Agenda item

To receive an update from the Council’s representative on matters considered at the meetings held on 21 October and 18 November 2020.  

(NB: the report from the meeting on 18 November will be circulated as soon as possible).

43.1          The Council’s representative on the Gloucestershire Economic Growth Scrutiny Committee (GEGSC) presented the report, circulated with the Agenda at Pages No.83-84 and separately at Pages No. 4-8, which contained a summary of the Committee’s meetings held on 21 October and 18 November 2020.

43.2          The two main parts of the meeting on 21 October had covered the Golden Valley Project and an update from GFirst Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP). The Golden Valley presentation, which the representative suggested would be worth viewing, had noted that Gloucestershire had the largest concentration of cyber businesses in the UK outside of London. In terms of economic growth, the development could potentially deliver more than 12,000 jobs and contribute approximately £800 million to the economy for the Golden Valley site alone. In terms of the GFirst LEP update, the paper provided was largely the same as the information presented at September’s meeting but did include some additional information to provide a more complete context, which was helpful.

43.3          The meeting on 18 November had consisted of three parts: a Joint Committee update; a presentation on modern methods of housing construction; and an update from GFirst LEP. The main items in the Joint Committee update had been the Gloucestershire skills portal which provided job seekers with a list of local and national contacts and training opportunities; an overview of the Committee’s work; an update on the Kings Quarter Regeneration Project in Gloucester; a document that delivered a snapshot of the current status of strategic and local plans in the county; and an update on the Business Rates Pool. Bromford Housing Association had delivered a presentation on modern methods of housing construction which the representative had found to be extremely interesting. The presentation had explained that, in future years, Gloucestershire would face significant housing growth to meet the demand for new homes and delivery of that housing would provide important challenges. It had been explained that modern methods of construction were not intended to replace traditional construction methods but to be used alongside them and it had been agreed that representatives from some private building developers would be invited to a meeting in the near future so their plans could be scrutinised and a summary report produced. Finally, in terms of the GFirst LEP update, Members had been advised that the total Gross Value Added (GVA) for Gloucestershire was estimated to be £16.5 billion; the number of young people (18-24 year olds) claiming benefits in Gloucestershire was currently 3,725 which was 19.6% of the total working age claimants in the county; the second phase of the Self Employment Income Scheme Grant had seen a total of 21,300 claims made in Gloucestershire up to 30 September with a take up rate of 62% of those potentially eligible; and the total value of loans offered to businesses in Gloucestershire, as part of the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme and Bounce Back Loan Scheme now stood at £483 million.

43.4          The Chair thanked the representative for his update and reminded Members that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee received reports from the county groups to ensure the District Councils were integrated in the work so it was useful if Members could ask questions and make comments that could be fed back by the representatives. Accordingly, it was

                 RESOLVED           That the Gloucestershire Economic Growth Scrutiny Committee                                     Update be NOTED.