Economy & Enterprise

Background

A fourth LAA block on Economy and Enterprise has been developed by the Devon Economic Partnership and was submitted to Government for approval by Ministers in June 2006.

The Economy and Enterprise block was developed from the evidence provided by the State of the Devon Economy and the priorities identified in the Devon Economic Concordat. Consultations culminated in a stakeholder event on the 31 st January 2006 which was attended by 70 representatives of partner bodies. Chaired by Councillor Temperley (DCC), presentations were made by Richard Bayly (GOSW), Tim Jones (Devon Strategic Partnership Economy Champion), Sue Brownlow (SWRDA) and David Incoll (Devon District Councils). This was followed by five workshop sessions and a prioritisation exercise which teased out the aspects to be included in the LAA. The event was felt to be successful, particularly in building the partnership and helping to establish a consensus on the way forward.

Governance

The Economy and Enterprise block is overseen by the Devon Economic Partnership (DEP) which has been established to:

Identify the key economic development and regeneration priorities and activities for Devon, using a comprehensive, sound evidence base
Ensure that delivery of economic development and regeneration activities is done at the most appropriate level depending on the activity required, to the principle of subsidiarity
Enable Devon to speak with one voice on strategic economic issues

Membership of the Devon Economic Partnership includes representatives of local authorities, economic and business partnerships, private, voluntary and environment sectors, Devon Strategic Partnership Economic and Environment Champions, Learning and Skills Council, JobCentre Plus, Business Link, SWRDA and GOSW.

Outcomes

The outcomes in the LAA are agreed priorities which require partnership, aligning of budgets for delivery, and enabling measures from Government.

Delivery of the LAA outcomes will be through a number of organisations and groups such as the Productive Skills for Devon group, the Devon Strategic Housing group, the Devon Community Banking Partnership, the EnVision Partnership, the Renewable Energy 4 Devon partnership and the Devon Procurement Partnership.

For some outcomes, particularly A and C below, activities to deliver the outcomes are underway, for others, particularly B and D below, further work is required to identify the detailed aspects of delivery required to achieve the outcomes and/or the results of piloting new approaches.

See the Economy & Enterprise Table of Outcomes.

A. Increasing Skills

We will achieve this outcome by:

Achieving our LPSA2 targets to i mprove economic well-being through skills development, particularly amongst the hard to reach;
Working with selected Sector Skills Councils (SSC) to improve workforce capabilities; and
Implementing a co-ordinated approach to address employers' training demands and needs for skills development.

B. Increasing Inclusion

We will achieve this outcome by:

Increasing the supply of "affordable housing" to contribute towards the creation of sustainable communities and business growth;
Reducing the rate of worklessness reduced, particularly amongst those receiving incapacity benefit, people with disabilities and NEETs; and
Providing improved pathways to work, reducing numbers and scale of personal debt and promoting and expanding improved pathways to employment, particularly through social enterprises.

C. Improving Productivity through Environment as an Economic Driver

We will achieve this outcome by:

Improving business resource efficiency;
Seeking to become a net energy exporter by 2050;
Encouraging local procurement to support the local economy; and
Developing the rural economy for Devon.

D. Proving Infrastructure for Innovation

We will achieve this outcome by:

Developing, agreeing and implementing a Devon Sites and Premises strategy; and
Developing initiatives which encourage SMEs to use ICT to increase competitiveness and growth.

Block Lead:

Ian Hutchcroft
ian.hutchcroft@devon.gov.uk