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Councillor Fox, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Local Economy and Transformation, introduced the report and explained that the Strategy updated the Council’s priorities as to how to boost the local economy, increase infrastructure (such as roads, healthcare, digital economy and broadband coverage), improve pay levels and inspire new projects.
Matt Sterling, Strategic Economic Growth Manager, explained that the Economic Strategy was closely linked to the Housing Strategy, and that it set out high-level priorities, alongside specific projects and actions and fitted these into an action plan. The three main strands of the strategy were firstly data (including economic trends, information and the strategy’s evidence base), secondly engagement (with business and public sector representatives, one-to-one and partnership meetings), and thirdly an understanding of the Administration’s priorities. All the priorities were intended to boost all parts of the area, urban and rural.
Inclusive economic growth was to be supported, with focus on business innovation and increasing the availability of skills. The Council aimed to leverage additional investment and infrastructure spending, whilst aiming to decarbonise and foster environmental sustainability. The Action Plan would set out how the Council intended to realise its aims.
Work was planned with ECC and the University of Essex on developing new care tech ideas and products. Detailed plans would be produced to court investments.
A digital work hub would be created to serve small technology businesses, alongside a new training hub. Details were given of grants won to increase the amount of training provided locally. A bid for the second round of levelling up funding was described. This included £20m for the city centre, and was accompanied by a bid for £500k from the rural prosperity fund.
The wide range of partnerships was described, including with the North Essex Economic Board, the University and with Colchester Ambassadors. These partnerships supported start up business and firms conducting importing and exporting.
Colbea advised on how to reduce business costs and emissions, assisted by ECC.
A Panel member raised concern that the Strategy did not contain much detail as to where the Council wanted to see Colchester in three-years-time, and what achievements it expected to see in that time, should the Strategy and action plan be carried out successfully. The Strategy did not spell out how residents of deprived areas would be targeted and how to convert the Strategy into results.
The Strategic Economic Growth Manager confirmed that specific targets to improve life chances were a key priority for him. Regarding predictions and expected outcomes, caution was given that it was likely that the more specific predictions were, the less ambitious the plans would be. It was hard to predict the next three years, but the Strategy was to give a clear sense of what the Council would do and for what it would aim. Targets would be set for each year and progress reports produced. The Strategy committed the Council to areas of activity and annual targets would flow from that.
The Panel considered the Strategy in comparison to those of other local authorities and queried what the unique selling points were for Colchester’s Strategy. It was asked whether similarities to other plans were inevitable. The Strategic Economic Growth Manager gave assurance that similarities were not surprising, given that tier 2 local authorities had the same powers as each other, the same core responsibilities and similar needs. It was elements such as the commitment to a real living wage which differentiated Colchester’s Strategy from many others. The Council was performing well in achieving its targets and more information would be in the development plan and outcomes reports.
More information was requested on what would be done to encourage tourism and whether infrastructure such as the Rapid Transit System (RTS) would give opportunities for new conference facilities and tourist options. The Strategic Economic Growth Manager confirmed work would be conducted on encouraging tourism and visits, within the Strategy. Focus on specific sectors had been avoided in this Strategy, but a bespoke tourism strategy was being considered, as this was a crucial part of the local economy.
The positives shown by the Strategy were discussed, including work with the University and the growth figures shown compared to those elsewhere. Increased income and value could be used to lead to higher wages and salaries. Significant amounts had been spent on training and the tech sector already in the years examined, and large amounts of data gathered relating to this.
The Leader summarised the Strategy as a prospectus to lay out the Council’s way ahead, utilising good data and good people to set how the City positioned itself. Partnership with others, including businesses, would be key and was much more effective than it had formerly been.
The Leader and officers were asked what the Council’s approach would be towards the large scale migration of workers who lived in Colchester but worked elsewhere. Colchester benefited from the spending of their income, but not from their skills and labour. The Strategic Economic Growth Manager confirmed that his team had considered this issue and that it was included within the evidence base for the Strategy. The move to home working was a widespread trend and move away from commuting. This represented an opportunity to keep people in higher-paid jobs based in Colchester, but also a challenge as individuals could reside here but work elsewhere.
The Deputy Leader noted that the delivery plan would likely give the details requested by the Panel and that it would be key to see the additional funding leveraged on the back of the funding awards won by the Council. The Chairman expressed the assurance that the Panel had received from the Strategic Economic Growth Manager that metrics would be included in the delivery plan.
The Chairman thanked the Strategic Economic Growth Manager and confirmed that the Panel noted the quality and thoroughness of the report and Strategy, and did not wish to make any formal recommendations to Cabinet.