Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Economy and Skills
Minutes:
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:
· This month saw an increase of 340 claimants in Staffordshire. The total number of claimants in the county now stands at 15,030 or 2.8% of the working age population. The claimant count rate in Staffordshire continues to be one of the lowest in the West Midlands and is far lower than the average for the region of 4.9%, and lower than the average for England of 3.8%. We will continue to support those residents that unfortunately find themselves out of work to access employment through our partnership working and dedicated Jobs Brokerage service.
· The youth claimant count in Staffordshire saw an increase of 60 claimants to a total of 2,915 young people. The proportion of young people in Staffordshire aged 18-24 that are claiming work-related Universal Credit now stands at 4.7%. This is lower than the national rate of 5.1% and far lower than the regional rate of 6.9%. This further increase in the youth claimant count highlights the importance of continuing to engage with our younger residents and supporting them to find employment or continue in education and training.
· A few weeks ago, we learnt of the successful bid for £20m of Levelling Up Funding for parts of the Stafford Station Gateway project. Added to the previously successful bids, this now means that over £70m has been secured by the Staffordshire local authorities for the regeneration of our town centres from the Levelling Up Fund alone, with over £220 million national funding secured in total which the County Council continues to work proactively with our District and Borough Council partners to deliver. Stafford Station Gateway is of course an important piece of the town’s ongoing revitalisation which includes the County Council’s Eastgate regeneration plans and the Borough Council’s Future High Street programme.
· i54 South Staffordshire is one of flagship employment sites and the County Council, working with South Staffordshire Council and the City of Wolverhampton Council, have been working together to unlock the western extension to the site. Back in the summer it was announced that Fortune Brands would be building a 270,000 sq ft manufacturing centre of excellence on the western extension to support the group’s luxury ceramics and brassware brands within the kitchen and bathroom industry. This development is expected to be completed shortly with recruitment for the 300 expected jobs having recently begun.
· The visitor economy is one of Staffordshire’s key strengths and we continue to support the development of this vital part of the county’s economy. Back in June I updated Cabinet on our efforts to secure a Local Visitor Economy Partnership for the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent as part of VisitEngland’s national reform of Destination Management Organisations. This programme is expected to create around 40 strategic partnerships across the country which will work in collaboration locally, regionally and nationally on shared priorities and targets to support and grow the visitor economy. Importantly, the LVEP has the potential to bring significant benefits to the county, including through access to support and future funding programmes. We have recently received the news that our efforts to secure a LVEP have been successful. Over the coming months we’ll be undertaking a substantial amount of work to establish the LVEP and ensuring that it is a success.
Linked to this and as we are now in the run up to Christmas, I finally need to mention our marketing campaign to highlight the many events that are taking place across the county for people to enjoy. Many of these have been taking place over the last few weeks, although there are still plenty of activities and events planned and I’d therefore encourage everybody to fully enjoy the festivities and have a very happy Christmas.