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Agenda and minutes
Venue: Council Chamber, Muriel Matters House, Breeds Place, Hastings. East Sussex, TN34 3UY
Contact: Chantal Lass tel: 01424 451483 email: class@hastings.gov.uk
Items No. Item Declarations of Interest
10:03
Minutes:
· Dan – East Sussex College Group is a recipient of Town Deal accelerated funds and has submitted a bid to the Town Fund
· Carole – Education Futures Trust has submitted a bid to the Town Fund
· Chris – Sea Change Sussex has submitted bids to the Town Fund
· Jane – HBC is a recipient of Town Deal accelerated funds
· Steve – a consortium of voluntary organisations has submitted a bid to the Town Fund; also, as a trustee of Education Futures Trust and a member of the Sea Change Sussex Board
Minutes of the last meeting and matters arising PDF 516 KB
10:05
Minutes:
Agreed as an accurate record.
No matters arising.
Draft Hastings and St Leonards LSP Recovery Statement of Intent - Building Back Better PDF 231 KB
(HBC)
10:10
Additional documents:
- Hastings LSP Recovery statement of intent - Building Back Better DRAFT Oct 2020 , item 3. PDF 935 KB
Minutes:
Victoria Conheady presented the proposed statement of intent for the LSP Board. As LSP members will recall, at the last meeting it was agreed that we would focus on 3 strands for recovery: 1) the overarching response, 2) maintenance of response and 3) recovery. Input is required from LSP partners on the draft statement, on the key areas of focus for the LSP, i.e. the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector, and tourism and culture, which have been impacted the most, and others that may be impacted in the future. Other key sectors that need to be supported are insecure housing and homelessness, the wider economic recovery, health inequalities, jobs and pathways to employment. Other key areas of collaboration for the LSP are the Kickstart scheme and other funding streams, education and skills, policing and enforcement.
It is intended that the statement will be finalised by the December LSP Board and LSP members are now being asked to review, comment and add content by 31st October. Action: ALL
It is also suggested that Task and Finish groups are set up to take forward the key sector areas. With regards to setting up these groups, it is important to ensure that they will add value and align to existing capacity of organisations and with county-wide groups, which will be focusing on similar things.
It was agreed that a paragraph describing the statement of intent would be added at the beginning of the document and the number of pages reduced. The draft statement will be circulated to partners and it is requested that tracked changes be used when amending the draft.
In terms of taking this piece of work forward, ideas and rationale for task and finish groups and what each partner can bring to the table are also welcome.
Action: suggestions for establishment of Task and Finish group be submitted (pdatta@hastings.gov.uk) asap with a brief scoping document, key objectives, membership and start and finish dates.
Update on Town Fund and emerging challenges
(HBC and Carole Dixon)
10:25
Minutes:
Pranesh Datta updated:
The £1m accelerated fund was awarded by government for quick win projects. The Town Deal Board recommended 4 capital projects for approval for completion by the end of March 2021:
1) Phase 2 redevelopment of former White Rock Baths to create new commercial and leisure use spaces – grant amount = £485,000
2) Hastings Commons – bring the Lower Alley into use for businesses and community – grant amount = £250,000
3) An Employment, Events and Tourist Advice Hub at Hastings College – grant amount = £250,000
4) Investing in electric vehicle charging infrastructure in town centre car parks – grant = £15,000 with additional £35,000 match funding from HBC
Carole Dixon updated:
Through consultation, 4 key themes and challenges have been identified for the Town Fund:
1) Skills and enterprise infrastructure
2) Arts, culture and heritage
3) Urban regeneration, planning and land use/connectivity
4) Urban regeneration, planning and land use
Work will be done to create straplines for the challenges and ambitions. As per the guidance, these need to be specific to Hastings. The Theory of Change for the Town Deal is being developed and will help to bring the projects together in a coherent manner. In terms of evaluation of the programme, there are cross cutting themes that will run through the programme and one of these is looking at how any capital investment programmes directly benefit some of the wider communities and that there is a strong relationship between the capital programme and some of the revenue activity that might take place to ensure benefits have a wider reach.
Shape of the second wave
10:35
i. Community impact - Steve Manwaring
ii. Local business impact – Clive Galbraith / Sean Dennis
iii. LSP Partners – feedback on impact
Minutes:
i. Community impact
Steve Manwaring updated:
A networking event was held a couple of weeks ago, in which, across the sector, lockdown was looked at: the position as it was understood and what we need to move towards.
With regards to the impact of the second wave, 3 separate strands need to be looked at: 1) impact of Covid with whatever lockdown measures accompany it, particularly in relation to the most vulnerable and isolated, 2) the economic impact that will follow and 3) within the health sector, looking at the extents at which it will distort a wider network of health services, bearing in mind that there a lots of residents in Hastings with long-term health conditions.
In terms of community organisations within the voluntary sector, the first outbreak has thrown a spotlight onto some of the inadequacies of the physical accommodation in which services are delivered and ways to innovate and how technology can be used to accommodate more hybrid working. There are also concerns particularly in how young people will be disproportionately impacted by whatever happens next and this needs to be understood. A report was produced and we know nationally that Covid fell disproportionately on the BAME communities and this also needs to be understood. Links to some Hastings specific research will be circulated after this meeting. Action: Steve.
It is important to understand what has happened in Hastings with Covid and we have benefitted from input from Steven Orchard of the University of Sussex who has been doing some work trying to understand the nature of prevalence in our specific community. Steven started his work with a presentation at the community hub meeting and he will be returning to this week’s meeting to share his preliminary findings. The meeting is open to LSP members wanting to attend
ii. Local business impact – Clive Galbraith / Sean Dennis
Clive Galbraith provided an update:
For many trades, contracting and construction in particular, have reported that the position will be similar to that of last year and the view is that the next 12 months will be pretty much the same. For self-employed individuals, it will be more difficult to make up the year on year figures. Clearly, the 1066 economy is based around a diverse number of businesses, from micro businesses employing just one person, to larger business employing hundreds of people, although the major challenges have been within the hospitality and tourism sectors. Events have been taking place virtually, but this does not help the local economy. It has been reported that cars and caravan sales have been doing quite well.
Sean Dennis updated:
Comments received from the advisory team which covers East Sussex, Kent, Essex and the wider east of England is that comments are similar in these regions. Some sectors are benefitting, and others have caught up or still playing catch up. If the recovery continues in the current vein, they will have caught up by the end of the year. The obvious sectors ... view the full minutes text for item 5.
Brexit update
(Clive Galbraith / Sean Dennis)
11:30
Minutes:
Sean has sought feedback from his advice team, and it is understood that the focus for businesses is still currently around Covid and that Brexit is not yet on the radar. The micro businesses have a very local market and focus, with no imports or exports being undertaken and Brexit ranks very low in their priority areas of concern. The larger companies that undertake imports and exports are still not focusing on it in much detail as mitigation rules have previously been put in place, only for the rules to change again. The fundamental issue for any business of any size is uncertainly and currently there are still no answers to the questions that businesses have, and until that happens, it will be business as usual until the implications are known.
Marc advised that as of December 31st, any Europeans arriving in the country will have to be let into the country under whatever the new arrangements will be. Those who are already resident in the UK have until the end of June next year to apply to the settled status scheme which will protect the rights that they have built up, either giving them full rights to remain or pre-settled status. We are reaching a point when majority of citizens know they have to complete these applications. The final 10% of applicants are more complex cases which are being supported with their applications going forward.
Jane advised that supply chains are being reviewed, particularly for refuse trucks, cremator parts, etc. The biggest issue is lorries going into Kent and the infrastructure that may have to be built around Newhaven to enable use as a freight route. Until we know what the agreement is at the end of October, it is still hard to put firm plans in place.
Climate Emergency Strategy - workshop and sub-group invitation
(HBC)
11:40
Minutes:
Chantal Lass updated and thanked everyone that attended the workshop run by AECOM. AECOM has been working with HBC to help inform the Local Plan policies and with the climate emergency modelling.
At the workshop the initial findings from the recent Low Carbon Energy Study were presented. Slides from the workshop will be shared with the LSP. Action: Chantal
How we can work together as an LSP to address the climate emergency has been discussed previously. Some members have already come forward to join a sub-group to explore and address the issues. There is substantial funding available for this cause from various sources that LSP members may also benefit from. If anyone else is interested in joining the sub-group or has any questions, please contact Chantal: CLass@hastings.gov.uk
Any other business
11:55
Minutes:
Simon Neill advised that because of Covid, the fire and rescue service is finding it difficult to get in contact with communities and arrange home safety visits. It would be useful if the number for home safety and general wellbeing advice could be shared. ESFRS is looking at doing things in different ways but they do need to speak to people. Any ideas are welcome from partners. Further information will be sent through to circulate to the LSP. Action: Simon
Date of next meeting:
10:00, Monday, 11th January 2021
Minutes:
10:00, Monday, 11th January 2021
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