Agenda item

The Portfolio Holder for Economic Development including Commercial Strategy introduced the report and advised that the Somerset Growth and Recovery Plan set out a vision of how Somerset would recover economically from Covid 19.  The Plan was consistent with the Council Plan, the delivery of the Economic Development Strategy and Economy Recovery Plan and included emphasis on aerospace, innovation and enterprise, broadband and mobile, agri-tech, digital skills and rural productivity and transport.

The Specialist Economic Development advised that the Plan had been developed by the five Councils in Somerset.  He presented the data within the report and said that it showed that Somerset had not faired any better than the rest of the UK and due to the sectoral make-up of the county may have been harder hit particularly in terms of the economic output and impact on jobs and unemployment.  He explained that it was critical to have a Plan that outlined the project interventions and to also enable Somerset to make a case for additional funding within the area.  The Plan had four key themes which reflected the five foundations listed with the Government’s National Industrial Strategy of ideas to people, infrastructure, business environment and place.  The Specialist Economic Development gave examples of some of the projects outlined in Appendix B which included the Bundford Innovation Centre, the creation of employment hubs across the district, Somerset Catalyst Programme and improving digital and physical connectivity.

The Specialist Economic Development updated that in response to comments raised at the Scrutiny Committee, agriculture would be included as a bedrock sector and included more prominently in the Plan.  He acknowledged that the impact that agriculture had on the environmental sustainability objectives was critical to South Somerset’s Environment Strategy and highlighted that there were a number of projects such as developing the circular economy that recognised this. 

In response to questions from Members, the Director of Service Delivery, and the Specialist Economic Development advised:

·         The vaccination programme was a national programme that was being rolled out through the Health Service.  The Council was playing a role by helping to support health colleagues through co-ordination with Somerset County Council by providing staff to support the vaccination roll outs so there were no delays due to a lack of resources.

·         Work was being undertaken to actively pursue a digital demand response to transport which would enable transport providers to go to areas that don’t have existing routes.  Officers were also working closely with Somerset County Council and a funding application had been submitted to the Department of Transport to pilot a digital demand responsive trial within Somerset including providing links to employment and education.

·         The Government had indicated that any European funding that was committed prior to leaving the European Union would be secured but this would need to be confirmed.

At the conclusion of the debate, Members were content to approve the Somerset Recovery and Growth Plan and delegate authority to the Economy Lead Specialist to make any necessary final amendments to the Somerset Recovery and Growth Plan in association with the appropriate Director(s) and the Portfolio Holder for Economic Development including Commercial Strategy.