Agenda item

RECOMMENDED: That the proposed Recovery Strategy attached to the report be adopted.

Reason for Decision

To establish the council’s policy framework for the recovery from the Covid 19

pandemic and how the council will focus its resources.

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The Chair introduced the report containing the Covid 19 recovery strategy which was a high level strategy.  In doing so he drew attention to the fact this was the biggest single issue the council had had to deal with and stressed the importance of getting back to a new “normal”.  He thanked all the officers who had stepped up and did all the things that needed  to be done during the pandemic.

The Assistant to the Chief Executive explained that the report had been presented to the joint scrutiny panels on 25 June and the comments were published to Cabinet.

The document outlined the planning work that was now underway to support the recovery from COVID-19 for the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk. It was noted that this work was critical to support the borough’s residents, the economy and businesses during this challenging situation.

The proposed recovery strategy would support the borough’s residents, the economy, businesses and our staff and members, review the delivery of public services and consider the financial resilience of the council and how it would need to operate differently in the new normal, learning the lessons from the pandemic.

The recovery strategy had the following themes which drew upon a Recovery Impact Assessment undertaken as part of the Norfolk Resilience Forum’s recovery work:

·         Finance

·         People

·         Economy

·         Health and social care

·         ICT

Under standing order 34 Councillor Kemp expressed concern about the high level of infection in the area and the associated health issues, she drew attention to a county health sub committee which had been set up and asked the council to focus on this element.

The Chair concurred that the health elements were important and should not be underestimated.

Under standing order 34 Councillor Morely commented that he felt a greater focus could be given in the strategy on the areas of deprivation in the borough.  He drew attention to the elements of learning opportunities, training and aspiration and asked how they linked with the strategy. 

The Chair confirmed that the Borough needed to continue to work with its partners such as the health authority and education authority to help deliver.

The Assistant to the Chief Executive confirmed that the references made were work that was ongoing such as the Attainment Programme with schools, and the issue of deprivation  was something that the council was acutely aware of and would be included in plans going forward.

The Chief Executive also drew attention to the education and attainment elements already included in the Corporate Plan.

Councillor Mrs Nockolds welcomed the inclusion of the health and wellbeing elements as much work was ongoing on this front, working closely with partners.

Councillor Blunt concurred on the need to know the detail of the deprivation in the borough which was different in different parts.  He stressed the need to know the issues  and how they could be tackled.

Councillor Lawrence welcomed the report and drew attention to what had been achieved throughout the pandemic, the fact that a lot had been learned which would help improve things going forward.

RECOMMENDED: That the proposed Recovery Strategy attached to the report be adopted.

Reason for Decision

To establish the council’s policy framework for the recovery from the Covid 19

pandemic and how the council will focus its resources.