Executive

24 June 2021

Report of the Chief Operating Officer

Portfolio of the Leader of the Council

City of York Council Recovery and Renewal Strategy – June Update

Summary

1. This report provides an update on activities both directly in response to Covid-19 and the work to support recovery and renewal.

2. In this month’s report, the work of the public health function is highlighted, along with updates on the city’s work to improve mental health provision. The report also highlights the latest developments on reopening the city centre.

3. It is highly likely given the fast-changing nature of the pandemic that some of the information within this report will have changed between publication and the Executive meeting. Updates will, therefore, be given at the meeting.

Recommendations

4. Executive is asked to:

a. Note the contents of the report

Background

5. On 25^th June 2020, Executive received a report to outline the council’s 1-year Recovery and Renewal Strategy. This highlighted the need for a revised set of strategies to address the very significant and immediate impacts of coronavirus across all aspects of life in our city.

6. The strategy set the following principles upon which we will build our response:

a. Prioritise the health and wellbeing of our residents, against the immediate threat of coronavirus and the consequences of changes to the way we live. Public Health guidance will be paramount in all the decisions we make.

b. Support the economic recovery of the City, helping to create a strong, sustainable and inclusive economy for the future. Learning lessons from the challenges of coronavirus, promote a system that utilises the strengths of our city and region to the benefit of all York’s residents and businesses.

c. Protect and prioritise the City’s environment and reinforce our work to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

d. Pursue improvements in service delivery where they have been identified as part of the Response phase, creating a more efficient and resilient system.

e. Reinforce and restore public confidence in the resilience of public agencies and resilience to future challenges and emergencies.

7. Included in June’s report was a One Year Transport and Place Strategy, as the first part of the economic recovery approach. A report in July supplemented this with a Business Support Plan, a Skills and Employment Plan and a Tourism Marketing Plan.

CYC Recovery and Renewal Plan (1 year)
Economic Recovery Plan			Communities	Corporate
Business Support Plan	One Year Transport and Place Plan	Skills and Employment Plan	Recovery from coronavirus: A community-based approach	Organisational Development Plan
Tourism Marketing Plan

Latest Outbreak Update

8. Given the continually changing context, an update on the latest situation will be given verbally to the Executive at the meeting.

9. As at 8.6.21 a total of 123,766 CYC residents have had the first dose of the vaccine. This represents 58.8% of the estimated total population of York and 71.1% of the estimated adult (18+) population of York.

10. As at 8.6.21 a total of 84,737 CYC residents have had both doses of the vaccine. This represents 40.2% of the estimated total population of York and 48.7% of the estimated adult (18+) population of York.

11. The latest official 7 day rate of positive cases of Covid in York is, at 4th June 2021, 29.4 per 100,000 population. This figure remains lower than the national and regional averages.

12.On Monday 22 February the Prime Minister set out the timetable for the easing of the lockdown measures that had been introduced over the winter in response to Covid-19. Over a series of 5 week periods the restrictions have been gradually eased, reducing social distancing measures and allowing the reopening of the economy. We are now in step 3 of the process, with the final step which will release the vast majority of restrictions due on the 21 June, subject to review based on the ongoing impact of the virus

13. At the time of writing, it is not yet clear whether the country will move to step 4 of the recovery process on 21^st June. This would mean removing most restrictions from people and organisations in respect of Covid.

Recovery Updates

Economic

14. In response to the restrictions the council has worked with key stakeholders and partners to ensure the city centre has been prepared for each stage in the process. This has included the ongoing temporary extension of the footstreets and footstreet hours to facilitate pavement café licences and social distancing; the provision of managed outdoor seating areas by Make It York and the York BID in Parliament Street and College Green; the provision of further seating throughout the city centre to enable to buy from surrounding businesses; and increased cleaning regimes and the presence of Covid Marshalls and BID Rangers to assist and help residents, visitors, and businesses and ensure the successful management of the city centre. The measures have received overwhelmingly positive feedback from stakeholders and the public, enabled businesses to reopen, and ensured a successful transition as restrictions have been lifted.

15. Government has made a further £186k available for York through the Welcome Back Fund, utilising what remains of the EU’s ESIF funds. This extends the Reopen the High Street Safely Fund (RHSSF) which was used last summer to support business engagement and ensure that the temporary extension of the footstreets was done safely. Our Welcome Back Fund proposals are currently being considered by Government and cover:

a. further support for the city centre trading environment to Xmas (including security measures to protect Xmas Market),

b. a dedicated communications post to keep covid-safety high on the agenda of businesses,

c. improved street cleaning,

d. funding for events to celebrate Yorkshire Day on 1st August, and

e. an expansion of provision to Secondary and neighbourhood shopping areas.

People

16. The work of the Council’s Public Health function has been critical in response to Covid. Annex 1 contains a summary of the wider work of the team as it has balanced the ongoing public health responsibilities with Covid response.

17. Mental Health is an area where demand has been exacerbated by Covid. The council has been working with a range of partners through the Mental Health Partnership to consider how people are supported in the city. Annex 2 provides a summary of this important work.

Corporate

18. City of York Council’s contact tracers went out into communities in late May, offering symptom-free coronavirus tests in an effort to help case numbers remain low and to keep the city open. The work supported the Council’s efforts to increase the number of people being tested for Covid to identify symptom-free cases and stop the spread of the virus.

19. The council also thanked the thousands of Covid volunteers, as part of Volunteers’ Week 2021, who, since the start of the pandemic, have performed around 1,400 acts of kindness, from calling round for a chat on the doorstep, to going for a socially distanced walk or making a cheerful phone call.

20. New arrangements for COVID-19 volunteering have been in place from the start of Volunteers’ Weeks on 1 June. As part of this change, all volunteering for roles related to the pandemic are now managed by Centre for Voluntary Service (York CVS). Anyone who signed up for covid volunteering through the council can now opt in to sign up with the CVS.

Council Plan

21. The Recovery and Renewal Strategy outlines activities for the next year to allow the continued achievement of Council Plan outcomes.

Implications

- Financial – Within the body of the report.

- Human Resources – No specific impacts identified.

- One Planet Council / Equalities – A principle of recovery is to ensure climate change is considered in decisions taken. The economic recovery plans recognise and respond to the unequal impact of coronavirus and the risk of increasing levels of inequality as a result.

- Legal – No specific impacts identified.

- Crime and Disorder – No specific impacts identified.

- Information Technology – No specific impacts identified.

Risk Management

22. There remain significant areas of risk in responding to this crisis across all areas of recovery. The highest priority continues to be the health and wellbeing of residents and all planning and decisions will be taken with this in mind.

Contact Details

Authors:	Chief Officer Responsible for the report:
Will Boardman Kate Helme Sharon Stoltz Andy Kerr Simon Brereton	Ian Floyd Chief Operating Officer
	Report Approved	√	Date 16/6/21



Wards Affected: List wards or tick box to indicate all				All	√

For further information please contact the author of the report