Agenda item

The Panel is encouraged to provide feedback both in verbal and written format that can be delivered to the WECA as part of the evidence base consultation process.

The Director for Economy & Growth gave a presentation to the Panel regarding this item, a copy of which can be found on the Panel’s Minute Book or as an online appendix to these minutes, a summary is set out below.

Background

The aim of the (National) Industrial Strategy is to boost productivity by backing businesses to create good jobs and increase the earning power of people throughout the UK with investment in skills, industries and infrastructure.

5 Pillars

·  Ideas: The world’s most innovative economy

·  People: Good jobs and greater earning power for all

·  Infrastructure: A major upgrade to the UK’s infrastructure

·  Business Environment: The best place to start and grow a business

·  Places: Prosperous communities across the UK.

Grand Challenges

·  Artificial Intelligence and data

·  Ageing society

·  Clean growth

·  Future of mobility

West of England Local Industrial Strategy

“Local Industrial Strategy will help deliver the region’s ambition to be a driving force for sustainable, inclusive growth”

The strategy will build on the unique strengths of the West of England:

An attractive place to live and work;

Strong connections by road, rail, air and sea.

Diverse economy offering a wide variety of job opportunities at all skill levels.

It will do this by

Delivering long-term growth that is inclusive and clean

Accelerate economic growth by strengthening productivity to ensure that the region creates high-quality, well-paid jobs for our residents

Delivery

West of England LIS will be delivered through three main strands:

·  Evidence Base

·  Grand Challenge Workshops

·  Deep Dives

Creative Collisions

Deep dives to focus on creative collisions, where enabling technologies overlap.

Evidence Base Outcomes

·  People & Skills

o  A growing population; unlike other places that includes growth in working-age cohorts

o  37% growth expected in over-65 population by 2038

o  16-17 year olds are more likely than nationally to not be in education, employment or training (+0.8 points)

o  Significant growth in high-skilled jobs and decline in low skilled ones: helps lift incomes, but presents a risk of weakening the ladder to prosperity for some residents

·  Clean & Inclusive Growth

o  Productivity in the region is above average

o  Growth has slowed relative to elsewhere

o  Not all residents have shared in recent success, and costs are rising

·  Infrastructure

o  Extensive evidence on the region’s transport infrastructure and built environment has been developed in the Joint Local Transport Plan and Joint Spatial Plan.

o  Infrastructure assets such as the port and airport provide strong international connectivity

o  Economic growth has put our infrastructure under increasing pressure, and house prices have risen to 9.3 times average earnings

·  Business Environment

o  Employment in professional services and the public sector has grown in recent years

o  The region trades less intensively than the national average, but runs a trade surplus, driven by strong services exports

o  Business survival rates and scale-up success seem positive; however, business creations and closures are less dynamic than elsewhere

Summary of Issues

Inclusive Growth - There are gaps in educational and training provision compared with future business needs, and the jobs market does not always work well for all residents.

More could be done to support firms to improve their performance, including through the adoption of new technology and improved management practices.

Fostering innovative businesses from research through to commercialisation and encouraging the diffusion of that innovation across different sectors.

Investing in the right infrastructure and housing for future growth.

Next Steps

Sept 2018: Local Industrial Strategy launch in Keynsham

Oct 2018 – Feb 2019: Research on foundations of productivity and Grand Challenges

Feb 2019: Release of initial evidence base for discussion

March – Apr 2019: Strategy development in partnership with key stakeholders and local authority partners

Summer 2019: Finalisation of West of England Local Industrial Strategy

Councillor Rob Appleyard commented that he could see what a huge piece of work this is and asked how the success of the strategy could be secured.

The Director for Economy & Growth replied that the Government has said that it wants areas to be clear on their specialisms / specific opportunities and to show how it will deliver on the Grand Challenges.

Councillor Appleyard asked what was required to underpin and support our ongoing work.

The Team Manager for Business Growth replied that officers were involved in the development of the evidence base and that work was ongoing relating to sector deals, such as how to make tourism more sustainable.

Councillor Lisa O’Brien said that she felt it was great to see the work within the strategy that would focus on sustainable / inclusive growth. She added however that she was concerned over the figures relating to young people not in education, employment or training.

She said that she would also like to see the aspiration of the skill levels of people with learning difficulties to be encouraged.

The Director for Economy & Growth replied that one of the biggest challenges for the area is to ensure there are enough entry level jobs for people to access and then progress from.

The Team Manager for Business Growth added that this is a topic that the Council are trying to take an active role in. He said that work has taken place that has seen a number of care leavers employed on construction sites and that the Council is seeking to influence other organisations on this matter, such as the Universities and Royal United Hospital. He said that through WECA there was access to a £8m Skills Innovation Fund.

Councillor Colin Blackburn commented that he could see how the Creative Collisions element could have a real impact. He urged officers to be innovative and asked what role the Council can take in terms of education.

The Director for Economy & Growth replied that the Adult Education Budget had been devolved to WECA and that WECA is also funding the development of a series of Talent Institutes. In B&NES funding is being sought under this programme to develop the Working Well Institute, which will support people and businesses to rapidly develop the skills needed to generate and access good jobs in a partnership between the Council, the City’s two Universities and Bath College.

The Chairman asked if the team had enough resources to progress the strategy.

The Team Manager for Business Growth replied that it was a small multi-skilled team whose resources were well spread.

Councillor O’Brien said that she would welcome the involvement of the further education establishments and for the RUH to develop a programme of training that would benefit people with learning difficulties.

The Director for Economy & Growth said the Council has good relationship with the two universities and college and that both the Council and the RUH act as hosts for Project Search which is an employability programme which helps young adults with learning disabilities gain the skills they need to become employed.

Councillor Colin Blackburn asked if there was any ability to be more inventive locally in terms of work experience.

The Director for Economy & Growth replied that he would be happy to discuss possibilities, including the Working Well Institute outside the forum of the Panel.

The Chairman thanked both the Director for Economy & Growth and the Team Manager for Business Growth for the presentation and their work on the strategy.

As this was the final meeting of the Panel in its current form the Chairman wished to thank all of the officers that had contributed to its workplan over the past four years. He also thanked the members of the Panel for their engagement and input across a wide range of subjects.