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ITEM
CA14
CABINET
- 7 MARCH 2006
ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY FOR OXFORDSHIRE
Report by
Director for Environment & Economy
Introduction
- The Oxfordshire
Economic Partnership (OEP) has prepared a draft Economic Development
Strategy for Oxfordshire 2006 - 2016 (EDSO) for comment. The purpose
of this report is to set out a summary of the main points in the draft
document and seek agreement on a suitable response. The EDSO consultation
follows the recent consultation on the Regional Economic Strategy, which
was the subject of a report to Cabinet on 7 February 2006. In drafting
the EDSO specific attention was paid to the need to ensure that it was
"aligned" with the draft Regional Economic Strategy (RES).
- The intention
of the OEP is to redraft the strategy on the basis of comments received
and it will be launched in mid-May 2006.
Summary
of Main Points of the EDSO
- The EDSO has been
developed by the OEP with input from Oxfordshire County Council officers
as a strategy that will guide the work of all members of the partnership
over the next 10 years.
- The four main
aims of the EDSO are:
- To improve the
competitiveness of Oxfordshire's economy to achieve a GVA per capita
that ranks among the top ten sub-regions in Europe
- To encourage
a positive environment for businesses throughout the County
- That the workforce
in Oxfordshire will have the skills and flexibility to sustain a world
class economy.
- To improve Oxfordshire's
infrastructure and environment
- Monitoring and
implementation underpin the EDSO aims; gaining knowledge from and disseminating
key information on the economy which will further inform policy and
projects in this area. Please see Annex
1 for more information on key issues addressed
in the EDSO.
Officer
Comments
Context
of EDSO
- The aims and objectives
of EDSO are aligned with the strategic priorities agreed
by the Cabinet for inclusion in the Council’s medium term corporate
plan, and particularly with the first:
"To
help the economy grow as fast as possible with a real choice of access
to jobs, homes, leisure and services and in a way that does not prejudice
the future of our environment"
- We feel that the
EDSO is an invaluable reference document of all the initiatives related
to economic development in the county. As such it provides a shared
framework within which the partnership members can work. However, there
is a need for some restructuring of the document and greater clarity
in terms of the overall strategy, key objectives and actions.
- In particular
the national, regional and local policy context is missing and is crucial
in order to increase understanding and acceptance of the strategy by
partners and businesses. There needs to be a clearer link to other strategies
and plans such as the emerging RES and South East Plan which provide
the framework for the development of a strategy for Oxfordshire; for
example the Central Oxfordshire sub-regional elements of the South East
plan are not mentioned. The EDSO should not be proposing another strategic
view of land use when this aspect is a matter for continuing debate
through the South East Plan.
- There needs to
be a clearer position statement that helps with the branding of Oxfordshire.
At present there is a statement from Institute for Public Policy Research
about the goal for the South East but there is not a clear statement
of what is wanted for Oxfordshire. Such a statement would help in taking
forward the partnership and EDSO.
- The strategy should
say some thing clear about the regulations that govern the working relations
between the statutory and business sectors. Ideally we should have a
joined up regulation regime so that there is not unnecessary duplication
between the regulations of public sector agencies – county, districts,
environment agency etc
- The voluntary
and community sector is not mentioned and is an important area that
should be added under any objectives for increasing enterprise.
- In order to gauge
whether the previous EDSO was successful a strategic review should be
undertaken and links to good practice from other economic strategies
should be included so that we can learn and build upon other successes
in this area.
- The evidence base
used for the draft new EDSO is not extensive and in most cases is in
need of updating to the latest statistics. There appears to be a discrepancy
between some of the data cited in the EDSO and in the RES, for example
over the amount invested in infrastructure per capita.
- A monitoring plan
should be put in place for the new strategy to continually improve its
relevance and performance.
Housing
Numbers
- One strategic
action in the draft EDSO asserts the need for more housing to support
the economy. OEP have based this objective on SEEDA research and the
RES objective proposing greater numbers of housing than the South East
Plan proposes. Further to this objective, the draft EDSO includes also
as a next step to "demonstrate evidence for the economic need for housing
development. The Council has strongly opposed the amount of housing
proposed in the RES. This point has been fed back to the OEP and we
have gained their agreement in advance to remove the housing numbers
from the EDSO.
Transport
- In the introduction
to the Environment, it would be helpful to have a paragraph stressing
the economic value of having a high quality built and natural environment,
e.g. for tourism and attracting (and retaining) high value added business.
- Under Investment
in Transport Infrastructure, it would be better to say "less is invested
in Oxfordshire per capita …" as the current wording could be interpreted
as the County Council being "responsible" for lower investment levels.
- OCC partnership
working with major employers in Headington, particularly with the Health
Trusts and the bus operators should be included in the section about
Transport Successes. Something like "Currently jointly implementing
an agreed strategy on transport and travel, closely linked to the major
plans for further development in the Headington area. This includes
a comprehensive approach to parking provision and management, development
of Park & Ride and dedicated infrastructure for public transport."
- The text on the
Local Transport Plan can be expanded to include "… a new 5 year plan
covering the 2006-2011 period, including:
- A strategic
vision and objectives for Transport in the County
- How Transport
contributes to wider objectives, such as Economic Development
- A Central Oxfordshire
Transport Area, which closely mirrors the central Oxfordshire sub-Region,
picking up the key trips within the biggest areas of economic activity
and future growth, in particular travel into Oxford and in the Grove/Wantage,
Didcot and Harwell area
- A detailed programme
of schemes and measures for the LTP period
- A series of
key indicators, targets and outcomes closely linked to programme delivery
and management"
- Finally under
5.2, in the penultimate paragraph we suggest a few changes in wording
so that it reads "… Didcot; the same is true of developments of national
and international significance on the Chilton-Harwell campus. [new para].
... by road. This will require strategic investment in this corridor
to make an impact and the Government’s new Transport Innovation Fund
Productivity strand may be an opportunity to secure funding for this"
- The EDSO does
not address the need for a coordinated approach to meeting statutory
responsibilities in the area of disaster planning as covered by the
Civil Contingencies Act 2004.
Delivery
of the EDSO
- Partners involved
in the Local Area Agreement’s Economic Development and Enterprise block
are a key part of realising the EDSO aims. Strong partnerships have
been developed through the Local Area Agreement process to deliver both
stretch and non stretch projects with examples such as the Oxfordshire
Waste Partnership, Street Scene, Rural Strategy, Youth Entrepreneurship,
Sustainable Employers and the Area Programme.
- Despite this the
EDSO does not specify who will be accountable for its ultimate delivery.
This needs to be clarified in order to assure that the good intentions
of the strategy are translated into effective action.
- A summary of the
key points and links to where objectives can be found needs to be included
so that people can go to the section they are interested in directly.
Conclusions
- The EDSO provides
a useful introduction to economic development issues in Oxfordshire.
It does need to reflect more the wider strategic context provided by
the RES and South East Plan. It needs to include more strategic, evidence
based objectives with a commitment to deliver the aims for Oxfordshire.
The Council is working closely on the redrafting of the strategy offering
evidence, data and knowledge in the process.
RECOMMENDATION
- The Cabinet
is RECOMMENDED to approve the comments in this report as the Cabinet’s
response to the draft Economic Development Strategy for Oxfordshire.
RICHARD
DUDDING
Director for
Economy & Environment
Bvackground papers: Draft Economic Development Strategy for Oxfordshire
(Oxfordshire Economic Partnership)
Contact
Officer: Jasmine Pandher, Economic Development Officer, Tel: 01865
815539
March
2006
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