www. economic development update policy and resources panel 14 july 2009
DESCRIPTION
National Context – mixed message Bank of England Purchasing Managers Index British Chamber of Commerce Lending Housing Commercial Property Construction OutputTRANSCRIPT
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Economic Development Update
Policy and Resources Panel14 July 2009
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• State of the Hertfordshire Economy
• Hertfordshire Works
• Emerging Vision
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National Context – mixed message
• Bank of England
• Purchasing Managers Index
• British Chamber of Commerce
• Lending
• Housing
• Commercial Property
• Construction Output
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Hertfordshire• Unemployment ILO Definition
- 5% (estimate May 2009)- 3.7% (June 2008)- 10% (early 1990s)
• East of England 6%• UK 7.2%
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Claimant Count
May 2009 19657 3%May 2008 8234 1.2%
• Stevenage 4.3%
• Sales & Customer Service
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Vacancies
May 2009 2992
April 2009 2868
March 2009 3013
May 2008 5625
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Young People NEETs
- May 2009 5.5%- May 2008 4.5%
• Particularly 18 year olds• Stevenage 40% higher than County average• Learning rate up to 82.7% from 80.5% last year
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Redundancies
- 700 Jan – May 2009- 900 expected over the next 9 months- All sectors, all locations- 2/3 of redundancies are in companies
employing less than 100 staff- Job levels unlikely to be regained until 2015
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Housing
- Average house price in Hertfordshire £276,300- Nationally £197,000- House prices fallen 14.8% from April 2008-09- Housing completions
2008/09 3563 2007/08 4271 2006/07 4345
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Hertfordshire Works£4m PRG through ‘Recession to Recovery Programme’- £480k already allocated to additional funding to CABX
for 5 specialist debt advisers- £800k for Apprenticeships- £300k for skills training for SME’s and social enterprise- £500k capital for local shopping centres improvement
fund- £200k for Business Retention and Inward Investment- £1.5m capital for Incubation Centre
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• Inward Investment Manager appointed• Future Jobs Fund bid to Central Government for
200 apprenticeships for young people who are long term unemployed
• Business Advisory Groups in place• SME Procurement and Supply Chain Initiative• Olympics Legacy / Waltham Cross Renaissance
Group
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A fresh economic vision for Hertfordshire
- Visioning Workshop 6 July 2009
- Draft Strategy by Hertfordshire Forward Conference November 2009
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STRENGTHS
- Varied Economy- Skilled Workforce- Proximity to London- Quality of life
WEAKNESSES
- Weak brand/mixed messages
- Infrastructure- High cost of Housing- Pockets of economic
disadvantage
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OPPORTUNITIES
- Build on Clusters- Nurture SMEs- Green Jobs- Olympics
THREATS
- Slow recovery- Loss of competitive
advantage- Poor quality jobs- Congestion
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Emerging Vision• VARIED & RESILIENT ECONOMY
- Diverse, not over reliant on few sectors or multinationals
- Building on our strengths – pharmaceuticals, hi-tech engineering, communications & media
- Retaining existing firms & encouraging them to grow
- Supporting SMEs- Promoting entrepreneurs
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• QUALITY JOBS
- High Wages, skilled jobs- Knowledge intensive- Personal Services
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• QUALITY LOCATIONS
- Key sites- Flexible development briefs- Sustainable development- Unlocking Infrastructure
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• WELL SKILLED WORKFORCE
- Skills for the future- Linked to what employers want- Apprenticeships from work experience to
graduates- Key to addressing inequalities
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• INNOVATIVE AND NETWORKED
- Optimising our clusters- Strong supply chains and networks- Strong business engagement
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• STRONG OFFER & IDENTITY
- Clear Brand- Culture of ‘Yes’- Inward Investment Portal and Support
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• ‘SMART’ GOVERNMENT
- Advocacy- Clear standards- Appropriate interventions