Agenda item

To receive a briefing paper prepared by Tim Mills, Head of Economy, Planning and Strategic Housing and Lee McQuade, Economy and Growth Manager, giving an overview of the Council’s emerging Strategic Economic Framework. The purpose is to provide background to the document and to obtain Member’s views on the consultation process and principles, as set out in the briefing paper.

The Board welcomed Mr Lee McQuade, Economy and Growth Manager who was in attendance to give a briefing on the Council’s Strategic Economic Framework (SEF). The purpose of the briefing was to provide some background information on the SEF and to gather Members’ views on the consultation process and principles.

The Board noted the uncertainty around economic growth, particularly policy uncertainty from the imminent Levelling Up White Paper, the net zero strategy and future funding. The impacts of the pandemic had also led to economic uncertainty. Considering the uncertainty, changes to the document were being made which would determine the best way to consult on the framework. It was felt that a soft approach, both internally and externally, would be taken. External partners would include Hampshire County Council, the EM3 LEP and business representative groups. It was also proposed that a business survey could be carried out with outcomes presented to the Cabinet in early 2022.

The purpose of the SEF was to offer a consistent vision and provide a framework, over the short to medium term, on how the Borough’s economy could recover, to identify mechanisms for delivery and establish how the Council will measure and evaluate the performance of the SEF.

To allow effective consultation on the SEF, a process was underway to capture key information. A SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis of the Borough had been undertaken; this data would be used within the consultation process to ensure all key areas were covered. The Board was apprised of some of the high level data and analysis that had been carried out, including labour force (claimant/age/furlough) statistics, business grants and impacts after withdrawal of funding support, changes to working patterns, sectoral impacts and inward investment/expansion. With regard to the town centres, data had been collected on, vacancy rates, footfall data and retail profile changes.

The Board noted the vision, “Rushmoor the Premier Place for Business to Thrive”. Comments were welcomed on the content of the vision, which included key driving forces and target outcomes.

The Board discussed the presentation and raised a number of issues, including:

·         The importance providing flexibility within the framework to allow for adjustments following the pending papers from Government.

·         How can the messages in the North Hampshire Narrative be reflected in the SEF? – it was advised that these two documents would be cross referenced to align together.

·         Understanding vacancies/requirements and to ensure skills matching – conversations would be initiated with the Sixth Form College and FCOT to address this issue

·         Ensuring more diverse businesses are incorporated into the SEF, such as co-operatives etc.

·         Enabling community wealth building

·         Addressing employment in the future, colleges keen to improve the status of the mental health of their students before leaving college and entering the workforce

It was advised that Mr. McQuade would pick up, in more detail, on comments and queries with individual Members outside the meeting and a further report on the SEF would be given to the Board as the consultation process progressed and the Levelling Up White Paper had been reviewed.

The Chairman thanked Mr. McQuade for his presentation.