into the Borough and out of Bed & Breakfast accommodation. The new development includes 20 self-contained flats, cycle, and car parking as well as a garden to the rear. Residents will benefit from a seven-day service from MTVH.

The White House will comprise 27 en-suite rooms with shared kitchens, and four self-contained studio flats, designed for single, homeless people who need support in moving to more settled accommodation. Over the next six months, MTVH and the Council will be working together with partners, including health care, police, and mental health teams to ensure that existing services and new opportunities are identified to fully benefit residents to meet their support goals.

This Council also wants to promote a cleaner, greener Spelthorne and, to that end, the Mayor of Spelthorne, Cllr Colin Barnard, and Mayoress joined the Spelthorne Litter Pickers for a litter pick on 20 October at Laleham Riverside.

The litter pick saw eight bags collected, which included items such as takeaway boxes, clothes, a plastic fender and sofa cushions despite there being bins in the area to utilise. At the river's edge, large amounts of plastic pollution were collected as well as a discarded buoy and rope, which could have caused injury to wildlife.

The Mayor spoke with the co-founders of Spelthorne Litter Pickers, Shirley and Kelly, about the benefits of litter picking, including encouraging others, walking with a purpose and having pride in where you live. The group so far has over 380 members and in 11 weeks have dedicated over 700 hours to litter picking and have collected an incredible 485 bags of rubbish and 101 bags of recycling.

The Council have been running a #NoRubbishExcuses campaign, seeking to deter individuals from leaving litter and new signage has been installed at parks across the Borough. Many local shops are also supporting the campaign as well as Visit Staines, Two Rivers, The Elmsleigh Centre and MacDonald's. As part of the campaign The Mayor has also honoured a further 14 more children as litter heroes for their work in tidying up the Borough which brings the total roll of honour to 46.