Agenda item

This report updates Cabinet on the Council’s response to the pandemic situation and possible proporals for economic recovery.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Dr Walsh, outlined that this formed another update report from the Chief Executive to bring Cabinet and other Members up to date with how the Council has been dealing with the Coronavirus over recent weeks.  All Members had received a weekly update from the Chief Executive and himself and these briefings had also been sent to the Council’s partners.  

The first part of the report was a formal record of what the Council had done.  The Covid-19 Recovery Working Party had met on the 2 July to help the Cabinet consider not only the economic impact on the Council, but also its local businesses and the community, but also how it should consider the social impacts.  The report provided notes made at that meeting at Item 10 and the Chairman confirmed that these would be considered as part of this item. 

The Chief Executive then worked through some of the detail of the report before moving onto the notes taken from the Working Party meeting, confirming that the Working Party notes set out ideas for the recovery stage of Covid-19.  The Working Party had held its first initial meetings to establish ideas and would be meeting again on 23 July 2020 to prioritise some actions and make recommendations to the next meeting of Cabinet on 21 September 2020.

 The Chairman invited Cabinet debate.  The positive impact from the Bognor Regis Business Improvement District (BID) and the Council in terms of the parts they had played in communicating to the business community was sighted as a real positive.  The role of the business wardens was also seen as a very useful tool used when lockdown restrictions had eased and as the High Street had started to reopen.  It was felt that the business wardens would continue to play a valuable role in assisting with the new requirements for all to wear face masks in shops from 24 July 2020.  It was hoped that most people would adhere to these new rules. Of concern were reports that there was an upturn in aggressive behaviour towards retail staff and how accessible would the police service be in assisting retail staff experiencing difficulties in the event that shoppers were refusing to wear face coverings.  It was asked if the Arun Business Partnership could offer any support to avoid a new strain being placed onto the customer/employee relationship.  

The Chief Executive responded stating that there needed to be a careful balance between encouraging people to come and use the District’s shops versus trying to stimulate markets.  He had been in touch with the Police on a regular basis and would raise this concern.  In terms of trying to support the retail sector, the Council had employed some community officers through the High Street Fund to assist with the issues raised.  The main priority was to support retail in the area whilst at the same time maintaining the safety of the District.

Congratulations were passed onto the Council’s housing team who had worked exceptionally hard during the pandemic and had housed 44 homeless residents at Butlins.  The Council had also successfully found alternative accommodation for those concerned.  The Chief Executive concurred that the work of the housing team had been excellent, and he endorsed the Council’s relationship with Butlins.

The Cabinet

            RESOLVED - That

(1)  The actions outlined in the report and taken to date be noted; and

(2)  The minutes from the meeting of the Covid-19 Recovery Working Party held on 2 July 2020 be noted.