Agenda item

To consider a report by the Economic and Business Development Team (copy enclosed) which seeks the Committee’s views on the draft new Economic Strategy and associated Action Plan.

10.50am – 11.25am

 

 

BREAK      11.25am – 11.35am

The Leader and Lead Member for Economic Growth and Tackling Deprivation introduced the report (previously circulated) to the Committee.

 

The report provided information on the development of the draft new Denbighshire Economic Strategy and accompanying Action Plan. The report also outlined how previous and new strategies linked in with the work of the North Wales Economic Ambition Board, Welsh and UK Governments, and other economic development partners which supported the economy in Denbighshire.

 

The Economic and Business Development Manager provided further details of the report to the Committee.

 

The Economic and Business Development (EBD) Team were charged with leading on the development of the new Economic Strategy, as part of the ‘Prosperous Denbighshire’ corporate priority, developing a brief which led to the appointment of SQW to assist with the work.

 

The purpose of the Economic Strategy was to deliver on the ‘Prosperous Denbighshire’ element of the Council’s Corporate Plan. The Council wanted to support economic recovery, capitalise on opportunities that enabled residents to access decent employment and income. There was also the desire to use economic growth as a driver to reduce inequality and poverty.

 

A Task and Finish Group was formed to support the development of the Strategy, which included members representing each of the Member Area Groups and relevant officers. The Group held its inaugural meeting in June 2024. The Terms of Reference outlined the scope of the Group’s work including agreeing the development approach; supporting development; and ultimately agreeing the final draft documents before a Cabinet decision. This document was appended to the report (appendix 2).

 

The Development of the Strategy was split into 3 stages –

Stage 1 – Understanding the County’s economic strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT)

Stage 2 – Development of the actual Economic Strategy

Stage 3 – Development of the Action Plan, as part of the Economic Strategy document, providing direction to the Council on how to execute the Strategy’s objectives.

 

The long-term plan was very ambitious and Denbighshire’s Economic Strategy was now entering stage 3.

 

The Chair thanked officers for their detailed report and presentation and welcomed questions from Members.

 

The Chair stated that it was an ambitious strategy to be delivered within the next 10 years within a small team and questioned if there were sufficient resources going forward to maintain and increase the momentum required to secure its delivery. The Head of Planning Public Protection and Countryside Services stated that more could be achieved if more resources were available however, the EBD team was task with coordinating and putting together the Strategy and Action Plan. The outcome of the Strategy being developed would support many of the priorities moving forward.

 

The Chair stated that Denbighshire needed high value jobs to retain young people following university and questioned how the Strategy could achieve this. The Head of Planning, Public Protection and Countryside Services explained that the priority of high value jobs would be evident as the Draft Strategy moved forward. The EBD team and partners would be undertaking more detailed work on these action areas which would be developed over time into business cases. The role of the team was to provide the infrastructure for the Strategy’s delivery.

 

Members thanked officers for their report which clearly demonstrated a robust process was in place which was engaging and informative. However, stated that for the public to engage and understand the Strategy an ‘easy read’ version would be beneficial. Continuing, Members questioned how the Strategy would lead to prosperity for everyone, regardless of their situation. The Head of Planning, Public Protection and Countryside Services agreed that the Strategy and Action Plan was heavy on detail and would consider comments on a more accessible version of the final Strategy once completed, and possibly the inclusion of a definition/illustration on what a ‘pathway to prosperity’ would look like in order to benefit the public. Feedback on what the Strategy meant to people in different situations would be considered going forward as the Strategy and Action Plan should focus on local issues, local people, and local entrepreneurs. It was also noted that Ambition North Wales had been involved in discussions around the Strategy and Action Plan, they would be invited in future to be involved as part of a partnership oversight group to secure the Strategy’s delivery.

 

Members questioned if local businesses within the County had been consulted on the Strategy. The Economic and Business Manager stated that a SWOT exercise had been carried out alongside the Task and Finish Group’s work, a list of businesses contacted could be provided following the meeting.  Members emphasised to officers the importance of continual engagement and dialogue with all of the county’s businesses, be they small, medium or large, along with their representative organisations in order to secure the Strategy’s delivery and realise a more prosperous Denbighshire by 2035.

 

Members requested information on the timeline for the strategy and Action Plan. The Economic and Business Manager stated that the EBD team would be attending Cabinet to seek approval of the final Strategy and Action Plan in April 2025 to enable its implementation.  Whilst the Strategy was yet to be approved a vast amount of preliminary work was already underway to secure the delivery of its short, medium and the long-term objectives.

 

Members stated that the draft strategy referred to ‘Pockets of entrenched deprivation’ and whilst not disagreeing that Rhyl had high levels of deprivation in certain areas, there were areas of deprivation in some of the County’s rural areas. Questions were raised on how the Strategy would address deprivation in rural areas. The Head of Planning, Public Protection and Countryside Services agreed that there were areas of deprivation in rural areas, Welsh Government Regeneration Funding was driven to the most deprived areas by the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation (WIMD) statistics which was a method used to identify the most deprived areas in Wales. The Council’s Corporate Plan emphasised the Authority’s ambition to eliminate poverty in all areas of the county, both urban and rural.  Levelling Up Funding was one source of funding being used to deliver projects in rural areas, whilst one of the objectives of the Place Making Plans currently under development for Corwen and Denbigh was to contribute towards the delivery of the county’s Economic Strategy.

 

The Chair thanked the Leader and officers for their report and thanked them for attending the meeting. 

 

Following a comprehensive discussion, the Committee:

 

Resolved:  that, subject to consideration being given to the suggestions put forward by Committee members –

 

(i)             it was satisfied that the draft new Economic Strategy and accompanying Action Plan would contribute to the Corporate Plan and that the Council had effectively engaged with members, officers, and local business communities as part of its development; and

(ii)           sufficient thought had been given to how the new Strategy and Action Plan would continue to link with the work of key economic partners. 

 

11.50am at this juncture the Committee paused for a comfort break, the meeting resumed at 12pm.