Council and Democracy

Agenda and minutes

Venue: via Microsoft Teams

Contact: Amanda Clayton  01246 34 5273

Items
No. Item

40.

Declarations of Members' And Officers' Interests Relating To Items On The Agenda

Minutes:

No declarations of interest were received.

41.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Kate Caulfield and Ade McCormick.

42.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 68 KB

Minutes:

The minutes were accepted as a true record.

43.

Cabinet Members for Housing, Economic Growth and Town Centres & Visitor Economy - Council's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery

Presentation to be given at the meeting.

 

 

Minutes:

The Executive Director presented an update to the committee of the significant impact of COVID-19 across the Borough and the Council’s long-term plans. It was acknowledged that there had been a higher level of resilience in Chesterfield due to the public sector nature of its workforce but that the rates of unemployment would increase and the self-employed were particularly vulnerable.

 

The Council had responded promptly to the requests for Business Rate Relief and that had brought £18 million back into the economy. Grants had also been awarded to businesses and the business rates team and the finances teams had worked very hard in this area. As a commercial landlord with 400 tenants, the council had offered payment holidays or deferment as assistance.

 

The markets had re-opened following a huge amount of work including with other agencies, which was really important, and the feedback had been positive. A grant of £92,000 had been received to help re-open the high street and this had helped to fund communications and also the temporary public realm adaptations.

 

There had been a rise in active travel, with 95% of bus routes open but only 30% in use and this was seen as a positive move, with the hope that this change might be retained.

 

All major developments had continued with the view that this could instil confidence in other developers to move forward with their projects.

 

The current priorities were to offer advice to start ups and raise the profile of the Borough to attract businesses and secure investment.

 

The Assistant Director for Economic Development informed the committee that approximately 50% of town centre businesses were open and as the number increased it was important to maintain social distancing. An overview of current developments in the borough was presented as follows;

·        At Peak Resort, David Lloyd had started work on site and a planning application had been received for a health and wellbeing campus situated there

·        The Enterprise Centre at the Northern Gateway was pushing ahead, and it was hoped that the public realm work on Elder Way and Packers Row would start at the end of August

·        HS2 was maintaining progress, with a potential for 10,000 new jobs

·        The Staveley Town Deal was worth £20 million and sited as a fantastic opportunity to improve wellbeing in that area

 

It was acknowledged that the visitor economy had been massively impacted by COVID-19 and that the Economic Development team were identifying measures to help support recovery.

 

The Assistant Director for Economic Development responded to a question regarding the vacant units below the Premier Inn, explaining that there were currently two interested parties. The units were still being marketed and it was hoped that once those two units were occupied this would encourage others.

 

Discussion took place around levels of unemployment and the difficulties in forecasting how this would impact Chesterfield and its supply chain. The committee was assured that grant monies secured from D2N2 were contracted and therefore were guaranteed.

 

The Executive Director presented an overview  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

44.

Forward Plan

The latest version of the Forward Plan of Key Decisions is available via the link below:

 

Forward Plan

 

Minutes:

The Forward Plan for the four month period 1 July, 2020 to 31 October, 2020 was presented for information.

 

RESOLVED –

 

That the Forward Plan be noted.

 

45.

Scrutiny Monitoring pdf icon PDF 125 KB

Scrutiny Committee Recommendations – Implementation Monitoring Schedule attached.

 

Minutes:

The Committee considered the Scrutiny recommendations monitoring schedule.

 

RESOLVED -

 

That the Scrutiny monitoring schedule be noted.

 

46.

Scrutiny Work Programme arrangements for 2020/21

Minutes:

The Committee noted that the meeting of the Overview and Performance Scrutiny Forum on 25 June, 2020 had confirmed an interim work programme, including the following items for the next scheduled meeting of the Enterprise and Wellbeing Committee on 1 October, 2020:

 

 

·      Parks and Open Spaces Strategy

 

·      Five Year Housing Supply

 

·      Progress Report on the Skills Action Plan

 

 

It was noted that further work was scheduled to finalise the scrutiny work programme for the whole of 2020/21, prior to submission to the scrutiny committees in September and October, 2020.

 

RESOLVED -

 

1)   That the items from the interim work programme for the Committee’s next scheduled meeting on 1 October, 2020 be approved.