Decision– That the oral report of the Deputy Leader
and Cabinet Member for Economy and Skills giving an update on
“Staffordshire Means Back to Business” activity
including the following matters be noted:
Increases in fuel and
energy prices would continue to present a number of challenges to
the local economy and, working with our Districts and Boroughs and
other partners, the Councils’ continued support for
businesses locally.
The continuation of
the Council’s Staffordshire Means Business programme which
had delivered assistance to hundreds of Staffordshire businesses
and supported the creation of 400 new Apprenticeships.
Proposals for the
Council’s new Start Up and Step-Up Business support package
aimed at helping those wanting to start and grow their own business
which had a strong focus on making those businesses
resilient.
Staffordshire’s
Universal Credit figures which showed that the claimant count in
Staffordshire saw an increase of 200 claimants between July and
August 2022, although the claimant rate remained at 2.7% of the
working age population.
The proportion of
young people in Staffordshire aged 18-24 that were claiming
work-related Universal Credit currently stood at 4.0%, an increase
of 120 young people.
Despite these
increases in the claimant count, during the same period,
Staffordshire saw a 5% rise in job vacancies equivalent to just
over 900 more job vacancies to a total of over 20,200, which was
more than work related benefit claimants.
The role of the
Council’s new Job Brokerage Service to match those seeking
work with the jobs Staffordshire businesses were so successful in
creating.
The agreement of
terms with the Harworth Group, using County Council funding
together with funding from Newcastle Under Lyme Borough Council,
through its Town Deal, to enable the development of the Chatterley
Valley business park site.
The new Pets at Home
HQ in Stafford was nearing completion (which would generate over 800 jobs); and the
exceptionally strong interest in the Council’s serviced
employment land at i54.
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