Agenda and minutes

(A period not exceeding 20 minutes for questions and statements from

members of the public and Elected Members to the Mayor of Doncaster, Ros Jones. Questions/Statements should relate specifically to an item of business on the agenda and be limited to a maximum of 100 words. As stated within Executive Procedure Rule 3.3 each person will be allowed to submit one question/statement per meeting.A question may only be asked if notice has been given by delivering it in writing or by e-mail to the Governance Team no later than 5.00 p.m. of the third working day before the day of the meeting. Each question or statement must give the name and address of the person submitting it. Questions/Statements should be sent to the Governance Team, Floor 2, Civic Office, Waterdale, Doncaster, DN1 3BU, or by email to Democratic.Services@doncaster.gov.uk)

There were no public questions or statements made at the meeting.

Decision records from the meeting held on 30th June, 2020 were noted.

Cabinet considered a report which proposed a plan to help support local people, local businesses and local voluntary groups, and to mitigate the impact Covid-19 has had on the Borough’s local economy.  The three phased plan, ‘Restart, Recovery and Renewal’, also took into account the local floods in November 2019, and the recent wild fire at Hatfield Moors.

The key focus of the three-phased plan was set out at paragraph 15 of the report and the more detailed plan attached to the report as Annex A.

The Plan, if approved, would be taken forward within a new longer term Borough Strategy and Corporate Plan for 2021-22.

Mayor Ros Jones, in introducing the report, made the following statement:-

“The last 8 months have stretched Doncaster’s resolve, resources and resilience like never before.

The Covid-19 pandemic arrived as we were dealing with the devastation caused by the floods of last winter.  A wildfire on Hatfield Moor in May, has also required a huge multi-agency response.  

Doncaster Council and our partners across Doncaster and South Yorkshire, have deployed their collective resources, networks and expertise in response to the Covid-19 crisis.

This includes:-

• The delivery of my 10-point plan and fight back fund which I announced in March;
• Opening the Community Hub to provide food parcels and to support the most vulnerable;

• Providing a three month Council Tax and council housing rent holiday for people struggling financially; and

• Boosting funding for voluntary groups, 20% of which went to Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) groups, to help tackle inequalities.   

Throughout it all, the focus has been on the health and well-being of our residents.    

This sense of humility, despite the relentless strain on key workers, has been truly inspirational.    

It is still a volatile situation and we must manage any further outbreaks. 

We also need to build upon our achievements and start to look to horizons and opportunities beyond the immediate crisis. 

The next nine months will start the transition towards building a better Borough.

Work needs to progress in earnest to ‘build-back better’ for the longer term towards a cleaner, greener, more resilient, prosperous and inclusive Borough for all. 

This work is already underway through the work on the South Yorkshire Recovery and Resilience Strategy.  We are also working with Sheffield City Region on an Economic Recovery Plan.   

I would like to bring this work together into a single Doncaster Plan,a plan with three sections:-

1. Restart - getting services back up and running and safely opening up our economy;

2. Recovery - what can we collectively put in place to help families and businesses recover; and

3. Renewal - the actions we can take now to improve well-being in the future.

Each of these sections have specific actions, as set out in the Annex to the report.  

Collectively, they address a wide range of well-being challenges, including health, housing, employment, skills, the environment, resilience and inequalities.  

We can hit the ground running with many of the actions, given the progress ‘Team Doncaster’ has  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.