The meeting took place virtually and was led by Simon Clarke MP, the Minister of State for Regional Growth and Local Government. Together with his team, he heard first hand from a range of Cumbria’s leaders representing Cumbria County Council, the district and borough councils, local MP’s, the Local Enterprise Partnership and Lake District National Park.

Discussions focused around the emerging strategy for recovery and the county’s ambitious plans for its future. Cumbria’s representatives set out how Cumbria had been affected, sharing how well it had responded to the crisis and laying out its ambitions for successful social and economic recovery.

A statement issued on behalf of all of Cumbria’s partners said;

“Cumbria’s recovery and long term future is of the upmost importance and we have set out to government the significant impact that this pandemic has had on our communities and businesses. We are developing an ambitious approach to not only recover, but also to rethink and reimagine, a new and better future for our county.

“Despite the terrible impact of this pandemic, there have been some valuable lessons learnt and we must not lose sight of this in our plans to ‘build back better’ and deliver a better future for our communities and our businesses.

“Today has given us the opportunity to begin to set out our ambitions to government and start to explore with them what we need to help us deliver on our aspirations. We sincerely hope that this meeting is the start to helping us secure the funding and collaboration we need to make a difference and deliver on a brighter future for everyone in Cumbria.”

Minister for Regional Growth and Local Government Simon Clarke MP said:

“Cumbria’s people, businesses and councils are key to helping deliver the Government’s commitment to this country’s recovery and helping the North to bounce back stronger.

“I brought together local leaders to hear more about their work so far and their plans to drive forward economic recovery in this crucial stage of the national effort.

“Such positive and constructive partnership working is so important, and we will continue to support and engage with local leaders.”

Allerdale Borough Council's Deputy Leader, Cllr Mike Johnson, said:

"The Council welcomes the opportunity to discuss directly with government how well local government has responded to the needs of central government, our communities, residents and businesses throughout the COVID crisis. It now welcomes the opportunities to support our communities and businesses to recovery and drive sustainable and renewed growth for Allerdale and Cumbria."