Board reviews Council’s Recovery Action Plan
At the Recovery Board held on 7 October 2020, Members were asked to consider the latest progress of the Council’s Recovery Action plan – actions in Phase 2 and due for completion by end September 2020. The Recovery Action Plan reinforces the Council’s overall objectives of recovery, with strong emphasis on the Economic Recovery of the Highlands and the Council’s own financial recovery.
In the report the challenges associated with actions required in response to the pandemic were reiterated. The Board agreed that it is testament to the diligence of staff, partners, communities and businesses, and their enduring efforts, that the Recovery Action Plan is sustained alongside resilience and the reactive tasking required to maintain the delivery of services in a highly volatile and changing situation.
The report highlighted that important work on all the 11 key priorities continues alongside resilience efforts and some key areas of work are being progressed. These include Service Redesign which focuses on re-shaping Council Services for the future; Workforce Planning, led by the Redesign Board to understand our Workforce requirements for the future; and the Workforce Data Project which aims to better meet the Council’s data needs going forward. All three of these major initiatives are critical enablers for the Council to move forward in Recovery and beyond.
The Board also received detailed updates on other significant areas of work including Climate Change, Recovery of the Highland Economy, Leadership, Culture and Performance, Brexit and Tourism.
Depute Leader of The Highland Council, Cllr Alasdair Christie who chairs the Council’s Recovery Board said: “Work on all aspects of Recovery and resilience continues at pace despite the continuing uncertainties arising from the ongoing pandemic. Our design and dynamic approach mean that we are well placed to respond to the fluid environment that we will all be working and living with for some time to come, which reinforces the importance for parallel recovery and resilience activity.
“The well-being of all our citizens is paramount and at the forefront of everything we do for recovery and resilience. We will continue to shape and make decisions on that basis.”