Agenda item

The Panel will consider the report Kirklees Economic Strategy Refresh.

Contact:

Jonathan Nunn, Strategy and Policy Officer (Sustainable Economy)

The Panel considered a report giving an update on the Kirklees Inclusive Economy Strategy Refresh presented by Edward Highfield, Service Director of Skills and Regeneration, Growth and Regeneration. James Hopton, Intelligence and Insight Lead and Councillor Peter McBride, Cabinet Member for Regeneration were also in attendance.

Edward Highfield gave a presentation which highlighted the key points in respect of:

·         Kirklees’s economic outlook and the national context, including the impact of the pandemic, increased cost of living, major inflation, inequalities, and Brexit.

·         The reasons for the refresh: the 2019-2025 Strategy was within in time, but it was highlighted that the world had changed significantly since its introduction, and it was important for Kirklees to have a strategy that responded to the new local and national context with a strong locally owned set of priorities. The review of the local plan, was also likely to commence in 2022 and would be informed by Kirklees’s economic ambitions

·         The new opportunities for Kirklees, including devolution to the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and in clean economic growth in line with the climate change agenda. 

·         Articulating clear links between the economy, communities and health and embedding this into the strategy.

·         Strengthening the links between inclusion and growth: The Strategy would be renamed as the ‘inclusive economic strategy’ to emphasise focus on inclusive growth.

·         The scope of the refresh: The strategy would set out the ambition for macro-economic growth, incorporating elements from the Local Economic Recovery Plan. 

·         The plans to leverage partnership arrangements with the Council’s key anchor organisations.

·         The output: the strategy would focus on a 10-year term but would also include a framework for action over a short term.

·         Acknowledgment that the strategy would have multiple audiences that would require tailored outputs.

·         The approach/timeline for the development of the strategy, including public and partner engagement, drafting and the formal governance processes with the aim of Cabinet/ Council endorsement in September 2022.

Cllr Peter McBride added that a refresh of Kirklees’s economic strategy in response to the national context (i.e.- the Covid-19 pandemic, major inflation, and Brexit) alongside large-scale investments in Kirklees’s town centres, was timely and essential to the evolution of the local economy and communities in Kirklees. He also highlighted that there were new opportunities in the Huddersfield University, and in the health industry both of which played a key role in supporting business, the local economy, and communities. 

The Panel acknowledged that there were some challenges because of Brexit but highlighted the importance of identifying and utilising positive opportunities to enhance Kirklees’s economy. Concerns were also raised about engagement with private sector partners highlighting that often-private business owners did not have the time to attend meetings for example. It was suggested that work be undertaken to rethink the way engagement with private sector partners was held to ensure fair representation of local growing businesses.

Responding to the Panel’s comments on trade, Edward Highfield agreed that it was important to identify and build on the positives within the current economical context and that trade and export would feature predominantly in the final strategy. This could include utilising direct links to the subcontinent and encouraging more people to export. He did add however, that the numbers of businesses in Kirklees that had stopped exporting was a challenge. Edward also agreed that labour shortages, although currently problematic, may be able to provide people with more opportunities to find secure, high paid employment. Meetings with businesses had however highlighted consistent challenges in recruitment. In response to this, supporting people into employment through investment in skills and training would be a key element of the refreshed strategy. 

In respect of consultation, the Panel highlighted the need to take a proactive approach to engagement offering several avenues for key stakeholders, including the public, to make their priorities known, and to encourage adequate response rates.  Edward Highfield agreed and added that it important not to rely on Council meetings and the usual networks for engagement to ensure a good response rate from a variety of different stakeholders.

Responding to a question about guidance from consultants, Edward Highfield clarified that consultants would not be commissioned to write the strategy. On some elements of the strategy, academics had offered free support on the evidence base, and there was the option to commission some work around specific technical areas but only if required.

In response to a question about the timeline for the progression of the Strategy, Edward Highfield explained that the purpose of the update was to provide the Panel with opportunity for early input and confirmed that a further update to scrutiny would be provided in 2022 prior to presentation of the draft refresh strategy to Cabinet.

The Panel asked about how the strategy aimed to improve the interface between educational providers and local businesses, to enable people to gain the skills that local businesses required.  Edward Highfield clarified that a key part of the strategy would focus on bringing educational providers and businesses together, rather than them being separate entities, to create a more formal, joined up interface.  He added that the approach needed to be employer led, and it was important to help businesses to articulate what they needed to ensure that the skills and education system responded. Investment in the labour market, skills and training also needed to be delivered in a way that was accessible to all to be inclusive, and it was equally as important to remove those barriers which prevented people accessing the labour market.

Cllr Peter McBride highlighted that inflation was one of the biggest barriers in enabling the poorest communities to recover from the pandemic, and it was important to address this. The Panel responded to add that there were key opportunities in apprenticeships and added that educational providers needed to be encouraged to realign their offerings to meet the needs of businesses in the growth industries in Kirklees.

The Panel raised the importance of making members of the public aware of the refresh of the economic strategy, highlighting that this may help people to feel more comfortable in their knowledge that the Council was doing something to address the economic challenges. It was suggested that the delivery of the webpage be accelerated to promote the refresh to the public, making the point that not all engagement needs to seek input, but can be equally as effective in enabling stakeholders to gain an understanding on the work that the Council is doing. In response, Edward Highfield reassured the Panel that he had taken on board their comments and suggestions about engagement, understanding the need to implement this earlier in the process to raise public awareness of the refresh. 

Responding to a question from the Panel on levelling up, Edward Highfield highlighted that it was important to establish what Kirklees’s priorities were so that when calls for proposals came Kirklees were driven by local needs. He explained that there were some key priorities set out in the levelling up white paper aimed at addressing inequalities in areas such as health and education etc… Kirklees would need to demonstrate how the economic strategy was delivering against those priorities to enable access to funding.

The Panel welcomed the focus on inclusivity and reducing inequalities in the refresh of the strategy. Further points were also made by the Panel in relation to the consideration of the West Yorkshire Fair Work Charter and how the Council will demonstrate dedication to being a fair employer when developing the refresh, and in relation to the review of the Local Plan adding that it was important to consider about how scrutiny will be involved.

Edward Highfield thanked Panel members for their comments and expressed confidence that several of the issues raised by the Panel around, apprenticeships, skills, trade, public consultation, and engagement with the private sector would be reflected on and addressed when the draft strategy returned to scrutiny later in 2022. 

RESOLVED: 

That the Panel noted the update, and it was agreed that:

1.    It was important to identify and respond to the key opportunities and challenges of the current economical context when refreshing the strategy.

2.    Opportunities in international trade, particular in direct links to southeast Asia in local communities, should be focused on in the refreshed strategy.

3.    It was important to ensure effective engagement with different types of businesses, and to ensure a good balance between engagement with public and private sector partners.

4.    Work should be undertaken to improve the interface between educational providers and local businesses.

5.    Educational providers should be encouraged to align their offers to provide opportunities to enable people to gain the skills that local businesses required. 

6.    Effective communications and engagement with residents were essential and should be used to raise awareness of the refresh and to understand local priorities. This should start early in the process and continue throughout.

7.    Opportunity to engage with all Councillors should be provided to ensure members have chance to contribute.