Newsletter - April 2009

Foreword
Economic Downturn Task Group for County Durham
Putting Culture Centre Stage in Durham
Enterprise Advocate for County Durham
Employment and Skills Group
South and East Durham New Growth Point

Foreword from Ken Jarrold, Chair of the County Durham Economic Partnership

Dear Partners,

Welcome to the first edition of the County Durham Economic Partnership Newsletter which will aim to keep you in touch with key issues and developments.

The world is facing the most serious economic situation of modern times. The economy, employment and business survival are all topics that are now debated daily on the radio, television, and in newspapers and the wider media.

The impact of the economic downturn is both global and local – it is essential that we understand what is happening in County Durham and work together in partnership to support residents and businesses. The newly formed Economic Downturn Task Group, bringing together Durham County Council and local partners will focus on leading the local response to the economic downturn

The Partners of the Economic Partnership are all working hard to tackle the challenges of unemployment, skills and employability, difficult business conditions, access to finance and continuing with regeneration initiatives.

Faced with demanding economic conditions and some deep seated challenges, we are developing new initiatives. For example Durham’s ambition and vision are evident in the aspiration to become British City of Culture. You will also see from an article on the new County Durham Enterprise Advocate that we are helping residents to seize the opportunity of setting up their own businesses and that the newly formed Employment and Skills Group is actively engaging with local and regional partners on the employment and skills agenda. The development of the South & East Durham Growth Point Area is a prime example of a place-based approach to investment, representing a new partnership with central government which will deliver a large numbers of new homes around key centres of employment. These are just some examples of delivering the ambition of the County Durham Economic Strategy.

As you are all well aware Durham County Council along with another eight new unitary authorities in England are part of one of the biggest local government reorganisations in recent years. On the 1st of April 2009 Durham County Council became the new unitary authority for the County replacing the previous two tier structure with the view that by April 2010 the former district councils and the new unitary authority will be knitted together as one organisation, functioning coherently and already starting to demonstrate its worth as a strong contributor to the regional debate, nationally recognised for its performance and demonstrating improved customer satisfaction across all services and with the Council as a whole. As part of this reorganisation the Regeneration and Economic Development Directorate, headed by Ian Thompson will encompass and integrate economic development, housing, transport and planning functions with regeneration as a cross cutting theme. The post of divisional head for Economic Development was externally advertised and I am happy to inform you that Sarah Robson has been offered the position. Sarah will join the authority from Tees Valley Regeneration where she is Project Director.

I hope you enjoy reading the newsletter and look forward to sharing the challenges we face and the work of the Economic Partnership throughout 2009.

Ken Jarrold C.B.E

Economic Downturn Task Group for County Durham

Durham County Council is establishing a Task Group in order to drive forward the local response to the economic recession in a strategic, corporate manner. It will provide leadership and will be able to respond to issues quickly and pull together a co-ordinated public sector response. Specialists from different Services and partner organisations will support the work of the Task Group and the information will be disseminated across the partnership.

What started as a crisis in the financial sector continues to affect the wider economy. The UK is now in recession for the first time since 1991, official figures released in January 2009 show a 1.5% drop in Gross Domestic Product in the last three months of 2008 after a 0.6% drop in the previous quarter. Forecasts for the future are constantly changing; currently most forecasters are predicting the economy will continue to shrink, seeing an average contraction of 2.5% in 2009 with recovery starting in 2010/11.

Unemployment is rising nationally with 1.39 million people claiming Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) in February 2009 (a record monthly increase of 138k). In County Durham 14,445 people (4.6% of the working age population) are claiming Job Seekers Allowance, an annual increase of 102%. The rate of increase has been the highest in the region for several months. The underlying upwards trend suggests we could see the total number of people claiming JSA rising to over 20,000 by December 2009.

The contribution made by County Durham to the regional economy has followed a downward trend over the period 1995-2006. County Durham's 2006 Gross Value Added (GVA) was at 61% of the national average and only representing 15.2% of the regional total compared to 17% in 1995.

The report published in January 2009, “The impact of the Credit Crunch in County Durham” analyses trends and implications for County Durham. The rising cost of living, rising unemployment and low confidence have resulted in reduced consumer and business spending which is severely affecting the whole of the local economy. 22.1% of all employee jobs in County Durham are construction and manufacturing – some of the worst hit sectors in terms of the economic downturn.

Whilst there are undoubtedly difficult times ahead, building and maintaining business and consumer confidence will be a key factor in reducing the length and depth of the recession in County Durham. Opportunities do exist and significant interventions are already taking place at the local, regional and national level.

Putting Culture Centre-Stage in Durham

As many of you will be aware, the Culture Secretary, Andy Burnham announced a new City of Culture prize, at the end of Liverpool’s reign as European Capital of Culture. The winner of the four yearly prize, the first of which will be awarded in 2011 would benefit from hosting a year-long arts programme which will include high profile events, normally associated with London, such as BBC Sports Personality of the Year or the Booker Prize.

Although the prize has still to be confirmed there is no doubt that culture-led regeneration can have a massive impact on local economies. Previous European Cities of Culture including Glasgow and Liverpool have used culture to reverse their fortunes, accelerate investment, realise the potential of their assets, galvanise their people to aspire, create and participate, and permanently change national and international perceptions of their cities. Even those that narrowly missed the main prize, like NewcastleGateshead, reaped major rewards.

Whether there is a prize to be bid for or not, it is with this in mind that Durham has made a decision to put culture centre-stage over the next couple of years.

So, how can a sustained focus on culture help Durham?

Partners in Durham including the County Durham Partnership, Durham County Council, County Durham Tourism Partnership and Durham City Vision, are confident that through a concerted and coordinated effort and clear vision, the county can be firmly put on the map as the North East’s cultural gateway.

In particular, it will help drive improvement in the following areas:

Durham City’s visitor economy is towards the bottom of the UK league table for comparable historic cities with significant investment needed to compete and realise our significant potential.

Durham is an ‘invisible city’. Surveys show that national broadsheet journalists cannot accurately place Durham on maps of the UK. A focus on culture and the publicity this can generate will radically increase visibility.

Durham’s economic base still relies predominantly on traditional employment sectors. Culture provides an opportunity to stimulate employment in national growth sectors, especially knowledge-based employment, and to attract inward investment to the county.

Durham’s rate of growth in unemployment over the last year has been much higher than the rest of the North East, being hit disproportionately by job losses linked to the economic downturn. Investment in culture will provide an opportunity to stimulate business diversification into the retail, hospitality and service sectors.

Councillor Simon Henig, Leader of the Council, believes Durham is in an exceptional position to deliver successful culture-led regeneration. “The county finds itself at a unique moment in time that sees the emergence of new structures, partnerships and organisations that hold out the promise of a new chapter for one of the most under-performing, yet culturally rich, areas of the UK.

“We have much to be proud of in Durham and putting culture centre-stage will help Durham articulate and celebrate the enormous investment it has made in this area, both physical and human, over many years.”

Enterprise Advocate for County Durham

The Enterprise Strategy for County Durham was launched in 2006 with a clear vision that by 2023 the County will have become “Dynamic Durham”. This Enterprise Strategy was reviewed in October 2007 and it was agreed that enterprise and enterprise education advocacy activities should be strengthened throughout the County. As part of the commitment to deliver this strategy, James Walker has been appointed as the new Enterprise Advocate for County Durham and Chris Carling as the Enterprise in Education Advocate.

The immediate objective is to improve the communication channels between all partners in order to promote the County Durham Enterprise Strategy. James will also be organising key communication events, launching a role model campaign, and increasing opportunities for accessing self-employment across the network.

In future newsletters we hope to update progress on the field of Enterprise and examine some of the work in more depth. In the meantime should partners wish to learn more about the Enterprise Strategy or learn more about how they can get involved James can be contacted on 07970 552190 or by email at James.Walker@be-ne.co.uk

Employment and Skills Group

Skills and employability are one of the key agenda areas which the CDEP can significantly contribute towards. Employers are vital towards raising the aspiration and attainment of students, helping to tackle NEETs (not in employment, education or training), whilst also providing students with the opportunity to develop employability skills which will prepare them for future employment opportunities in whatever industry they chose.

The Employment and Skills Group was established in October 2008 and is made up of public and private sector employers with a private sector chair (Brian Manning – Chief Executive of The Esh Group). The group is the first Employment and Skills Board within the region to be populated solely by employers. The group operates within the framework of the Economic Partnership and group membership is diverse and has representatives covering, health, local government, construction, engineering, manufacturing, health and social care.

Moving forward the group will concentrate on

Increasing the aspiration of students through working with schools and colleges

Encouraging the simplification of business support relating to skills and employability whilst ensuring a consistent message is provided to employers

Where possible engage with the principles of the Regional Employability Framework

The group is now seeking to develop activities to deliver against these priorities, activities include supporting Durham Community Business College in its bid for Studio Schools status, scoping involvement in Diplomas, IAG and a Junior Business Club for Durham building on the success of Durham Future Business Magnates programme.

The group has raised key points regarding Train to Gain and the ability for employers to access bit size module approaches to qualification. The skills summit also supported this approach and these concerns have been discussed with the LSC who have since implemented this approach nationally.

The Partnership has also established an Employment & Skills Executive Group, which provides the support mechanism to the employer group. This group also sits within the framework of the Economic Partnership and the group is made up of all the key public sector organisations and is there to respond to the challenges set by the employer group but also provide challenges to the employers in agenda areas where their involvement is necessary. The group will also be actively contributing towards the County Durham Economic Assessment in relation to skills and employability.

South and East Durham New Growth Point

The South & East Durham Growth Point represents a new partnership with central government. It will deliver 11,500 new homes between 2008/09 and 2016/17 around key centres of employment; mostly on ‘brown field sites and often in association with mixed use developments. It is one of five Growth Points in the North East. All of these have been approved by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) on the understanding they can contribute to the delivery of additional housing numbers over and above the figures set by the Regional Spatial Strategy.

These homes will be a mix of market housing, social rent and intermediate tenures (including shared ownership and intermediate rent). Given the shortage of affordable homes in County Durham a challenging target of 20% of the overall number (2,300 homes) has been set to ensure an appropriate balance between market and social housing.

The emphasis is on housing led regeneration which can offer sustainable development linking housing with employment sites, transport and the environment. As a result the Growth Point programme has to be aspirational not only in terms of housing numbers but also in terms of the contributions the programme can make to the built and natural environment and to the health and livelihood of communities as a whole.

Of course, the impact of the current economic climate may have effects in the short term, but with the programme running to 2016/17, there is still scope for the overall targets to be met. An initial Growth Fund allocation of approximately £3m has been made by DCLG to assist with delivery. It is hoped that additional assistance towards transport infrastructure costs will be provided by Government through the Community Infrastructure Fund.

The bid was developed through joint working between Durham County Council, District of Easington, Sedgefield Borough Council and Wear Valley District Council. It is good news for the whole County. It shows the ability to work together as a team heading into the new unitary Durham County Council and offers the prospect of more local jobs when the housing market starts to recover from the credit crunch.