Agenda item

The Associate Director, Place Strategy & Infrastructure introduced a report that updated on the Council’s Covid Recovery Strategy.

The Council had reacted swiftly in response to the pandemic in March 2020 and in addition to the immediate response it had been developing plans for the economic recovery and renewal of the town.  The Recovery Strategy was aligned to the Five Year Plan and 2040 Vision.  It was noted that the Government had set out a ‘Roadmap’ to ease restrictions from the current national lockdown and this would help start the process of economic recovery.

The priorities of Slough’s recovery plan included supporting business recovery and reopening; supporting vulnerable residents, for example with debt advice; tackle backlogs in demand for services; improving access to Council services through the new operating model; building on the community and partnership work of One Slough; and adapting to the workforce flexibility that had become a feature of the past year.  A key priority was to tackle the rise in unemployment and the Committee was updated on the Future Skills Hub and Slough Innovation Space projects.

Members highlighted the importance of building up a very clear understanding of the labour market with high quality data and information to ensure action plans and projects were properly targeted.  It was important to ensure practical support was provided, for example, the www.berkshireopportunities.co.uk website that had recently gone live to help people find new jobs did not appear to have a high number of available positions in Slough.  Officers were therefore asked to ensure that as many local jobs as possible were advertised through such sites and that other practical help was in place such as support for CV writing and interview techniques.  In relation to data and intelligence, the Associate Director commented that one of the key features of the Council’s new operating model was a data and insight team to help inform plans and service delivery.  The Committee also discussed the impact of changing working patterns arising from the pandemic and the type of businesses that may benefit from the Slough Innovation Space project.

It was noted that a further report on the innovation space and and skills hub projects would be presented to the Committee and to Cabinet later in the year.  The report was noted.

Resolved –

(a)  That the updated on the Council’s Covid Recovery Strategy be noted.

(b)  That an update on the Future Skills Hub and Innovation Space projects be presented to the Committee later in 2021.