Comment: Enormous challenge to reset and restart Fife's economy

There was much to discuss when councillors meet online for the first time this week.

The past eight weeks have thrown up challenges more profound and as far reaching than any re-organisation of local government.

The reports from senior officers on the impact, and cost, of the pandemic, made for sobering reading.

The cost to Fife Council stands at £30m, and that number may rise further still.

The damage done to the region’s economy has yet to be calculated, but it will be considerable, and painful.

https://www.fifetoday.co.uk/news/politics/council/fife-council-plans-taskforce-lead-lockdown-recovery-2860465

https://www.fifetoday.co.uk/news/people/patients-may-have-been-moved-fife-care-homes-without-coronavirus-testing-2860721

It may take several years to recover. Some of it may never return in the same robust health.

As everything changes post-pandemic, so the council faces a massive undertaking as it has to re-calibrate its entire office-based structure – changes that will impact directly on thousands of employees – and look at how services too may have to be re-shaped.

Every decision it reaches will also impact directly on families across the Kingdom.

And every decision comes with a financial cost – so where to start?

One line leapt from the page: “There is a risk that if recovery from COVID-19 is not effectively managed and coordinated, Fife’s communities and Fife Council, as an organisation, are negatively impacted leading to Fife being unable to return to be a great place to live, work, visit and re-invest.”

Councillors can be in no doubt they now face the biggest challenge of their political careers steering the ship to calmer waters.

To reset and re-start Fife’s economy will require clear leadership at every single step – from elected members and executive officers.

It also calls for fresh, cross-party thinking and collaboration, and for the Scottish Government to work closer than ever with local authorities.

The hard work is only just beginning …

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Allan Crow, Editor, Fife Free Press