ECONOMIC CLIMATE IN-DEPTH SCRUTINY PROJECT

ANNEX TO REPORT

List of information included:

Document 1 Responses to the questions – witness session 1 (Pages 3 - 7)

Document 2 Responses to the questions – witness session 2 (Pages 9 - 21)

Document 3 Responses to the questions – witness session 3 (Pages 23 - 45)

Document 4 Report presented to meeting on 19th January 2010 (pages 47 - 58)

June 2010 Economic & Environmental Scrutiny Committee Southend-on-Sea Borough Council

Page 1 of 60 Page 2 of 60 DOCUMENT 1

Witness Session 1 19th January 2010

RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS

ATTENDEES:

(a) Councillor Nigel Holdcroft - Chair LSP (b) Andrew Pike – Chief Executive, NHS SEE (c) Chief Inspector Andy Prophet – Southend Police

Questions to Councillor Nigel Holdcroft - Chair of Local Strategic Partnership (LSP):

1. From the LSP perspective, are there any particular sectors locally which have been more affected by the current challenging economic climate than another?

2. What actions and activities has the LSP taken – or is planning to take – to try to ensure that residents and businesses know what services are available and to position the town for its economic recovery.

3. Have any additional resources e.g. partners, knowledge, funding etc been drawn upon by the LSP to respond to the current challenging economic climate?

4. From the LSP perspective, are there any particular sectors which have been less affected by the current challenging economic climate locally than another (and what might be the reasons for that)?

Response to Question 1: Councillor Holdcroft explained that the LSP recognised that both the private and voluntary sectors have been the hit hard by the current challenging economic climate. The voluntary sector has experienced increasing pressure on their funding, but has seen an increase in volunteers due to unemployment, which is seen as a route back to employment. As a result the voluntary sector is facing the challenge of using these volunteers constructively.

Response to Question 2: Councillor Holdcroft explained that the LSP works with its partners to coordinate activities so they all head in the same direction. The Partnerships Team led a series of Community Voices events called ‘Beat the Recession’. Over the course of four events the team had contact with around one thousand people. There were 35 organisations represented at these events,

Page 3 of 60 including the Council’s Revenues and Benefits team, CAB and the Samaritans. These events were able to focus on those who needed support.

A support booklet was made available at these events and was also distributed more widely. The booklet showed local and national routes to advice and covered the areas of: • ‘Money & Finance’, • ‘Wellbeing & Family Support’, • ‘Employment, Training & Volunteering’, • ‘Recreation & Leisure’, • ‘Business Support’ and • ‘Voluntary & Community Groups’.

The booklet is continually updated and is available on the Council’s website. When the job losses were announced at HSBC the booklet was given to the employees.

The LSP are planning roadshows working with the FSA and other stakeholders to continue to ensure they are working towards the same objective.

Councillor Holdcroft also advised that the next series of Community Voices in February will focus on supporting Fairtrade and in June the topic will be on ‘Healthy Southend’. The booklet will continue to be available and all comments and feedback that were received regarding the ‘Beat the Recession’ events have been addressed.

Response to Question 3: Councillor Holdcroft explained that the Partnerships Team was strengthened ahead of the ‘Beat the Recession’ events. The LSP draws on the knowledge and experience of its partners which does not incur additional costs (however the partners may have allocated additional resources).

The LSP had been working with Data Observatory in order to determine which areas have been impacted by the current challenging economic climate. They used this statistical information to prioritise the areas that need support.

Response to Question 4: Councillor Holdcroft explained that the statutory sector has been the least affected and has remained secure despite an increase in demand. The budget for the next financial year was as expected. However, it is expected that as the private sector comes of recession, the public sector will go in. Therefore, the public sector is likely to struggle over the coming years.

The Chairman, Councillor Jonathan Garston, thanked Councillor Holdcroft for attending and providing evidence to the scrutiny project.

Page 4 of 60 Questions to Mr. Andrew Pike - Chief Executive, NHS SEE: 1. In what ways has the current challenging economic climate impacted on your organisation and health services locally?

2. In terms of service planning, what actions is the PCT taking locally where demand for services has risen, or is expected to rise in the short to medium term (3 – 9 months / 1- 3 years)?

3. Could you outline how the PCT will achieve its efficiencies and will continue with the work in reducing health inequalities locally?

Responses to Questions: Mr. Pike advised that there has been little discernable impact of the current challenging economic climate on the NHS so far. The predictions that were made regarding an increase in referrals in mental health problems have not been seen. While there has been an increase, it is in line with the increases that are seen year on year. The biggest impact on the NHS this year has been Swine Flu. However, the future will be very different as the effects of the recession on public sector will be felt from 2010/11 onwards.

The figures are still subject to agreement but Mr. Pike said that:

- from 2010/11 onwards health are required to absorb inflation and will be the first year of significant constraint; - required to fund 2-31/2% efficiency savings; - as commissioners, asked to set aside 2% as non recurrent revenue allocation with 10m worth of reserves being created; - Up to 2013, efficiency programme of £75-80m (on a budget of £526m). There is still 23m worth of new investment planned; - Planning for flat cash funding.

Mr. Pike explained that there are over 100 schemes in place or proposed in the refreshed Strategic Plan, which fall under the following ‘families’:

Prevention There will be considerable focus on prevention which will resource the NHS to work on health promotion and prevention. An example that was given is helping people to stop smoking; there is a 4:1 return on this.

Control / reduction in elective surgery referrals to hospital The waiting time between being referred from a GP to surgery is now 18 weeks. The NHS will work with GPs to agree a threshold for referrals and to find alternative treatments, for example physiotherapy, with the aim to reduce the number of elective surgical referrals.

Urgent care There is a significantly high usage of A&E in the area and high number of emergency admissions. The NHS will look to provide more care in the

Page 5 of 60 community to reduce the number of hospital admissions. This could produce £7m savings covering urgent care and also elderly care.

Long term conditions The NHS is looking to provide better information and coordination for those patients that are frequently admitted for long term conditions such as diabetes and chronic heart conditions.

Running cost of NHS There is a target to reduce the running costs of the NHS by 30%. The NHS will be working with partners, providers and clinicians to economise and possibly restructure. The NHS will work to achieve efficiencies, but maintain services.

Mr. Pike advised that there will be less building work taking place than envisaged and certain schemes will be phased later than envisaged. He also said that cooperation between health and social care has never been better and together will find ways to protect clients, maintain quality and maintain services.

The Chairman, Councillor Jonathan Garston, thanked Mr. Pike for attending and providing evidence to the scrutiny project.

Questions to Chief Inspector Andy Prophet – Police:

1. In what ways has the current challenging economic climate impacted on your services locally, at Ward level, in terms of demand (for example, resourcing implications; use of strategic intelligence assessment)?

2. From your perspective, what is the current experience of issues concerning anti social behaviour, domestic abuse/ violence locally and the actions being taken. Is there any particular locality bias?

Response to Question 1: Chief Inspector Prophet provided a context for the current situation. He explained that crime is down by 9.3%; however anti-social behaviour is up 6/7%. The only area of increase is in shoplifting whereas dwelling burglary, robbery and serious crimes have decreased. He advised that he could not, with any certainty, attribute this to the recession. There are more officers deployed in Southend town centre and partnership working with locally retailers has been strengthened. This could mean that the increase is attributable to more crime being detected. There has been an increase in the numbers of the public reporting incidents of anti-social behaviour but it is hard to pinpoint whether this is down to recession. The same priorities will continue – burglary, robbery, High St and seafront.

Operation Apex, a five year programme started by the previous Chief Constable, which committed to increase the number of officers has been put on hold at the current time.

Page 6 of 60

Chief Inspector Prophet advised that with regard to household burglaries, there has only been an increase in 2 wards, but the actual numbers are not significant and overall there is a reduction over 10%.

Response to Question 2: Chief Inspector Prophet explained that anti-social behaviour affects all areas and age ranges but one significant area of concern is the 25s group which is often linked with drunkenness in evenings between 4-10pm with peaks on Fri/Sat/Sun. The underlying reasons for anti-social behaviour include poor parenting, the availability of other activities, community expectations, alcohol and many more. However, in considering the statistics for anti-social behaviour it is important to remember that they are reliant upon the perception of the caller. The police are working with those who complain frequently to find out more about the situation and agree ways forward. Often what is seen as anti-social behaviour by some would not be considered anti-social by others.

Chief Inspector Prophet said that PCSOs are a key part of the work carried out by the police. They are visible and are important in engaging with the community. Targets that were set regarding the levels of domestic abuse have seen mixed results. For example, the target for reducing the number of incidents has been achieved; however they failed to reduce the number of repeat victims and the target should have focussed on the conviction of repeat perpetrators.

The Chairman, Councillor Jonathan Garston thanked Chief Inspector Prophet for attending and providing evidence to the scrutiny project.

Page 7 of 60 Page 8 of 60 DOCUMENT 2

Witness Session 2 Wednesday 20th January 2010

RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS

ATTENDEES: (a) Mike Lambert - Renaissance Southend (b) Terry Burgess - Business Link (c) Southend Business Partnership – Mr. Murray Foster; Chamber of Commerce – Mr. John Clayton; and Federation of Small Business – Mr. Terry Taber

Questions to Mike Lambert - Renaissance Southend:

1. Could you very briefly provide Members on the Committee with some background information about you/ your organisation?

2. What is your assessment of the current challenging economic climate locally? And looking to the future – your assessment in the short / medium / long term (3 – 9 months / 1- 3 years / over 3 years).

3. In terms of your organisation & who it represents, what are the views you’ve had back so far about the current challenging economic climate locally and the prediction for the medium term?

4. Could you outline what actions your organisation is taking to support, or is planning, to minimise the impact of the current challenging economic climate locally, to help the economy grow & regenerate?

5. Will planned regional changes have an impact on how issues are tackled locally, as presented by the current challenging economic climate?

Response to Question 1: Mr. Lambert explained that Renaissance Southend is a ‘not for profit’ private company limited by guarantee. There are no shareholders and its operation is controlled through an agreement between the five Founding Members:

• Southend-on-Sea Borough Council (SSBC) • East of England Development Agency (EEDA) • Homes & Communities Agency (HCA) • South Essex College (SEC) • University of Essex (UoE)

The Council, together with EEDA and HCA, funds the core activity with specific projects funded through individual approvals in accordance with a

Page 9 of 60 three year Business Plan. The Company is overseen by a Board of Directors of whom a majority are co-opted as unpaid non executive Directors from the private sector locally.

The Company’s principal objectives, as an Urban Regeneration Company founded on a national model and endorsed by Government, are to work as a partnership between public and private sectors, ‘to assist, promote, encourage, develop and secure regeneration in the social, physical and economic environment of Southend-on-Sea.’

The Company was incorporated in April 2005 and during the first two years prepared a Regeneration Framework for the Borough that sought to bring together elements of both statutory planning and transport planning with the aims and objectives of the emerging Sustainable Communities Plan. The Framework, which was adopted by the Council and Partners in 2007, identified 6 priorities and associated projects that would contribute to Southend’s regeneration and future prosperity:

• Realising potential of Central Southend (including Higher & Further Education) • Realising potential of London Southend Airport & A127 Corridor • Regeneration & investment in Shoebury • Improving Transport Infrastructure • Improving Green Infrastructure • Advancing Culture & Heritage

The Central Area Masterplan was prepared for the town centre and central seafront and adopted by the Council in 2008 as interim planning guidance, pending the completion of the Central Southend Area Action Plan.

These plans have been used to help secure private and public funding worth in excess of £100m in the period 2005-11, including:

• University of Essex – Gateway Building, Clifftown Studios and Student Rooms on London Road • Futures Community College • £25m infrastructure & public realm improvements (City Beach, Victoria Gateway, Warrior Square Garden, A127/Progress Road and Cuckoo Corner) • Replacement parking for Farringdon MSCP at London Road • New rail station at Southend Airport • Refurbishment of Palace Hotel

Renaissance Southend is currently working with the Council and partners on a wide range of projects to support the priorities in the Regeneration Framework and helped to lever additional resources and capacity to assist in the delivery of key projects.

Page 10 of 60 Response to Question 2: Mr. Lambert advised that the statistics for Southend paint a mixed picture which suggests it is coping reasonably. There is concern that this masks some underlying trends around underperformance in the past, particularly on overall employment growth, salary differentials between residents and employees within the Borough and pockets of deprivation indicators, especially in town centre wards of Milton, Kursaal and Victoria.

The town centre has been resilient despite the loss of Woolworths. There has been positive news from Next, H&M, and Barclays which have invested in new premises but the Victorias is struggling to fill vacant space despite the £24m investment.

Financial services are under pressure due to contraction by HMRC and HSBC but investment by Insure & Go demonstrates it still represents value for this sector.

Commercial and housing development has contracted but no worse than elsewhere. The absence of oversupply of town centre apartments has protected the housing market. The slow down will further inhibit the delivery of affordable housing with potential knock on impacts. The Palace Hotel is a positive step forward and another example of Southend bucking the trend.

In the medium term, Southend needs to ensure it is putting in place the ingredients to ensure it is able to respond to any upturn that might occur in the next 2-3 years. This means continuing to invest in infrastructure and Place Making and ensuring that opportunities are ready to go in terms of development in the town centre – planning, land assembly, procurement etc.

Response to Question 3: Mr. Lambert explained that the Renaissance Southend Directors have a range of private sector backgrounds and not all are based within Southend. The Company maintains good links with a wide range of local, regional and national development companies and investors. There is no doubt that Southend has some distinct advantages that it can continue to capitalise upon. However, the commercial property market is fragile, as is the market for higher density town centre housing, where currently most of Southend’s new housing is planned. The Council will need to use its substantial town centre assets to help drive forward new investment. This may require a balance between maximising capital receipt and ensuring there is an incentive for the private sector to invest in Southend, including flexibility on how s106 requirements are imposed and levied in the short to medium term.

Response to Question 4: Mr. Lambert suggested that Southend needs to improve its offer to businesses and investors, in terms of the quality and availability of good business space both within the town centre and through the development of a good quality Business Park, in order to be able to capitalise on any upturn in the medium term. Southend’s lack of good space is deterring inward

Page 11 of 60 investment and forcing successful businesses that are growing, to move out. This does not mean protecting every employment site; indeed some surplus space is actually distorting the market and reducing the potential for new development.

The single most significant economic driver in the short-medium term is likely to be the Airport, not just through facilitating a successful regional airport, although this is an important catalyst, but also through supporting the growth of the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO business), including training (impact of high skills on comparative salary levels), and the release of Green Belt land to develop a good quality Business Park offer to both growing local business and inward investment. The Council has a key role to play as substantial land owner.

It is important to ensure that progress with HE/FE continues despite current set backs on capital funding and the likely squeeze on funding student places. He suggested that that the Thames Gateway status could be used to ensure that there is a continued priority on skills in Southend and across South Essex.

Mr. Lambert said that it is important to create the right conditions to attract inward investment generally, by ensuring a good environment through improvements to gateways, public realm, transport interchanges and transport infrastructure (e.g. current HCA funded programme). Southend should capitalise on the go ahead for the London Gateway port, especially synergies with the Airport for attracting related businesses, hotels, accommodation/conference facilities.

Renaissance Southend plans to take actions in diversifying the economy, especially by capitalising on the potential from the creative industry and culture and are developing a centre for digital economy with links across art and industry and research based on a facility in Linz – Ars Electronica and are looking at funding for a joint project with UoE from Government’s Technology Strategy Board to look at developing Southend’s digital network.

Renaissance Southend will aim to develop and consolidate Southend image and brand across all partners working to promote Southend.

Response to Question 5: Mr. Lambert explained that it will be important to be able to demonstrate to the next Government (and Treasury) that Thames Gateway must continue as a key priority, as a means of achieving economic growth that supports London and consequently UK plc. Clearly funding will be much more difficult in the next Comprehensive Spending Review but Southend needs the status of Thames Gateway to help underpin the very real issues faced locally. The Government’s current Delivery Plan for Thames Gateway identifies Central Southend, the Airport and the HE/FE sector as key priorities.

Whilst EEDA will continue to be a key partner, especially if their enhanced role on regional planning and economic development continues after the

Page 12 of 60 election, it is likely to be more focused on providing the strategic policy framework and context for further investment to support economic growth through infrastructure and physical investment. Co-operation and joint working across administrative boundaries in South East Essex will be important in helping Southend respond to the current challenges, potentially through the Local Economic Prosperity Boards mooted in the current Bill.

The emergence of the HCA over the last twelve months has changed the landscape for housing but also in public investment in the infrastructure to support economic growth. The HCA has been given specific responsibilities and a budget for Thames Gateway. The HCA is likely to have a significant budget in the next spending period, even with the expected cutbacks. It will be crucial to ensure that the proposal to develop a Local Investment Plan with the HCA to set out a clear set of priorities of what is needed to ensure that Southend continues to move forward and grow its economy.

Following questions from the Committee, Mr. Lambert went on to say that both the University of Essex, and South Essex College would continue to attract students from elsewhere in South Essex by developing the faculties and campus.

He added that Renaissance Southend are working with educational providers who are matching the skills with those that employers are seeking. He provided the example of Prospects College who are offering a bespoke course in Aviation Engineering in response to the proposed developments of London Southend Airport.

Mr. Lambert reassured the Committee that the funding for the first phase of Thames Gateway port had been secured, and that the developers, DP World, were a separate trading entity from the wider Dubai investment arm and recently reported debts.

Renaissance Southend are working with investors, local, national and international, to make them aware of the work that is going on in Southend. He reiterated that in order to attract them, there needs to be something to sell, so it is important that opportunities are created within Southend.

The Committee asked questions regarding the empty space within the Victoria Centre. Mr. Lambert responded by informing the Committee that the Town Centre Partnership is working on attracting new investors. (These points were supported by input from Scott Dolling).

The Chairman, Councillor Jonathan Garston, thanked Mr. Lambert for attending and providing evidence to the scrutiny project.

Page 13 of 60

Questions to Terry Burgess - Business Link:

1. Could you provide Members on the Committee with some background information about you/ your organisation?

2. What is your assessment of the current economic climate locally? And looking to the future – your assessment in the short / medium / long term (3 – 9 months / 1- 3 years / over 3 years).

3. In terms of your organisation & who it represents, what are the views you’ve had back so far about the current challenging economic climate locally and the prediction for the medium term?

4. Which, if any, Business Link services have seen an increase in demand locally, attributable to the current challenging economic climate?

5. Could you outline what actions your organisation is taking to support, or is planning, to minimise the impact of the current challenging economic climate locally?

6. What more could be done to mitigate negative trends re VAT registration / de registration locally?

Response to Question 1: Mr. Burgess explained that the company is called East of England IDB however they operate a single contract with EEDA, through which they provide the Business Link service.

Response to Question 2: Mr. Burgess explained that Business Link have seen the job losses level out (plateau). As a result of the job losses, Business Link saw record numbers of people seeking advice on starting a business. In July 2009 there was a 60% increase on the year before. Business Link had to respond by looking at how they manage the back office.

Also, the VAT holidays will hit hard once they are over. In the medium term Business Link expects the public sector cuts to have an impact on the supply chain. The expectation is that growth and job opportunities will be slow as businesses will be apprehensive about over committing and taking on additional staff.

Mr. Burgess added that banks have started to attempt to improve their image through TV advertising.

Response to Question 3: Mr. Burgess advised that Business Link is not a representative organisation as they do not have members. However, the learning point that Business Link have taken from the challenging economic climate, is to encourage businesses to be independent of the overdraft facility with their banks.

Page 14 of 60 Different sectors have faced varying challenges; the construction industry saw their work slow down as a result house building slowed down. However, national indicators have suggested the rise in house prices has prompted builders to reopen closed sites, while small businesses continue to struggle to fill their order books. He indicated that the work at London Southend Airport would be important in creating more opportunities in Southend.

The banking situation has hit small businesses because the owners have become used to running their businesses using overdrafts to bolster cash flow.

Response to Question 4: Mr. Burgess explained that the helpline had to modify the help they offer as a result of the increase in calls. The enquiries to their contact centre peaked at 60% above the profile for the same period in the previous year. They discuss issues that business owners may face and give advice. This led to an introduction of an anonymous helpline. There was also an increased demand for events and Business Link met the demand by working with partners including the University of Essex.

Response to Question 5: As well as the helpline, has provided a ‘boot camp’ to assist business speed up the starting process. The ‘boot camp’ provides training and is channeled for those who are serious about starting a business.

Business Link works closely with the Borough Council and in particular Scott Dolling from ETE and the procurement team to align their services to local demands and ensure that they receive a maximum return for their money. Business Link also works closely with the Federation of Small Businesses to address local issues and YMCA to get their eco hub project off the ground.

Response to Question 6: Mr. Burgess advised that the situation in Southend is no different to elsewhere. However, the levels of VAT registrations in 2008 were only 20 different to the levels in 2002. While there has been a slight downward trend on VAT registered businesses, the birth rate of business over the last 6 years has remained constant.

There is a need to change the perception so that receiving business support is acceptable as many business owners leave it too late to receive help.

Further reasons for the negative trends of VAT registration could because of high levels of entrepreneurism creating churn, small retailers disappearing and movement of businesses out of the area through infrastructure issues.

In response to further questions from the Committee, Mr. Burgess said that over the 9 months leading up to December 2009, Business Link had contact with 4800 companies within Southend, providing varying information; 180 of those companies had received intensive assistance.

Page 15 of 60 The Chairman, Councillor Jonathan Garston, thanked Mr. Burgess for attending and providing evidence to the scrutiny project.

Questions to Southend Business Partnership – Mr. Murray Foster; Chamber of Commerce – Mr. John Clayton; and Federation of Small Business – Mr. Terry Taber:

1. Could you provide Members on the Committee with some background information about you/ your organisation?

2. What is your assessment of the current challenging economic climate locally? And looking to the future – your assessment in the short / medium / long term (3 – 9 months / 1- 3 years / over 3 years).

3. In terms of your organisation & who it represents, what are the views you’ve had back so far about the current challenging economic climate locally and the prediction for the medium term?

4. Could you outline what actions your organisation is taking to support, or is planning, to minimise the impact of the current challenging economic climate locally?

5. Which areas in the local economy have potential for new job creation?

6. Do you have information about the sorts/ types of companies or organisations which are investing – or planning to invest – in Southend?

7. What more could be done to mitigate negative trends re VAT registration / de registration locally?

Responses to Question 1:

Southend Business Partnership Mr. Foster explained that Southend Business Partnership was formed in 1996 and refreshed in November 2007. The Partnership is a mechanism for exchanging ideas and recommending improvements and works extremely closely with the Borough Council.

Each year Southend Business Partnership runs 4 events and an annual conference. These events attract over 100 people in attendance. They have over 200 organisations registered with them and also have an Executive with various representatives.

Chamber of Commerce Mr. Clayton explained that this is a county wide organisation and has been in Southend for 106 years and is now based at the airport. It is a membership based organisation and has a wide ranging membership. It is a limited

Page 16 of 60 company and made a profit last year. The membership is made of a variety of businesses; some which are overseas companies.

Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) Mr. Taber explained that the Federation is a national organisation and has around 213,000 members. It is a large and diverse organisation. The membership in Essex is fairly static at about 2,600 members with about 350 members in the Borough. Around 95% of the income comes from subscription. The FSB is owned and run by members with 1 employee and 5 branches. The Federation is keen to work with the Council but cannot bring money, however it does work in partnership. Around one third of FSB members have no employees; a ‘normal’ business has less than 7 employees (averaged out).

Responses to Question 2:

Southend Business Partnership Mr. Foster said that it is hard to say what will happen as it depends on which crystal ball you are looking at! He said that it was worth noting that the highest number of people on job seekers allowance was in 1998 at 5000 and this was not during a time of recession.

He said that the long term unemployed (those who were unemployed before the recession), may find it harder to get back to work; whereas those who have recently been unemployed are likely to be first back into work. However, school leavers may find it difficult to find work due to the lack of work experience. He suggested that apprenticeships are the key. There needs to be a synergy between the skills that are demanded and those that are supplied. The Learning & Skills Council have recently said that 15% of businesses identified skills gap recently.

For Southend: • there is a shortage of engineering skills • the NEETS (not in education, training) figure is more positive. • 65% of population is qualified to Level 2 and qualifications have implications around re employment.

Mr. Foster said that he believes the country is on the brink of leaving recession and there are positive indicators around, although there is a lag and there are still likely to be business failures.

Southend has weathered the recession reasonably well but is still vulnerable due to the potential for double whammy in finance sector due to cutbacks/restructuring in locally based service centres and also those people that live locally and work in the London based finance institutions – also risks similarly in public sector for example HMRC.

Page 17 of 60 Chamber of Commerce Mr. Clayton agreed with Mr. Foster’s comments. He added that nationally will see more job losses and there is a lagging effect. Growth drivers won’t be in public sector or through private sector consumption. The recovery will be from private sector corporates and the housing market in 2012/13. Bank lending is static and corporate customers are repaying the lending.

Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) Mr. Taber raised concerns about the employability skills that school leavers have. He commented on a scheme that was in place at Sweyne School which gave pupils an opportunity to receive a Certificate of Employability. He suggested that the town would benefit if this was provided in other schools.

Responses to Question 3:

Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) Mr. Taber indicated that small businesses can react quicker as they are able to ‘duck and dive’. He provided an example of one day where one member company won a national contract, but 8 builders ceased to trade.

Chamber of Commerce Mr. Clayton said that the Chamber of Commerce had conducted a survey within the membership and the council’s database. It found that 90% of the businesses that responded were based wholly or mainly in Southend which indicates that locally based business support initiatives, developed by Southend Borough Council, will primarily benefit local businesses. The survey showed that the economic downturn has affected three quarters of businesses in some way and two-thirds have seen a reduction in turnover. It showed that 12% of those that responded had feared that they wouldn’t have around in a year’s time.

He said that some of the more experienced businesses have gone through recession before so they know what to do and so were less concerned and better prepared to deal with the situation. On the whole there is a calm reaction and there are lots of positives.

Southend Business Partnership Mr. Foster agreed that small businesses are able to ‘duck and dive’ because small businesses have more room to maneuver. Locally there is a vulnerability regarding the possibility of national businesses restructuring.

He said that there is a cause for optimism in the medium term; Southend has a reason to be optimistic and he gave examples of positive opportunities in Southend. He said that the plans for the airport will provide more opportunities for Southend and those living and working in the town. He commented that the work completed at the Palace Hotel is good quality which is very important and investment in the public realm is important. .

Page 18 of 60 The USP (Unique Selling Point) for Southend is the Airport which is the chance to put Southend on the map coupled with 7 miles of seashore/ seafront.

He also commented that the Kursaal area needs special attention coupled with forward thinking planning decisions.

Responses to Question 4:

Southend Business Partnership (SBP) Mr. Foster explained that SBP has restructured to match the changing needs of the community. There will be an increase in private sector involvement so that there will be a 70:30 split on its make up (Private: Public/Quasi). More sector areas will feed into the Executive including, tourism, retail, creative, aviation so that SBP can keep their ‘finger on the pulse’. SBP will continue to organise networking seminars which include 200 organisations, 75% of which will be private sector orientated.

Chamber of Commerce Mr. Clayton said that in the short term the Chamber will continue to use the sub brand of Networking-on-Sea, working with the Council to encourage business success by using local venues and working with local businesses. This is a 21st century solution. The Chamber, through Networking-on-Sea, helps businesses who feel isolated. They work with them by ‘handholding’ and linking people. They also help businesses who are starting up and aimed at those which may not be around in 12 months.

In the future, there is a need to keep investing in the infrastructure in Essex. There is a need to look into energy availability for the future, especially because the Tilbury power station is due to close in 2013.

Mr. Clayton added that he had concerns about the levels of business 'red tape' and bureaucracy, including Health & Safety regulation and HR legislation, plus there is a need to reduce both the complexity of business taxation and effective tax rates.

Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) Mr. Taber explained that the FSB held ‘Beat the Recession’ seminars and has a session planned for March 30th which will advise businesses regarding the use of social networks, such as Face book and Twitter, as a business tool.

FSB members can receive free banking at the Co-op and the FSB backed the ‘Bank of essex’ development. The FSB publicise any events through their active website and e-newsletter. They disseminate information to support businesses by informing them of events that are taking place.

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Responses to Question 5:

Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) Mr. Taber said that small businesses do not look at opportunities in the same way as large businesses; small businesses have ‘light bulb’ moments. He said that the Business centre on the Airport will be helpful.

The former Enterprise Agency was useful for people who wanted to start a small business because the Agency armed them with knowledge.

Chamber of Commerce Mr. Clayton was enthusiastic that the changes at the airport will provide new opportunities. The average salary in Southend is £22,000 and the average at the airport would be £29,000. He said that it is important to match skills to vacancies.

He sees opportunities within Southend in hospitality and call centres. He provided an example of Insure and Go who are using their call centre 24 hours a day by extending the business to Australia and taking advantage of the time difference.

He mentioned a trade mission going to Poland later in the year which will include some businesses from Southend.

Southend Business Partnership Murray Foster said that there is potential at the airport for job creation. Other areas that he identified include creative, cultural and digital/hi tec. He said that it is important to keep the jobs we’ve got to sustain existing employment.

Responses to Question 6:

Southend Business Partnership (SBP) In response to this question, Mr. Foster mentioned that the SBP is an informal partnership and the likely sectors planning to invest are – the health sector business hub and the Airport and its associated investment and opportunities.

Chamber of Commerce In response to this question, Mr. Clayton mentioned the Regional Development Agency and inward investment.

Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) Mr. Taber said that he doesn’t have any intelligence information regarding companies or organisations that are investing or planning to invest in the area.

Page 20 of 60 Responses to Question 7:

Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) Mr. Taber wondered whether this infact mattered and said that some small businesses do not want to register because they are earning below the threshold and make a comfortable living on £60,000. However some businesses register, ‘just to look better’. As a result, making judgments on the levels of VAT registration is flawed.

Chamber of Commerce Mr. Clayton agreed with this comment. He said that it is hard to know for certain how many businesses there are. If there is a vibrant local economy then the levels VAT registration and de-registration do not matter.

Southend Business Partnership (SBP) Mr. Foster said that Southend is the only district in the East of England region with negative VAT registration / de registrations over the last 6 years and that we need to understand why this is the case. It could be due to the higher percentage of small businesses in Southend and they are more vulnerable to the churn effect. It could also be because of a London centric issue effect as well when those working in London decide or need alternative employment and set up their own business for a period of time.

The Chairman, Councillor Jonathan Garston, thanked Mr. Foster, Mr Clayton and Mr. Taber for attending and providing evidence to the scrutiny project.

Page 21 of 60 Page 22 of 60 DOCUMENT 3

Witness Session 3 25th January 2010

RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS

ATTENDEES:

(a) Councillor John Lamb – Executive Councillor;

(b) Finance & Resources (Revenue & Benefits) & CMT view – Martin Hone; Human Resources – Joanna Ruffle; Community Cohesion – Ashley Jarvis; and Procurement – Dave Levy;

(c) Voluntary Sector representatives - Citizens Advice Bureau – Trish Carpenter; SAVS – Alison Semmence; and Community in Harmony - John Barber. Apologies were received from John Levy - YMCA.

Questions to Councillor Lamb, Executive Councillor for Enterprise, Tourism and the Environment

Councillor John Lamb, Executive Councillor, responded as follows to the questions previously submitted on behalf of the Committee. Additional comments made by the Committee are in italics:-

Question 1: Which Council services have been affected by the current challenging economic climate? How have Council services been affected? Is it thought that these trends will continue?

Response: Councillor Lamb informed the Committee that the recession had brought about additional demands for some Council services and a change in focus for others. This has required new ways of resolving issues for Southend residents and businesses.

He continued by saying that Southend Borough Council has made a fast and effective response to assist real issues. For example, before Christmas swift help was offered to HSBC when it emerged that there would be redundancies providing advice and support through the ‘Support on Sea’ booklet. The Council has also introduced faster turn around in paying businesses to assist cash flow, part of a sustainable procurement policy now in place. Workshops have been undertaken by the Procurement team to help small and medium sized businesses to win Council contracts.

He reaffirmed that Council Tax and Housing Benefit claims have seen significant increase, there showed faster rises at the early stages of the recession and whilst there were new claims still coming in, the rate of requests had slowed considerably – in January the rate had reduced for the

Page 23 of 60 first time in 18 months when there were 20,914 claimants. Various factors influence these figures, other than the economy, such as improved promotion of benefits and alterations to the criteria – for example in November the rules changed to remove maintenance payments from income so more single mothers are eligible for benefit. Job Seekers Allowance claims effectively doubled between mid 2008 and May 2009. Since then the number of claimants has remained around 5,000 across the Borough falling by 65 in the November count to 4,930.

Councillor Lamb continued by informing the Committee that Business Rates are collected by the Council on behalf of central government and the Council have had a concerted take up campaign for Small Business Rates Relief over the past year. This has seen a take up by approximately 85% of eligible businesses. In monetary terms the Council has awarded over £500,000 of relief in the past year.

Councillor Lamb advised that Government has introduced new regulations which allow businesses to defer a certain amount of any rate increases from last year over a 2 year period. The Council wrote to every business in the Borough who might be eligible and have consequently deferred payment on over £280,000 worth of rates. The downside of the regulations meant that it tended to be larger businesses that benefited from have most rates deferred, rather than the small businesses.

He continued by saying that there was an increase in the number of bankruptcies and liquidations, as well as an increase in the number of empty business properties, some of the changes to the regulations have been made to help ratepayers liable for empty rates. From 1st April 2009 empty properties with a rateable value of £14,999 or less would be exempt from rates for the financial year 2009/2010.

These exemptions can be awarded regardless of how long the property has previously been empty, and can be awarded at any time and for any period between 1st April 2009 and 31st March 2010. The threshold has been increased to properties with a rateable value of £18,000.

Councillor Lamb continued that the most noticeable area where empty units exist is on the High Street. However, in Southend’s case, retail has been a particularly good example of how the town has performed well despite the recession. There are more occupied retail units in Southend now than 12 months ago and he understood from the Victoria Shopping Centre that two new retailers will be taking space in the very near future.

Councillor Lamb said that Southend has benefited from government funding to help town centres and £52,000 is being allocated to develop a series of initiatives including the development of a Business Improvement District (BID) in the high street area that will provide additional ownership to the retail businesses of their future development – backed and endorsed by the Council.

Page 24 of 60 In addition to retail, both tourism and the aviation sector have been flourishing. The Park Inn will be opening in the near future bringing with it over 100 new jobs. It has been quoted that 2009 was the best on record for local entrepreneur Phillip Miller who opened a new restaurant, is extending the 3 Shells Café and the £1,000,000 refurbishment of the Sea Life Centre. Adventure Island has also enjoyed a strong summer in 2009 support by Council initiatives and investment in a new events programme and ongoing support for the Air Festival. The Council has invested an additional £175,000 in events overall to support the vibrant offer and encourage new and existing visitors to spend more in the local economy.

Councillor Lamb stated that major planning applications have reduced by around 30% in the last 12 months compared to the previous years from 57 down to 40 indicating the inward investment conditions. However, with the major capital schemes in place over the coming year the prospects for Southend, as we come out of recession, are very positive.

He continued that car parking income is down from April – December 2009 compared to 2008 indicating potentially less shoppers, although various other factors may be in evidence such as increased use of public transport. In response to the car parking issue and to help the business and retail sector, the Council is proposing a second year freeze on car park charge increases in the 2010/11 budget.

Councillor Lamb informed the Committee that job seekers claims have risen sharply, but it now appears to have reached a plateau, with no increases since May 2009, the trend is expected to slowly recover as the economy moves out of recession over the coming months. This will therefore have a reducing effect on the negative issues experienced over the last 18 months on services. Economists are predicting no major growth this year but the UK recession is due to officially be over imminently.

He continued by saying that Southend has suffered its share of challenges through the recession but is well placed for the recovery with major public investment already in place and more to come over the coming months.

Question 2: Could you outline the actions the Council it taking where demand for services has risen, or is expected to rise in the short to medium term (3-9 months/1-3 years)?

Response: Councillor Lamb responded that increased awareness of available benefits was a key priority for the Council in recognising the effects of the recession. As well as promoting the available services to every household through the outlook magazine, an awareness day was undertaken at the Victoria Shopping Centre in the spring of 2009. The Local Strategic Partnership has been instrumental in delivering a further series of recession advice and support material and events. The Leader of the Council covered these issues

Page 25 of 60 in his witness session on the 19th January 2010 and the Council has been an active part of this programme.

Councillor Lamb continued that the Enterprise and Tourism team has moved its key emphasis from Inward Investment to increased support for existing businesses - this year the Council set up and funded two new schemes delivered by the Essex Chamber of Commerce.

• Networking on Sea’ is providing 40 networking events across the Borough to help small businesses develop and prosper. Launched on 8th July 2009 and running until March 2010 the scheme has delivered practical uses to a wide group of businesses. The events are not about developing a single network, rather the ability for businesses to join as and when appropriate. One of the sessions focused on pitching for Council procured business, another looked at sharing knowledge with new graduates – the subjects are practical and appeal to different elements of the business community. • Business Boosters. The Council has invested £15,000, broken down into £500 units to help young businesses (under 3 years). Again a variety of business types have been reached and all the allocated vouchers have been used (case studies are available for each). The vouchers go towards practical help that young businesses need – developing marketing, webs sites etc. They have been designed to complement other business services so don’t compete with Business Link services for example.

Councillor Lamb said that both of these initiatives have been indentified for continuing investment in 2010/11 to help new and young businesses, the lifeblood of our economic base in recovering from the recession.

He continued by saying that Southend Borough Council and partners have been co-ordinating significant regional funding to assist the local economy in particular areas. The Economic Participating Programme (EPP) has provided Southend with £750,000 of revenue funding and £1,200,000 of capital in the current financial year with £750,000 allocated for 2010/11. Projects have been agreed through a local board made up of public, private and voluntary sectors to agree the right priorities and include assistance for NEET people1, disadvantaged communities and social enterprises. There are several projects that will improve the changes of people in these groups for years to come. These include the construction of a new workshop at the Adult Community College and the refurbishment of the Chapels site in Prittlewell. There is a further project funded by the EPP at the Seedbed Centre in Shoeburyness where entrepreneurs can avail of business incubation benefits and be helped on their way to business development.

Question 3: What actions and activities has the Council taken – or is planning to take – to ensure that residents and businesses know what services are available and to

1 i.e. ‘Not in Training Employment or Education’

Page 26 of 60 position the town for its economic recovery (provide examples of monitoring/tracking changes in demand in the short, medium, long term (3-9 months/1-3 years/over 3 years); the influence of the Corporate Plan etc. regional cities work).

Response: Councillor Lamb advised that business engagement has never been better; the Council has helped refine the Southend Business Partnership and is heavily involved with the Southend Accommodation Providers Association, SSIBA and the Town Centre Partnership. The Council’s work is inexorably linked with that of the industry around us.

He continued by saying that through other partnerships and Renaissance Southend, the Council is now delivering on successful major projects that will transform both the shopping centre and seafront, creating opportunities for future growth in key sectors across the Borough. These multi million pound schemes coupled with transport improvements to improve access mean that high profile businesses will find a renewed attractiveness in developing and expanding in Southend.

Councillor Lamb informed the Committee that the Council was already aware of a few – Insure and Go, one of the town’s key businesses - is expanding into foreign markets with an expected increase of 100-150 staff. They are fully engaged in working with the Council and recognise the strengths that the town has in terms of infrastructure and skilled workforce. A new business, Ventrica, has refurbished a whole floor of Tylers Court and is looking to recruit around 100 staff in the next few weeks and the Council’s Enterprise Team are working with a potential new health business hub in the Borough.

He continued that in terms of investment South Essex College, the Adult Community College and University Campus are all well placed to deliver skills for the future needs of business and regularly connect to the Council and appropriate partnerships around the Borough.

In terms of formal monitoring and tracking the work undertaken and the Council’s progress, the business booster vouchers all have follow up case studies. The Council provides details on the economic state of the Borough through the Enterprise and Tourism team – the background paper attached at Annex 42 was produced by the team. The EPP work is appraised and audited externally and needs to achieve recognised economic outputs.

The Chairman, Councillor Jonathan Garston, thanked Councillor Lamb for attending and providing evidence to the scrutiny project.

2 th And considered at the first witness session on 19 January

Page 27 of 60

Questions to Officers:

(a) Questions to Martin Hone, Finance And Resources (Revenue and Benefits)

Martin Hone informed the Committee that Councillor Lamb had comprehensively covered the issues relating to the questions below in his witness session and that he would endeavour to provided some additional comments.

Question 1: Could you outline what actions the Council it taking to keep abreast of the economic situation and about what services are needed/wanted? Where does the Council get this evidence from?

Response: Martin Hone stated that the Council monitored schools population as a guide to the economic situation, as this can rise during a recession. He continued by saying that the rise in requests for services in areas of vulnerable adults and children during a recession put pressure on Council resources.

The rise in assistance with Council Tax and Housing Benefits are also indicators. The Local Strategic Partnership, Credit Union and SAVS also provide information to the Council regarding demands for services - this information is reflected in the Council’s budget.

Question 2: Which services are currently seeing levels or high (or low) demand locally and what do you see as the reasons for that?

Response: Martine Hone informed the Committee that there is rise in vulnerable areas such as Adult Social Care, Children’s Social Care and also in increased concessionary travel.

Areas where demands have decreased are in Land Charges where information requests are down by a quarter, due to the reduction in house sales. There is also a large short fall in car park charges, however this does correlate with a rise in bus usage and people using out of town shopping facilities. The Council in its 2010/11 budget has made the decision to freeze car park charges to hopefully encourage people to rejuvenate the town centre.

He continued by advising that there was a “Are you getting enough” roadshow, which provides residents with information regarding whether they are entitled to claim and receive various benefits.

Question 3: What actions and activities has the Council taken – or is planning to take – to ensure that residents and businesses know what services are available and to

Page 28 of 60 position the town for its economic recover (provide examples of monitoring/tracking changes in demand in the short, medium, long term (3-9 months/1-3 years/over 3 years): the influence of the Corporate Plan etc, regional cities work).

Response: Martin Hone informed the Committee that the Council was providing investment in the following areas:-

• Grants • Social Care for the Elderly – Mental Health • Sea Defence and Highways • Domestic Violence

Capital Programme Investment

• £58m on improving all Housing Stock • £18m on Highways Infrastructure

He continued by saying that cash flow within the Council had been improved and invoices were being paid faster, and that there was more information available regarding small properties and the availability of empty property.

The Committee asked whether there was a possibility of offering a discount on council tax bills if payment was made in full at the beginning of the year. Martin Hone stated that these types of discounts could in fact favour the more well off resident. Also this area has been bench marked with other authorities and there appears to be no significant advantage.

The Committee asked about short term borrowing, Martin Hone informed the Committee that the Council does use this method of borrowing and approximately £20m of borrowing is being charged at 1% of less.

The Committee raised the issue of the sale of surplus assets, Martin Hone confirmed that the Council does sell various assets, but due to the recession these are not selling.

The Chairman, Councillor Jonathan Garston, thanked Martin Hone for attending and providing evidence to the scrutiny project.

(b) Questions to Joanna Ruffle, Human Resources:

Question 1: In what ways has the current challenging economic climate impacted on the organisation for example is there evidence of increasing demand for advice and support and use of the employee support service (DHS) around issues such as financial.

Page 29 of 60

Response: Joanna Ruffle informed the Committee that the staff are supported in the following ways:-

Employee benefits - a. Discounts on private health care b. Flexible working hours c. Child care vouchers d. Cycle2work e. Car lease/loan scheme f. Key worker accommodation g. Occupational Health service h. Employee assistance programme – Lifeworks. i. Eyecare

These benefits are regularly advertised to staff and regular drop in sessions with the providers are available so that staff can come and explore in more detail about how they access these benefits and what they can do for them. The next session is on the 11th February 2010 and invitations have been sent to representatives from the FSA who will be doing a number of presentations to staff about managing finances etc.

Lifeworks offers a website for staff with a range of resources to help staff cope with life events including bereavement, loss, redundancy, debt etc. In addition all staff have access to 6 free and confidential counselling sessions per year where they are able to discuss any issues that may be worrying them irrespective of whether they are work related.

Helpline utilisation Year 1 (08/09) 1.8%

Year 2 (09/10) 5%

Online utilisation Year 1 9.7% Year 2 22.4%

This rise could be attributed to the impact of the recession on peoples lives but publicity has improved, and are proactively signposting staff who are on sick leave or presenting with other issues at work to this service. It is difficult therefore to attribute this rise to one single factor. As the service is strictly confidential it is also not possible to identify the reason for referring to the service.

Question 2: Could you provide Members with an update in activity in use of DHS and information about organisation performance, particularly around staff sickness absence levels?

Page 30 of 60

Response: Joanna Ruffle informed the Committee that making any correlation between sickness absence and the recession is difficult. It could be argued that the stress associated with the economic downturn leads to higher absence levels. However the reverse could also be true i.e. that job insecurity leads to a more positive attendance culture. There is no evidence that sickness levels have been affected either way by the economic climate. Currently sickness is projected at 10.47 for year end against a target of 9.34. This compares to actual performance last year of 10.32. However the monthly data for December 09 is significantly lower than the same period in 08 and although the 09/10 target is at risk it is fair to say that the work being undertaken by managers in partnership with Human Resource services is making a noticeable impact on the sickness levels. This has also been reinstated as a Corporate Priority for 2010/11 therefore we can expect this downward trend to continue.

The Committee asked about the effectiveness of the sickness reporting system. Joanna Ruffle informed the Committee that there was a definite reduction in long terms absences. Long term sick absences are referred to Occupational Health and this could result in their release from employment. The new system has also identified sickness hotspots within certain Council departments.

Question 3: Could you advise the Committee what the organisation is doing – or planning to do – around up skilling, cross training of staff who might be at risk (future proofing, innovative training, analysis of training needs etc)?

Response: Joanna Ruffle informed the Committee that in terms of reskilling the workforce and maintaining employment, the Delivering Excellence programme has identified that a number of posts can be taken out to improve efficiency and to drive down costs while at the same time improving customer service and increasing the options for how our customers/service users interact with us.

Joann Ruffle continued by stating that the Chief Executive and Town Clerk made it clear to staff at recent briefings and in bulletins that it is the Councils’ intention to avoid redundancies and to protect the permanent workforce. To this end a Workforce Planning panel has been set up to oversee all recruitment to vacant posts. Certain posts have been ‘frozen’ in order to provide redeployment opportunities for staff who are displaced as projects begin to be implemented. In addition the panel are also reviewing the use of agency staff and extension of retirement dates in order to maximise the opportunities for displaced permanent staff. Staff who are displaced will form the Councils Talent Pool and we will work with them to match them to other vacancies. This will also include access to any retraining/reskilling that may be necessary.

Page 31 of 60 Joanna Ruffle also advised that training and development continues despite the pressure on budgets and training needs are identified during annual appraisals. The People and Organisational Development Team continue to work with Directorates to ensure that cost effective and targeted training is being commissioned and that staff are receiving the training that they need for current and future roles. There is an accredited in house management development programme and we are also launching an in house coaching programme which will provide individuals with additional tools for coping with and adapting to change.

Joanna Ruffle continued by saying that changing management and communications is a key plank of the Delivering Excellence programme in order to ensure that staff have the necessary support to deal with the changes that will be facing them.

Joanna Ruffle informed the Committee that recent results in the employee engagement survey has shown significant improvement on the 07 results, with 41 of the 44 questions that were asked in 07 showing an upward trend. Highlights include a rise of 23% of people who believe that they have an opportunity to contribute their views before changes are made, (this is 17% above the external benchmark) and a 16% rise in the number of employees who would tell people that this is a good place to work.

The Committee asked about the costs relating to recruitment of personnel. Also by advertising on the Council’s intranet and at Job Centres, this in general generates approximately 600 applicants. Joanna Ruffle continued by informing the Committee that if a post is “essential”, initially redeployment staff are looked at for suitability, if the post cannot be filled from this group, it will be advertised internally.

The Committee asked what was being done to encourage younger people to look at the Council as a “preferred employer”. Joanna Ruffle said that the Council provided ‘Inhouse’ training for young people in post that have no skill set, work is being done with schools regarding work placements. She continued by saying that the Council had introduced an Apprenticeship Scheme, and there were 10 apprentices starting in the next few weeks. They would be working in all departments and areas to give them a wide range of skills for the future. This scheme is being introduced in Castle Point and Rochford as well.

Joanna Ruffle advised that Children’s Services ran a scheme for people leaving care which was similar to a work placement.

The Committee asked about recruitment incentives such as car leasing etc. Joanna Ruffle informed the Committee that about 120 staff have lease cars, the Council also had a loan scheme for the purchase of cars, but there was only a small amount outstanding in this area. As approximately 60% of the staff live outside of the Borough, the Council encourages the use of other means of transport for the journey to work.

Page 32 of 60 She also advised that another benefit for the recruitment of staff is the final salary pension scheme. HR are constantly looking at ways of providing incentives for staff to increase retention rates and look at the Council as being a ‘preferred employer’, some of the suggestions are listed below:-

• Bidding for other Council’s services, there is a willingness to take this further • Staff being able to sell holidays back to the Council, and buy further additional days

Joanna Ruffle stated that retention rates have risen, there appears to being no problems in retaining planners, but social workers are had to recruit and retain. There also was confirmation that HR hold monthly meetings with Trade Unions to keep them appraised the current situation.

The Chairman, Councillor Jonathan Garston, thanked Joanna Ruffle for attending and providing evidence to the scrutiny project.

Page 33 of 60

(c) Questions to Ashley Jarvis, Community Cohesion:

1. In what ways has the current challenging economic climate impacted on community cohesion issues locally? 2. Could you outline the steps being taken to ensure effective service delivery and ensure that the priorities reflect the aspirations of local communities (community mapping and tension monitoring) 3. Has the current challenging economic climate had an impact on external funding of projects? 4. There has been a suggestion made for ‘skill swapshops’ as an area for development in Southend. Is this an area which is being looked at locally and what are your views on this?

Responses: In response to the above questions Ashley Jarvis gave a presentation on community cohesion and the impact of the recession – the relationship between the economy and community cohesion:-

Long term factors- Deprivation, economic history, skills Short term factorsœ unemployment, crime, population churn, competition for resources

The Economy Community The resilience œJobs recession œStrong œBusiness start and cohesion Cohesion up and survival cycle œSocial œInward Capital Investment

Individuals- Access to labour market, skills, networks Businessœ Internal and external staff and business networks Community factorsœ Citizenship, civic activity, volunteering, community networks, community pride

Page 34 of 60 The impact on Cohesion

Deprivation, skills, history Unemployment Crime Population churn Competition for resources

Deprivation

Long term deprivation in an area leads to greater vulnerability to recession and a lack of community cohesion

Page 35 of 60 JSA Claimant Count œ

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Page 36 of 60 Crime

The links between the economy and crime are complicated, disputed and contentious.

The Links between Crime, perception of crime and Community Cohesion are well documented and generally accepted.

Population churn

We do not have figures to accurately measure population churn, migrants or immigrants.

Anecdotal evidence suggests there is some reduction in the migrant workforce as wages diminish and become less attractive to economic migrants

Competition for resources

The biggest threat Perception AND Reality

ô Greater demand on social and community/ voluntary services ô Fear of not getting our fair share ô Resentment towards newly arrived communities

Page 37 of 60 New Areas of deprivation

ô Not significant enough to see in statistics ô Individuals unprepared to negotiate the benefits system ô Low social capital ô Fear and resentment leading to community tensions

Cohesion in Southend

Cohesion related National Indicators for Southend 2008 compared with BVPI study 2006

80%

70%

60%

50%

2006 40% 2008

30%

20%

10%

0% NI 1 NI 7

% of people who feel they live % of people who feel they in an area where people get on can influence local decision well making

Anecdotal trends

ô Around 20% of councils in England have experienced deteriorationin community cohesion since the economic downturn took hold, and a half anticipated deterioration over the coming 12 months (IDea, Solace and LGA, 2008).

ô Some local authority housing services and housing associations are reporting emerging negativity towards EU and other migrants, as unemployment increases and competition for social housing continues to grow. This is more prevalent where similar issues existed before the recession. SEH are attempting to promote positive images of residents.

ô The recent strikes over the use of foreign labour in other partsof the country are a strong indication of negative feelings towards migrant workers and may have been brought to the fore by the recession.

ô Informal networks are reporting negative campaigning by far- right groups aimed at refugees, asylum-seekers and migrant workers such as Southend Patriots and increases in BNP activity in the area. This could be gaining support due to the recession and fear of accessto resources.

Page 38 of 60 Steps towards supporting Cohesion delivered 2009/10

ô Delivery of Cohesion action plan ò Pride in Southend ò The Big Lunch ò Southenders ò Conference ò Residents groups supported ò Community based business advisors in most deprived areas ò Turning Tides ò Community mediation ò Community Circles ò Community Voices

Plans for 2010/11

ô Shared action plan agreed by community conference ô Training Programme to build social capital in cohesion, citizenship, civic participation etc; ô Promoting Pride with roll out of video project ô Cultural Industries cohesion project ô Tension Monitoring ô Neighbourhood Agreements ô Strengthening Community forums ô Grow Community Voices ô Voluntary Sector Grants Scheme extended ô Programme of activity at community events

Community Mapping and Tension Monitoring

ô Community mapping undertaken in the development of the Cohesion Strategy and the ongoing review of the action plan ô Tension Monitoring- Currently undertaken by Essex Police. Data is not currently shared with the Cohesion team. This is being explored.

Page 39 of 60 Funding New ”recession busting‘ Funding Stream ô Economic Participation Programme ò £1.2 million investment 2009/10 £748,000 2010/11 to support access to the economy and business creation and growth ô Developing partnerships to access existing funds e.g. ERDF

Funding

ô No evidence has been seen to suggest that there is less funding available to Council projects but projects are more targeted at recession busting and developing stringer resilient communities ô The voluntary sector may be experiencing some difficulty as private grant making trusts reduce expenditure

Skill swapshops

Needs to be explored May work online but 1 in 4 don‘t have access Links with existing projects such as YMCA shop A LETS scheme exists in Westcliff on Sea Maldon has a PLETS Scheme

Could build social capital in deprived neighbourhoods Could be linked to neighbourhood groups to support social inclusion and cohesion Needs to be flexible Issues around expectations of service, insurance etc

The Chairman, Councillor Jonathan Garston, thanked Ashley Jarvis for attending and providing evidence to the scrutiny project.

Page 40 of 60 (d) Questions to Dave Levy, Procurement:

Question: In what ways has the current challenging economic climate impacted upon the corporate procurement process, in terms of dealings with contractors locally, regionally and nationally?

Response: Dave Levy informed the Committee that there had been an increase in speculative enquires from local businesses regarding contract opportunities and also actual responses to tender opportunities, not just from local firms but also major companies who have seen private sector projects dry up or cancelled and have turned to the public sector where spending plans initiated prior to the recession have in the main remained unaffected.

Locally Southend has continued to support businesses through the award of contracts and approximately 60% of our spend is with organisations in Essex. He outlined that specific targeted support through procurement activity had included the following:-

• Early on in the recession the tender threshold was raised to £50,000 and advised officers that, where they could demonstrate value for money, to obtain quotes from local firms where possible below that figure. • Seminars and workshops for Small to Medium Enterprises and the Third sector on How to win Council Business • A new sustainable procurement policy designed to ensure that the Council has a positive impact on the economy, the environment and socially through the way it spends money. • Encouragement given to existing suppliers to take on apprentices and work based placements to address skills shortages and unemployment. • The launching of an online supplier registration service which enables them to receive alerts when tender opportunities arise. • The publication of a contracts register on the internet. • Closer working with our colleagues in the Procurement Agency for Essex to develop sustainable procurement practices for the region. • Specific targeted initiatives are designed to attract local SMEs – e.g. construction consultancy services • The relaxation of constraints around the EU restricted Accelerated Procedure ensures that public money is made available through faster procurements that will also benefit the regeneration of the town e.g. City Beach Lighting Masts.

Question: What other issues has the current challenging economic climate raised for your service?

Response: Dave Levy outlined to the Committee the following issues that have arisen out of the changing economic climate:-

Page 41 of 60 a) The need to deliver cashable savings going forward has to be balanced with long term sustainability e.g. recognising as part of the whole life cost of a contract it may be more acceptable to pay a higher price for a contract which delivers better quality and other benefits to support our sustainable procurement policy objectives rather than simply going for the lowest price. b) Delays in decisions by central government agencies regarding funding has resulted in unrealistic procurement timescales and meant that the council has had to take additional risks when procuring major schemes just to spend the money before the deadlines. c) Recent changes in legislation mean it is now far easier for suppliers to challenge procurement decisions. This means that whilst we can make our opportunities available to local companies we must not discriminate in favour of them during a tender process – the risk is we could be fined or at worst the contract set aside and the process needs to start again. However, we can ensure that contracts support local policies on sustainability. d) The challenge going forward is to deliver further efficiencies through the supply chain. We will need to invest time and effort into working with our key suppliers to drive innovation and be prepared to listen to their ideas. Taking waste out of the supply chain is sustainable, squeezing profit margins is not!

The Chairman, Councillor Jonathan Garston, thanked Dave Levy for attending and providing evidence to the scrutiny project.

Questions for voluntary sector:

(a) Questions to Trish Carpenter, Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB):

Question: In what ways has the current challenging economic climate impacted on your service?

Response: Trish Carpenter informed the Committee that any change to the economic climate resulted in a human cost. In this particular recession there has been a definite client change. She continued by saying that this recession has affected all economic groups but in particular the ‘middle classes’ which normally could weather the storm. The challenges to clients are:-

• Employment problems – due to economic constraints on companies this has resulted in redundancies or a reduction in working hours; • Financial challenges – this had lead to procedures not being followed; • Clients that have always worked, find themselves unemployed through no fault of their own, some look at it in a positive way to make changes to their futures; • Financial over extension – this is worse than normal, extension of credit is still available, which has resulted in an increase in personal bankruptcy and debt relief order.

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Trish Carpenter informed the Committee that the footfall in January/February is always busy. There is pressure on CAB to provide constant advice especially emotional needs due to the need to make changes. She continued by saying that personal relationships become stressful due to economic problems.

Trish Carpenter stated that in times of recession benefit applications increase, but the processing times are slow, which in turn put additional pressure on clients. CAB does try to assist their clients by contacting agencies and most of the problems that arise are administrative.

Question: What are the issues your staff are hearing about from younger aged adults and also from older people?

Response: Trish Carpenter stated that there has been an increase in clients that have returned home from abroad as they are unable to sustain their lifestyle, these clients are predominately in the retired group. She continued by saying that for younger clients they do not have any many resources, but some have a much higher disposal income, this group however do not know what to do with this extra resource.

Trish Carpenter continued by saying that ‘doorstep’ lending is becoming an issue, offering pay day loans with 1500% APR’s, however for some this is the only way they can meet their everyday needs, not realising the overall cost. There was also an increase in repossessions in both the private/public sectors, these are being fast tracked. Some of the problems of repossession are where the landlord has a mortgage on a property that is rented, the landlord fails to meet the payments and repossession orders are sent out resulting in the tenant being forced out of the property, again through no fault of their own.

Trish Carpenter felt that for some the introduction of housing benefit payments direct to the landlord had been unhelpful, and consideration should be given if the tenant is vulnerable.

The Chairman, Councillor Jonathan Garston, thanked Trish Carpenter for attending and providing evidence to the scrutiny project.

(b) Questions to Alison Semmence, SAVS:

1. In what ways has the current challenging economic climate impacted on your service? 2. Have there been changes in the number of people wishing to volunteer and the number of volunteering opportunities as a result of the current challenging economic climate? 3. What are the issues your staff are hearing about in particular (general trends)?

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Responses: Alison Semmence informed the Committee that SAVS had a 20% increase in requests to be a volunteer. There has been an increase in professionals who have been made redundant coming forward to volunteer and although this was welcome they were often looking for quite specific roles in which they could use their skills. They often only wanted to volunteer for a short time until they found paid work again. She continued by saying that as much as additional volunteers are wanted it is costly to train and administer them, but there are not additional resources available for this training.

Alison Semmence said that a survey had recently been undertaken to explore the impact the recession was having on the third sector. 66 out of the 180 groups asked had responded. The most impact had been felt by organisations whose income is between £10,000 – 150,

This information was broken down as follows:-

• 27% had seen an increase in demand for services, for example the homeless shelter had experienced a 20% increase in people needing their service

• 21% had seen an increase in people’s inability to pay for services

• 30% had experienced cuts in grants

Alison Semmence stated that COMPACT principles could assist in recession beating. She continued by saying that in the area of bidding for contract work that the Commissioners in the public sector did often not understand the third sector and how they could deliver services, and many third sector organisations did not understand how the procurement process worked. There is a big gap between the two sectors which needs to be addressed.

The Chairman, Councillor Jonathan Garston, thanked Alison Semmence for attending and providing evidence to the scrutiny project.

(c) Questions to John Barber, Community In Harmony:

1. Could you provide Members on the Committee with some background information about your work? 2. In what ways has the current challenging economic climate impacted on your work and your plans for the future? 3. Are particular groups or sections of the community being more adversely affected that others in the current challenging economic climate and what issues are being raised? 4. What are the issues you are hearing about in particular (general trends)?

Responses: Mr. Barber informed the Committee that he represented the Southend Community-In-Harmony Partnership (SCHP). The SCHP was formed in 2002

Page 44 of 60 to promote understanding and tolerance within communities, to provide an inclusive community whatever their age, religion or cultural background. The SCHP have links with various partners in Southend who work among community groups, which provides a level of trust due to the lack of affiliation to any one religious or political group.

Mr. Barber said that over the past 7 years SCHP had held 6 annual events involving a cross section of the community and various faith groups. He also stated that there was close working relationship with “Missing Communities”, these are primarily socially disadvantaged groups and ethnic minorities and offer assistance to find out want their immediate needs are and point them in the right direction.

Mr. Barber continued by saying that SCHP was not an organisation that delivered services but saw their role as being one that brings communities together to let them know what is available in the way of grants, benefits etc.

He continued by saying that in Southend there were approximately 2000 Zimbabweans living in Southend and a good number of these are asylum seekers who need assistance. He felt that the role of the SCHP was to empower communities to work together and that initiatives were continually being sort to identify issues where further assistance could be given.

Mr. Barber confirmed that SCHP were in a position to deliver the events that have been planned for 2010, but could not comment on whether the recession had affected others groups in delivering their services.

The Chairman, Councillor Jonathan Garston, thanked John Barber for attending and providing evidence to the scrutiny project.

The Committee also thanked the Voluntary Sector for all the work that they undertook.

Page 45 of 60 Page 46 of 60 DOCUMENT 4 January 2010

Economic Downturn Overview and Trends Paper for Economic and Environmental Scrutiny Committee – 19th January 2010 Purpose of the paper: The purpose of the paper is to provide Economic and Environmental Scrutiny Committee with regional and local background information against which the Scrutiny Project will take place.

1. Regional Context:

Over recent years the East of England has positioned itself as a powerhouse on national and global platforms based on the range, sectors and sizes of the companies based in the region, and, more specifically on the potential captured in the education establishments and the ever expanding knowledge economy. This positioning is well grounded with total investment in research and development equating to 3.9% of the value of economic output, which is double the EU average. 43% of the region’s employment is in knowledge- intensive services, 10% above the EU average. 3

The East of England is proving not only to be a growing economy but also an increasingly popular place to live with a 6% population increase between 1995 and 2005 and recent growth recording the highest levels for any region outside of London. The region’s workers are employed in a fairly even distribution occupational groups which mirror UK patterns. Managers and Senior Officials and those in Professional Occupations represent some 30% of total employment, which is above UK average.4 However average pay levels across the region, at £479.10/week are below the UK average of £490.20.5 This may, in part, be attributed to the lower educational attainment levels across the region where, in 2007, 20.3% of adults were qualified at degree standard or higher thus positioning the region below several leading global regions as well as below the UK average.6 2008 saw under achievement compared with the UK average at every level of education.7

The UK economy is now in its longest recession since current records began in 1955. The economy has contracted by 5.5% since Q1 of 2008. Virtually all sectors continued to contract in Q3 2009, and the economy remains in a fragile state and the East of England is no exception.

3 Region Amongst Global Knowledge Regions – Insight East December 2009 4 Insight East Employment by Occupation report 2008/9 5 Nomisweb 6 Insight East Employment by Occupation report 2008/9 7 Nomisweb

Page 47 of 60 2. The Recession and the Region

2.1 Employment

The recession has significantly affected employment levels across the region with redundancies, closures and unemployment rising, the region’s official unemployment rate is now at 6.7 per cent, but it remains significantly lower than the national rate of 8.1 per cent. Manufacturing and construction sectors have been particularly hard hit. The East of England Forecasting Model shows a reduction in total employment in 2009 of 1.2% and predicts that this will further diminish by 2.1% in 2010 before any improvement is seen and it will be 2012 before there is any growth.

Redundancies look set to continue, but fewer large scale cuts are expected. Men continue to be more likely than women to be made redundant but there are indications that the situation for younger workers has marginally improved. Rates of JSA claimants per unfilled vacancy peaked in January 2009 and have steadily declined throughout the year at a rate below that of the UK from May onwards.8

Regionally the employment in different sectors has varied considerably over the course of the downturn. 2008 saw a net growth of 0.9% in employment with significant growth in utilities and construction. Food and drink and financial intermediation were the worst hit with losses of 4.2% and 3.1% respectively. As the recession has deepened manufacturing across the board has been severely hit as have transport and communications and business services. Education, health and personal services were the only sectors to grow at 2%, 4.4% and 2.2%.9

2.2 Business Confidence

Businesses continue to feel the pressures applied by the recession but are responding positively wherever possible; looking to expand markets and improve business processes. Confidence is rising in line with the national picture but mixed survey results suggest that the experiences of individual businesses are very different. Few businesses are anticipating further major cuts in employment but equally few expect to increase their workforce.10 Slowing growth in wage costs offer some relief to businesses, 58% of respondents to a British Chamber of Commerce survey saying that they plan to freeze wages this year.

2.3 Housing

Land Registry data shows that at the January 2008 peak average house prices in the East of England reached £194,312. With the ensuing turn of the housing market prices dropped more than they did nationally, reaching a low of £158,669 in April 2009 representing an 18.3% decline, 1.2% lower than the

8 Gavurin 9 East of England Forecasting Model, Insight East 10 Insight East

Page 48 of 60 UK average. House price increases since then have risen and done so more quickly than across the rest of the UK.

2.4 Recovery

The East of England Forecasting Model suggests the beginning of recovery in 2010, albeit at a slow pace. Forecast regional output matches that of the UK at 0.3% with low consumer confidence. That said, the region may then gain pace in recovery with the Eats of England Forecasting model projecting a GVA growth peak in 2013 at 4% in comparison with 3.6% nationally.11

11 Insight East

Page 49 of 60 3. The Recession in Southend-on-Sea

Southend-on-Sea has not been immune to the affects of the recession with its impact continuing to be felt in employment, business practice, housing and communities.

3.1 Unemployment

Unemployment, measured by the number of people claiming Job Seekers Allowance, appears to be plateauing at 4,900 - 5000 claimants with November 2009 continuing the trend at 4,930. Unemployment peaked in August 2009 at 5,038 claimants following a sharp increase from June 2008 to April 2009 where claimant count nearly doubled. The stabilisation of unemployment figures suggests that it has reached its peak. It is not known when claimant numbers will begin to decrease, however the East of England Forecasting Model does suggest that there will be further reductions in total employment in both 2010 and 2011 before the situation improves.12

3.1.1 Long term unemployment at 6-12 months has increased sharply from December 2008, following regional and national, trends but at a level higher than both figures. It is a similar picture for unemployment exceeding 12 months.13

12 Gavurin 13 Nomisweb

Page 50 of 60 Unemployment 6-12 Months

30

25

20 Southend-on-Sea % %

e

t 15 East % a

R Great Britain % 10

5

0

8 9 9 9 9 9 -0 -0 -0 -0 -0 0 c b r n g t- e e p u u c D F A J A O Time

3.1.2 The age group hardest hit by unemployment is under 30, with those in the 20-24 bracket most severely impacted and 55-59 least so. This follows the same trend as the rest of the region though claimant counts are higher in Southend.14

14 Gavurin

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3.1.3 Fluctuations in unemployment among men and women follow a similar trend but with the unemployment rate among men in Southend at more than double that among women. Male unemployment peaked in April 2009 at 7.23% while female unemployment peaked in August 2009 at 2.9%. This again mirrors the regional picture but at a higher rate for both men and women. 15

3.1.4 Among ethnic groups there is little difference between employment rates with the Black or Black British group displaying the lowest employment rate at 73.29% and Other showing the highest at 80.1% (Q1 2009)16

3.1.5 Figures from November 2009 breaking down JSA Claimants and vacancies in Southend by occupation show there is most unemployment among the

15 Gavurin 16 Gavurin

Page 52 of 60 Elementary Occupations and Administrative Workers with least among Professionals. In contrast there are more vacancies in Personal Service Workers and least among Professionals. The level of vacancies in Elementary Occupations given the high unemployment in the same sector would suggest that the vacancies are not of a pay level or stability to attract candidates or that those in the unemployment pool do not have the appropriate skills or knowledge to undertake the roles.17

3.1.6 Job seekers: proportion & number by Ward (November 09)18

17 Gavurin 18 ONS-NOMIS

Page 53 of 60 Number of individuals % of ward % of Southend Ward claiming in ward claiming Total Belfairs 187 4.0 3.79 Blenheim Park 243 4.3 4.93 Chalkwell 249 4.6 5.05 Eastwood Park 148 2.8 3.00 Kursaal 677 11.5 13.73 Leigh 169 3.0 3.43 Milton 498 8.3 10.10 Prittlewell 232 4.2 4.71 Shoeburyness 333 5.0 6.75 Southchurch 251 4.9 5.09 St. Laurence 239 4.3 4.85 St. Luke's 327 5.1 6.63 Thorpe 130 2.7 2.64 Victoria 498 8.2 10.10 West Leigh 101 2.0 2.05 West Shoebury 256 4.5 5.19 Westborough 392 5.6 7.95 Southend 4,930 5.1

This table displays the number of claimants by ward and also the % of the Southend claimant total that they account for. The table highlights some of the area based challenges in Southend as represented in the map below.

Page 54 of 60 3.1.7 Southend has faced the challenges presented by large scale redundancies from companies such as Flightline, HSBC and Lloyds TSB together with the job losses made in the city which have affected residents, primarily in the banking and financial sectors, who commute into London while living in the Borough. Below is a table showing those redundancies which involved Job Centre Plus totaling 534 between April 2008 and November 2009. Further redundancies were made during this period but JCP notification is only required for losses of 20 or more staff.

Sector Redundancy Numbers Manufacturing Company 162 Manufacturing Company 31 Manufacturing Company 79 Retail 13 Travel 249 Note that not all these redundancies are residents of Southend due to commuting patterns and final numbers are often lower than those initially notified.

3.2 Housing The average price of a residential property in Southend-on-Sea in March 2009 was £145,698 which is below the East of England average at £159, 317. Southend-on-Sea's house prices have changed by -15.6 per cent during the past year from March 2008 to March 2009.19

3.2.1 Mortgage Possession Claims According to the Ministry of Justice data from the courts there were 90 mortgage possession claims issued in the third quarter of 2009 which equates

19 Insight East Economic Profile July 2009 Southend on Sea

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to 1.3 per 1000 households and represents a decrease of 43% on the same time 2008. In comparison with the rest of the East of England this is above the regional figure of 1 possession per 1000 households but also demonstrates a greater decrease, the regional figure showing a 31% reduction.

2009 Q3 2008 Q4 – 2009 Q3 Total % Change in Per 1,000 Total % Change in total Per 1,000 total since 2008 households since 2007 Q4-2008 households Q3 Q3 90 -43% 1.3 410 -32% 5.7

3.3 Crime The recession has had an impact on community life beyond employment and housing. The average number of crimes in Southend has increased from 1081 to 1099 representing a 1.7% increase compared to the same three month period last year.20

Sep Oct Nov Average

2008 1106 1045 1092 1081

2009 1009 1147 1141 1099

Crime rates* in this area for the last 12 months

* Crime rates show number of crimes per 1000 people.

20 Essex Police

Page 56 of 60 4.0 Action Taken by Southend Borough Council

Southend-on-Sea Borough Council has recognised the wide ranging impact of the recession across the borough and has responded in a number of ways to support residents, communities and businesses alike, as follows:

4.1 Parking charges have been frozen until April 2011, a move welcomed by the FSB and local businesses alike.

4.2 Prompt payment code – agreement to pay invoices promptly.

4.3 Positive engagement with local businesses to increase the number and quality of council contracts won locally. This has included a special networking session (see note 4.8) where SBC procurement team presented to local businesses.

4.4 Received in excess of £52k from the empty shops fund to address vacant retail units in the town centre

4.5 Held the first annual Business Conference held November 2009 with information from support agencies and inspirational good news stories from local businesses.

4.6 Participated in a successful joint bid for ERDF funding to support a low carbon economy.

4.7 Engaged Essex Chamber of Commerce in delivering the Business Booster vouchers which allow businesses to claim business support, funded by Southend Borough Council, from a range of partners.

4.8 Continue to support Networking on Sea and utilise the Business, Retail and Tourism Partnerships to better understand and address business needs. Networking on Sea is an initiative delivered by Essex Chamber of Commerce, paid for by SBC with 40 network events across the business sector, the current programme runs to April 2010.

4.9 Undertook the Community Voices project giving residents the opportunity to speak to a range of local organisations at drop-in sessions across the borough about local issues.

4.10 Research, publication and dissemination of the Support-on-Sea Recession Information Booklet which outlines the support available from a variety of public sector organisations and initiatives from debt management to job applications and from personal support to recreation.

4.11 Proactive promotion of the Business Rate Relief Scheme to eligible businesses.

4.12 Launch of a new electronic business directory to raise awareness of the businesses present in the borough and the opportunities for business to business trade.

Page 57 of 60 4.13 Working with the relevant National Skills Sector Councils on a programme of structured support for their sectors, including assessing EEDA funding from the Beyond 2012 programme linked to surviving the recession.

4.14 Promoted and facilitated access to the regional Response to Redundancy programme for those affected by redundancy.

4.15 Publicised support and information issued by Central Government for businesses on the Invest in Southend website.

4.16 Delivery of the Events Strategy aimed at supporting business through increased resident and visitor spends and longer visitor stays.

4.17 Continuing to invest in Southend throughout the Council’s own capital programme thereby providing direct.

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