Agenda item

Report number: OAS/WS/21/012

[Councillor Margaret Marks joined the meeting at 5.24pm during the consideration of this item.]

The Leader of the Council, Councillor John Griffiths thanked the Committee for the opportunity to present Report No: OAS/WS/21/012, which outlined the draft West Suffolk Councils’ Annual Report (2020-2021) and was before the Overview and Scrutiny Committee for their comments.

It had been an unprecedented year and the Council had seen its communities and businesses experience immense change, challenges, and pain.  Throughout this the Council had seen dedication, support and community spirt which makes West Suffolk such a very special place to live and work.

West Suffolk Council had been at the forefront as it responded to and began to recover from the impact of Covid-19.  The Council had worked across Suffolk, and with partners, as never before and developed working relationships that would benefit all as we look to the future.  Staff and Councillors had risen to many unexpected and difficult challenges and worked in ways and at a pace that had been impressive, flexible, and innovative.  The Council had also played its role in the national response, delivering what Government had asked, and much more.

As part of the response to COVID-19, the Council had administered grants to local businesses and enforcement teams had helped make sure business owners had the right advice and support to operate safely.  The Home but Not Alone initiative had supported local vulnerable people and the Council responded to the government’s ‘Everyone In’ initiative which saw rough sleepers receive accommodation and support.  At the same time, the Council never lost sight of its core values of supporting our communities and businesses whilst delivering high quality services.  As an organisation the Council continued to run the critical services of waste and recycling, determined planning applications and the families and communities work continued to help local organisations and lifelines such as Life Link.  A number of significant projects had also been delivered, including the refurbishment of Newmarket Leisure Centre and the final stages of the completion of the Mildenhall Hub, which would provide better services for local people. 

During 2020 to 2021 Suffolk’s Public Sector, including West Suffolk Council, worked together to agree a strategic approach for how Suffolk would recover from the coronavirus pandemic.  Suffolk Public Sector Leaders’ priorities were physical and mental health, town centres, housing and homelessness, young people and climate and environment.  The proposals would work alongside individual organisations plans to support recovery among Suffolk residents and businesses.

The draft West Suffolk Council Annual Report (Appendix A) before the Committee provided highlights of all the work that all members and staff had achieved over the past year.  The annual report was a small insight into the good work and positive outcomes which the Council delivers day in and day out.  The Leader wished to thank everyone involved on delivering another excellent year of achievements during a difficult time which was fast-moving and ever-changing.  The Council had never been busier or had greater challenges to face. 

The Council was continuing the approach taken in the 2019-2020 Annual Report, by producing a shorter document using infographics, as opposed to the full written report.  Feedback received suggested that infographics gave a stronger and more easily digestible summary of the Council’s work and could be used in a number of ways, including for example, for briefing materials and social media.  The Leader confirmed that the infographics would be include in the final document, which would be presented to Cabinet.

The Chair thanked the Leader for his presentation and explained he liked the shorter version of the Annual Report which could be taken to Town/Council meetings as a briefing document, ad suggested whether contact details could be added under each section of the report.

The Committee then examined the document in detail and asked a number of questions of the Leader, to which comprehensive responses were provided. 

In particular discussions were held on the level of support provided to the Love Newmarket Business Improvement District; the park home insulation scheme; the swift distribution of the business grant schemes during Covid-19; work being carried out with health partners across West Suffolk; and the development of a communications plan to explain the role of the Annual Report.

Comments and suggestions made by the Committee during its discussions on the draft Annual Report, for example included:

-      Adding contact details under each section of the Annual Report;

-      Growth in West Suffolk’s economy - first bullet point, amend ‘£70,000,000’ to read “£70 million”

-      Highlighting more of the work carried out by West Suffolk Council on the distribution of business grants.

-      Provision of appropriate housing – suggest listing the various types of dwellings built, specifically the number of bungalows built for lifetime homes;

-      Include wording about the Council working in other towns with health partners and other partner organisations such as with One Haverhill to develop a Haverhill Hub;

-      Environmental measures – comment due to lockdown/Covid-19 ensure that environmental figures do not look artificially bad next year (2021-2022).

Officers agreed to look at the comments and suggestions and would be incorporated into the final document, were appropriate, to be presented to Cabinet. 

The Leader of the Council wished to thank the Overview and Scrutiny Committee for scrutinising the draft Annual Report and for their comments.

At the conclusion of the discussions, the Committee endorsed the Draft West Suffolk Annual Report 2020-2021, attached at Appendix A to Report number OAS/WS/21/012, subject to comments made during the meeting.