Agenda item

The Interim Head of Paid Service to present a report outlining further elements to York’s Economic Recovery Plans following the coronavirus pandemic, and introducing a proposed 10-year plan for the city and how this might be taken forward.

Resolved: (i) That the development of a ’10-year City Recovery Plan’ with city partners, to build on the work outlined in the council’s recent 1-year Recovery and Renewal Strategy, be noted.

(ii) That the recommendations set out in Annex 1 (the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plan) be approved; specifically, to:

a) note the likely scale and range of impacts on the York economy;

b) endorse the Economic Recovery Strategy set out in the report;

c) make a long-term commitment to facilitate the continuation of the business liaison activity that has been established in response to Covid-19, in order to co-ordinate the city’s response to emerging economic challenges;

d) approve the council’s commitment to facilitate the establishment of a York City Skills Board, to oversee the development of the adult education and skills plan;

e) request that the Executive Member for Economy & Strategic Planning engage with Corporate Scrutiny to seek views on the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plan, as outlined in Annex 1;

f) endorse, in response to the scale of the emerging economic challenge and new financial context for the council, a corporate lobbying effort, led by the Leader of the Council and working with partners in the region, to request additional funding to support local businesses, cultural institutions and residents facing financial hardship, invest in infrastructure, and demonstrate what York can achieve in the 10-year strategy with funding support from central government.

(iii) That the actions to keep children safe, outlined in Annex 5, be noted.

Reason: In order to respond to the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic over the long term, and build back better.

The Interim Head of Paid Service presented a report which outlined further elements of York’s Economic Recovery Plans following the coronavirus pandemic, and introduced a proposed 10-year plan for the city.

The report updated the one-year Recovery and Renewal Strategy received by Executive on 25 June (Minute 125 of that meeting refers), supplementing the One Year Transport and Place Strategy with an Economic Recovery Plan (Annex 1), a Business Support Plan (Annex 2), a Skills and Employment Plan (Annex 3), and a Tourism Marketing Plan (Annex 4). An update on work during the crisis to keep children safe in York was provided in Annex 5.

Proposals to develop a longer term 10-year recovery plan with city partners, detailing the broader transformational ambitions and direction for York and the priorities to achieve these, were set out in paragraphs 9-21 of the report. The intention was to have this plan in place by March 2021, to follow on from the 1-year Strategy. The report also described recent recovery activity undertaken against each of the three themes within the Strategy – Economy, Communities and Corporate.

In response to comments made under Public Participation, officers acknowledged the economic challenges faced by the hospitality, retail and tourism sectors, adding that the tourism plan had been well-received and more detailed proposals were being developed beyond the report. With reference to Annex 5, it was confirmed that, in York, the flexibilities ermitted by changes to legislation during the coronavirus pandemic were being used only to hold remote meetings of the Adoption and Fostering panels.

Members welcomed the report, expressing support for the partnership approach to developing a longer term plan, the plan’s potential as a lobbying tool as noted in paragraph 10, and the involvement of residents, communities and businesses as highlighted in paragraph 11.