Agenda item

- Report for consideration by the Combined Authority Committee and the Joint Committee.

The West of England Combined Authority Committee RESOLVED to note:

1. The progress in responding to the Covid-19 pandemic.

2. The financial implications of the pandemic on the Combined Authority.

3. The emergency decisions made by the WECA CEO in consultation with the Mayor of the West of England on Adult Education Budget provider funding and Bus operator funding.

4. The next steps for the Regional Economic Recovery Taskforce and discussions with Government.

The West of England Joint Committee RESOLVED to note:

1. The progress in responding to the Covid-19 pandemic.

2. The financial implications of the pandemic on the Combined Authority.

3. The emergency decisions made by the WECA CEO in consultation with the Mayor of the West of England on Adult Education Budget provider funding and Bus operator funding.

4. The next steps for the Regional Economic Recovery Taskforce and discussions with Government.

The Combined Authority Committee and the Joint Committee considered a report setting out an update on the Combined Authority’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic (agenda item 11).

The Chair highlighted the following aspects of the report and commented as follows:

·       The report set out the actions taken by the Combined Authority and the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership since the lockdown began; this was in addition to actions taken by the region’s unitary authorities within their areas.

·       The report included details about essential, emergency decisions taken by the Combined Authority’s Chief Executive in consultation with him as Mayor during the very early stages of lockdown to ensure certainty on adult education budget provider funding and bus operator funding.

·       The report also included details of the financial impact of Covid-19 on the Combined Authority and the unitary authorities.

·       An update was also included on the work of the Regional Economic Recovery Taskforce, which he had established in response to a request from the Prime Minister in order to lead the response to the pandemic at the regional level. 

·       The work on the recovery would inevitably dominate the region’s agenda for many months ahead – priorities were being reviewed, through liaison with the authority’s partners – this included refocusing the deliverability of, and priorities within the current £350m investment programme in response to Covid-19.

Cllr Savage expressed his thanks to officers across the authorities for their exceptionally hard work during the pandemic with businesses, voluntary and community groups and others to meet the challenge of the initial crisis, and also the work taking place to ensure that recovery could take place, across the region, in social, economic and environmental terms.

Cllr Davies also thanked officers for their work and expressed his appreciation of the work of wider community groups, especially in terms of the efforts focused on helping vulnerable people.

Cllr Dudd generally welcomed the report and drew attention to the effective collaboration that had taken place between authorities on the Covid-19 public transport response.  Bristol would work with the Combined Authority to secure as much financial support as possible to support the recovery.  It was also important to recognise the particularly acute challenges faced by the culture and tourism sectors of the economy.

Cllr Romero thanked staff and communities for their efforts during the crisis, in providing support not just to businesses but also to vulnerable people.  In terms of the work on economic recovery, it was important to stress the importance of learning lessons about what needed to be done differently in future, including actively addressing the climate emergency as part of this.

The West of England Combined Authority Committee RESOLVED to note:

1. The progress in responding to the Covid-19 pandemic.

2. The financial implications of the pandemic on the Combined Authority.

3. The emergency decisions made by the WECA CEO in consultation with the Mayor of the West of England on Adult Education Budget provider funding and Bus operator funding.

4. The next steps for the Regional Economic Recovery Taskforce and discussions with Government.

The West of England Joint Committee RESOLVED to note:

1. The progress in responding to the Covid-19 pandemic.

2. The financial implications of the pandemic on the Combined Authority.

3. The emergency decisions made by the WECA CEO in consultation with the Mayor of the West of England on Adult Education Budget provider funding and Bus operator funding.

4. The next steps for the Regional Economic Recovery Taskforce and discussions with Government.