Agenda item

Medway’s Council Plan 2016/21 sets out the Council’s three priorities. This report and appendices summarise how we performed in Quarter 3 (Q3) of 2020/21 on the delivery of the two priorities relevant for this Committee: Place and Growth.

This report also presents the Q3 2020/21 review of the Council’s Strategic Risk Register.

Discussion:

The Committee received a report setting out performance for Quarter 3 against the Council's two priorities Place and Growth insofar as they fell within the remit of this Committee.

The report also set out the Quarter 3 2020/21 review of the Council’s Strategic Risk.

Then Committee was advised that as agreed at the Quarter 2 risk review, a new risk had been added to the strategic risk register in Quarter 3 – SR49: Income reduction due to Covid-19.

The Committee was then advised that in line with discussions at the Strategic Risk Management Group (SRMG), although the Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) was included in the risk register under SR17 – Delivering Regeneration, it was considered that the HIF project warranted inclusion as a separate risk in its own right and therefore this would be added under Quarter 4 risk monitoring.

The following issues were discussed:

LRCC4a – Number of jobs created and safeguarded– In acknowledging the challenges for the Country as a whole as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, concern was expressed that the report failed to provide information as to how Medway planned to address the creation and safeguarding of jobs in Medway and it was suggested that further work was required to support existing jobs in Medway and to secure new investment.

In response, the Corporate Head of Performance and Business Intelligence informed the Committee that from Quarter 4, more detailed information would be included on this individual performance indicator and she advised that both Cabinet and the Business Support Overview and Scrutiny Committee were receiving reports on the Council’s response and recovery after Covid-19 on 30 March 2021.

The Assistant Director Regeneration also informed the Committee that from April 2021, the Economic Development and Skills and Employment Teams  would be transferred to his division and he confirmed that this was a priority area and further information would be available in Quarter 4.

NI 154 – Net additional homes provided – Referring to the section of the report titled ‘Encourage the delivery of homes to meet our targets – Strood Waterfront’ it was suggested that consideration be given to alternative uses of sites that cannot be developed at the current time e.g. provision of box parks so as to provide an income.

In response, the Assistant Director Regeneration advised that the Innovation Studios Strood, essentially shipping containers similar to the box park principle had been successfully delivered at Strood Riverside and whilst income could be derived from this type of facility, it could not be provided without some initial grant funding. He referred to the former Civic Centre site (Strood Waterfront) and provided an update as to potential development of this site. He advised that if development was not feasible at the current time, then temporary alternative uses could be considered.

Members suggested that alternative temporary uses of undeveloped land could include income generating initiatives such as markets, pop-up shops or boot fairs which would boost economic development, add to the creation of jobs and generate an income

Commercial use of the River – Referring to the importance of the river it was suggested that a report be submitted to a future meeting on the possible opportunities for increased commercial use of the river.

NI 167 – Average journey time along 5 routes across Medway - Referring to the ongoing management and delivery of the LGF project for journey time and accessibility improvements on Medway City Estate, clarification was sought as to the likely start date of the project. The Assistant Director Front Line Services agreed to provide this information to the Member direct.

Decision:

The Committee:

a)            noted that increased information would be included in the Performance Monitoring Report at Quarter 4 on LRCC4a – Number of jobs created and safeguarded but in the meantime, information was being reported to both Cabinet and the Business Support Overview and Scrutiny Committee on the Council’s recovery plan after the Covid-19 pandemic response and recovery plan to the Covid-19 pandemic on 30 March 2021.

b)            a report be included on the Committee’s work programme on the possible opportunities for increased commercial use of the river.

c)            noted that the Assistant Director Front Line Services will provide information as to the likely start date of the LGF project for journey time and accessibility improvements on Medway City Estate to the Member direct.

In accordance with Council rule 12.6, Councillors Browne, Mahil and Andy Stamp requested that their votes in favour be recorded.