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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