Agenda item

Consideration was given to the report of the Corporate Director Regeneration and Community Services which was presented to set out and seek the views of the Scrutiny committee on the approach to be adopted to monitor the Recovery from the Covid 19 Pandemic across Council Services and the wider community.

In the absence of the Corporate Director Regeneration and Community Services, the Service Manager Performance and Democratic presented the report and highlighted the main points contained therein.

A Member referred to the 2018 town centre footfall numbers for Brynmawr and enquired if the data was accurate.  He felt that if the intention was to increase footfall numbers to pre-pandemic levels the data needed to be accurate.  The Service Manager explained they had taken the data from the football counters in each of the town centres but would undertake to check the accuracy of the figures with Environment colleagues.

As the Government’s furlough scheme was ending in March a Member enquired regarding the Authority’s consultation and engagement with local businesses.  As Regeneration Officers had been unable to attend the meeting, the Service Manager Performance and Democratic responded that the economy had been identified as a key area of focus and an action plan led by economy colleagues was in place to support businesses across Blaenau Gwent.  With regard to actual dialogue with businesses she would need to consult with the theme leads.  She advised Members that this was a starting point and moving forward future reports presented to scrutiny committees could include more detail in relation to specific areas.

A Member suggested that a progress report be presented to the relevant scrutiny committee to consider what support packages may be needed as a result of the furlough scheme ending.  The Service Manager agreed that a progress report on identified themes could be put forward as a potential agenda item for the new committee cycle.

The Managing Director suggested that as Regeneration Officers were not in attendance at the meeting the Member could raise his concerns with the Corporate Director of Regeneration and Community Services after the conclusion of the meeting to gain a better understanding of the work being undertaken with local businesses. 

The Committee AGREED to recommend that the report be accepted and endorse Option 1; namely to recommend to Executive Committee that the approach set out to manage recovery from the Covid 19 Pandemic across Council Services and the wider community is taken forward.