Agenda item

Councillor Matthew Green, Cabinet Member for Business and Planning, to provide a verbal update to the Committee on current and forthcoming issues in his portfolio and to answer questions from Members.

5.1      Councillor Matthew Green (Cabinet Member for Business & Planning) provided a verbal update on current and forthcoming issues in his portfolioand responded to questions from Members.

5.2      The Planning Service had continued to function effectively online, with officers working remotely and virtual Planning Committees being streamed on the City Council’s website with good viewing figures. Although site visits had been slowed down by the lack of access to properties, consideration was being given to how visits could be safely reactivated. 

5.3      The City Plan had been submitted to the Secretary of State in November and was now in the examination phase which would include a public hearing. Although all public hearings had been postponed in response to the pandemic, it was hoped they would reconvene in October, which would enable the City Plan to be adopted by the end of the year or early 2021 at the latest. 

5.4      Although a number of Place Shaping schemes had not moved forward due to staff mostly being redeployed to work on highways and support the response to Covid-19, Public Realm projects had continued to be delivered across Westminster with work being done responsibly.

5.5      In addition to the creation of Westminster Connects, a further positive of the pandemic had been the redefinition of the way the City Council worked with its partners and with businesses. Consultation with businesses on the support they needed to re-open had led to the first phase of the Movement Strategy, in which 5 miles of barriers and cones had been installed across Westminster to allow pavements to be extended so people could move about safely. Businesses were also playing an active role in discussions on how the City and its hospitality industries could re-open; and the City Council was lobbying the Government to enable local authorities to make temporary changes to licences, which would enable premises to have a greater number of tables and chairs outside.

5.6      As Westminster entered the recovery stage from Covid-19, measures were being taken to support businesses with additional information that would connect them with residents. The City Council had recognised that the recovery would be resident led, so had launched the Shop Local Campaign on its website which included an interactive map for residents showing which shops and business were open and trading. The Committee noted that over 250 businesses had registered with Shop Local, and Members were asked to urge their local businesses to provide details of their services.

5.7      The Westminster Business Unit had received over 2000 enquiries since the beginning of March, and the team had been given additional support by staff being redeployed from other areas such as the library service.  Advice on queueing provided by the Business Unit in support of the re-opening strategy had been shared country wide as best practice; and work with the Public Protection and Licensing services to produce guidelines for the re-opening of non-essential businesses and hospitality services was ongoing. Non-essential retail units were also returning to Westminster’s markets, with 60 properly socially distanced managed stalls trading again at Church Street.

5.8      Although the Government had introduced a scheme of Small Business Grants for businesses across the country, the City Council had been disappointed with the qualifying threshold of ratable value needing to be less than £51,000, which only represented a small percentage of businesses in Westminster.  The Leader of the City Council had asked that the threshold be extended, but this had not been taken up. Westminster had been the first local authority to launch the Small Business Grants scheme which had a closing date for applications of 11 June, and it was hoped that grants would be awarded by 25 June. The Committee noted that although £4 million had been allocated to the City Council in discretionary funding for businesses that had not been eligible for the grants, this had been less than was hoped for.

5.9      The Committee discussed the City Council’s Movement Strategy and highlighted the importance of balancing the needs of business with residents. Committee Members also highlighted that need of maintaining parking facilities for shoppers, and for consultation with residents and campaign groups to protect residential amenity. 

5.10    The Committee noted the contribution made by the Westminster Employment Service in supporting rough sleepers and providing them with hotel and hostel accommodationduring the pandemic, and in supporting residents and BAME communities back into work.

5.11    The City Council had also continued to stage the pop-up Business School, with the latest sessions being adapted to the Covid-19 crisis. The sessions had been held fully online with the two-week course focusing on business resilience and adaptation. The Committee noted that demand had been high, with one of the programmes having been attended by 250 people.

5.12    The Committee commented on the reduced levels of pollution in Westminster during the lockdown and sought assurance that this would be a post-Covid opportunity rather than a temporary effect. Committee Members also highlighted the need for the City Council to work more closely with developers on the construction and use of buildings, in order to achieve the objective of a climate neutral Westminster by 2040. The Cabinet Member suggested that pollution could be further reduced, and air quality improved by coordinating trade and commercial waste vehicles.   

5.13    The Committee commented on the importance of the cultural sector, which was a major source of income in Westminster, and highlighted the need to support associated businesses that would reopen at the same time as theatres. 

5.14    Other issues discussed included government discussion on deregulating the planning system and the need to maintain the obligation for developers to provide affordable housing and encouraging retail businesses in Harrow Road and Church Street. The Committee also discussed the need for people to be retrained in response to a post-Covid shift in business; linking up businesses with the caring community; and removing racist and discriminatory comments made online in connection with planning applications.