Agenda item

Cllr T Adams – Council Leader introduced the report and informed Members that he was very proud of the work achieved by officers across the Council, following a significant reprioritisation in response to the Pandemic. Despite this, he added that the Council had still achieved a number of priorities set-out within the Corporate Plan, and this report would outline which actions would be given priority in the lead up to the 2023 local elections.

Questions and Discussion

      i.        Cllr J Toye referred to red RAG status items within the report such as the Growth Sites Delivery Strategy, and asked whether this would still be delivered. He added that a proposal to develop a procedure and guidance note for registered social landlords was also outstanding, and asked if this would be progressed. Cllr T Adams replied that the Economic Growth Strategy was expected to come forward for consideration in December, but he would need to seek clarification on the other action.

     ii.        Cllr C Cushing stated that he was concerned that developing an economic strategy so late in the Council term would not be effective, and noted that the delay was difficult to justify. He added that KPIs for boosting business sustainability and growth did not appear within the Corporate Plan and asked why this was the case. Cllr T Adams replied that the Council had been granted an award for its efforts supporting businesses throughout the pandemic and noted that a more detailed response regarding the KPIs could be supplied in writing.

    iii.        The Chairman noted that it was unfortunate that this far into the Council term there was still not an Economic Growth Strategy in place to support the formation of the Local Plan and wider economy. He added that this was not a criticism of the reprioritisation, as this had been a necessary step during the Pandemic to provide vital support to businesses. It was suggested that it would have been prudent to enhance resources so that a strategy could have been brought forward at an earlier stage. The CE replied that whilst it would be appropriate for the Portfolio Holder to provide a written response on the preparation of an Economic Growth Strategy, discussions had taken place as to whether the Strategy would come to the Committee for pre-scrutiny in December, though this was yet to be confirmed. He added that the DFPCC had stated that the Economic Growth Strategy was not critical as an evidence-base for development of the Local Plan, as this would be based on separate evidence prepared by the BE Group on land supply for existing and future business growth. The CE suggested that economic growth in the District’s predominantly tourism-based economy relied on business support rather than land use, and the strategy was therefore not considered a prerequisite to the development and finalisation of the Local Plan.

   iv.        Cllr J Toye noted that he had recently discussed support for rural businesses with the local MP, and whilst the Economic Development Team were small, they were very proactive in supporting businesses, but he was unsure whether they would have the capacity to bring plans forward at the current time. The Chairman replied that he recognised the size of the Team and the importance of supporting local businesses, but noted that it was right to question whether there was adequate resource to achieve the priorities set-out within the Corporate Plan.

     v.        The recommendation was proposed by Cllr P Heinrich and seconded by Cllr H Blathwayt.

RESOLVED

1.    To review and comment on the progress made against the original and revised Delivery Plan objectives and those objectives where focus will be directed over the period to May 2023