Memorandum submitted by Tendring District Council (EE 13)

 

 

1. Summary

 

Local Authorities, because of their knowledge of the economy in their area and their wide networks of contacts at Officer and Member level can play a key role in managing the impact of the credit crunch on the global economy.

 

In particular they can influence the skills of the workforce, job protection and creation, the provision of land and premises and business creation and development.

 

2. Detailed Comments

 

2.1 Local government, businesses and the advisory sector need to work more closely together on issues of mutual concern. The Council recently held a Business Summit at which it gave undertakings about paying invoices more swiftly and supporting requests for rate relief for small rural businesses.

2.2 At the Summit a presentation was also given about the results of a recent business survey carried out by the Federation of Small Businesses. The banks provided advice about their services and various advisers mounted an exhibition.

 

2.3 Local government needs to understand what businesses want and the barriers they face to growth. The survey of local needs produced some conclusions that we did not entirely expect. It showed, for example, that the local economy is more stable and resilient than we expected and nearly 50% of staff live within two miles of their jobs. 83% of businesses did not have a skills gap in their view.

 

2.4 Local government at the district level has an important role to play in four key delivery areas:-

 

§ Ensuring that working in partnership there is a clear understanding of the scale and types of jobs likely to be available/sought in the future and to ensure that the skills of the workforce match those requirements.

§ Providing a choice of land and premises in the right places at the right time through the planning system.

§ Stimulating Inward investment and the regeneration of key opportunity sites which might not otherwise be developed for a variety of reasons.

§ Acting as a signposting and networking resource for businesses to take advantage of to ensure that there are no gaps or weaknesses in areas of business support services. Our Council-run Business Club and Invest Newsletter are two examples of this approach.

 

2.5 We are also working closely at a sub-regional level with public and private sector partners on a range of initiatives because we recognise that in the real world the flow of goods, people and services do not recognise administrative boundaries and we can pool resources on common aspirations like maximising the ports related opportunities the Haven Gateway has to offer.

 

2.6 At a broader level we know that Essex and East Anglia generally is underfunded now in terms of infrastructure generally notwithstanding the new demands which will flow from large housing targets. The A.12 corridor is the biggest single problem which is still not likely to be improved until 2016 and there are other key highway routes including the A.120 which are central to the efficient operations of business.

 

 

2 June 2009