Report of Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Economy and Skills
Minutes:
The Committee considered a report of the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Economy and Skills updating them on progress made in the delivery of Staffordshire’s Economic Strategy 2022-2030 (schedule 1 to the signed minutes).
Members heard that the Primary focuses of the Strategy were:- (i) Town centres; (ii) Higher skilled and higher paid workforce; (iii) ‘Start-up’ and ‘step-up’ businesses; (iv) The development of investment ready projects and; (v) Strategic corridors. In addition, various other priorities and themes were identified as being important in supporting the future growth of the economy. These included:- (i) Innovation; (ii) Supporting businesses on their journey to net zero and; (iii) Maximising the use of investment to unlock external funding.
Following Cabinet’s approval and scrutiny by the Committee in March 2022, a four-week public consultation exercise had been held in May 2022 in order to give residents, businesses and wider stakeholders the opportunity to comment and shape the strategy prior to it being finalised. Feedback from the consultation was overall supportive with ambitions for the regeneration of Town Centres being cited as the most important.
The Cabinet Member updated them on the potential impact of recent national and global economic headlines on the County and the Authority’s ability to deliver the various priorities set out in the Strategy. However, he updated them on the activity undertaken to date towards achieving the Authority’s various ambitions, as follows:-
Priority (i): Town Centre/High Street Regeneration
Ambition: “By 2030, we will tackle the challenges faced by many of our town centres and strive to create places that we can be proud of”.
(i) Delivery of Central Government’s Future High Streets Fund, Town Deals and Levelling-Up Fund in the eight Staffordshire District/Boroughs by assisting with the development of business cases; (ii) Work related to the appointment of a Development Partner for the Stafford Eastgate Regeneration Programme.
Priority (ii): Higher Skilled, Higher Paid Workforce
Ambition: “By 2030, we will address the low levels of skills across some parts of the County and support more of our residents to gain the high-level skills needed to take advantage of many better paid job opportunities”.
(i) Launch of the Staffordshire Jobs and Careers Brokerage Service to support local residents and employers by providing free recruitment and support services including an on-line digital platform; (ii) Continued delivery of Staffordshire’s Apprenticeship 500 programme which had so far resulted in 205 local businesses take on 400 Apprentices; (iii) Continuation of Staffordshire’s Ignite initiative, designed to encourage a greater understanding of entrepreneurialism and enterprise amongst young people in their final year of college, which had so far trained over 12,000 students; (iv) Assistance given to skills providers in the County to further develop their facilities; (v) Continued delivery of Multiply, a £4.2m programme to develop numeracy skills regardless of age or profession together with various other adult learning initiatives.
Priority (iii): Supporting Start-Up and Step-Up Businesses
Ambition: “By 2030, we will create the conditions to allow more people to start and grow their business within Staffordshire, thereby addressing our relatively low levels of business start-ups across large parts of the County”.
(i) Commissioning of independent research to identify how ‘start-up’ and ‘step-up’ businesses might best be supported; (ii) Continued delivery of Staffordshire’s Get Started and Start-Up Loan schemes which had a target of supporting 120 businesses by March 2023; (iii) Significant investments made by the Authority to increase provision of high-quality business premises in the County including Shire Hall, Stafford and extension to Knutton Enterprise Centre, Newcastle-under-Lyme.
Priority (iv): Developing Investment Ready Projects
Ambition: “By 2030, we will play our part in supporting the substantial planned growth within the County through the development of investment ready projects and securing funding for our infrastructure and services”.
(i) Continued partnership working with District/Borough Councils and other stakeholders to support the planned growth of the County through eg the preparation of refreshed Local Plans; (ii) Stimulation of the necessary conditions for growth through the Authority’s Economic Growth Programme (which had already enabled an additional 11,000 jobs and 4,500 homes to be created since 2014) by eg the promotion of the Chatterley Valley West Development; (iii) Launch of new initiatives to support better digital connectivity across the County, funded through gainshare expected from the successful delivery of Superfast Staffordshire.
Priority (v): Strategic Corridors
Ambition: “By 2030, we will ensure we do not miss substantial opportunities afforded by our location in the centre of the Country by developing our key strategic A50/A500 and A38 corridors, including securing increased investment in innovation activities”.
(i) The appointment of consultants (Deloitte) to liaise with primary manufacturers along the route in order to develop an investable, private led proposition for consideration at regional and national level.
Priority (vi): Supporting the Economy to Become Net Zero
Ambition: “By 2030, we will put climate change at the heart of all that we do, including supporting businesses on their journey to Net Zero”.
(i) Formation of the Staffordshire Sustainability Board to facilitate collaborative working across the County towards Net Zero as defined by the Authority’s climate change emergency declaration; (ii) the identification of Green Growth (with a special focus on green skills) as a priority by Staffordshire Leaders’ Board; (iii) Continued delivery of the Low Carbon Business Evolution Programme in providing grants to businesses for the implementation of energy efficient measures.
During the full and wide-ranging discussion which ensued, Members gave detailed scrutiny to the update, asking questions, seeking clarification and raising issues of concern as necessary, including:- (i) the scope of Priority (v): Strategic Corridors above to also include the A500/A34 corridor between Junctions 14 and 16 of the M6 owing to its importance for local businesses; (ii) the need to focus on improving literacy as well as numeracy in Priority (ii): Higher Skilled, Higher Paid Workforce; (iii) the specifics of Priority (iv): Supporting the Economy to Become Net Zero above in the advice provided by the County Council to high energy business users for reduction of their carbon footprint by adopting sources of green energy; (v) further measures to improve engagement with wider stakeholders in order to secure Priority (i): Town Centre/High Street Regeneration and; (vi) improving digital connectivity in rural areas.
In conclusion, the Committee welcomed the significant progress which had been made in the delivery of the County Council’s Economic Strategy and confirmed their agreement to the various Priorities contained therein. However, they were mindful of the considerable challenges ahead arising from adverse national and international circumstances beyond the control of the Authority. In addition, they emphasised the importance of mitigating climate change and the achievement of Net Zero by 2030.
RESOLVED – (a) That the report be received and noted.
(b) That the good progress made towards delivery of the County Council’s Economic Strategy 2022-2030, be welcomed.
(c) That further updates on the various ambitions set out in the Strategy and targets in the accompanying Delivery Plan be brought to the Committee at six-monthly intervals.
Supporting documents: