[To receive an update on Project Relight from Charlotte Johns, Director of Strategy].
Minutes:
Charlotte Johns, Director of Strategy, advised the Board that the presentation would give an update on the recovery framework report that was presented at the previous meeting.
The Director of Strategy outlined the overarching principles that would underpin the approach to helping the City recover. The Director of Strategy outlined the key elements of the three-step approach locally and how linked issues will be considered and other cross cutting themes. The Director of Strategy commented on the findings of the impact assessment and the learning from COVID-19 which had provided intelligence about how future services could be delivered. The findings of an employee survey were reported in respect of a number of key themes and the challenges and opportunities presented.
The Director of Strategy commented on the specific findings which considered the impact of COVID-19 on specific groups and areas of the City and the work being done to better understand the issues; particularly those individuals and businesses adversely affected by the pandemic.
The Director of Strategy outlined the findings at ward level and also highlighted future risks which may affect the City and the unknown scenarios which could impact future recovery plans. The Board was given details of both short term and longer-term priorities or actions that could support the recovery plans for the City. The Board commented on the references in the report to the negative effects of COVID-19 but queried if there were any positives from the research that could be shared, for example, increased online sales. The Director of Strategy accepted the focus of the negative impact of COVID but did acknowledge a number of positive outcomes, for example encouraging people to innovate and to develop new skills and learning.
The Board while accepting the challenges, highlighted the potential benefits of the rollout of 5G across the City to businesses and citizens. The Board queried the impact of the decision by Government to remove equipment supplied by Huawei from the network and how this may affect the economic plans and proposals detailed in the presentation for the City in the future. The Director of Strategy invited Cllr Beverley Momenabadi, Digital Innovation Champion, to comment. Cllr Momenabadi commented that Huawei provided only 35 percent on the kit for the mobile operating network. The Government had announced that no new 5G equipment could be bought after 31 December 2020, but this did not apply to older kit which could remain until no longer needed. There was a commitment to roll out the 5G infrastructure network because of the benefits it could bring, but discussions were ongoing to consider in detail the implications of the decision.
The Board queried the findings of a report on foodbank usage and specifically the finding that Springvale ward had the highest number accessing the service and how this differed from the information reported in the presentation. The Director of Strategy confirmed that a detailed response could be provided with an analysis of the data and a detailed breakdown behind the information presented about the use of food banks and the food hub during the response phase. The Board requested similar data for the Tettenhall.
The Board commented on the difficulty in getting up to date unemployment data on a regular basis. The Director of Strategy agreed to provide food bank data analysed by ward and agreed that unemployment ward data would be sent to Councillors. The Director of Strategy suggested that the information could be included in the weekly Councillor update bulletin published by the Director of Governance. The information on unemployment trends was published on the Council website. The Board thanked the Director of Strategy for her presentation.
Resolved:
· The Director of Strategy to share information on foodbank usage at the ward level with the Board.
· The Director of Strategy to liaise with the Director of Governance to include unemployment ward data in the weekly Councillor update bulletins.