Agenda item

(Led by: Mark Roberts, Lead Officer: Liz Hunter)

The Board considered a report of the Interim Director of Policy and Development on the proposed approach to creating an Economic Strategy for the West Yorkshire Region.

The Chair introduced the report and noted that it had much in common with the previous paper; he then invited the Interim Director of Policy and Development to present the report who explained that the purpose of the report was to seek the Board’s views on the proposed creation of an Economic Strategy for the West Yorkshire Region from 2022 to 2030. The intention was for this Plan to help tell the overall story for the region by capturing our strengths and opportunities.

The Economic Strategy will be the overarching Plan under which will sit the existing and new strategies and policies. The existing strategies that consider our economic objectives include the Economic Recovery Plan, Business Productivity and Resilience Plan, Innovation Framework, Digital Framework and the Healthtech Strategy. Each District Partner also has an economic strategy or plan.

The proposal is to write the strategy in collaboration with Local Authority (LA) and wider partners to ensure that it acknowledges and considers the economic strategies on a local level. The Board’s views were therefore sought as to any other organisations that should be invited to participate. The proposal is for a three-pronged approach:

·       Review existing policy and refer to the findings of the work underway to address the current cost of living crisis and use this to inform our approach to creating the right conditions for a thriving economy by 2030.

·       Review the approach to sectors to ensure that we have a robust and resilient method to ensure economic growth and a thriving region by 2030.

·       Conduct a scenario planning exercise to test our economy’s resilience against possible scenarios to inform how we plan for mechanisms and interventions to help ensure economic resilience and capitalise upon opportunities.

The Interim Director of Policy and Development noted that the approach will draw upon existing policy approaches including the Mayoral Pledges, the West Yorkshire Investment Strategy, State of the Region Report, the Economic Recovery Plan, the Fair Work Charter for West Yorkshire, and Local Authority policies.

The Board made several observations:

·       The last time there was a Strategic Plan was back in 2014. Although many approaches had been tried since this time, a unified strategy is required in order to maximise the amount of support provided to businesses within West Yorkshire.

·       The demographics of our workforce have changed considerably since 2014 as have skill shortages, our net zero commitments and home working patterns. It was also noted that the Combined Authority’s work on sectors had evolved and that this is particularly relevant at present as many programmes were going through the assurance processes. Members of the Board expressed support for the approach in the paper which will review the existing strategies and consolidate them. The new Economic Strategy will also consider how West Yorkshire may evolve further up to 2030 and beyond.

·       Members of the Board felt that the new Economic Strategy would help to encourage further inward investment both locally and from government given that a comprehensive plan which links our existing commitments with new ones is likely to be well received by decision makers in Whitehall.

·       It was agreed by many members that the new Economic Strategy should build upon the work of the existing Industrial Strategy and West Yorkshire Recovery Plan and that it was vital to repurpose existing work so this was not lost, while ensuring our priorities evolve to address the Cost-of-Living-Crisis and our commitments to net zero.

Resolved:

      i.         That the views of the Board on the approach to creating an Economic Strategy for West Yorkshire be noted.

     ii.         That advice as to what success looks like be provided and that expectations for the strategy be set, and

    iii.         That the Board be involved in reviewing the strategy as it evolves.