The Executive Leader, Councillor R Fuller to address the Council.
Contact:25 Minutes.
Minutes:
The Chairman invited the Executive Leader, Councillor R Fuller to address the Council.
In his introduction, Councillor Fuller paid tribute to the hard work and diligence to the people of Huntingdonshire, despite the hardships the vast majority of residents had acted sensibly to help keep transmission rates of Covid low that has meant the area of Huntingdonshire being ranked one of the consistently lowest rates of Coronavirus in the country. Members noted that the Council had been working hard to keep residents updated and informed and worked with the communities to provide them with what they need to feel safe. However, with the Christmas break approaching and a planned relaxation of the rules Councillor Fuller stressed to Members that now was not the time to be complacent and undo the efforts of the past few months. With the rules being temporarily relaxed it has not meant that the virus has gone away and Councillor Fuller urged people not to get relaxed about the seriousness of the present situation and asked that they continue to exercise the pragmatic caution going forward.
Councillor Fuller continued with thanking the local businesses for their fortitude and resilience, with very many suffering through no fault of their own. It was explained that Officers were directed to do everything possible to provide support, making no distinction as to a once size solution and offered tailored support where needed. Members were advised that this had been undertaken successfully with many examples of where support had been provided to help livelihoods, but unfortunately it was not possible for the Council to save every business and every job with the resources available.
Members noted the continuation of administration of the Government support in the form of millions of pounds of grants for eligible businesses. Local Restrictions Support Grant and newly expanded Additional Restrictions Grant had been providing vital support to those businesses, but was not possible to recompense every business for what has been lost as a result of the pandemic as there has not been enough provision of funding to do this, nor was it the Government’s intention.
Councillor Fuller explained that the Council would continue to target support at the recovery of the District’s economy through the designing of further business recovery schemes that will support the development of the Council’s emerging Economic Growth Strategy.
Attention was drawn to the Think Local campaign that had been running since October that had supported the District’s market towns and high streets that had been fully supported by communities and residents that would continue alongside the recovery of towns into 2021 and beyond that will be paramount to the recovery in the District as a whole.
Members were reminded of the early stages of plans for market town regeneration similar to the £12m St Neots regeneration plan that was recently submitted as part of the Government’s Future High Streets Fund, meaning further investment in Ramsey, St Ives and Huntingdon. Furthermore, in the shorter term, Members were appraised with progress being made with the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority with £1.5m of short term investment to help with immediate Covid recovery. The campaign would continue into the New Year, encouraging residents to Think Local and attention was drawn to the Council’s Covid safe Christmas activities taking place in the District’s towns and encouraged residents to use this as an opportunity to thank local businesses and utilise the independent retailers occupying the high streets.
Turning to car park usage and footfall data, Councillor Fuller reported that this had shown a quicker recovery, with towns outperforming national comparators and car park usage was recovering at a better rate than footfall and outside the period of the second lockdown there had been an increase in car park ticket sales week on week since the re-introduction of charging and longer parking sessions taking place meaning more people are visiting the towns and spending longer in them.
Councillor Fuller commented that the Council had worked hard to deliver a positive end to 2020 with the Think Local campaign and the festive town centre activities, however the first few months of 2021 would still continue to be a difficult time for the District’s businesses. The Council would continue to support businesses, address long term development and investment and continue to promote the Think Local campaign and welcomed Members support in this.
In his concluding remarks, Councillor Fuller placed on record his thanks and on behalf of his Group of the dedicated service that the Officers had given to the community over the last few months and the continuation of working in difficult circumstances, that they were a credit to this Council and the efforts had been appreciated. He further thanked the Opposition Leaders for their support and community leadership and the different approach to opposition politics that has had to find a new way of working to benefit the wider interests of the communities. A final thanks was made by Councillor Fuller to his Deputy, Cabinet and Group that had stepped up admirably and played their part in what had been achieved this year in a very unexpected and interesting first twelve months as Leader.
As Leader of the HDC Independent Group, Councillor T D Sanderson thanked the Executive Leader for his generous remarks towards the other Group Leaders and returned the compliment to the Leadership Team for their briefings and the Managing Director for keeping them so well informed. He further wished Councillor D J Wells well in his onward recovery after recently being taken ill and concurred with the Leader’s tribute to the Council staff, whilst reiterating his comments from the previous Council meeting on their excellent work from top to bottom. He commended the support provided for the communities and continuing to provide services of re-housing people, paying benefits, keeping the streets clean and taking decisions to help our communities, operating seamlessly and deserve a lot of praise for it. With another lockdown since the last Council meeting had meant more pressure on our local businesses and Councillor Sanderson agreed that it was not possible to save every local business, particularly the hospitality sector that had been hard hit locally and nationally.
Councillor Sanderson referred to the comments on the high street and Future High Streets Fund and welcomed working with colleagues on these projects and the potential for substantial funding that he was equally keen to bring to the other towns in the District with the support of the Independent Group.
As Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, Councillor Mrs S J Conboy echoed the sentiments of fellow Members and placed on record her considerable thanks on behalf of all of the Members to the staff at the District Council who had worked tirelessly and exceptionally for this community and based on feedback from colleagues in other parts of the country, she felt that the District Council had a very positive story to tell about the work it had done for its communities. She related this not just for the emergency support and relief, but in the ongoing commitment and toll it’s taken on staff but still remained committed to deliver such services over the Christmas period in such an exceptional year. Councillor Mrs Conboy gave thanks to all staff in every role for the support they have provided for this community, as well as the political leadership and the difficulties faced by the Leader in a time like this.
In acknowledging the incredibly challenging year for Councillor Fuller, his Team and Cabinet colleagues, Councillor Mrs Conboy commended his hard work for keeping them all fully informed as part of the Leadership Group, whilst putting politics aside and putting the community at the front and foremost of all his work to which she was grateful. She was further encouraged by the positive message of getting people back onto the high streets to help the businesses thrive and in conclusion thanked everyone and community for playing their part.
Councillor P Kadewere, as Leader of the Labour Group echoed the comments of the other Opposition Leaders on the performance of the District Council and thanked the Leader for a well prepared speech in encouraging the communities to stay safe and support provided for the businesses. In addition his thanks went to the staff in handling the pandemic, but remained disappointed with all the work that had been undertaken in keeping the levels low had not meant that the District was being changed from the Tier 2 restrictions and asked the Leader to take forward the question as to why the District was combined at the same level as Cambridge and Peterborough despite the differences in levels.
Councillor R J West highlighted the Executive Leaders recent anniversary in his position and commended him in his role, as well as being grateful for his leadership and reminded Members of his message that working together can achieve so much and with many of the Members providing a number of years’ service. He further paid tribute to the staff and Managing Director for their work with much to be thankful for in these difficult times and was pleased that the Council had found leadership to be proud of and indicated his hopes for 2021.