Agenda item

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

The West of England Combined Authority Committee RESOLVED:

1. To endorse the regional Covid-19 Recovery Plan and support the next stages of the Taskforce’s work.

2. To approve the Climate Emergency Action Plan.

The West of England Joint Committee RESOLVED:

1. To endorse the regional Covid-19 Recovery Plan and support the next stages of the Taskforce’s work.

2. To approve the Climate Emergency Action Plan.

The Combined Authority Committee and the Joint Committee considered a report seeking endorsement of the regional Recovery Plan and approval of the regional Climate Emergency Action Plan (agenda item 11).

The Chair highlighted that this report very much set the context for this meeting and commented as follows:

* Firstly, as Chair of the Regional Economic Recovery Taskforce, he expressed his deepest thanks to all those who had participated in the work of the Taskforce, culminating in the evidence-based Recovery Plan which was before the committees today.

* The work had been developed by local experts in industry, education and communities. Over 180 organisations across all sectors had been involved.

* This was an ambitious plan to rebuild business, get residents back to work, strengthen inclusion, support a green recovery and renew the region’s places.

* The Climate Emergency Action Plan was an intrinsic part of the recovery, which was why these papers were being presented for approval together.

* The Climate Emergency Action Plan had been developed with full input from representatives from unitary authority partners and with close input from business on the innovation opportunities and skills needed to foster clean growth. This co-production would continue in implementing the actions set out in the plan and he extended his thanks to everyone involved for their ongoing hard efforts.

* The Action Plan set out actions in 5 challenge areas and detailed the scale of the challenge faced and the actions taken so far. Each year, a report on progress against these actions as set out in the 5 challenge areas would be produced in line with the Combined Authority’s monitoring and evaluation framework.

* Now was the time to continue to work together as a team across the West of England and make these plans a reality.  The region’s local authorities had of course also been developing their own local responses and plans and great care had been taken to make sure these activities were aligned.

The recommendations for both the Combined Authority Committee and the Joint Committee as set out in the published report were then moved by the Chair and seconded by Cllr Savage.

Cllr Savage welcomed the work of officers and partners in developing both plans, noting that the work complemented and aligned with workstreams being taken forward in these areas by the individual unitary authorities.  In South Gloucestershire, these initiatives included:

*a new campaign to encourage people to stay safe, shop local and support high streets to rebuild.

* a clear aim moving forwards to ensure availability of space on every high street to support learning and flexible working.

There were also clear linkages between the regional plans and the themes and priorities included in the recently approved South Gloucestershire Council Plan 2020-2024.

Cllr Romero advised that she would be supporting the plans.  With regard to the Recovery Plan, she stressed the ongoing importance of engaging with communities and supporting greater inclusion.  In relation to the Climate Emergency Action Plan, she commented that the Plan was not in her view as ambitious as it could be.  She would continue to push the authority to be ambitious and more proactive in tackling the emergency.  As a more general point, she stressed the importance of reports being written in as public-friendly a way as possible - this should be taken into account in future progress reports on these plans.

Cllr Davies supported the Climate Emergency Action Plan but suggested that the plan needed to be stronger moving forwards; if the aim was to have a green recovery, then climate emergency action planning needed to be prominently involved within that. In terms of the Recovery Plan, he commented that the changing needs of the rural economy must be recognised and taken on board - for example, broadband connectivity in rural parts of the region was a significant issue and would impact on the ability of start-up businesses to get underway in these areas.

Mayor Rees thanked officers and partners for their work. In terms of taking the Recovery Plan delivery forward, an agile approach must be maintained, recognising the uncertainty of the Covid situation and the fact that adjustments to the approach may be needed to meet the challenges ahead.  He welcomed the commitment to inclusion within the Plan and the recognition of the role of freelance workers, particularly in the creative industry sector.  In relation to the Climate Emergency Action Plan, he welcomed the cross-referencing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and added that as a complementary work strand, Bristol had now launched its ecological strategy.

The Chair then moved to the voting on the recommendations. Voting took place as per constitutional requirements.

The West of England Combined Authority Committee RESOLVED:

1. To endorse the regional Covid-19 Recovery Plan and support the next stages of the Taskforce’s work.

2. To approve the Climate Emergency Action Plan.

The West of England Joint Committee RESOLVED:

1. To endorse the regional Covid-19 Recovery Plan and support the next stages of the Taskforce’s work.

2. To approve the Climate Emergency Action Plan.