Agenda item

A paper and accompanying presentation were received to provide an overview of the current economic landscape in Sheffield City Region and the emerging evidence to structure future priorities/activities in the SCR in relation to infrastructure, to be encapsulated within the Strategic Economic Plan (SEP) and Local Industrial Strategy (LIS)

Information was received to explain the process and timescales for development. It was noted the SEP and LIS are scheduled for publication in December 2019 but acknowledged there are a number of factors that may affect this intention.

Regarding sign-off it was noted the SCR effectively owns the SEP and can sign this off when considered appropriate. However, the LIS is co-owned with government and subject to other procedures and expectations (to be agreed with government).

Comparisons were drawn between the SCR and other city regions (nationally and internationally), noting the SCR lags behind almost every other region in terms of GVA and productivity.

It was acknowledged the drivers of productivity are numerous and suggested the SCR might be affected by having a significant number of jobs in low productivity sectors, lower skills levels and relatively less investment in research and development.

Further information was presented with specific relevance to the infrastructure related matters under the tutelage of the Infrastructure Board including housing, digital networks and energy production.

It was noted where the SCR might be particularly sensitive to wider economic drivers.

The Board considered the importance of growth being ‘inclusive’ to ensure this genuinely translates into improving the lives of the SCR’s residents and breaks the cycle of the SCR being stuck in a low wage economy.

Members were presented with the proposed ‘people-focussed’ vision for the SCR’s SEP and LIS and its proposed supporting policies and outcomes (metrics to be confirmed).

Members agreed it was entirely appropriate to base strategies around people.

It was suggested we need to recognise there are a number of initiatives in the SCR that are working well, such as apprenticeship rates and examples of inward investment that are based on the quality of the local workforce, and considered what more can be done to scale up what is working well.

It was noted the SCR has a unique and very disperse landscape which doesn’t lend itself to some initiatives that might work in other city regions. Caution was therefore urged to ensure we don’t just try to copy what might be working elsewhere.

It was proposed that some of the comparative economic figures might be misleading and suggested comparisons should be drawn against national averages rather than London.

Members asserted the importance of having an effective action plan in place to focus our efforts and initiatives and help the SCR mange its ‘step-change’ journey towards achieving its economic ambition, turning rhetoric into actual deliverables.

Consideration was given to additional specific local factors that need to be addressed to achieve our productivity ambition including the need to recognise the significant deprivation and lack of social mobility that exists in some locations.

It was suggested many of the ambitions of the SEP and LIS are cross-cutting and will only be achieved if silo-working is avoided.

The Board considered whether the SCR is as effectively ‘noisy’ as other city regions in respect of marketing its riches and potential.

RESOLVED - that the Board notes the summarised evidence base and the emerging areas for prioritisation.