Agenda item

(Director of Neighbourhoods) To consider the attached report AMED-001-2017/18.

The Economic Development Officer (EDO) presented a report to the Cabinet Committee and updated them on a number of projects and issues being explored by the Economic Development Team.

Town Centres

Town & Village Centres / District Opportunities Fund

The EDO reported that it had been very rewarding to see a number of projects coming forward for funding and also for projects coming to fruition:

·         The first stage of the Ongar in Bloom project has seen colourful planters installed in the town centre to raise the appeal of Ongar Town Centre to visitors;

·         The Buckhurst Hill Residents Society has delivered its project to increase people’s awareness of the business offer in Queens Road through engagement between school children and these businesses. A first tranche of children had visited Queens Road on several occasions, interviewed businesses, produced promotional material for them and held a market outside these businesses. The Residents Society has worked hard to involve a wide range of traders, including some which have not historically been engaged with the town centre and community activities. The children also seem to have found the project both exciting and rewarding; and

·         The Epping Town Partnership are hosting a Youth Festival & Youth Traders Market on Saturday 8 July 2017 from 10am to 4pm. There will be a number of young people trading on Epping High Street and some entertainment provided by local schools and it was hoped that this would be a successful event.

Business Support

Business Confidence Survey

At a previous meeting of the Asset Management and Economic Development Cabinet Committee, Members were in agreement to the idea of conducting a local survey of business confidence. Members requested that a draft of the survey be brought to a future meeting so they could review the content. On page 17 of the Agenda was the first draft of the proposed survey and Members were asked for any comments they may have.

Digital Enterprise Programme

On 15 June 2017, the Cabinet considered a report to bring forward proposals to develop a Digital Enterprise Programme that would build on the successful infrastructure network improvements that the District has seen over the last two years and start to further develop the District’s potential as a Digital Innovation Zone.

In addition to the Council, six funding partners have signed up to a co-funded and co-commissioned digital strategy for the wider Digital Innovation Zone.

The Cabinet also agreed as a part of that report to funding from the Town Centre Opportunities Fund, up to a maximum of £45,000, to explore the potential for the delivery of a free public wi-fi scheme in the District’s town centres. The Economic Development team have been liaising with Broxbourne Borough Council and Pembrokeshire County Council who have been through this process, to learn from their experiences.

Councillor Breare-Hall asked if Members could receive details of the return on investment from these activities.

The EDO replied that all projects would return an end of project report but most of these projects were long term and therefore he would not be able to report back until they had completed.

The Local Strategic Partnership Manager (LSPM), Mr J Houston advised that there was a need for improvement between showing a direct impact between the statistics that the Economic Development Team (EDT) take and the impact they have on the various projects. There are some general indicators that could be used to assess the performance and the EDT will endeavour to include this information at the next meeting.

Councillor Lion asked the EDO why Coopersale had not yet been provided with Superfast Broadband and when was it likely to be installed.

The EDO stated that the case for Coopersale had been pushed with Superfast Essex and it was hoped that Phase 4 of this project would pick up all the areas that had not been included to date.

Councillor Mohindra commented on The West Essex Alliance and the need to do more in terms of economic development across the neighbouring districts.

The LSPM advised that this was clearly an area that was not as strong as 4/5 years ago but the EDT had been working with Councils in neighbouring boroughs and it had been suggested that the Council’s pool their funding and get a better return for the districts’ residents.

Councillor Mohindra commented that he thought the visit from Chinese Trade Delegation had been a success and there was the potential for some further opportunities that will need to be explored.

The LSPM advised that the Council had hosted a successful visit in the District from a delegation from a province in China. The Council have since had a request from that Chinese Province to enter into a friendship/trade agreement where the Council can build trade links between that province in China to local businesses in the district and look to build some cultural and educational links. The Tourism Officer was looking into this and a report will be brought back to a future meeting of this Cabinet Committee.

The Chairman asked the EDO about the Superfast Broadband cabinets which were still to be installed in Hastingwood and North Weald and stated that no dates had yet been provided and asked when these will be forthcoming.

The EDO replied that  there had been a period of inactivity due to Giga Clear having issues with the contractor which had now been resolved. The EDO stated that he had no confirmed dates but would inform Members as soon as he did.

The Chairman asked Members to comment on the draft Business Survey which was attached to the agenda.

Members expressed concern that not enough information would be gathered through the survey as this was a tick box survey.

The LSPM advised that a tick box survey was quicker to fill in and in the past had proved to have had a better return rate.

Resolved:

That the progress and work programme of the Council’s Economic Development Section was noted.

Reasons for Decision:

To appraise the Committee on the progress made with regard to Economic Development issues.

Other Options Considered and Rejected:

None, as this was a monitoring report for information not action.