He'd barely got his feet under the table as council leader when 29-year-old Kelham Cooke faced the biggest challenge of our times.

Of course, Coun Cooke is well used to the rough and tumble of politics.

He has been a councillor since 2011 and then deputy leader from 2017 but he only became leader last September.

"It has been a baptism of fire being leader and then facing a global pandemic," the Casewick Conservative councillor admitted to Nub News.

Coun Cooke already had his hands full amending the ambitious plans of his predecessor Matthew Lee and adopting a more consensual approach to being leader of South Kesteven District Council.

SKDC's new look was also reflected in the arrival of a new chief executive Karen Bradford in the New Year, in place of Aidan Rave who left the council last summer.

The leader said of the pandemic and the related lockdown: "It's completely changed the way as to how the council works."

At the beginning, it meant the council setting out its priorities, of protecting the health of staff, councillors and residents, maintaining council services and supporting local businesses.

Coun Cooke has been keen to see how technology can be used to 'transform' the way SKDC operates, with it allowing a beneficial hat-trick of more flexible staff working, a better delivery of council services, and hopefully at a lower cost.

The pandemic has accelerated the use of technology, with 40 members of SKDC staff classed as 'agile' in working remotely and flexibly before the pandemic, a number that has now increased to more than 400.

The pandemic also meant redeploying more 90 staff in other areas, such as into street services to ensure the continued collection of household waste and other 'critical services'.

Coun Cooke said though: "One of the most positive things has been setting up the SK Community Hub."

The hub, he explained, does not aim to tell charities or voluntary groups what to do, but rather, work with them to better support them, "as an enabler to help those in need."

With the lockdown affecting the ability of councillors to meet, Coun Cooke was granted emergency powers under government legislation, to ensure the business of running the district was able to continue.

The council offices in St Peter's Hill, Grantham, closed in March as a safety measure as staff worked from home, but Coun Cooke and other senior councillors and officials will come in twice a week "to deal with critical items."

"We are all working remotely", said Coun Cooke, who was speaking to Nub News from his home in Barholm, near Stamford.

"It's a challenging way of working by video conference," he said.

Staff, including councillors, have been trained to ensure they can adapt to the new online and virtual ways.

There is also the lack of personal contact and everybody also misses working with each other.

Coun Cooke continued: "Myself and the chief executive, we send a daily email to all our staff to update them."

Staff are also contacted on by phone/video on 'Wellbeing Wednesday' to see how they are coping with working from home.

The pandemic has also seen South Kesteven working closely with government and following its guidance.

"I, as leader, and the chief executive have conference calls with government ministers discussing the pandemic and how the government can support us."

Such measures have included council tax relief for businesses, small business grants, and a whole host of other schemes to help local councils deal with the challenges created by the pandemic.

Coun Cooke said: "The government has actively engaged and listened to the local government sector."

South Kesteven's MPs, including Grantham and Stamford's Gareth Davies, receive 'briefing calls' every week from the council on what is happening, with them giving what support they can 'on the ground' in the government's effort to tackle coronavirus.

In recent weeks Coun Cooke took certain decisions himself, in consultation with others, but with the council's cabinet about to meet virtually, scrutiny will soon return to normal.

"We had our full council meeting last week (Thursday May 14). The decisions we had taken as a matter of urgency were scrutinised and questioned by councillors. The decisions we took during that time were critical decisions to the benefit of both residents and businesses."

They included cancelling this year's Gravity Fields Festival in Grantham, scrapping parking charges in council run car parks, allowing changes to be made to refuse collection policies, allowing the furloughing of staff if needed, and changing how the council stages its meetings.

The council has also staged a 'members briefing' so councillors can discover more about what is going on and they can ask questions and give ideas.

Coun Cooke also sends out twice-weekly emails to update them on such matters.

"We were one of the first councils to have a full virtual meeting, with all our members taking part. The feedback cross-party was very positive."

Physical meetings are expected to resume after the summer, but Coun Cooke says the council will continue using government advice and guidance on their return and that includes the return of staff to the various council offices.

"We are still waiting for advice as to what the workplace will look like. I don't want to put anyone at risk. It's working well, people working from home."

Of course, there remains other council business, like its ambitious leisure centre programme, the St Martin's Park scheme in Stamford and council house-building developments.

A virtual meeting took place online with 'stakeholders' concerning St Martin's Park last week and a four-week virtual public consultation has also started on the scheme to bring forward homes and offices to the former Cummins site.

Coun Cooke said: "The interest in that is strong. The market interest is really positive."

The leisure centres remain closed due to the lockdown but proposals for all-new or refurbished centres are still progressing.

Coun Cooke said a 'business plan' will soon go to Companies Committee and also out to public consultation.

He continued: "We need to continue to progress with these major projects so when we come out of this crisis we are in a strong position as possible.

"Obviously throughout this crisis, InvestSK (the council's economic regeneration company) has been working exceptionally hard to support business—it was realigned to focus on business continuity.

"It's been working really well. ISK is dealing with numerous business support applications. They have been doing an exceptional job."

The council's cabinet member for housing Coun Barry Dobson is also still working with housing staff on projects.

Coun Cooke further continued: "We are dealing with critical services. We are still dealing with a crisis. The work of both of members and staff has been incredible. They have stepped up to the plate in supporting residents across the district."

Across the district, he said: "The community spirit has been amazing and how its brought communities and people closer together and also the resilience of residents, some of the messages I have received, the bin men in their rounds, the real support, it's humbling to see."

Reflecting the reality that the pandemic and its lockdown has an economic cost as well as a human one, Coun Cooke also paid tribute to the businesses that have kept going.

"If they are in need and they need our support, and residents, just get in touch with their local councillor or the council."

• SKDC can be contacted on 01476-406080 or 01476-590044 out of hours and via www.suthkesteven.gov.uk/coronavirus

• InvestSK can be contacted on 01476-406374 or 01476-406318 and www.investsk.gov.uk

• SK Community Hub can be contacted on 01476-406177 or by email at [email protected]