Agenda item

To consider a report that provides Members with an opportunity to examine the Council’s recovery plan in relation to business support (copy attached).

10.05 a.m. – 11.00 a.m.

Agreement on the recommendation was by consensus.  No formal vote was taken.  All members indicated they were in favour of the recommendation, no one indicated they were against it and no one indicated they wanted to abstain.

Resolved: - subject to the observations and suggestions made during the discussion, to support officers in the work undertaken in relation to supporting businesses within the County and also their continued contribution to the regional economic recovery work in partnership with the North Wales Economic Ambition Board Programme Office and Welsh Government (WG)

The Lead Member for Planning, Public Protection and Safer Communities, Councillor Mark Young, introduced the Examination of the Post Covid 19 recovery plan for the business support recovery priority report (previously circulated).

The recovery plan was in relation to business support and for members to understand the progress made to date and the interaction with the North Wales Economic Ambition Board (NWEAB) Programme office on economic recovery.

Coronavirus was a public health crisis but the impact on the economy and businesses was also crucially important.  Following the shutdown of town centres, businesses struggled to recover in the medium and long term.  It was also possible some businesses may never recover. 

The Business Support Recovery Theme had four sub themes and each sub theme had a lead officer who would produce a recovery plan for each sub theme:

·         Town Centre – Lead Officer Mike Jones

·         Business Contact – Lead Officer Gareth Roberts

·         Tourism – Lead Officer Peter McDermott

·         Procurement – Lead Officer Helen Makin

The plans for each sub theme were at various stages of development, however, there was a great deal of “business as usual” support work which was going on.

Mike Jones, Traffic, Parking and Road Safety Manager and Peter McDermott, Team Leader – Tourism, Marketing and Events gave a brief update to members regarding Town Centre and Tourism sub-themes.

During discussions, the following points were raised:

·         Officers confirmed that parking charges had been a Lead Member delegated decision following discussions with Cabinet.  Initially at the beginning of lockdown parking was free to aid key workers and volunteers.  Charges were re-introduced to all car parks on 3 August 2020.  A small number of car parks continued to have free parking for up to 2 hours which would continue to 31 December 2020.  To date, no decisions had been made to extend the period.   

·         How often public toilets were cleaned was information which Mike Jones confirmed he would look into and circulate to members.

·         Councillor Paul Penlington expressed his disagreement with the information given by Mike Jones as he stated that regarding High Street management, he saw no signs of this in Prestatyn.  He also questioned the hands free facility for parking payment machines.   Officers responded to clarify, firstly that there were notification stickers on all car park machines notifying customers of an app which could be applied to all car parks throughout the county.  Secondly, it was also confirmed that there were signs throughout Prestatyn High Street and officers could provide Councillor Penlington with plans of where signage had been placed.   Ed Parry had contacted the relevant ward members who covered Prestatyn High Street to set up a site meeting to discuss the proposed work for Prestatyn High Street.  Councillor Hugh Irving confirmed he had received an email and would be happy to attend a site meeting.  Members confirmed that ward members should be consulted about works taking place in their wards together with Member Area Groups.  Businesses and Business groups should also be consulted in the future. 

At this juncture, the Chief Executive, confirmed that the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) had confirmed members and business groups should be consulted as it was an essential part of their role.

·         Issues were raised regarding Caravan sites during the current lockdown changes.  It was questioned how caravan owners would be able to close and secure their caravans for the winter.  Officers confirmed the Welsh Government had released frequently asked questions about health protection zones and clarification of the restrictions.  The wording within the guidance was “reasonable excuse”.  Denbighshire County Council (DCC) needed to contact North Wales Police about this for clarity and would then communicate it to all caravan site owners.  Officers were also to contact other LAs to enable consistency.

·         Information about support to businesses following the Welsh Government announcement and more grant support for businesses which fall within zones were available from the DCC website.  The Service was working closely with Council’s Economic and Business Development Service and the Customers, Communication and Marketing Service to highlight what was available via press releases and social media.  Mike Jones would work with town centre groups to give them direction as to where they can access information

·         The Head of Planning, Public Protection and Countryside Services undertook to check with the UK Government on schemes available for self-employed people and to publicise those that were available.

Agreement on the recommendation was by consensus.  No formal vote was taken.  All members indicated they were in favour of the recommendation, no one indicated they were against it and no one indicated they wanted to abstain.

Resolved: - subject to the observations and suggestions made during the discussion, to support officers in the work undertaken in relation to supporting businesses within the County and also their continued contribution to the regional economic recovery work in partnership with the North Wales Economic Ambition Board Programme Office and Welsh Government (WG)