EDO Annual Report 2010/11
WANDSWORTH BOROUGH COUNCIL
STRATEGIC PLANNING AND TRANSPORTATION OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE – 9TH JUNE 2010
EXECUTIVE – 21ST JUNE 2010
Report by the Economic Development Officer on the annual report of the Economic Development Office for 2009/10 and priorities for 2010/11
SUMMARYBackground. The Economic Development Office (EDO) leads the corporate objective of “building a prosperous, vibrant and cohesive community in Wandsworth” and has developed and implemented policies, programmes and projects to improve the Borough’s economy.
Policy. The EDO contributes to the delivery of one of the Council’s strategic objectives of “building a prosperous, vibrant and cohesive community”.
Issues/Proposals. This report reviews the Economic Development Office’s (EDO) work in 2009/10, incorporating the out-turn budget and performance indicators for 2009/10 compared to the targets set at the start of the year.
There was an overspend of £183,000 on employees. This was more than offset by the reduced expenditure against the running expenditure budgets (-£292,000) and the Economic Development Programme (-£76,000). The Personal Best project did not progress as planned resulting in an underspend of £112,000 which was offset by an equivalent shortfall in budgeted income.
Some output/outcome measures were achieved or exceeded (e.g. town centre vacancy rates, payments made within 30 days, and satisfaction with the EDO’s services remained high at 96%). Others, such as unemployment fell back because of the recession. However, the percentage of the workforce that is inactive in Wandsworth is two thirds that of Great Britain. The Council agreed and implemented a 36 point Recession Action Plan to fight the recession, and the Wandsworth Employment and Skills Partnership’s (WESP) Strategy to tackle worklessness. There was a 42% increase in the number of claimants in the year to January 2010. The Job Shop placed 248 people (1,668 cumulative since 2005) into work, of which 48 (413 cumulative since 2005) were Wandsworth residents.
Key priorities for the next three years are described, includingrevised plans to regenerate the centre of Roehampton; new plans to develop Nine Elms as a world-class location for international company headquarters in central London; implement the Go Green Plus project to improve environmental and business performance in small firms; and continuing to implement the 36 point Recession Action Plan, and the strategy to fight worklessness in Wandsworth.
Director of Finance Comments. The proposals contained within this report can be met from within the approved budgets for the Economic Development.
Supporting Information. Not applicable.
Conclusions.Overall, there are still uncertainties ahead for the Borough’s economy. Many challenges remain to build a more prosperous economy in Wandsworth. The actions of many partners, and especially the private sector, are required to ensure that Wandsworth comes out of the recession quicker than most. Key performance indicators, targets and priorities are set out for approval over the next three years which will contribute to the Council’s Sustainable Community Strategy.
GLOSSARY
EDO – Economic Development Office
SCS – Sustainable Community Strategy
WESP – Wandsworth Employment and Skills Partnership
1.Recommendations. The Strategic Planning and Transportation Overview and Scrutiny Committee are recommended to support the recommendations in paragraph 3.
2.If the Overview and Scrutiny Committee approve any views, comments or recommendations on the report, these will be submitted to the Executive for its consideration.
3.The Executive is recommended to:-
(a)note the contents of the Economic Development Office's Annual Report, including the outturn performance measures in the Appendices 1 and 2;
(b)endorse the priorities for 2010/11set out in paragraph 26; the performance indicators in paragraph 27for 2010/11 and the long-term indictors in paragraph 28 of Appendix 2; and
(c)instruct the Economic Development Officer to take all necessary steps to implement the Economic Development Programme for 2010/11.
4.Introduction.The Economic Development Office (EDO) leads the corporate objective of “building a prosperous, vibrant and cohesive community in Wandsworth”as agreed (Paper No. 09-613) by the Executive on 8th July 2009. This report also brings together the relevant EDO contributions to achieving the long-term vision included in “Our Wandsworth 2018”, the Sustainable Community Strategy (SCS) for the Borough. This includes the following sub-objectives:-
(a)actively support the local economy, particularly small enterprises;
(b)reduce worklessness and work to minimise the impact of the recession locally, especially the impact on more disadvantaged groups; and
(c)work with key partners to foster neighbourhood renewal inpriority areas.
6.The EDO’s customer base is wide-ranging and includes:-
(a)small firms, in particular start-ups and those located in the town centres;
(b)partners and stakeholders in the Borough’s five town centres, Battersea and Roehampton; and
(c)the Borough’s workforce, especially those with special needs in deprived areas seeking employment.
7.The main services relevant to this Committee provided by the EDO are:-
(a)business information, advice, and financial assistance to small businesses;
(b)co-ordinating the regeneration programmes in Battersea and Roehampton; and
(c)addressing worklessness in the Borough.
8.2009/10 results. This report updates the Committee and Executive on the outturn results of last year’s work of the EDO. Details of last year’s results are in Appendices 1 and 2to this report and summarised below.
Key inputsBudget (£’000) / 2006/07
Actual / 2007/08
Actual / 2008/09
Actual / 2009/10
Target / 2009/10
Actual
Administration net revenue costs / 1,431 / 1,478 / 1,491 / 1,258 / 1,443
Programme gross revenue costs / 2,100 / 2,217 / 1,404 / 2,047 / 2,860
Capital available / 426 / 447 / 505 / 486 / 557
Income from other publicly funded programmes / 708 / 1,049 / 403 / 814 / 478
Performance output measures
Business enquiries / 5,165 / 7,089 / 7,404 / 5,400 / 7,201
Jobs created / 146 / 131 / 61 / 150 / 60
Loans and grants to business £'000 / 285 / 328 / 262 / 404 / 378
Private investment associated with EDO projects (£'000) / 2,017 / 1,143 / 1,110 / 2,000 / 1,174
People placed into work (inc. Job Shop) / 447 / 187 / 382 / 200 / 186
% change in VAT-registered businesses / 4.6% / 4.8% / N/A / +2% / N/A
9.There was an overspend of £183,000 on employees but this was more than offset by the reduced expenditure against the running expenditure budgets (-£292,000) and the Economic Development Programme (-£76,000). The Personal Best project has not progressed as planned resulting in an underspend of £112,000 on running expenses which was offset by an equivalent shortfall in budgeted income. The capital budget was overspend since the plans to regenerate the centre of Roehampton needed more detailed specialist work to support the Council’s planning application, which was subsequently withdrawn due to market conditions. The costs of the Stewarts Road Study reflect the gross cost of the study, but do not include the London Development Agency’s grant.
10.Some output/outcome measures were achieved or exceeded: town centre vacancy rates, payments were made within 30 days, satisfaction with the EDO’s services remained high at 96%. The EDO enhanced many of its services to businesses in response to the recession, for example, a reshaped Town Centre Improvement Scheme, a new vacant property scheme for town centres and a business rate hardship scheme. The Audit Commission has noted the EDO’s ‘proactive and responsive’ approach.
11.Other performance measures, such as unemployment, fell back because of economic conditions. Labour market indicators worsened due to recession and the dependence of the Borough’s workforce on sectors such as real estate. Unemployment worsened for the more vulnerable groups (such as ethnic minorities) and deprived areas (Latchmere and Roehampton). However, it should be noted that the percentage of the workforce that is inactive in Wandsworth is two thirds that of Great Britain. The Job Shop placed 248 people (1,668 cumulative since 2005) into work, of which 48 (413 cumulative since 2005) were Wandsworth residents. The ‘Wandsworth Future Works’ project supported young unemployed males of Caribbean heritage into sustainable employment and the ‘Personal Best’ programme improves the employability and skills of unemployed and economically inactive people in Wandsworth, Merton, Sutton and Croydon. The Council agreed and implemented a 36 point Recession Action Plan to fight the recession, and the Wandsworth Employment and Skills Strategy to tackle worklessness.
12.Proposed priorities for 2010/11. The EDO’s priorities for 2010/11 are set out in paragraph 26 of Appendix 2; along with the proposed performance indicators in paragraph 27 and the long-term indictors in paragraph 28. Key priorities:-
(a)encourage cafes and similar establishments to hook up to fast broadband and make that facility available to local start-up and home-based businesses;
(b)identify ways of reducing the burden of red tape on business by improving access to information locally and lobbying for deregulation nationally;
(c)advertise information on new Council contracts worth over £25,000on the Council’s web site to helpsmall firms access new Council contracts;
(d)complete the implementation of the Go Green Plus contract from the London Development Agency to improve environmental and business performance in 400 small firms across six London boroughs and develop ‘Green Business Cluster’;
(e)prepare proposals to bring forward more employment space in the Borough, especially the creation of business incubator space in the most deprived areas (e.g. Roehampton, Battersea and Tooting);
(f)review, update and implement, as necessary WESP’s agreed strategy (as set out in Paper No 09-348) to reduce unemployment in the Borough
(g)with Talent, implement the service to support young black male unemployed and help this group to get work and stay in work;
(h)complete the implementation of the Personal Best contracts;
(i)with Jobcentre Plus, extend the concept of the Job Shop to other (deprived) parts of the Borough by seeking contributions from developers through Section 106 Agreements;
(j)promote the Nine Elms area as a world-class, central London business location as the first choice for international company headquarters and develop and implement an inward investment strategy for Nine Elms during 2010/11;
(k)carry out the Council’s own infrastructure study, supporting the GLA’s infrastructure study and continuing to promote the case for funds for the Northern Line Extension and other essential infrastructure to enable the Nine Elms development to proceed;
(l)support the Covent Garden Market Authority’s plan to secure a development partner to regenerate the Market with a composite market at its core;
(m)implement the agreed governance arrangements for Nine Elms;
(n)develop the proposals for the Stewart’s Road area, including the identification of potential funding, to implement the proposals for the Stewart’s Road area to enable intensification of employment uses and improve the environment in this area to ensure that businesses affected by the redevelopment proposals in Nine Elms (Queenstown) can be accommodated within the area
(o)prepare revised proposals to increase private and other investment, economic activity, and improve the physical environment and transport facilities and to widen the choice of housing in Roehampton;
(p)implement an employment strategy to reduce unemployment in Roehampton;
(q)secure a development partner to build a regenerated centre for Roehampton for scheme design that will be acceptable to the Planners; and
(r)monitor the impact of the recession; complete the Recession Action Plan.
13.2010/11 budget and performance indicators. The budget and performance indicators for this year are summarised in the table below.
Key inputs - Budget / Target 2010/11Net administration revenue costs £’000 / 1,264
Programme revenue costs £’000 (gross) / 1,472
Capital available £’000 / 697
Income / 1,010
Performance output measures
Business enquiries / 5,600
Jobs created / 150
Loans and grants to business (£’000) / 400
Private investment (£’000) associated with EDO’s projects. / 2,000
People placed into work (including by Job Shop) / 200
% change in VAT registered businesses (NI 171) / +2%
14.Comments of the Director of Finance. The Director of Finance comments that the proposals contained within this report will be met from within the approved budgets for the EDO.
15.Conclusions.Overall, there are continuing uncertainties ahead for the Borough’s economy. There are still many challenges that remain to build a more prosperous economy in Wandsworth. Under the leadership of the Council, the actions of many partners, and especially the private sector, are required to ensure that Wandsworth comes through the current recession. Approval is sought to the future priorities, actions, performance indicators, and budgets which will contribute to the Council’s SCS.
______
The Town Hall,
Wandsworth,MIKE BROOK
SW18 2PU.Economic Development Officer
1stJune2010
Background Papers
The following background papers were used in the preparation of this report:-
1.NOMIS – official labour market statistics. Available from
2.Audit Commission Value for Money Profile report single tier councils. Available from Mike Brook, telephone 020 8871 6202, email: .
3.Wandsworth Area Assessment. Audit Commission 2009. Available from
4.Sustainable Community Strategy for Wandsworth October 2008. Available from Liz Rees Tel 020 8871 6008 or email . Or
All reports to Overview and Scrutiny Committees, regulatory and other committees, the Executive and the full Council can be viewed on the Council’s website ( unless the report was published before May 2001, in which case the Committee Secretary, Mr. M. Newton (020 8871 6488); email: can supply it if required.
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