Agenda item

To adopt a Council wide plan to support the District’s recovery from the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and to agree a number of short term actions in advance of a wider delivery plan being adopted.

Decision:

RESOLVED that Cabinet -

 

(a)    agrees the contents of the Council’s ‘Back to Business’ agenda;  

 

(b)    allocates £862,000 from the Back to Business budget and authorises the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Finance and Governance to do the following:

 

          i.    Explore options to provide dedicated resources to manage the Council’s Back to Business agenda;

         ii.   Subject to a Project Initiation Document being approved by the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Finance and Governance and the appropriate procurement rules being followed, to explore options for the refurbishment of Clacton Skate Park;

        iii.   Update the Council’s procurement rules to ensure more of the Council’s spending stays within the local economy;

        iv.   Within the parameters of the Council’s financial regulations, make arrangements for a framework to be developed to provide redundant Council IT equipment to disadvantaged young people; and

         v.    Explore options to allocate additional funding towards local organisations providing mental health services to young people.

 

(c)    gives thanks and acknowledges those Members who participated in the consultation on the approach and who had contributed a number of the projects and actions that were now being taken forward.

Minutes:

The Cabinet gave consideration to a report of the Leader of the Council (A.4) which sought its adoption of a Council wide plan to support the District’s recovery from the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and its agreement to a number of short term actions in advance of a wider delivery plan being adopted.

 

Members were fully aware that Covid-19 had significantly changed the way in which the public worked and lived their lives, as well as impacting on both the national and local Tendring economy.  In its role as a community leader, the Council was committed to supporting the District’s recovery towards a brighter future.

 

It was reported that the ‘Back to Business’ process would be targeted at improvements to the District’s environment/quality of life and support for its residents, businesses and wider local economy in order to recover from the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.  The plan would also focus on the Council and its services adapting to the challenges of the pandemic and long term planning for how services would operate moving forward.

   

Cabinet was informed that, following Greater Essex moving into the Tier 2 ‘High Alert’ level for Covid and the subsequent announcement of a national lockdown, this plan and the impending delivery plan, was intended to complement the business support schemes provided through Government and Essex County Council.  It would be a continually evolving agenda which would adapt to the challenges faced by the District’s businesses and residents alike.

 

Members were advised that this Back to Business plan set out the Council’s approach to supporting the District’s recovery from Covid-19 and included a number of short term projects, in advance of a wider action plan being brought forward to Cabinet.  It is recognised that a successful recovery would only be achieved through a collective approach, both within the Council’s range of portfolios and with local businesses, partners and stakeholders.

 

Cabinet was made aware that in order to ensure the Council had sufficient resources to support the delivery of its range of Back to Business actions and projects, it was proposed that a dedicated resource would be provided to deliver this plan.  This resource would be tasked with bringing forward a wider Back to Business delivery plan, with a number of deliverable projects and actions.  This would reflect feedback from the council’s Resources and Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the responses from Members following the associated All Member Briefing and subsequent requests from the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Finance and Governance.

 

The Corporate Finance & Governance Portfolio Holder made the following statement:-

 

“The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly changed the way we work and live our lives, as well as impacting on the national and our local Tendring economy. 

 

This Back to Business plan is targeted at supporting the District’s recovery; and we are going to work right across our range of Council Portfolios to support business and residents in bouncing back from the challenges they face.

 

Although there are a number of short term projects included in this report which we will look to take forward as soon as practically possible, a full delivery plan will follow with a wide range of projects and actions.  In our role as community leaders, we will work with business, partners and stakeholders to ensure there is something in this agenda for everyone in our community.

 

We will put in place adequate resources to ensure that the delivery plan will be properly co-ordinated, and most importantly that the actions will be delivered in a timely manner.

 

Alongside economic recovery, we will continue to focus on the importance of pride in where we live and improving everyone’s quality of life, as far as we possibly can.  The short term projects in this report demonstrate the range of schemes we will bring forward to impact on our economy and residents.  From providing disadvantaged young people with redundant Council IT equipment and revising our purchasing rules to keep more of our money in the local economy - through to refurbishing the Clacton Skate Park and allocating additional funding to organisations offering mental health services to young people.

 

This plan will work alongside our existing Corporate Priorities, which has already seen:

 

  1. the delivery of 10 brand new houses in Jaywick Sands;
  2. the progress of the Tendring Colchester Border project, which has received Government blessing to the tune of £99million for a new link road and a rapid transport system;
  3. our digital connectivity huge progress has enabled the best part of all of our staff to work remotely, as well as all of our democratic services;
  4. our restructured Planning Services have constantly delivered income ahead of profile for the past 4 quarters, even though COVID got in the way;
  5. we have delivered a balanced budget for the past few years with almost unanimous assent from all our Members;
  6. later on our agenda we will be agreeing new measures to boost our enforcement functions;
  7. we have already made a start on the next phase of the Cliff Stabilisation works, having already completed the section close to the Pier;
  8. in the previous agenda item I talked about the £114k increase in income from our recycling, thanks to the new Waste contract;
  9. a few minutes ago we agreed a Climate Change Action Plan;
  10. Honeycroft is about to be demolished which will pave the way to build more new council houses on the site;
  11. and while the world has gone mad, our office transformation programme has continued throughout the pandemic with only a few weeks of stoppage in March and April
  12. And we have now heard that ECC will finance the design work for the Manningtree Underpass

 

There has never been a more appropriate time to focus on all the things that make Tendring special and I look forward to working with my Cabinet colleagues to take this Back to Business agenda forward.”

 

Having considered the contents of the Leader’s report and in order to allow this matter to be progressed further:-

 

It was moved by Councillor G V Guglielmi, seconded by Councillor P B Honeywood and:-

 

RESOLVED that Cabinet -

 

(a)    agrees the contents of the Council’s ‘Back to Business’ agenda;  

 

(b)    allocates £862,000 from the Back to Business budget and authorises the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Finance and Governance to do the following:

          i.    Explore options to provide dedicated resources to manage the Council’s Back to Business agenda;

         ii.   Subject to a Project Initiation Document being approved by the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Finance and Governance and the appropriate procurement rules being followed, to explore options for the refurbishment of Clacton Skate Park;

        iii.   Update the Council’s procurement rules to ensure more of the Council’s spending stays within the local economy;

        iv.   Within the parameters of the Council’s financial regulations, make arrangements for a framework to be developed to provide redundant Council IT equipment to disadvantaged young people; and

         v.    Explore options to allocate additional funding towards local organisations providing mental health services to young people.

 

(c)    gives thanks and acknowledges those Members who participated in the consultation on the approach and who had contributed a number of the projects and actions that were now being taken forward.

Supporting documents: