Over £4.7 million has been paid in grants to local businesses by Chelmsford City Council to help with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, since entering Tier 2 on 17 October 2020.

Many local businesspeople have been unable to work consistently since March 2020 due to the varying Covid-19 restrictions. The government has provided a number of different grant schemes (money that does not need to be paid back) to support businesses through their periods of closure and adjustment.

Chelmsford City Council's budget for 2021/22 will protect essential services, while dealing with a forecast £7.5 million shortfall. The budget will deliver a greener, fairer and better connected Chelmsford. It will support post-Covid recovery and address the financial costs of the pandemic.

Cash for day-to-day spending is severely restricted. However, the Council is able to borrow to invest for our future.

A new, fast-testing centre has opened in Chelmsford for those who DO NOT have symptoms of Covid-19. The centre is at Central Baptist Church, Victoria Road South, Chelmsford, CM1 1LN - but you can only attend if you book.

Details on how to access the site and nearby parking is available on booking. This is the seventh such centre in Essex and offer the new and fast Lateral Flow Tests to the wider population. The tests are ONLY for people for who DO NOT have symptoms and give results in around 30 minutes.

Boris Johnson has completely lost control of the Covid-19 crisis.

This government has abdicated its key responsibility, which is to make the tough decisions for the future good of the country. Over and over again, Boris Johnson has ducked the hard choices.

His dither and delay continues to cost lives and livelihoods.

Tracing systems led by our local councils have proved to be a huge success. 86 per cent of cases are closed and 93 per cent of contacts traced. This contrasts with the Government-run, centralised tracing system with a contact trace rate of nearer 60 per cent.

Essex County Council launched a Covid-19 contact tracing service in June and works closely with partners in Chelmsford City and other borough / district councils in Essex.

As Carers Representative for the Young Liberals, my reaction to the Liberal Democrats' decision to focus on carers has been a mixture of relief, pride, and tentative excitement. Please support the campaign to raise the Carers' Allowance by £1000 a year: https://change.libdems.org.uk/carers

I have been a carer for my mother since 2009, when I was 14 years old.

"The Essex Energy Switch is about local communities coming together, supporting renewable energy and saving money on their gas and electricity bills - the more people that register, the bigger the potential saving per household."

That's the message from Cllr Simon Walsh, Essex County Council's Cabinet Member for Environment, who is encouraging residents to register for the initiative and potentially save hundreds of pounds on their energy bills.

Chelmsford City Council has committed to taking social and environmental issues into account when making its purchases. The Lib Dem-led Council's Cabinet has adopted a new Social Procurement Strategy for at least the next five years.

The Strategy commits the Council to carry out all purchases in an economically, environmentally and socially responsible manner. The strategy is designed to add value to the Council's services, reflect modern public procurement practice and support the Council's aims and objectives.