Highland Council commits to working with businesses to recover from coronavirus setbacks
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Highland Council will work with the region's business community in a bid to recover from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
The local authority – which is facing a near-£100 million budget black hole due to the health crisis – staged the first meeting of a new recovery board today.
Members discussed at length the impact of Covid-19 on the region's economy and the need for a Highland-wide approach to recovery and attracting new businesses to the area.
Board chairman Alasdair Christie and senior council officials have been looking at ways to work with a variety of sectors.
“The council has a pivotal role in assisting all sectors with economic recovery and developing a collaborative plan,” he said.
Progress will be reported to a full council meeting on June 25.
The board also agreed a revised timetable of committee meetings to be approved by full council.
A council spokeswoman added: "The [board] meeting was held online as a result of a huge amount of work which has enabled greatly increased digital capacity and a secure and stable platform to be provided for online meetings."
The board includes councillors and council officials. A staff union representative will be at its next meeting.
Membership of the recovery board is as follows:
- Depute leader, Councillor Alasdair Christie
- Councillor Glynis Campbell-Sinclair
- Councillor Carolyn Caddick
- Councillor Ian Cockburn
- Leader, Councillor Margaret Davidson
- Councillor Ken Gowans
- Councillor Jimmy Gray
- Councillor Andrew Jarvie
- Convener, Councillor Bill Lobban
- Budget leader, Councillor Alister Mackinnon
- Councillor Peter Saggers
Officials:
- Chief executive Donna Manson
- Executive chief officer Malcolm MacLeod
- Interim executive chief officer Allan Gunn
