Agenda and draft minutes

To note apologies and confirm the quorum of 11 members is met.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Tyler Hawkins, Zafar Iqbal, Andrew Hollyer, Isabel Owen, and Chris Pillai.

The meeting was confirmed as quorate, with 11 members present out of 11 needed for quorum.

There were no declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests.

There were no items requiring the exclusion of the press and public.

Resolved:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 16 November 2022 be approved.

Resolved:  That the notes of the meeting held on 18 January 2023 be noted.

The Committee received a verbal update from the Chair where the Chair welcomed the Mayor and reminded members of the pre-agreed topics and set out the structure of the meeting.

Resolved:  That the Chair’s verbal update be noted.

The Chair thanked Mayor Tracy Brabin and officers for attending Economy Scrutiny to answer the Committee’s questions. Officers present to support the Mayor included Philip Witcherley, Interim Director of Inclusive Economy, Skills and Culture, Tom Purvis, Economic Analysis Manager, and Anika Gilbert, Policy Officer Employment and Skills.

The session was split into topic areas and members would be able to ask any questions under those topic areas, and any follow ups. The topic areas were:

business support, engagement and investment, jobs, skills and training and funding, strategy, and projections.

Business Support, Engagement, and Investment

Small Businesses:

• There were 90,000 businesses in West Yorkshire, over 90% were SMEs and therefore it was an area the CA wanted to support because that was where growth could be maximised.
• Over the last year there had been numerous challenges namely Covid-19, cost of living crisis and energy crisis that had been dealt with, with some determination and at speed.
• Government had announced, prior to publishing the spring budget, that the household energy price guarantee will be extended until the end of June, however, no exensions or additional support was announced to support businesses with their energy bills.
• The manufacturing task force had made some recommendations which had made their way into our response to the cost-of-living crisis and energy crisis.
• The LEP was really reflective of SMEs and the most diverse LEP in the country. The Mayor was mindful that there were businesses not reaching out for help, the CA aimed to access these people and introduce these businesses to grants, loans and training.
• Particularly, women led start-ups were not accessing support in the way that they should, £6million was allocated for entrepreneurs and because of devolution the Mayor was able to allocate 50% of funds to female entrepreneurs, 20% to entrepreneurs of colour and 3% of entrepreneurs with a disability.

City Centres:

• Leeds City Centre was one of the biggest to be hit by an economic impact by Covid-19 and the change in working patterns outside of London. Members were reminded of the Mayor’s Fares which aimed to get more people travelling on buses (not helped by the reduction in routes). Rail had seen recovery of over 100% of pre-covid footfall on weekends which reiterated the need to invest in Leeds City Station and the city centre to make the city centre a family friendly activity hub.
• Innovation was a key element, for example supporting pubs to expand their offer by turning into music venues.
• There was a substitution effect where people were spending more time and money locally rather than travelling into the city centre.
• The Leeds City Centre office based footfall during the week took a substantial hit but we had seen some new office offers such as the Lloyds HQ which was re-locating within Leeds City Centre.

Covid-19:

• By working closely with local authorities and delivering a coordinated response through the Growth Managers the CA was able to support the business community through the Covid-19 pandemic.
• A West Yorkshire  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

The Committee discussed the summary Work programme for the 2022/23 municipal year.

Resolved:  That the appended summary 2022/23 Work Programme be noted.