The Leader will give a verbal update.
Minutes:
At the invitation of the Chairman, the Leader of Council and Alistair Cunningham, Corporate Director< Growth, Investment and Place, and the Leader Officer responsible for the Salisbury Recovery group, gave a presentation on the Council’s response to the Salisbury incident.
In making her presentation, the Leader started by thanking Mr Cunningham and the officers who had acted so professionally to respond to challenges arising, noting that the Prime Minister had written personally to thank officers for their efforts.
Matters highlighted in the course of the presentation included: the actions taken immediately to the incident, and the plans to respond going forward; the resources drawn upon as part of the response; that Wiltshire Council became the lead agency for recovery from the end of March; the importance given to the economic recovery; the regular feedback received from and given to stakeholders; the lessons learnt on best practice from the actions taken in response; that the Ministerial Recovery Group is chaired by Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA); how the different partners and the public had been engaged with; the efforts that will be made to market the city for visitors; the paramount role for public health; how people impacted, directly and indirectly, were supported in their physical and mental health; the work undertaken to ensure sites are deemed to be safe; the important role played by the military, and the importance of having had good existing relationships.
Further issues raised included: the financial implications for the recovery; that all sites bar the Skripal house, had been released from the investigation to allow those sites to be cleaned and handed back to owners; the process to ensure that the sites are cleaned and safe, emphasising the thoroughness of the process undertaken by the military; the location of the sites and how the evidence of the relatively risk levels of the sites had been assessed; that the more complex indoor sites would be cleaned last; the work undertaken with central government to make it clear what the assessment of safety was; the work undertaken to trace all those that may have had contact with Skripals; the work particularly with the residents of the road where Mr Skripal lived; the work undertaken with community groups to answer questions to address initial anxieties; the specialist counselling services in place; the extent of the community engagement and the events planned to promote the city; the work done by the City Council and the cultural organisations to encourage visitors; the support given to the businesses directly affected and the economy in general; the impact on the number of visitors; the decisions made on parking and park-and-ride and the revisions to that strategy; the funding received from central government to support local agencies; the social media and website communication undertaken.
The Leader concluded the presentation with a request that the meeting show their thanks to all those that had supported and the four people seriously affected in their recovery.
Following the round of applause, the Chairman invited any questions and statements from the meeting.
Councillor Ian Thorn stated that he agreed with a lot of said already, thanking the councillors and officers on their response the incident, and welcomed the appointment of the new Cabinet member to provide a further continuing focus on the work.
Councillor Ricky Rogers thanked all those involved dealing with the unknown and dealing well in a difficult situation, and stated that he believed the response had shown best of how local government can work with partners. He congratulated the Leader of Wiltshire Council and Salisbury City Council for working together. Furthermore he welcomed the earlier decision regarding parking, and encouraged more people to visit the city.
Councillor Mary Douglas commented that people in the city had responded well to the incident, and made reference to the events promoted by churches and the cathedral.
Councillor Atiqul Hoque thanked officers and the team for responding quickly to local business’s needs.
Councillor Jerry Kunkler thanked officers for the professional and reassuring presence, and encouraged councillors to visit the city and support events held there.
Councillor Christopher Devine commended the job undertaken by all the agencies, and encouraged the opportunity to review how well the cooperation with agencies had done, referring to the importance of to communication with local division members in particular to help reassure the public.
Councillor Mathew Dean stated that he was personally pleased to see that city has responded with great resilience and stoicism, praising the work of the officers and councillors. He emphasised the ongoing impact on the economy, and congratulated the council for responding quickly on business rate relief and providing real support to businesses and staff. He concluded by emphasising that the city was open for business and encouraged all to come and visit.
Councillor Ian McLennan welcomed the efforts to promote a positive image of the city now that the eyes of the world were on it, and commended the leadership shown by officers and councillors.
Councillor Brain Dalton thanked the Leader and Wiltshire Council for the commitment shown to Salisbury. He stated that visitors were still coming to the city and more should be encouraged.
In response to some of the questions raised, the Leader stated that: plans for the redevelopment of the Maltings would be considered in due course and that the council was looking to work in particular with heritage and cultural partners to strengthen what Salisbury already had to offer visitors; that some discussion with businesses about support given may have taken place with central company offices where those shops were part of a national chain, but that officers had been making regular personal contact with businesses affected; that there could be an opportunity to review the lessons learnt from the incident, and that she personally wanted to use it as a catalyst to improve and develop the city.
At the conclusion of the item, the meeting;
Resolved
To note the update.