No. | Item | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Question from: County Councillor Matthew Dorrance Subject: Easter Holiday Activities
Question:
I was pleased to see that Powys County Council will be offering Easter Holiday Activities for 5-17 year olds between Monday 29th March and Friday 9th April at various towns across the County.
However, I was very disappointed to learn that these activities will not be delivered in Brecon.
Could you explain why Brecon is not included and how young people in Brecon can access these opportunities? Minutes: Response by the Portfolio Holder:
Thank you for your question and your continued interest within this area.
Following the announcement from the First Minster on 12 March with an update of lockdown restrictions, unfortunately it became clear, that it would not be possible to run the Children’s Easter Activity sessions as we had planned. It is with great disappointment to many, that this decision had to be taken and therefore we had to cancel our pre-planned arrangements. I am sure you can appreciate, this was regrettable knowing how much children and families enjoy, value and rely on such schemes, during the holiday period.
As I am sure you are more than aware, the current restrictions from Welsh Government are implemented to ensure continual safety for our communities by minimalizing the cross infection of Covid and it is paramount that we adhere to this, in support. I had hoped as Portfolio Holder that we could still have a standby offer, just in case the current timeline and easing of such restrictions were lifted at short notice, but this did not allow enough flexibility or time for the sessions to be organised or to operate.
We really do understand how much this type of service is valued for many reasons and whilst it is cancelled this Easter, it would be resumed under normal circumstances. This scheme equates to a small amount of funding that is made available. This year, we had only planned to run the sessions in a small number of towns across Powys. However, clearly, this has become popular for families and so we acknowledge and hope, that if we are to receive any similar future funding, we will make every effort to ensure that we can provide sessions on a much wider footprint, for more children to enjoy across Powys.
|