The Executive Leader, Councillor R Fuller to address the Council.
Contact:40 Minutes.
Minutes:
The Chairman invited the Executive Leader, Councillor R Fuller to address the Council.
In opening his remarks, Councillor Fuller drew Members attention to the recent announcement by the Prime Minister setting out how the country would continue to fight back against coronavirus, protect the NHS and save lives whilst keeping the economy running to safeguard jobs and livelihoods. He also made reference to the robust action taken by the Government in September, introducing the Rule of Six, placing restrictions on hospitality opening hours, advising people to work from home where they can and the introduction of tougher enforcement measures.
However, Members were advised that the numbers of Covid patients admitted to intensive care units in some parts of the Country had now increased and if infections continued to rise, these hospitals could find themselves treating more patients than they did at the peak of the first wave. In Huntingdonshire, Councillor Fuller reported the number of cases per 100,000 of the population had risen nearly tenfold in a few short weeks and he emphasised the importance of everybody playing their part in being responsible and following the guidance to control the spread of the virus and protect the local economy, local jobs and the livelihoods of residents.
Councillor Fuller encouraged Members of the Council and the community to act in a spirit of togetherness to suppress the virus to avoid any increase of the Covid alert level in Huntingdonshire which he believed would be catastrophic to the local economy. In this respect, Members were advised that the Leader and the Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority were united in their views that local lockdowns must be considered on a district by district basis rather than at a county or regional level.
The impact of Covid had accelerated the demise of town centres and high streets across the country. Although Members were advised that Huntingdonshire’s market towns were faring well in the circumstances, it was reported that pre-pandemic, the high street was already facing significant challenges with 12% of all UK shops vacant in March 2020 and retail floor space estimated to shrink further as a result of the pandemic.
Members were reminded that people had noticed significant changes during the lockdown with many deciding that a better way of doing things was possible and Councillor Fuller reiterated that the District’s town centres must also form part of this approach, whilst valuing the local environment more and sharing a stronger sense of community.
In addressing the vision for Huntingdonshire town centres, Members noted that doing nothing was not a realistic option to compete with online shopping and the changing nature of consumer habits. In this respect, attention was drawn to the Council’s submission of a £12 million Future High Streets Fund plan to transform St Neots, with similar plans to prepare Huntingdonshire’s other market towns for a post-Covid future to support their recovery.
Members noted that the Council had been successful in securing £300k from the Combined Authority to develop similar multi-million-pound investment and regeneration plans for the other market towns and had been actively working with Mayor Palmer on plans to utilise £1.5 million of Covid recovery funding that the Combined Authority had agreed for Huntingdonshire’s towns. In addition to this, Councillor Fuller explained that he had also written to the Mayor to request a further £500k to meet the immediate recovery needs of St Neots.
Councillor Fuller drew Members attention to other initiatives that had been launched recently and supported by the District Council. These included HDC’s ‘Think Local’ campaign which would run until January 2021, building upon the success of the ‘Reopening Huntingdonshire’ campaign in promoting what Huntingdonshire high streets have to offer. Reference was also made to the launch of free public access Wi-Fi covering the centre of St Neots, which would shortly be rolled out to the other market towns and Members were informed that the District Council had also been working with Openreach to deliver full fibre broadband across Huntingdonshire, with St Neots and its surrounding villages having been recently announced as the first phase of this rollout. Further work was being undertaken with Openreach to expand this coverage to other parts of the District, both urban and rural.
In his concluding remarks, Councillor Fuller reminded Members that few areas of society had been more affected by coronavirus than the town centre economies but this administration was meeting the challenge head on and taking a strategic and proactive position to supporting them. In addition to the £50 million of grants and business rate reliefs the Council had already delivered to local businesses, the Council was setting out a strong vision for the future prosperity of Huntingdonshire and delivering investment and opportunities to make our towns fit for the future.
Finally, the Executive Leader emphasised that although the weeks and months ahead would continue to be difficult, he encouraged Members to champion a positive future for Huntingdonshire and continue to harness the same spirit that had helped the District get through the year so far. He remained confident that the Huntingdonshire community would overcome the challenges it faced and continue to prosper.
As Leader of the HDC Independent Group, Councillor T D Sanderson thanked the Executive Leader for the detailed statement and was encouraged to hear the work being undertaken to support the high streets and town centres. He further praised the work of the District Council in its support of the most vulnerable residents. In commenting upon the unpredictability of the years events, reference was made to impact on the Medium Term Financial Strategy arising from the closure of leisure centres, suspension of car parking charges and the reduction of income from the Commercial Investment Strategy. Councillor Sanderson also made reference to the financial support which had been provided from Central Government which was unlikely to be adequate to meet the cost of the Covid response. He concluded by thanking Councillor Fuller on behalf of the opposition groups for keeping them informed during the various political leadership meetings in the true spirit of co-operation and joint working during these unprecedented times.
Councillor P Kadewere, as Leader of the Labour Group welcomed the report from the Executive Leader and in noting an increase in Covid cases and hospital admissions questioned whether there were any precautions that needed to be undertaken or advice provided to members of the public in our communities. In his concluding remarks, Councillor Kadewere commented upon the excellent work in combatting the pandemic and his hope that much of the collaborative working would continue. He also requested that such funding from the Combined Authority be distributed in all towns across the District with all resources shared.
As Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, Councillor Mrs S J Conboy echoed the comments from the previous Group Leaders thanking Councillor Fuller and the HDC Team and placed on record her thanks to the leadership of the Managing Director and the Senior Leadership Team. In the challenging time everyone had pulled together when communities needed it most, ensuring this was done as safely and smoothly as possible, whilst reassuring residents that they came first. In light of the continuing challenges for Huntingdonshire communities, Councillor Mrs Conboy focussed on the positives being undertaken regarding future resilience with the support of the Liberal Democrat Team. In concluding, Councillor Mrs Conboy expressed her appreciation to the Executive Leader and Senior Leadership Team for the regular briefings ensuring that Members were fully informed of relevant matters and issues and which had also enabled issues and concerns to be fed in at a local level through casework. Recognition was also given to genuine challenges still facing the area that can be worked through together as Members of the District Council.
In response to a question from Councillor B S Chapman with regard to the increase in number of Covid cases and representative number of cases per 100k, Councillor Fuller confirmed that current cases in the District were just over 50 per 100k. Although this was relatively low in context of the size of the District, he stressed that we should not be complacent about the seriousness of the situation. Whilst the majority of the residents were complying with restrictions, there continued to be some who needed the message to be reinforced.
In concluding the discussion on this item, the Executive Leader expressed his appreciation to the Group Leaders for the sentiments they had expressed and agreed with their spirit of cooperation that had been exercised since the beginning of this crisis. He reiterated that it had been evident that certain matters transcend party politics at a local level in Huntingdonshire and the Political Leaders had been excellent in their support during this difficult period. He conveyed his thanks to every one of them.