Agenda item

The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director, Children and Enterprise which provided information regarding the development of a Local Economic Assessment for the Borough of Halton.

The Board was advised that the draft LEA, where possible, utilised information contained in previous Halton Economic Reviews to provide a longer timeframe for the analysis of structural changes in the economy of Halton. The utilisation of an economic forecasting model to anticipate, for example GVA and employment growth, had been a key element of the previous reviews. The procurement of a bespoke, Halton specific, economic model to underpin the production of a Halton LEA would prove prohibitively expensive. The modelling of the future performance of the economy of Halton would, therefore, be provided by Cheshire East Council utilising the Cheshire and Warrington Economic Model, amended to include Halton. The results of that exercise would be available in July 2011 and would be factored into the next iteration of the report.

In this respect, the Board received a presentation from Mr T Leather, Children & Enterprise which:-

·        Outlined the background to the Local Economy Assessment  which focussed on key themes which influenced the performance of a local economy as follows:-

o       Productivity;

o       Labour Market and Industrial Structure;

o       Labour Supply;

o       Skills;

o       Enterprise and Innovation;

o       Land and Property; and

o       Summarised the conclusions in respect of employment, skills and enterprise.

The following comments arose from the discussion:-

·              It was noted that the historically the level of self employment and entrepreneurship in Halton was lower than the average. However, it was also noted that educational attainment in the Borough had significantly increased and this would encourage young people to consider self employment;

·              Clarity was sought on the percentage of vacancies in properties.  In response, it was reported that this would be circulated to all Members of the Board;

·              It was noted that the College provided a basic course in new business start ups and the Council’s Enterprise Team also provided support.  It was also noted that the Council worked closely with the College and partners regarding the information obtained from businesses on their skill requirements in order to match these with the curriculum.  It was also noted that the approach and interface with businesses was improving;

·              It was noted that the percentage of 16-18 year olds classed as Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) in Halton had declined over the last few years.  It was also noted, however, that the number of young people unemployed was still high due to a number of factors such as inexperience etc;

·              It was noted that a whole range of employment opportunities for different people was required and Halton’s employee skills base would need to be matched to the expectations of employers; and

·              The importance of retaining manufacturing opportunities for residents in the Borough was noted.  It was also noted that the College was unable to offer some courses, because of the lack of a sufficient number of people being interested and this resulted in young people undertaking training outside of the Borough.

RESOLVED: That

(1)          the comments raised be noted; and

(2)          the Board agree that the intelligence provided by the draft Halton Local Economic Assessment be utilised when formulating the key strategic documents of the Council.