The two-year plan to help Hartlepool recover from effects of pandemic

Hartlepool Borough Council bosses have drawn up an initial Covid-19 ‘recovery and renewal plan’ looking at the forecast longer term social and economic impacts of the pandemic in the area.

This will involve looking at the short term, medium term and long term impacts of Covid-19, stretching to cover the next 24 months.

Local authority chiefs have also identified two immediate opportunities to ‘repurpose’ council funds to start the process of supporting businesses to rebuild and to invest in the voluntary and community sector to support those in need.

Council officers previously earmarked £500,000 of the devolved Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) Indigenous Growth fund toward a local business investment scheme.

They are now proposing to allocate £200,000 of the cash to create a business support fund to assist organisations meet the costs of business plans, skill development and the purchase of equipment to help them adapt to changing circumstances.

The remaining £300,000 would be allocated to helping Hartlepool’s visitor and tourism economy and assets.

Council chiefs are also proposing to bring together a range of funding streams earmarked to tackle poverty and hardship into a single ‘community fund’ of £225,000.

Of this £200,000 will be allocated to supporting community-led initiatives aimed at tackling poverty and hardship and £25,000 towards providing new out-of-school opportunities for vulnerable children and young people.

The plan comes as part of a report from chief executive Gill Alexander and director of regeneration and neighbourhoods Denise McGuckin.

The report noted although Hartlepool came into the pandemic ‘in a position of relative strength’ there are a number of challenges which will have to be tackled.

It said: “There is a high level of risk that the social and economic impact of Covid-19 will be deep and far reaching and will hit the poorest communities the hardest.

“The Recovery and Renewal Plan sets out an approach to engage stakeholders in mitigating the impact of the virus.

“The Covid-19 Recovery and Renewal Plan is directed towards addressing the impact of poverty and tackling root causes.

“The Renewal and Recovery Plan and initial recovery investment priorities will enable the council to fulfil its statutory duty to provide strong community leadership in response to the Covid-19 crisis.”

The report also references consultations with businesses done to date and the impact the pandemic has had across the Tees Valley.

A business survey, carried out by the TVCA, estimated 13% Tees Valley workers may lose their jobs by the end of 2020, while 83% of all businesses said they require financial support and advice.

As part of the efforts working groups will be established involving partner agencies, representatives of the voluntary and community sector, faith communities and business leaders.

Each working group will develop and deliver ‘dynamic action plans which will adapt to changing circumstances’.

The recovery and renewal plan along with the proposed support funding plans will go before the council finance and policy committee on Thursday August 13 at 10am.

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