Minutes:
The Leader updated Councillors on relevant matters of interest and stated that
currently, limited Council services were being affected by rising numbers of employees that had to self-isolate due to COVID-19. Some refuse collection services had been delayed and this was having a negative impact on standards of delivery. The Leader had received many calls from businesses within Broxtowe expressing concern how they could continue to run their business under the current self-isolation system. The Leader met with the Leader of the County Council to urge him to pass onto Government concerns about business continuity and the need for exceptions to be made to self-isolation for double vaccinated staff in critical front line roles. A letter had been sent to Darren Henry MP and Lee Anderson MP requesting that contact be made with the Treasurer and Secretary of State of Government to support businesses who were following the self-isolation rules. A response had been received from Darren Henry MP that he had written to the Secretary of State for additional grants to be made available to Broxtowe to enable to assist with supporting businesses whilst they were still facing self-isolation of staff and affecting them financially.
With the rising rates of COVID infection the Leader was satisfied the plans for ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the employees was being undertaken with hybrid and flexible working.
The Leader was delighted that the Council had taken positive steps to ensure poorer families had access to affordable food. He highlighted the food clubs that would be running over the Summer period.
Another scheme that had been worked in partnership to access funding was the Holiday Activity fund. The programme would be run for 5 to 16 year olds who are eligible for free school meals. Sessions would run throughout August.
The Leader had attended both Kimberley and Eastwood tasks and finish groups to discuss the Levelling-up bids. The groups were currently considering the results of the local consultation and debating proposals that were deliverable and consistent with both the needs of the communities and local people’s views and wishes.
Discussions had been held with the County Council Leader with opportunities, through devolution and the levelling up white paper, for Broxtowe to obtain the much needed additional funding for the East Midlands area including continuing the fight for the certainty for the HS2 station at Toton to enable to progress with the ambitions for EMDevco.
Updates were provided around the Greater Nottingham Joint Planning Advisory Board and the uptake of units associated around the new cinema development in Beeston.
The Secretary of State had visited Barton Quarter, the new housing development in Chilwell. It was described as an outstanding example of high quality design and showed what the planning system can deliver when developers and planners work well together. An application of 622 new homes would be submitted shorty to be constructed as part of the enterprise zone within Beeston. The scheme was intended to be a beacon of modular construction.
The year-end outturn had shown that the Council had been able to weather the worst of the pandemic without imperilling the financial stability. The Leader thanked Officers and Members for their support.