Minutes:
The recently appointed Corporate Director of Regeneration, Economy & Growth was introduced by the Chair and provided an overview of her service responsibilities.
The Corporate Director confirmed that the Councils Libraries and Leisure Centres had been particularly affected due to the impact of COVID-19 and she was grateful to the teams involved. Public transport was another area particularly affected and the Council needed to work closely with bus operators to ensure a good recovery following the pandemic.
Priorities for regeneration, included town centres and she confirmed that in October, Cabinet had launched towns and villages investments of almost £20m to spend across the County.
The Corporate Director confirmed the importance of ensuring Council Assets were being used to support community organisations. She referred to the vital role that Business Durham played to support businesses and noted the support they had given during the pandemic to Corporate Services and Finance in administering business grants and the support to those that were suffering potential redundancies.
The Corporate Director confirmed that the service had continued to progress a number of priorities in place prior to the pandemic and these were more critical than ever as the County faced the economic effects of the health crisis. Significant transport investments were vital to support the economy in the aftermath of the pandemic and despite the positive news regarding the roll out of a vaccine, the Council needed significant recovery ambitions.
Whilst there had been incredible challenges, the Corporate Director credited the hospitality sector for immense resilience despite not having had the opportunity to fully recover and that continued support would be offered.
Finally, she acknowledged businesses that had responded to the pandemic, some of which have redirected manufacturing to provide additional support resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak.