Agendas, reports and minutes

Minutes of the Meeting of the Highland Council Recovery Board held remotely on Wednesday 15 July 2020 at 10.30am.

Present:-

Mr A Christie (Chair), Ms C Caddick, Dr I Cockburn, Mr J Gibson (non-voting), Mr K Gowans, Mr J Gray, Mr A Jarvie, Mr B Lobban, Mr M MacLeod (non-voting), Mr P Saggers

Non-Members also present:-

Mr G Adam, Mr B Boyd, Mr R Bremner, Mr J Bruce, Mr J Finlayson, Mr R Gale, Mr A Graham, Mr T Heggie, Mr A Henderson, Mr D Louden, Mrs B McAllister, Mr S Mackie, Mr J McGillivray, Mr A MacInnes, Mrs A MacLean, Mr D Macpherson, Mr T Robertson, Mr G Ross, Mr B Thompson,

Officers Present:-

Mrs C McDiarmid, ECO Communities and Place
Mr P Senior, ECO Education and Learning
Mr M Bailey, Commercial and Efficiency Team Manager
Ms R Cleland, Corporate Communications Manager
Mrs L Dunn, Principal Administrator

Mr A Christie in the Chair

Preliminaries

Prior to commencing the meeting, the Chair gave a reminder that the Recovery Board operated as a Project Management Office (PMO) with the key role being to review and take assurance of the progress being made against the Plan, in the instance Phase 1 to 30 June 2020, and make any necessary recommendations to Council.

He further advised that there would be a Workshop on 28 July 2020 to examine Climate Change, Community Empowerment and Return to Schools which would also include provision of broadband vouchers in the event of having to operate a blended learning model.

1. Apologies for Absence

An apology for absence was intimated on behalf of Mrs G Campbell-Sinclair, Mrs M Davidson, Mr A Gunn, Mrs D Manson and Mr A Mackinnon.

2. Declarations of Interest

There were no declarations of interest.

3. Minutes of Previous Meeting

There had been circulated the Minutes of the previous meeting held on 18 June 2020, the terms of which APPROVED.

4. Recovery Action Plan: Progress Update

There had been circulated Report No RB/11/20 dated 7 July 2020 by the Executive Chief Officer Transformation.

During discussion, the following main points were raised:-

• Members welcomed the report which provided a good level of detail in a user-friendly format and also the opportunity to access real-time status of the Recovery Plan and associated actions via the Performance and Risk Management system (PRMS).  If successful, consideration should be given to rolling out access of this performance measurement tool across other committees;
• Further information was sought and provided in regard to slippage of IT actions.  In addition, concern was expressed that the VPN system was performing poorly and this needed to be addressed.  The Chair advised that an update would be provided on this aspect and circulated to the Recovery Board;
• With regard to Supporting the Recovery of the Highland Economy, there was a need for Member representation at meetings being held with business sector partners.  The Chair agreed but highlighted that that this needed to be at a strategic level and advised he would provide further information on how this could be delivered;
• In response to a number of concerns raised, the Chair provided assurance that Members would be able to contribute and provide feedback on the Capital Plan at a forthcoming seminar with the final Plan being presented to Council for approval.  In addition, it was stressed that there was a need for projects within the Plan to be fully progressed to bid and shovel ready stage in order to quickly capitalise on any Government funding opportunities and this was acknowledged.  The need for the Early Learning and Childcare Capital Plan to be delivered was further stressed and an update on this was also sought.  It was queried whether the site survey had been undertaken on Tain Campus and whether the stakeholder survey, which had been paused, to ascertain views from the community on what the campus should consist of would be restarted;
• It was queried, and assurance was provided, that the vulnerable household data would be shared with local area committees to inform local recovery plans.  In addition, disappointment was expressed at the shortage of resourcing of this issue as the provision of this data would enable the Council to help those most in need;
• With regard to Asset Management, confirmation was provided that all necessary health and safety checks, which included legionella controls,  were being undertaken on all Council properties;
• Further information and assurance was sought with regard to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and ensuring that there would be adequate supply chain availability particularly in the event of a second wave of Covid-19.  It was suggested that there could be a significant increase in demand for PPE and it was indicated that it would be helpful in terms of reducing supply risks if the Council used more than one supplier.  It was also queried whether staff would be required to wear masks in offices.  However, concern was expressed that the instances in which PPE should be utilised were being misunderstood.  It was highlighted that PPE was a last resort and should only be utilised if other mitigating actions could not be taken, i.e. the Council should implement a solution which provided staff with a safe place to work without the need for PPE and therefore PPE would only be required in instances where this could not be achieved.   On that basis, there should not be a requirement for significantly increased demand for PPE.  The Chair recommended that advice on PPE be sought from the NHS Highland Director of Public Health in consultation with the Trade Union and this be emailed to the Board.  He further recommended that the report to Council be amended to include and an additional section on PPE including assurance of adequate supplies and supply chain provisions;
• With regard to Leadership, Culture and Performance, it was felt that this strand would be hardest element of the Plan to deliver and this would be considered in more detail at the August 2020 workshop.   It was suggested that the Senior Leadership Programme should include more peer coaching to improve effectiveness and the timescales for Phase 1, particularly in regard to Quality Improvement and Performance, had been too ambitious.   The excellent response to the staff survey was also welcomed; and
• Further information was sought and provided on the proposals to replace the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.

Following discussion, the Board:-

1. NOTED and took assurance at the progress being achieved with Phase 1 of the Recovery Action Plan to 30 June 2020;
2. NOTED the significant challenges the Council faced in delivering this action including the emergent issues and demands of a national pandemic;
3. AGREED that advice on PPE be sought from the NHS Highland Director of Public Health in consultation with the Trade Unions and this be emailed to the Board;
4. AGREED that the Action Plan be submitted to the next meeting of the Council on 30 July 2020 and that the report be amended to include a section on PPE requirements and supply chain assurances;
5. NOTED that the Minutes of the first meeting of the Economic Recovery Task Force held on 8 July 2020 would be circulated to the Board;
6. NOTED that there would be Member representation at a strategic level in regard to Supporting the Recovery of the Highland Economy and the Chair would advise on how this would be delivered; and
7. AGREED that an update be provided from the Head of ICT and Digital Transformation on the work being undertaken to improve VPN access.

The meeting was closed at 11.02am.