Recovery work discussed at Council

At today’s meeting of the Highland Council, Members considered an update on the positive and rapid progress that has been made with the Recovery Action Plan to lead the Highland communities and businesses out of the economic crisis. The Recovery Action Plan reinforces the Council’s overall objectives of recovery and sets out a series of actions to support the Council’s financial recovery.

The report detailed the considerable efforts by staff to enable the return of schools, ensuring the cleanliness of our schools and the safety of our pupils and school-based staff continues to be a priority on an ongoing basis. The ongoing challenges around Supporting the Highland Economy and work on Community Empowerment were also highlighted. The Council noted that the next meeting of the Board would receive an update on readiness for Brexit and how we can ensure that this is taken account of with recovery. A significant opportunity presents itself on how the Council as part of the Recovery Action Plan can contribute towards Climate Change and this will be reported at the October meeting.

The update emphasised that the Recovery process is large and complex with a significant number of work strands, where the challenging health and working environment are reflective of emergent guidance, requiring agile responses and action in the current context.

Alasdair Christie, the Deputy Leader of the Council and Chair of the Recovery Board said: “The Recovery Action Plan continues to underpin The Highland Council’s commitment to supporting the Highlands, our communities, businesses and our most vulnerable groups.

“The Recovery Board is not about revolution it is about restoration. Our staff have done an outstanding job in restoring services while still responding to the impacts of Covid.  It is testament to the commitment of all our council staff, our partners, our pupils, communities and businesses that they have responded so effectively to the emerging demands and complied with the public health guidance and government decisions to supress the virus.

“There is now becoming a blurred line between the end of the pandemic and the start of recovery and it is clear that the emerging picture is one where we will need to continue to respond to rising numbers of Covid and local outbreaks over the coming weeks and months and the challenges that this presents to the Highlands. Together with our partners, we are ready to face the challenges ahead.”