To receive a verbal report from the Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holders.
Minutes:
The Leader of the Council referred to the recent Government announcements, which had taken place since the publication of the Cabinet agenda. Therefore, items 4-6, concerning the Kickstart Scheme, New Forest Business Partnership and the Council’s response and recovery from COVID-19, would be taken as a single verbal report by the Leader.
The Leader acknowledged the national restrictions announced by the Prime Minister that would come into place from 5 November, until 2 December 2020. He confirmed that the Council was ready and prepared for the additional measures which needed to be taken and most services would continue to be delivered on a daily basis. The overriding objective for everyone remained to protect the NHS and save lives.
The Cabinet noted that a lot had happened since the first lockdown and the Council was well prepared to support the community either by operating in a socially distanced way or working effectively from home, whilst the offices remained open only for those limited number of staff who could not work from home. The offices remained open to meet the needs of essential services like housing, benefits, business support and homelessness.
The Council would continue to respond to new national guidance and would update its webpages with information on any changes to services.
The Leader reported with regret that the Council would have to close the five Health and Leisure Centres and golf course for a second time. He expressed his thanks to all the staff for their work in making the Health and Leisure Centres safe. During the next month, Health and Leisure staff would continue to be supported in line with the Furlough Scheme.
It was confirmed that the financial support received of £71,000 from Government would be utilised to work with partners to keep the New Forest community safe, helping with social distancing rules in towns, villages and areas where the public may gather.
The Cabinet acknowledged that the second lockdown would be hard on many people in the community, particularly businesses and those needing employment. For that reason, the Leader confirmed that he was keen for the Council to support the Government Kickstart Scheme, creating jobs for young people aged 16 to 24 years old on universal credit. The ambition was to get at least 10 local employees on this basis.
Working with New Forest Business Partnership, the Council had promoted this scheme to businesses in the New Forest, with already at least 50 potential opportunities identified. The Leader on behalf of the Cabinet expressed his thanks for all the efforts of the Business Partnership on this initiative.
Councillors were reminded that the New Forest Business Partnership Community Interest Company (CIC) only came into being in September 2020. Not only the Council’s partner, they represented the local voice of business in many discussions. As a new CIC, the Leader proposed that the Council allocated £5,000 “seed funding” immediately, with the commitment for a further £5,000 in early 2021, subject to a “seed funding agreement” with the Portfolio Holder for the Local Economy.