LIVERPOOL CITY REGION COMBINED AUTHORITY To: The Metro Mayor and Members of the Combined Authority Meeting: 4 June 2021 Authority/Authorities Affected: All EXEMPT/CONFIDENTIAL ITEM: No REPORT OF THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE LIVERPOOL CITY REGION COMBINED AUTHORITY END OF YEAR REVIEW 2020- 2021 1. PURPOSE OF REPORT 1.1 The purpose of this report is to highlight some of the achievements of the LCR Combined Authority during the 2020-21 municipal year. 2. RECOMMENDATIONS 2.1 It is recommended that the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority: (a) agree the End of Year Review 2020-21; and (b) any amendments/insertions be made in consultation with the Metro Mayor and Chief Executive. 3. BACKGROUND 3.1 The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA) is the Combined Authority for the Liverpool City Region, an area that covers the metropolitan county of Merseyside and the adjacent Borough of Halton. The Combined Authority was established on 1st April 2014 by statutory instrument under the provisions of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009. 3.2 The LCR Combined Authority is led by the directly elected Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram and brings together Liverpool City Region‟s six local authorities which are Halton Borough Council, Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council, Liverpool City Council, Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council, St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council and Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council (“the six Constituent Authorities ”). In addition to the Metro Mayor, the membership of the Combined Authority also includes the Leaders of the five constituent Local Authorities, the elected Mayor of Liverpool City Council, the Chair of the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), Co-opted and Associate Members and designated Deputy Portfolio Holders. The LCR Combined Authority has a range of powers including economic and spatial development, transport, skills, planning and housing. 3.3 It is envisaged that this end of year review will promote the work of the LCR Combined Authority to elected members, residents and key stakeholders across the City Region and beyond. 4. ACHIEVEMENTS DURING 2020-21 4.1 A range of financial investmens were t agreed by the LCR Combined Authority during 2020/21. These investments will contribute towards the LCR Combined Authority achieving its priorities in. In practical terms this financial investment has created of jobs, and contributed positiveltowards the GVA of the City Region and ensures that the City Region is in a strong position to respond to the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. 4.2 The LCR Combined Authority recognises that these successes can only be achieved in partnership with the six Constituent Authorities along with the LCR Local Enterprise Partnership, transport providers and a variety of stakeholders in the public, private and higher education sector 4.3 Response to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Pandemic Following the declaration by the World Health Organisation regarding Covid-19, the Combined Authority, at its meeting on 20 March 2020 began to ready itself, as an organisation, to deal with the first national lockdown which commenced on 23 March 2020 by strengthening organisational resilience and facilitating flexible decision making . During 2020/21, the work of the Combined Authority focused heavily on facilitating and providing financial support to businesses across the City Region, who had been impacted by lockdowns and limited trading opportunities during the coronavirus pandemic. The success of ensuring this financial support was received by organisations was testament to the collaborative partnership working with the Combined Authority and the constituent Local Authorities. The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and its Officers have supported the response and recovery to the pandemic, through the Local Resilience Forum (LRF) structure, including leading the Transport Cell and active engagement in the Communications Cell, PPE Cell, Regulation & Compliance Cell, Emergency Services Cell, the Test, Track and Trace Cell, as well as wider links into the Tactical Co- ordinating Group (TCG) and Strategical Co-ordinating Group (SCG). Our constituent Local Authorities have had and continue to have a pivotal role in supporting their local communities through the pandemic and dealing with the economic and social consequences of it. Officers have been at the forefront of the response to the pandemic and a small example of their work includes: supporting the logistical delivery of food to those who were shielding; disbursing economic support to businesses and individuals; providing support to those who were most vulnerable; and establishing testing centres. In what was a challenging year, the constituent Local Authorities and Combined Authority officers have excelled and their ability to go above and beyond in supporting their communities is a testament to this. 4.6 Economic Recovery Panel The Economic Recovery Panel for the City Region was established in June 2020. Chaired by the Metro Mayor, Panel membership included local business leaders, representatives of central government and national bodies, council leaders and members of the Local Enterprise Partnership Board. The objective of the Panel was to maximise the impact of economic recovery funding to help individuals, businesses, third sector, public and community organisations to build back better in the aftermath of the pandemic. 4.7 Economic Recovery Plan Following discussions at the Economic Recovery Panel and through intense and comprehensive engagement with constituent councils and key stakeholders, the Combined Authority at its meeting on 31 July 2020, agreed to the publication of the post Covid-19 Economic Recovery Plan. The plan, „Building Back Better‟ identified interventions, programmes and projects to respond to the evidence on the City Region economy and what worked in public investment. The aim of the plan was to secure devolved funding from Government to: Support existing businesses to recover, grow and create decent jobs; radically improve our ecosystem for growth businesses; and deliver the next generation of strategic economic infrastructure – all with private investment now and in the future. Protect our gains in education, skills and employment and prepare our workforce for future growth industries. Allow our vibrant city centre to lead us to recovery; execute towns revival plans with our private and community sectors to create future places of distinction. Launch three major green initiatives, two of which have national importance. The plan seeks to secure an investment of £1.4bn to unlock £8.8bn worth of projects that can begin in the next 12-months in the Liverpool City Region. The projects will seek to create 94,000 jobs, a further 28,000 jobs in construction and secure employment for 26,000 people who are not in work. The plan also looks to secure the development of 19,000 new homes, retrofit a further 6.500 homes and bring forward 562k sqm of new commercial and retail floorspace. 4.8 Hospitality and Leisure Fund In response to the impact of the pandemic on the hospitality and leisure sector, a Hospitality and Leisure Fund was established to support businesses directly impacted by the pandemic. On 5 October 2020, in anticipation of receipt of Government Funding, the Metro Mayor announced the establishment of an emergency aid package specifically targeted towards the hospitality and leisure sector. Government passed emergency secondary legislation on 14 October 2020. As a consequence of this the Liverpool City Region was classed as Tier 3 and therefore attracted Additional Restrictions Grant amounting to £31m. Within the Liverpool City Region there are over 50,000 jobs and 4,000 businesses in the hospitality and leisure sector, contributing £5 billion per annum to the economy. In recognition of the importance of the hospitality and leisure sector the Fund was devised to support viable hospitality, leisure and retail businesses so that they can continue trading and to optimise employment retention in the short to medium term. Officers worked closely with business to identify appropriate and effective criteria that enabled resources to be directed to areas of utmost risk and where impact on employment was greatest. Officers also worked with the Local Enterprise Partnership to ensure that the voice of business was represented as the scheme progressed. The Government funding was received in November 2020 and £20m has been distributed to our constituent Local Authorities. Campaigns to generate applications for the funding were run by each council, targeted to meet their circumstances. The funding is issued on common terms and conditions jointly agreed between the Combined Authority and constituent Local Authorities. In the first round of the Hospitality and Leisure Fund, approximately 1600 business applied from across the constituent Local Authorities. In addition, licensed taxi drivers, in the Liverpool City Region have had a scheme devised and tailored to their needs, through the constituent Local Authorities, which allowed them to secure a rebate on their licensing fees. Round 2 of the Hospitality and Leisure Fund was launched in November 2020 and there was approximately was £12.5million available. In addition the Combined Authority identified and reserved £3m to fund innovative ideas and initiatives to aid and assist businesses to operate positively under the new Tiers and restrictions. 4.9 LCRCares The LCR Combined Authority launched the LCRCares