Hertfordshire County Council's leader has given a cautious welcome to the additional £1.6 billion pledged by the government to fund the local response to Covid-19.

The funding is on top of the £1.6 billion emergency funding allocated  to councils by the government in March – of which Hertfordshire received £26 million.

And now the county council is waiting to learn how much of the newly announced £1.6 billion it will be allocated.

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The funding announcement came just one day after councillors in the county – at a meeting of the special cabinet panel – had been warned that funding from the Government had not been enough.

At that meeting councillors were told that the council was set to spend an estimated £35 million in response to Covid-19 – £9 million more than had been allocated by the Government.

And they were told some estimates had suggested costs could ultimately be much higher – amounting to up to £77 million for a county council the size of Hertfordshire.

Council leader Cllr David Williams had already written to the Government – in his role as chairman of the County Councils Network – to highlight the financial pressures on councils.

And following the announcement, he said this had been a “very welcome response”, in recognition of the financial pressures faced by councils as a result of Covid-19.

However he stressed that the financial implications for local authorities must be kept under review.

“We do not know how long the outbreak will last for, so the financial situation for councils must be kept under review, alongside a commitment to underwrite lost income from council tax,” he said.

“Coronavirus poses both short and long term challenges for our places.

“It is clear that councils will have a huge role to play in helping our communities and businesses back onto their feet, but we will need to be adequately resourced to do so.”

At a meeting of the county council’s special cabinet panel on Friday (April 17) councillors were told the council’s own estimates suggested the council’s response would cost £35 million this year.

It was reported that a “large proportion” of the initial grant of £26m would be used to meet the increasing demand for adult social care.

And it was said that in a number of areas – such as Operation Shield and Operation Sustain – it was not yet clear what the scale of required response would be.

It was also reported that the council was forecasting significant reductions in income.

Income from commercial activities – especially those that trade with schools – is expected to drop.

With increased applications for Universal Credit the amount of council tax collected could drop – with a one per cent reduction could cost the county council £6.4m.

And the county council is having to delay projects designed to reorganise services and make longer term savings – such as the transfer of library services.

At the meeting it was decided panel chair Cllr Teresa Heritage, who is deputy leader of the council, should write to local MPs, Chancellor Rushi Sunak and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Robert Jenrick to highlight the financial position.