Agenda item

Economic Development update

Minutes:

The Chairman invited the Economic Development Manager, Rob Murray, to present the key issues from his report, which provided an update on Economic Development activity and summarised the findings of this year’s House of Lords (HOL) Select Committee inquiry into Rural Economies.

 

Rob Murray referred to headline economic indicators for East Devon, such as employment and unemployment rates; businesses across the District including top employers by the numbers of employees; enhancing productivity via tailored business support and the drive to increase productivity across core sectors, an initiative offering a range of fully funded workshops and one-to-one support for pre-start and existing businesses across East Devon.

 

He went on to say that as a result of the launch of Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership Growth Hub service in 2016, more businesses have benefitted from Growth Hub support in East Devon than in any of the other 14 LEP districts.

 

East Devon Business Centre (EDBC), has through a focussed process of improvement, marketing and communications (including social media) been turned into a positive net income generator to EDDC with 100% of offices let and meeting room income increased by 67% compared with 2014-15.   

 

East Devon had led on the production of the Shared Economic Strategy for Exeter and the Heart of Devon (EHOD) (2017-2020) which sets out the ambition, growth priorities and approach to enable growth of the regional economy.

 

In relation to Brexit, EDDC became one of the first local authorities in the country to publish detailed online guidance to inform and support businesses preparing for Brexit.

Rob Murray referred to more effective engagement with planning, and events such as Honiton Gate to Plate which had been a big success.

 

Economic Development Priorities 2019-2020 have recently been presented to Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committees in September by Cllr Blakey and the Deputy Chief Executive with the following two key priorities in the coming year:

·         The ‘Our Towns’ Study to improve understanding of our main towns

·         Business Centre extension & additional workspace in East Devon

 

EDDC Evidence to the House of Lords Select Committee on the Rural Economy included views and question responses provided through consultation with representatives from economic development, planning policy and development management as well as with our rural district members. They reflected the concerns, issues and opportunities expressed and identified through a specific 'think tank' session held on Weds 29th Aug 2018. The Select Committee’s final report was published in April 2019.

Its key recommendations included the development of a coherent rural strategy; rural proofing of policy impacts and place-based approaches to delivery.

 

In terms of a rural strategy, it is clear that rural economies are facing significant opportunities and challenges, including the UK's impending departure from the EU, cuts to local authorities’ budgets, digital connectivity, affordable housing, and an ageing rural population, which make this an ideal moment for the Government to develop a comprehensive rural strategy, to set out its ambition for rural areas

The Government needs to rethink and reform the rural proofing process to ensure that relevant policies and legislation are attuned to the needs of rural communities and rural economies.

 

Discussion on this item included the following;

·         Q 1 – What is the impact of the changes to Flybe on the local economy?

Rob Murray responded to this by saying that this was one of the biggest risks to the local economy, the airport and engineering roles.

·         Q 2 - Could events such as Gate to Plate be replicated in other towns? Potentially they could.

·         Cllr Allen moved a vote of thanks to Rob Murray for his achievements since taking up his role. Thanks to his efforts, EDBC was no longer losing money and was now operating with a profit, and Gate to Plate had been highly successful. He stated his view that EDDC needed a proper Economic Development resource to deliver the Council Plan, on a tactical and strategic level, and to enable local people to develop skills which will deliver a thriving future economy.

·         Q 3 – How can Exmouth Town Council be encouraged to develop a Business Improvement District (BID)?

People need to work together locally to achieve this, and it is left to Councils at all levels to engage with local businesses to promote BIDs, most notably with their largest business rate payers to meet the minimum support required.

·         Q 4 – What is the difference between Gate to Plate and Taste of the West?

The former is an EDDC brand in its entirety, whilst the latter is a private sector organisation who we partnered with last year to support the delivery of our Gate to Plate event.

·         Q 5 – How many of the economically inactive are over 50 years of age who cannot find jobs, or single parents unable to take up available employment?

This would need to be checked outside the meeting but the term economically inactive people does not simply refer to retired people.

·         Q 6 - What do Town Centre Managers do and what are the benefits of having one?

They lobby on behalf of local businesses, encourage local events, develop a local vision.

·         There is not much churn in the businesses occupying the EDBC and there is a waiting list of 6/7 businesses to go in.

·         Q 7 – In relation to the ‘Our Towns study’ which will dovetail into the High Street TAFF, what are the project costs?

This is still under debate.

·         Q 8 - The Propeller group in Exmouth are having a positive economic impact. Are there any plans to roll out any other incubators across East Devon, for example in the Growth Point area?

This local initiative operates as a result of having two years Business Rate Relief, but there is no funding to new businesses. In principle this policy remains open to do more.

·         Q 9 – With poor transport and the slashing of existing services, what can we do to help people obtain local work within easy reach?

Encouragement is being given to rural areas to develop more economic work spaces locally.

·         There needs to be a debate about developing an Economic Development Strategy and the resources to do this.

·         Q 10 - The 8% increase in employment referred to in the report is very large. Is this accounted for by double counting and more part time jobs? Zero contracts create an inability for people to take other jobs to support their income.

The term total employment includes anyone over 16 years of age, in full-time or part-time employment, so is a deceptive statistic.

 

 

 

RESOLVED that:

1.    Members note the progress made in delivery of local economic development activity.

2.    Members note the local evidence submitted by EDDC to the HOL Select Committee enquiry and the main findings of the rural strategy report.

Supporting documents: