Minutes:
Mayor Jarvis MBE reported with great sadness the death of Councillor Nuala Fennelly, Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council. Nuala had led from the front. Her passion, talent and drive to improve the life chances of young people in Doncaster through her work on the region’s Education, Skills and Employment Board and to serve her community were, and will remain, humbling. Nuala would be very greatly missed.
Mayor Jones CBE added that Councillor Nuala Fennelly was the Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Schools for Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council. She had sadly passed away on 8 March 2021 after a short illness. She was a fantastic advocate for children and young people. She would be sadly missed, but not forgotten. She expressed the MCA’s sincere condolences to Councillor Nuala Fennelly’s husband, family and friends.
Mayor Jarvis MBE stated that tomorrow, 23 March 2021, would mark the one year anniversary since the Prime Minister had told everyone within the country to stay at home, save lives and to protect the NHS. It had been a year like no other. The latest Covid-19 position across South Yorkshire, like other parts of the country, showed that with the return of schools and more testing this had resulted in an increase to the case rates. In better news, to date, approximately 90% of people aged 60 and over in South Yorkshire have received their first vaccination dose, which was a great achievement. The impact of the vaccination programme was such that case rates by age group showed that the elderly now had the lowest case rates. In essence, we were being saved at the top end by the vaccines, and rates were rising at the bottom end with more testing of young people and workplaces.
Members noted that the pressure on the NHS had reduced significantly. Despite all of this, it was important to continue to be vigilant, to observe the social distancing rules and to do everything possible to stop the spread.
Mayor Jarvis MBE referred to the Budget that had been presented by the Chancellor of the Exchequer earlier in the month. Members’ attention was drawn to the extension of support to businesses and people to enable them to get through the immense challenges that had arisen from the Covid-19 pandemic. But sadly, as Mayor Jarvis MBE had already made clear publicly, there were some egregious decisions, particularly in relation to how the Government intended to prioritise its £4bn Levelling Up Fund. If South Yorkshire was going to be transformed, then it would need to be done so under its own steam; extraordinary times called for extraordinary measures. The decisions that would be taken by the Board today would put into place an £860m stimulus package for the region that would support the young people through a South Yorkshire Young People’s Pledge by investing in our places through £360m of funding projects in the next 12 months alone and the creation of the South Yorkshire Renewal Fund, which was worth up to £500m to help to deliver the major new programmes from 2022 onwards.
Mayor Jarvis MBE was pleased to update Members that by the end of March 2021, all of the £30m of additional funding that had been fought so hard to secure, would have reached the bank accounts of businesses across the region. This was a testament to the local council economic development teams in Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield.
Mayor Jarvis MBE wished to take the opportunity to put on record his thanks to Mark Lynam as he prepared to leave for pastures new. As the Director of Transport, Housing and Infrastructure in the MCA Executive, Mark had made a huge impact on the region’s economy and he would leave the MCA in a stronger position than ever before. Major Jarvis MBE and the Members would always appreciate Mark’s intellect, work ethic, the impact that he had made and his capacity to roll with the punches. On behalf of the MCA, he wished Mark the very best in West Yorkshire.