Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Apologies were received from Panel members Allah Ditta, Tony Muir and Craig Warhurst.

Cllr Martin Allen declared a disclosable pecuniary interest (in respect of Agenda item 4) as he rented a unit on the Shrubhill Industrial Estate, which was owned by the County Council.

During Agenda item 4, Cllr Richard Udall declared that he was a member of a trade union, Bectu.

Members of the public wishing to take part should notify the Assistant Director for Legal and Governance in writing or by e-mail indicating both the nature and content of their proposed participation no later than 9.00am on the working day before the meeting (in this case Thursday 28 July 2022).  Further details are available on the Council's website.  Enquiries can also be made through the telephone number/e-mail address listed in this agenda and on the website.

None.

To follow

The Cabinet Member with Responsibility (CMR) for Economy, Infrastructure and Skills was pleased to attend the first meeting of the new Overview and Scrutiny Panel for economy and looked forward to being scrutinised on his remit.

The CMR provided a summary of the Agenda Report, and highlighted the fact that overall, Worcestershire’s economy was a microcosm of the national economy, although there were pockets with higher than average concentration of industries. Worcestershire’s economy was quite resilient but did not have many sectoral ‘highs’ which would mean higher productivity in some areas.

In terms of the workforce, whilst COVID had impacted negatively, the good news was that much had been reversed and much more quickly than expected. Nationally, numbers of job vacancies exceeded people, and in Worcestershire there were some pinch points where sectors struggled to recruit, which the Council sought to address through a range of initiatives to promote employment.

The Council was engaged in a whole range of activities to help people in the workplace, support businesses and stimulate growth in Worcestershire, working with the district councils. Skills based work with the Local enterprise Partnership (LEP) also helped young people at school and it was hoped to share more information with the Panel in the Autumn to show the Council’s support with apprenticeships.

The Council had significant engagement in the Employment Land Programme and current plans included the development vision for Shrub Hill Quarter in Worcester which was a considerable economic opportunity. Transport infrastructure projects were also set out in the Report.

The Council very much took the lead to promote tourism and sought to promote assets which historically may not have been sold as a package, since the real opportunity came from encouraging people to stay overnight.

The Chairman invited questions and the following main points were raised:

·         The Chairman asked how many apprenticeships there were at the County Council and also the district councils, and the CMR agreed it was important to promote such opportunities within the Council workforce itself, not just to the local economy.  He undertook to obtain these figures, which were part of the remit of the CMR for Corporate Services and Communication.

·         A Panel member asked whether the Council was doing enough to support older people back into the workforce, including those who had been out of work for some time. The Council’s Assistant Director for Economy explained that Restart was the national scheme delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions, and this was supported locally by the Council working with local providers of such support, to ensure the work was co-ordinated with employers – the good news was that the job seeker claimant count had dropped.

·         A Panel member referred to two levelling-up indicators which showed that productivity in Worcestershire was below UK average and household income per head was similar to the UK average but both resident and workplace pay were below UK average.  He expressed concern that the two indicators were linked and asked what was being done, which  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Panel had received information for performance and budget monitoring.

Performance Information for Quarter 4 (January to March 2022)

The Management Information Analyst for the Environment and Infrastructure (E&I) Directorate explained that the performance dashboard was a starting point for the Panel, with many indicators reflecting the Corporate Plan. He cautioned that data behind many of the PIs did not change very quickly. Agenda Item 4 (Overview of the Economy) included further detail.

The Panel agreed that the following information would be added to future information:

·         figures for business survival rates

·         journey times from additional stations (currently only Worcester used) – especially those where there have been improvements

Cllr Brookes queried the accuracy of the public message in respect of reporting and publicity for fibre to the property (FTTP), following his own experience where it was advertised on a cabinet very close to his home, but was not in fact available. The Assistant Director explained that the Council’s Team was aware of areas with hard to reach properties, and had schemes in place, however he would arrange a response for Cllr Brookes on this issue of communication.

Year End Budget Information for Quarter 4 2021/22

The Head of Finance explained that the information for this meeting related to both economy and environment, however with the establishment of a separate Panel for scrutiny of economy, the information would be separated for subsequent meetings. For 2021/22 the Economy and Infrastructure Directorate had an underspend and the Agenda included information and explanation of variances and the capital programme.

In response to a query from the Vice-Chairman about projections for budget figures for streetlighting, which were already showing an underspend from use of more led lighting, the Head of Finance agreed this was a good news story, although cautioned that the recent escalation in energy costs would have a negative impact and that staff were therefore reviewing whether led rollout could be made quicker. 

The following additions were made to the Work Programme:

-          County Council processes for scrutinising contracts involving County Council funding

-          Town centres

-          The item on the Levelling up agenda and the impact on Worcestershire (including the Towns funding allocated to Worcester and Redditch) was expanded to include all main towns in Worcestershire

The Panel was also keen for some public meetings to be held in the district council areas to explore the respective roles in regeneration of the District and Borough Councils and the impact of the regeneration and business support initiatives in each area.