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CCIN Members’ Update March 2021
- 3rd Mar 2021
Councillor Sharon Taylor OBE, Chair of the CCIN & Leader of Stevenage Borough Council
Welcome to the March edition of Update
From 8 March, people in England will see restrictions start to lift with the government’s four-step roadmap offering a route back to a more ‘normal life’. Building Back Greener as the new ‘normal’ is something Co-operative Councils are working hard to achieve.
The Covid-19 pandemic has decimated our high streets, as many big-name retailers have announced that their stores will not be re-opening. Unemployment rates have been ‘suppressed’ with the Furlough Scheme as we wait to see the real impact on the economy. The long-term effect on our school children is immeasurable, with those from poorer backgrounds impacted the most.
In this edition, we take a look at some of the innovative work taking place across the Network to tackle some of these issues. Cheshire West & Chester Council has been using AI to respond to the unprecedented demand in enquiries. Also, read how South Ribble Council works with deprived communities to get children the tech and data to get them learning again.
This month we reveal our funded projects for 2021, where we are investing £79k in Member projects to find co-operative solutions to the challenges facing local government. This includes a Policy Lab being led by Cheshire West & Chester Council on Understanding the Digital Divide, which will produce a two-step toolkit allowing councils to create a clear baseline of who needs help and where they live. 16 CCIN members have already agreed to support this initiative.
Finally, we’re featuring two Blogs this month. The first is from Cllr Tom Hayes, Deputy Leader of Oxford City Council, who explains how the city aims to be a net-zero city by 2040. Tom won the LGiU Environment and Sustainability Pioneer 2020 Award, and we’re delighted to hear how they plan to achieve this goal. Our second blog is from Steve Reed OBE, MP our Honorary President, and Shadow Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government. Steve talks about how making Britain more equal isn’t just a moral imperative; it’s our patriotic duty.
I hope that you enjoy this Member Update.
Stay safe.
Sharon
