Agenda item

Report of the Cabinet Member for Economic Growth

The Select Committee received a report and presentation on the work and progress of the Staffordshire County Council Economic Growth Programme.

Economic growth was a key priority for the County Council, directly contributing to the priority population outcomes for Staffordshire’s people to be able to access more good jobs and the benefits of economic growth.  Moreover, economic growth underpinned all of the Council’s priority outcomes, helped to secure long term financial stability and was a key contributing factor in the wider determinants of health.  Despite a strong reliance on sectors which could have been particularly vulnerable to the recent economic downturn, Staffordshire’s economy had coped well, and claimant unemployment (at 1% of the working age population in October 2017) in particular has remained well below the averages of Great Britain (1.9%) and the West Midlands Region (2.3%) in the same period.

The County Council was playing a key role in helping to achieve the ambitions of the Stoke on Trent and Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (SSLEP), which was seeking to create 50,000 jobs and increase the Gross Value Added (GVA) of Stoke on Trent and Staffordshire by 50% over a ten year period.  Overall employment in Staffordshire had increased by around 19,000 jobs between 2011 and 2016, and the total economic output of Staffordshire (as measured by GVA) had increased by around 6.7% between 2011 and 2016 from £14.3 billion to £15.2 billion.

The total financial value of the Economic Growth Programme (including projects where initial work or interventions had been completed) was around £385 million, of which around £56 million was County Council investment.  “Live” projects within the Programme currently totalled around £256 million, and were funded from a range of sources including the SSLEP (Growth Deal and City Deal funding), the County Council’s capital programme, and contributions from private sector developers.  This represented an excellent level of funding leverage, with around £15.35 worth of funding secured from every £1 of County Council investment in the “live” projects of the Economic Growth Programme.  Since the Programme commenced in 2014, eight employment generating projects with a total value of over £130 million had been completed to date, and their outcomes were now being tracked.  Between them, these projects were anticipated to create over 13,000 jobs when they have been fully built out and developed.  To date, around 5,600 jobs had been delivered on these sites, around 40% of their anticipated total long term employment potential.  The residence of people working on these sites was related to their geographical location, connectivity and wider travel to work patterns.  Alongside employment creation through physical infrastructure, the Programme had a strong focus on improving skills outcomes and attainment, and since the commencement of the Programme some 1,340 traineeships and apprenticeships had been delivered from the completed Advanced Manufacturing Hubs projects.

Members considered the details of two case studies which had been successfully delivered as part of the Programme, Redhill Business Park and Bericote Four Ashes.

Members questioned the effects that leaving the EU, and the possible loss of skilled people would have on Staffordshire.  The Cabinet Member informed the Committee that he was quietly optimistic that Europe would continue to trade with the UK and that the low exchange rate on the pound created better results for manufacturing companies.  Concern was expressed that a considerable number of young people moved out of the County to attend university, who then did not return to Staffordshire when they qualified.  It was queried how these graduates could be attracted back to the County.  The Cabinet Member responded that it was important to create and promote an environment where well qualified people would want to stay, with the provision of affordable housing, well paid employment opportunities and accessible transport.  It was suggested that it would be more helpful to focus on creativity and basic core aptitudes, rather than career paths, given the ongoing technological changes providing opportunities to automate jobs.  In relation to the question of upskilling the workforce, it was agreed that it was important to encourage people to recognise that school/university was not the end of learning/training. 

In respect of the 19,000 increase in jobs between 2011-2016, a member queried what categories of employment these included and what proportion of these were considered to be better opportunities.  It was confirmed that this figure included part-time employment, and that it was difficult to define “quality”.  It was agreed that more information on this, and how jobs created are measured, will be brought back to the Select Committee. 

Members queried whether there was a measurable, palpable demand for additional business parks.  It was confirmed that there was, but that once the sites were made available the responsibility for filling them lay with developers such as St. Modwens.

In relation to overseas markets, members questioned the value of Trade Missions, suggesting that these achieved little in attracting investment, and that Exhibitions were a more successful vehicle for this.  The Cabinet Member explained that the Property Garden Village at Swynnerton provided a good platform to showcase Staffordshire to a wider European audience.  The Chairman commented that this was an investment on which taxpayers should be able to see a tangible return. 

RESOLVED – That:

a)    The Committee note the work and progress of the Staffordshire County Council Economic Growth Programme; and

b)    More detailed information on the 19,000 increase in jobs between 2011-2016, and how jobs created are measured, be provided for the Committee.