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Councillor King, Portfolio Holder for Business and Resources, introduced the item, praising the Council’s response to the Covid crisis, which had been agile, swift and done well. The Panel heard that work was continuing with partners to ensure that reopening of businesses in Colchester was a success within the framework of Covid recovery and that this supported the economic recovery of the town. Of key importance was the continued support of the vulnerable through service delivery, together with the business and economy of Colchester through continued support and partnership working with organisations such as the Colchester Business Improvement District (BID) and Essex County Council.
Mandy Jones, Assistant Director Place and Client Services, attended to present the report and assist Members with their enquiries. The Panel heard that Officers and Portfolio Holders were continuing to work on the recovery plan, but that Colchester Borough Council was under significant financial pressure as a result of the crisis. The recovery plan that had been prepared was agile and focussed on four main ‘cells’ – economy, community, council and customer with cross-cutting themes of commerciality, housing provision, climate change and sustainability and finance. Each cell was being managed by senior management and Portfolio Holders, and the Panel heard that a bid had been submitted for £25,000,000 from the Town Deal Partnership to support public realm development in Colchester. Mandy explained that the recovery plan economy cell was focussed on seeking development opportunities that have arisen out of the current situation, and project development was continuing during the crisis. The Panel heard that the recovery plan is agile and was intelligence and insight driven and that close collaboration with partners was key to its success.
The Panel heard that key areas of community recovery focussed on continued collaboration and sustaining new working practices that had been developed with a view to strengthen communities and mitigate economic disruption, reduce isolation and improve health and wellbeing. Examples of this were work with Firstsite on a project to celebrate NHS workers and research commissioned from Anglia Ruskin University into community assets and health and wellbeing. Contact had also been made with black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities to understand the impact of Covid-19 on them, and hear about barriers they faced during the period of lockdown.
Turning to the recovery plan as it related to Colchester Borough Council, the Panel were advised that the most important elements of restarting Council decision making had been to enable people to participate in a digital environment, together with adapting to new ways of working from home, and office provision would be evaluated as a result of this. The finances of the Council would also have to be revised to deliver a balanced budget and the budget strategy will be further developed to meet this requirement. In terms of strategic priorities, projects that delivered these would be reviewed to ensure that they met new needs, and a revised strategic plan would be presented to Cabinet in the near future.
In relation to the customer cell of the recovery plan, the Panel heard that customer access channels had been reviewed to ensure that access to services was as efficient as possible, and all customers were now able to access services both online and via telephone. Social media updates were ongoing and customers were being supported to ease the financial burdens they may be experiencing. Normal recovery process had now resumed for Council Tax, and the discretionary business grant threshold had been reduced to allow more customers to take advantage of this scheme.
Councillor Cory addressed the Panel to offer his thanks to all Officers for their hard work and highlighted the importance of the work that had been done to support residents across the borough. Councillor Cory highlighted the partnership work that had been undertaken with organisations such as the BID and One Colchester and the good foundations that had been laid for a strong recovery through this work. He also praised the reactive and pro-active work that had been undertaken to support residents across Colchester throughout the pandemic, together with the investment that had been made in projects such as Colbea and housing development. The work that had been done, and was planned for the future had ensured that future recovery was sustainable.
Councillor Julie Young, Portfolio Holder for Culture and Performance and Deputy Leader of the Council spoke to highlight the learning that had taken place over the past few months, which showed the value that people placed on interaction with others, and she explained that going forward the focus would be on how communities came together. She referred to the community engagement work that had been carried by Firstsite and others and confirmed that partnerships with external bodies had never been better. In the future, there needed to be encouragement for people to return to the town centre and to feel safe there, and although no one had wished for the current circumstances, a learning opportunity had been presented which should be taken advantage of.
A Panel member praised the approach that had been taken by senior management at Colchester Borough Council in terms of the information that had been provided to Members throughout the crisis. It was suggested that it appeared from speaking with colleagues at other Local Authorities, Colchester Borough Council’s response to the crisis had been agile and effective, and it was queried how this would be carried into the future, particularly in the event of a second period of lockdown. Additional questions were asked by a Panel member about how the chasing of Council Tax arrears was being handled, together with the use and provision of office space for staff in Rowan House in the future, and the care that was being taken of staff who were now working from home – particularly with regard to their mental health.
Councillor David King, Portfolio Holder for Business and Resources responded to the points raised and explained that in his opinion the key reasons for the success of the Council had been the quality of the leadership team and other key people which had been reflected in the quality of the documents presented to the Panel at the meeting. He further highlighted the heart warming focus on relationships beyond the boundaries of the organisation and the development of these and cited the fact that Colchester Borough Council as an organisation had experienced periods of upheaval in the past and had used this experience to good effect in dealing with the current crisis. With regard to the collection of Council Tax, Councillor King confirmed that this was being carried out with a great deal of sensitivity to an individual’s circumstances and thoughtful application of pressure was appropriate as income had to be received, but this had to be handed in a sensitive way. He confirmed that there was likely to be a loss in overall income, but the final picture was not yet known. In terms of the care being taken of staff, Councillor King highlighted the work that the Human Resources team had undertaken and the use of many lines of communication with staff to support them. He understood that there was a potentially a need for workspace to be made available for collaboration and that there was a demand for high quality workspaces with the capacity for social distancing. A review of the needs of the organisation was needed before future decisions were taken on ways of working.
A Panel Member questioned the fact that was referenced in the recovery plan that 2,500 businesses had been written to but a response rate of only 15% had been generated, and Councillor King confirmed that although this was a relatively low number, the responses received had been useful nonetheless and this was just one of the ways that business were being engaged with.
Panel members discussed the role of Colbea through the recovery process, and queried what impact the current recession would have on the residents of Colchester and the measures that were in place to assist with this. Councillor King explained that impact of the recession on a local scale was not yet known, and figures were being tracked where possible to attempt to gain full insight into the impact. He confirmed that Colchester Borough Council would be doing all possible to support the skills and confidence of local businesses and residents. With regard to the Council’s stance on favouring the awarding of contracts to those able to demonstrate social value, although it was too early to say what the net impact would be, data was being collected.
Mandy Jones confirmed that the Council had monthly meetings with Colbea who provided monitoring statistics on the number of people that they have seen, and it was confirmed that there were 147 contacts in June, representing a 61% rise on contacts year on year for the one to one advice and support service. Most of the contacts had been around business advice and strategy, with younger people and the hospitality industry now starting to see assistance. Mandy further confirmed that the procurement process had been altered to encourage local suppliers to make bids for Colchester Borough Council contracts.
A Panel Member asked whether or not there had been any changes to the Town Deal bid that CBC had made, and further enquired whether any special consideration had been given to people with disabilities as part of the recovery process, as they could find no mention of this in the report and it was essential that the needs of the disabled community be considered going forward. In the same way, it was pointed out that BAME groups should also form part of the recovery process, and more detailed information on how this had occurred should be provided in reports.
Councillor King confirmed that with regard to the Town Deal bid, the criteria from central government was essentially the same, and the bid was a work in progress. He expressed his faith that CBC would put in a very strong bid and would be successful in securing funding.
Councillor Julie Young said that the Council’s relationship with the BAME community had been strengthened during this difficult period, citing the provision of space at St Botolph’s Priory for the Colchester Islamic Society for Friday prayers. She also pointed out that CBC had been instrumental in negotiations for this group to use the Mercury Theatre rehearsal space at the Garrison Gym while the mosque was being refurbished. She acknowledged that there was still further scope for engagement with the BAME community but was happy with the work that had taken place over the past few months.
The Chair enquired whether the Town Hall was being actively promoted as a wedding venue again now that weddings were allowed. He also asked whether there were any plans for hybrid meetings to take place and whether surveys of members and staff were planned to gauge feelings on this way of returning to work. With regard to use of office space, he wondered if any consideration had been given to partnership working with other partners such as Colbea, Local Authorities or the NHS.
Councillor King acknowledged the future use of Council office space could take a number of forms, including sharing the space with partner organisations. He confirmed that the events team had been instructed to proceed as far as possible with income generation, and Andrew Tyrrell, Client and Business Manager, provided a brief update that wedding hiring had recommenced.
Councillor Cory addressed the Panel on the subject of remote meetings and working, and explained that it was essential that the opportunity was provided for people to come in for meetings if this was necessary, and the process of arranging hybrid meetings would be implemented. Although being able to log in digitally to meetings was a great advantage, the Town Hall was seen as the seat of local democracy and future arrangements had to be as flexible as possible. Councillor Cory expanded on a previous discussion of the Panel and confirmed that prior to the Covid pandemic the Council had been working to look into inequalities in the community and that this work was continuing. Lucie Breadman, Assistant Director of Communities, addressed the Panel and explained that there had been two key pieces of work, one of which was carried out with Anglia Ruskin University and which showed the value of communities which had been deliberately fostered by CBC and would be built on going forward. In terms of the BAME work that had been undertaken, this was focussed on people sharing what their experiences were and difficulties that they may have experienced in terms of language, access to translated material and the availability of cultural food parcels. The results of this work would be used to inform any future projects.
RESOLVED: That the Panel resolved to thank and commend all Officers and Portfolio Holders for their work to date, and requested quarterly updates were provided to the Panel on the continued response to the Covid pandemic.