Agenda item

Sue Crow, the Council’s Economic Growth and Investment Manager provided an overview of the Council’s support to Worcestershire businesses during Covid-19, referring to the presentation included in the Agenda.

Her team had had a very busy 12 months and from the outset of the pandemic, a partnership group had been formed to maximise support. The Worcestershire Covid-19 Economic Response Recovery and Resilience Group (WCERG) had developed an economic recovery framework to rapidly identify local interventions and the most effective ways to deploy resources, with five key areas of focus:

·         delivering co-ordinated information about national programmes and guidance to the business community – to clarify confusion

·         focusing and enhancing current support programmes available across the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) areas region to support recovery

·         accelerating investment in major schemes, once this was possible

·         using direct resources to support specific demands and opportunities

·         ensuring the best information possible – national analysis and local data.

Regarding the impact on the local economy, overall the number of people claiming job seekers allowance plus universal credit (the claimant count) had more than doubled since the same time the previous year, rising by 9,885 and taking the number of claimants within Worcestershire to 17,855 (5.1% of the working population, compared to 6.3% nationally and 7.1% across the West Midlands). The claimant count for 18-24 year olds had risen to 8.3%, compared to the 8.8% national average, although both figures had declined slightly over recent months. There had been a greater increase in claimant count for men than for women.

39,700 employments had been furloughed as at 31 January 2021, a take-up rate of 14.7% which was similar to regional and national rates, with the highest proportion was in the Wyre Forest area. The WCERG continued to monitor figures and input from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on the WCERG was very important as it gave first-hand information.

In terms of support for businesses, the Council, in partnership with Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce, Worcestershire Business Central and Worcestershire LEP, had undertaken two surveys in April and June to inform them and to understand the local impact. Key messages from respondents were:

·         almost 50% were either in survival mode with the majority of staff furloughed or ticking over with staff furloughed but still operating. Weekly surveys by the Office for National Statistics revealed that in certain sectors, around 20% of businesses worried whether they would still be in business in the next few months.

·         76% expected a decrease in revenue; almost 30% of these expected this to decrease by 50% or above

·         encouragingly, 70% had taken up Government support, with very high experience ratings

·         there was an ongoing need for support, in particular information on compliance with Covid rules, support for diversification, business development and marketing.

In response, the Council repurposed business support projects. Much of the Council’s support was euro funded, and so some changes had been needed in terms of delivery, for example online, but all schemes had still operated successfully during Covid, including Enterprising Worcestershire, Elevate (24 people recruited to a project with no drop-out), Worcestershire Innovation (63 business given grants), BetaDen at Malvern Hills Science Park and Clean Growth Programmes. 

In terms of Clean Growth Programmes, both the Business Energy and Efficiency Programme and the Low Carbon Opportunities Project were still operational, with a number of ongoing projects which were currently projected to make 128 tonnes of CO2 savings, with businesses applying for grants for a range of work such as LED lighting or green waste. The Business Energy and Efficiency Programme continued to be successful, which offered businesses an audit of resources with recommendations and they could then apply for up to £22k to put measures into place.

Examples of work to repurpose existing support included a single point of contact to access support (Worcestershire Business Central), and supporting businesses to employ young people, for example working with the DWP on upskilling.

The Council’s Here2Help Business Programme, launched in July 2020 and allocated £3.5m, had been very well received and had provided support to businesses as well as young people; over 500 enquiries had been responded to, over 60% of the funding allocated and 40 graduates placed as a result.

Local district councils had been administering government grant schemes and had issued over 17,000, totalling over £140m.

The Council had worked with others to promote the Government’s Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans Scheme (CBILS) and the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, both of which had had a large take-up, with 753 CBILS loans offered and 12,228 Bounce Back loans.

Through the Getting Building Fund, working with the Worcestershire LEP, the county had been awarded £12m to accelerate delivery of infrastructure schemes including the Malvern Technology Park Vale Business Park expansion and Kepax walking and cycling bridges, schemes which also provided local employment and the area as a business location as well as for residents.

Regarding marketing and social media, there was a new Strategy to encourage visitors to Worcestershire when this was allowed and small grants had been given to tourism businesses to assist recovery. In response to feedback from businesses, the Council’s social media presence had been rebranded, resulting in more followers.

The Chairman invited discussion and the following main points were made:

·         The Panel was advised that around £2m of grants had been given to Worcestershire business, however the exact figure would be confirmed.

·         When asked about continuation and adequacy of EU funded business support schemes, the Economic Growth and Investment Manager (the Officer) explained that EU funding would continue until around 2023, and was expected to be at a similar level, having been underwritten by the Government.

·         Panel members commented that though feedback from businesses was somewhat depressing, the Government had continued to provide a huge amount of support and some sectors would hopefully benefit from pent up consumer demand. Concern was expressed that some businesses may have come to rely on support and not plan ahead.

·         Cllr Kent referred to a recent update on apprenticeships to the Council’s Corporate and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel, which had revealed surprisingly low levels of interest in the scheme. As a small business owner himself, he suggested further promotion of the scheme to businesses and young people seeking opportunities, perhaps through the next survey of businesses, would be helpful, in view of the difficult times ahead – the Officer would look into this possibility.

·         The Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Economy and Infrastructure (CMR) also expressed disappointment with the very low take up of apprenticeships both at a local and national level.

·         The CMR advised that a report was due to go to the Council’s Cabinet about projects designed to facilitate cycling including the Kepax bridge and the Chairman agreed it was important to publicise such work.

·         Legislation to allow businesses to make use of outside space on pavements during the pandemic had recently been extended and the Chairman highlighted the importance of businesses being able to use outdoor space.

·         When asked whether a short document could be produced to help signpost businesses to the considerable range of support available, the Officer explained that information had been circulated in September although it was a complex area, however further consideration was being given to an online brochure.

·         A Panel member who was also a business owner asked if the Council could assist with problems experienced by businesses trying to open business bank accounts due to increased security and fraud concerns, and the Officer undertook to look into this as her team had good relationships with banks locally.

·         The Council’s enhanced presence on social media was positive and helpful, for example posts on LinkedIn could be shared.

·         Cllr Jenkins requested a breakdown of business support programmes aimed at green initiatives, which the Officer was happy to provide him with outside of the meeting.

·         When asked about any barriers to businesses applying for grants to assist green initiatives, and how these could be overcome, the Officer felt that awareness would help and she would circulate information to the Panel. She also explained that some may be deterred by the fact that grants covered 40% of the costs involved, and the financial returns may take 5-10 years to come through. Increasing the grant may help improve take-up, however the Council would need to identify the additional funds.

Summing up, the Chairman was pleased to see the level and range of support and grants available to businesses and highlighted the importance of communicating messages in a simple way to business owners, for whom time was precious.

The following action / information was requested:

-          confirmation of the amount paid to Worcestershire businesses so far during Covid

-          in the upcoming survey of businesses, the Panel encouraged promotion of the apprenticeship scheme

-          consideration of a summary document of support available to businesses

-          assistance to overcome the current difficulty for businesses in opening business bank accounts

-          circulation to the Panel of information about sustainability business support programmes.