Decision details

To establish a £2m Fund to support interventions that address some of the economic impacts of Covid-19.

That the Leader of the Council:-

(i)            authorises the reallocation of the £2m allocation earmarked for District Centres in the Council’s 2020 Budget, to immediate Covid 19 economic recovery measures;

(ii)          authorises the establishment of the Sheffield Covid 19 Economic Recovery Fund with this reallocated funding;

(iii)         agrees that at least 75% of the funding should be targeted on measures that directly support District Centres;

(iv)         notes that the monies in the Fund will still come from the Corporate Investment Fund (CIF) in accordance with the allocation for District Centres.  However, to ensure that any legal restrictions on particular funding sources contained within the CIF are complied with the most appropriate funding source from within CIF will be selected on a project by project basis;

(v)          delegates authority to manage and agree expenditure from the Covid 19 Economic Recovery Fund, including by awarding grants, approving procurement strategies and awarding contracts, to the Director of City Growth in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Business and Investment, the Director of Financial and Commercial Services and the Sheffield Covid 19 Economic Recovery Fund Steering Group, with any proposed capital schemes being reported to Capital Programme Group; and

(vi)         agrees the establishment of a Member led, Sheffield Covid 19 Economic Recovery Fund Steering Group, to be Chaired by the Cabinet Member for Business and Investment, to oversee the use of the fund and advise both Cabinet, on proposed capital projects from the fund, and the Director of City Growth, in the discharging of his delegated authority as described above.

The proposal is in order to support Sheffield’s businesses and communities to safely recover from the effects of the Covid 19 pandemic.

The alternative option is to not reallocate funding to enable short term activity in response to Covid 19 and instead, maintain the original plan of a project to assess the vibrancy of District Centres. This report argues that the unprecedented nature of the Covid 19 pandemic means massive damage is being done to our businesses, communities and district centres that needs more immediate focus.

None