Appendix A

SCRUTINY REVIEW PANEL 3 – 2013/2014

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10 April 2014

- 1 - CONTENTS

Page

Contents 2

Chair’s Overview 3

Introduction 4

Detailed Considerations 6

Key Learning Points 90

Membership and Attendance 91

Background Information 92

Recommendations 93

Recommendations with Officer Comments 95

- 2 -

CHAIR’S OVERVIEW



Councillor Harbhajan Kaur-Dheer (Panel Chair)

In these challenging times, we need to do all that we can to help the local economy and the prospects for our residents.

Although it seemed like a daunting task we managed to create an interesting series of different meetings to look at the various aspects of economic growth and business development.

I was pleasantly surprised by all the good work that is already going on in the borough in this respect whilst recognising that there is still a lot more to be done.

Councillors are well aware that in Ealing the residents are in many cases also the business owners so it is in all our interests to ensure that they are successful. Councillors should consider the effectiveness of Planning Policies in Ealing to ensure that these help both our residents and businesses.

The Council should continue with the approach of being ‘open for business’ with developers and businesses. A consistent strategy and better partnership working eradicates duplication and delivers effective outcomes much quicker.

The site visits made a significant difference to the information obtained as these provided an insight into some of the problems faced by the small businesses and the various organisations operating around the borough.

I would like to thank all the organisations, residents, service officers and the Panel Members especially the Vice Chair of the Panel (Cllr Nigel Sumner) for their valuable input to this review.

- 3 - 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 The main purpose of Scrutiny Review Panel 3 – 2013/2014: Economic Growth and Business Development was to consider prospects for further economic growth and business development in the borough.

2.0 METHODOLOGY 2.1 The Panel received reports and presentations from internal services, external agencies and expert witnesses at their meetings. There were five scheduled meetings in the year that were held in Ealing Town Hall. The Panel also conducted site visits within and outside the Borough.

2.2 The Panel decided against co-opting any additional representatives as it would have been difficult to have a balanced representation from the numerous establishments falling within this remit.

Visits 2.3 The following visits were undertaken: Within the Borough • Ealing Hotels Network Meeting • West Ealing BID Task Group Meeting • Ealing Business Partnership Meeting • Small Businesses in Acton: Partiez & Presentz and Pearls Drycleaners • Small Businesses in Greenford: One Stop Retail, The Bike Shop and Uniq Hairdressing • Small Businesses in Perivale: Meeting with Bilton Road Traders at Mahesh Hairdressers • Small Business in Southall: Southall Rights and Punjabee Restaurant • Jobcentre Plus, West Ealing

Outside the Borough • Small Businesses in Hounslow: A.M. Newsagent and Langfords

2.4 The Panel’s work was publicised in the Council’s free magazine, Around Ealing; local websites such as Ealing Council and Ealing Community Network, etc. and direct emails.

3.0 PANEL FOCUS 3.1 The Panel’s main focus was to consider the following key areas: • the current state of Ealing’s economy; • the existing trends in business activity, employment levels and skills, etc. and establish how these can be improved; • how the opportunities arising from the new flexibilities with Business Rates can be maximised to assist economic growth and business development in the borough; • how businesses can be encouraged to invest in the area by minimising any barriers; • how the Council can work with existing and new partners to encourage further economic growth; • Local Development Framework – how this can be applied effectively to promote economic growth and business development in the area;

- 4 - • what role the Council can play in boosting the opportunities arising from major projects e.g. Crossrail, HS2, new Southall Car Park, etc.; and • ensure that the views of all the major stakeholders are incorporated in the review (e.g. charitable and existing groups; businesses, education establishments, voluntary and private sectors; residents; etc.)

The First Panel Meeting

- 5 - 4.0 DETAILED CONSIDERATIONS OVERVIEW OF EALING ECONOMY 4.1 Ealing is in a strong economic position at the centre of West London between London’s West End and Heathrow airport. The number of businesses in Ealing has continued to increase over the last few years in 2011, there were 11,765 VAT and/or PAYE registered businesses in Ealing. This is the second highest number of all the six West London boroughs.

4.2 The vast majority of businesses (90%) in Ealing are small businesses employing less than 10 people. Only 1% of businesses in Ealing employ more than 100 people.

4.3 Of the major businesses in Ealing – 370 companies (or 3.1%) employ over half of Ealing’s workforce.

4.4 Park Royal is a haven for small businesses, with over half of firms employing fewer than 10 people and 90% employing fewer than 50.

4.5 The number of businesses has risen year on year for each London borough but in West London growth has been the greatest in Ealing and Brent.

4.6 Ealing is considered to be relatively prosperous and has an overall employment rate of 67.9% (slightly lower than the London average at 69.8%) Ealing has significant designated employment land with large industrial areas in Park Royal, Greenford and Southall; smaller industrial estates in Southall, Acton, Perivale, Hanwell and around Ealing and a significant office cluster in Ealing Town Centre.

Employment Land in Ealing

- 6 - 4.7 The largest employment sector for Ealing is Distribution, Hotels and Restaurants (21.7%), the second largest is Public Administration, Education and Health (20.8%), and the third largest is Transport and Communication (19.1%).

4.8 Ealing’s population is quite large and there is a significant number of people (29,720) on ‘out of work’ benefits. 8,623 people are claiming Jobseekers Allowance in the borough.

4.9 There has been significant investment by the private sector in the borough’s town centres and across the borough. CrossRail is expected to bring significant economic benefit to Ealing due to the reduction in journey times into central London. Southall has been identified as one of the top three locations in London that will benefit from economic growth as a consequence of CrossRail.

Existing Council and Partner Initiatives 4.10 There are a number of initiatives which the Council undertakes to support economic growth and business development. These can broadly be divided into three areas:

- Business support initiatives - Support to help local residents into employment - Inward investment

Employment Services and Support 4.11 There is a wide range of local services/measures aimed at creating opportunities and getting unemployed or ‘out of work’ residents into work/training.

4.12 Some of the services/measures are delivered by the Council and others by partner organisations. These are listed below and detailed later in the report:

• Ealing Apprenticeships • Ealing Pathways • Ealing Apprentice Network • European Social Fund (ESF and Other) Programmes • Heathrow Academy: (London Councils ESF matched by Heathrow S106) • Catalyst Jobs and Skills • Accession (initiative with Children and Families and West London Mental Health Trust) • Partnerships and Leverage • Work Clubs • Job Fairs and Events • Think Family Plus (TFP) • Youth and Connexions • Adult/Community Learning • Community Learning

- 7 - INWARD INVESTMENT – DEVELOPERS AND INVESTORS Council Activities on Inward Investment 4.13 The Council and its partners undertake a number of promotional activities to generate inward investment for Ealing. The activities are carried out under in Ealing in London – a partnership between Ealing Council and key developers and investors in Ealing and promote Ealing to developers, investors and businesses. This initiative includes the Ealing in London website, newsletters, magazine and attendance at development conferences. Many of these activities are funded through a partnership approach with developers, landowners and stakeholders in the borough.

4.14 These activities have generated additional interest in Ealing and enabled the Council and the development industry to work more closely in partnership and for the Council to be perceived as more “Open for Business”.

4.15 The Council also sets out a clear planning policy on where new development will be permitted. The Local Development Framework (LDF) has identified key areas of the borough that should be retained for employment uses to ensure that the number of jobs and businesses in the borough continues to grow. The LDF also identifies where new retail, residential and other uses can be located and where development is appropriate or not so.

4.16 A representative group of developers and investors in the borough was invited to provide views on:

• How they perceive Ealing in the broader investment and development market and compared to other places in London and the South East. • The strengths and opportunities for Ealing. • Why they had chosen to invest or locate in Ealing. • The weaknesses and threats to Ealing • What else the Council could do to encourage more investment and support businesses • How they could work more closely with the Council. • What more could they do in Ealing.

Representatives of the following organisations attended:

4.17 Benson Elliott Capital Management acquired the Arcadia Centre and the retail units and buildings bounded by The Broadway, Springbridge Road, and the railway in Ealing Town Centre in 2011. They are about to commence development of the first phase which is refurbishment of the Arcadia Centre to create a supermarket (Morrisons) and larger units for TKMaxx and MacDonalds. This will be completed in November 2014. Plans for the redevelopment of the rest of the site will come forward shortly.

4.18 St George, part of Berkeley, is developing Dickens Yard in Ealing Town Centre. This development consists of 690 residential units and 10,000 square metres of new retail space. The first phase is completed and occupied. An innovative housing scheme led by Catalyst housing has

- 8 - enabled the active elderly (over 50s) in Council or housing association housing across the borough to move to Dickens Yard, thereby freeing up a family home. This development is expected to be complete in 2016 and will create a new Town Square adjacent to Christ the Saviour Church (in the location where the marketing suite is presently located).

4.19 St James, is also part of Berkeley, and has recently agreed a deal with National Grid to redevelop the Southall Gasworks site. The site has planning consent for up to 3,750 new homes and 50,000 m² of commercial and retail space. There is also a new primary school, health centre, sports and leisure facilities and public open space to be provided. This is a long term development that is likely to take over 30 years to complete.

4.20 Segro owns, manages and develops modern warehousing and light industrial property. It manages industrial estates and property in Park Royal and Greenford as well as in Hounslow and Slough. Segro manages a number of industrial estates and units in the borough and is important in supporting businesses and creating jobs in Ealing.

4.21 Ealing Broadway BID Company is a borough-wide business partnership open to all businesses in the borough. It is a not-for-profit business limited by guarantee, run by and for its members. All profits are re-invested back into delivering the overall BID aims and funding additional projects and events. The small BID administrative team’s work is directly overseen by a Board which meets bi-monthly. Four theme groups meet regularly to agree the elements of the programme.

Specific Views Leader’s Briefing 4.22 The Leader of the Council, Cllr Julian Bell, also attended the meeting and gave his perspective on inward investment and development within the Borough.

Cllr Julian Bell (Leader and Portfolio Holder for Regeneration & Sport) briefing the Panel

- 9 - 4.23 Cllr Bell expressed his delight at the guests’ attendance and believed it to be a sign of confidence in Ealing that they were willing to contribute to the Scrutiny Panel.

4.24 He highlighted forthcoming events that would play an important role in the further development of the Borough, including the five Crossrail Stations, new town square in North Acton, HS2 rail project, the major Southall Gasworks development, the Southall Broadway Boulevard project and the development of Dickens Yard and the Arcadia Shopping Centre on Ealing Broadway.

4.25 The Leader stated that the Council was always open and willing to work towards securing further investment into the Borough.

Philip Irons 4.26 Philip Irons, a partner at Benson Elliott Capital Management, detailed the firm’s investment in the Borough. They had acquired the Arcadia Centre on Ealing Broadway and its associated retail units and buildings in 2011. This was with a view to a comprehensive redevelopment of the site during 2014 with another £50-100 million expected to be invested. Three major outlets within the redeveloped centre have already been pre-let to Morrisons, TKMaxx and McDonalds. They were working closely with local residents and the Local Authority to ensure that the right balance of residential and retail development is achieved on the site.

4.27 They chose to invest in Ealing because the Borough is part of the thriving economy of London. It has prospered residentially but faltered in recent times commercially despite great potential.

4.28 Part of the great potential is considered to reside in the abundant transport links that the Borough has, with the forthcoming Crossrail links set to have an unprecedented impact.

4.29 The Borough was very business friendly and always remained ‘true to its word’ on projects. There had also been encouragement from the cross- party approval to the project, making the firm keen to invest further. The Neighbourhood Plan for the centre of Ealing was also considered to be critical.

4.30 For Ealing to see continued growth it needed to remain open to working with developers.

Paul Pritchard 4.31 Paul Pritchard, a Development Director for St James, part of the Berkeley Group, detailed investment within the Borough. They had recently agreed a deal with National Grid to redevelop the Southall Gasworks site, with planning consent granted for up to 3,750 new homes and 50,000 square metres of commercial and retail space. There would also be a new primary school, health centre, sports and leisure facilities and public open spaces provided as part of the development which was likely to take over 30 years

- 10 - to fully complete. St James felt that the development would complement their focus on regeneration and high-quality living.

4.32 They considered that Ealing was very much ‘open for business’ and was always willing to engage in open and frank dialogue. They could communicate with staff at every level and there was a willingness to strengthen relationships.

4.33 St James considered it of upmost importance to help deliver the Southall Charter and to create a sense of identity and place with the development. It would bring infrastructure improvements, housing, businesses and jobs to the area.

4.34 Ealing had shown trust in the Group and had recognised the commercial realities that the Group faced. St James hoped that support from Ealing for the significant challenges faced by such a large scale development would continue.

Malcom Wood 4.35 Malcolm Wood, Land Director for St George (which forms the Berkeley Group with St James), detailed his part of the Group’s investment within the Borough. They were in the process of developing Dickens Yard on Ealing Broadway, a project that had begun in 2004 and would comprise of 690 residential units and 10,000 square metres of newly established retail space. The first phases of the residential development are now completed and occupied, and the full development including a new Town Square area is expected to be completed in 2016.

4.36 It was conceded that there had been an overriding perception from the public at the outset of the development that it would cause a near ‘shut down’ of Ealing town centre. St George took pride in the fact that by working together with the Council they had managed to keep impact and disruption to a minimum through good management. St George is looking to help give Ealing Centre a distinctive sense of place.

4.37 They feel that Ealing has excellent demographics and first-rate transport links. The importance of the Crossrail project was reiterated.

4.38 Whilst some Boroughs appeared less welcoming, St George had been encouraged by the vision and passion shown by the officers at Ealing Council for the project and regeneration. The Council policies had always been made completely clear as well and whilst there had been some issues, including concerns regarding compulsory purchase orders these had been worked through maintaining a strong relationship.

4.39 St George had also been encouraged by other investments happening in the centre of Ealing, such as the previously mentioned redevelopment of the Arcadia Centre. They were looking to forge close relationships and to work together with other investors so that any developments complement rather than directly compete with each other.

- 11 - 4.40 They felt that making the planning process as expeditious as possible was an element always sought by developers. Ealing centre would also benefit from more clearly marked car parking signs.

4.41 Ealing needed to keep promoting itself to other developers and groups like St George would always be happy to pay for services commensurate to their needs. Ealing needed to take a strategic lead, and this was becoming evident through such examples as the Ealing Cinema development.

4.42 Ealing should be looking to invest in employment training so that a significant skills gap did not develop within the Borough.

4.43 St George would look to sell the benefits of their proposals to the public better at the outset of future applications.

Neil Impiazzi 4.44 Neil Impiazzi, Partnerships Development Manager at Segro, explained that Segro manages industrial estates and property in Park Royal and Greenford. This forms one part of their three core clusters in the UK within the larger scope of their international portfolio. With investments spanning three million square feet and totalling £340 million in the area, they were important in supporting large businesses and creating jobs in the Borough.

4.45 The key strength for Segro locating in Ealing was the strong road network and close links to Heathrow for international cargo. Crossrail was again mentioned as a forthcoming strength. The area was also complemented for its access to a skilled labour force as the leading brands based in the estates looked to employ from the local pool of resources. North and West London both had in place sound infrastructures that could not be found in South London.

4.46 If the proposed HS2 developments were to proceed then Segro would look to be actively involved in the process. The importance of Park Royal not ‘grinding to a halt’ during the development was emphasised.

4.47 A forum for bringing together local large scale developers for collaborative thinking and sharing ideas would be a positive step for all involved.

4.48 Ealing needed to keep apprenticeships high on its agenda as well as attracting those with existing skills to the area, as developing talent was important for future developments. An expedited planning process was also considered to be important. Speed, flexibility and certainty are key for developer confidence. Segro had pulled away from developments in other areas when problems had been faced at the planning stage.

4.49 Segro welcomed the chance to explain what they contributed to the area and invited the Panel to make a site visit.

Ann Hunter 4.50 Ann Hunter, Chief Executive of Ealing Broadway BID Company, had only been in the post for five weeks. She echoed the comments of the Leader of

- 12 - the Council, stating that the BID Company was very excited about forthcoming developments. She emphasised that the developers needed to forge close links with the community so that there was a mutual understanding of the benefits that would be enabled by their projects.

4.51 The BID Company was working on a 3-5 year focus but also seeking short- term ‘quick wins’ for the area. Whilst the BID is now completely business led, the Council continues to work very closely with them on projects in West Ealing and developments in Southall that are currently being considered.

Key Issues • Questioned whether Segro was aware of the current pressures placed upon the Park Royal area for the provision of housing and schools.

• Recognised that there should be careful consideration of issues that can arise from a clustered residential and industrial mix.

• Raised the issues that residents had faced with trucks sometimes using unsuitable routes. It was confirmed that Segro was aware of these issues and looked to act as a conduit between their customers/drivers and the local community in bringing them together to discuss and resolve issues amicably.

• Asked what St George was going to do about concerns regarding chewing gum on pavements and were advised that within the Dickens Yard area they would ensure swift removal through street cleaning.

• Learnt that in Greenford, Ward Forum monies had been used to contribute towards cleaning efforts. The BID Company would look at arranging contributions towards the street cleaning in future.

• Expressed concern that the developers may have a slightly old fashioned view of the demographics that make up Ealing as these are in a constant state of evolution.

• Received assurance from the developers that they were just not considering the traditional demographics of Ealing and were very aware of the population in factual current terms. This also included being very much aware of the dynamism and multicultural nature of the contemporary Ealing population and would look to tailor their retail options accordingly.

• Requested that the developers also consider the need for more large scale retail units within Ealing, as the current retail spaces provided were deemed too small to attract the larger scale retailers to consider locating in the Borough.

• Identified the need for developers to hold regular meetings together to discuss issues as this would be a positive step forward. The developers agreed but stated that they were already quite ‘plugged in’ to the nature

- 13 - of each other’s developments and all shared a long term thinking approach.

• Expressed several concerns on the Southall Gasworks development, particularly that there was only short-term thinking in place for the development and that traffic congestion would become a major issue. A suggested solution is a further link road from the Gasworks, past the QPR development at Windmill Lane through to Ealing.

• Learnt that St James has been making every effort to ensure that all residents’ issues are addressed. They are not looking at anything short- termism as the reputation of their ‘brand’ is on the line. They have also had extended negotiations with Hillingdon Council to ensure that site traffic would come from the west to minimise the impact on the centre of Southall. They will be working with both Hillingdon and Ealing Councils to deal with any congestion issues constructively. The Leader of the Council further confirmed that he too is working with the Portfolio Holder for Transport and Environment in addressing the concerns of the Southall Councillors and residents.

• Raised issues about requirements for extra parking in the centre of Ealing and how concern was being approached. Malcolm Wood considered that there was already sufficient parking available in the centre of Ealing. He said that smarter use needed to be made of the resources available, including the provision of better signage so that people were fully aware of where parking was available to them. Philip Irons concurred with this, and considered that congestion was more of an issue than parking. Benson Elliott would be looking to contribute to the reduction in congestion by eliminating loading and unloading on The Broadway, this would take place mainly in the Springbridge area.

• Established the need to concentrate on the creation of the right conditions and consider the needs of small businesses, the conditions where large businesses would deem the area good for investment and how to create a balance of areas in which to ‘work’ and ‘play’.

• Before closing, the Leader of the Council gauged all guests present for their opinions regarding the future of Heathrow Airport. All present were in agreement that if Heathrow were to close it would be no less than catastrophic for the local economy and local development. Segro confirmed that they would be very likely to lose 90% of their custom in the area and would be required to relocate.

- 14 - Recommendations

No. Recommendation R1 The Council should create the right conditions for large businesses to invest in the borough in creating a balance of areas in which to work and play. R2 The Council should continue to meet regularly with developers to exchange information and enable developers to be aware of development opportunities in Ealing. R3 Ealing Council should continue with the approach of being ‘open for business’ with developers and businesses. R4 The Council should review the issues concerning inadequate parking signage and take appropriate action accordingly. For example, the car parks in Southall should be better publicised and clearly sign posted as lots of people visit the town. R5 The Council should give careful consideration to the issues that can arise from a clustered residential and industrial mix.

NEIGHBOURHOOD PLANNING 4.52 Neighbourhood planning is a new right for communities introduced amongst other things through the Localism Act 2011. A Neighbourhood Development Plan will become part of the local statutory development plan and will form the basis for determining planning applications in that area. Plans have to be in general conformity with the strategic objectives of the Local Plan and higher order plans

Ealing's Policy on Neighbourhood Planning 4.53 In July 2012, Cabinet agreed the following principles on neighbourhood planning:

• Neighbourhood planning is an exciting opportunity to involve the general public and business in the planning process and particularly to engage those not normally involved in shaping the future of the borough.

• Neighbourhood planning provides a great opportunity to trial new ways of maximising involvement in planning and to harness the potential of social media and other forms of engagement to increase participation.

• Though the area of impact of the two pilot plans is fairly tightly defined, they both have significance for people across the whole borough as they form parts of its metropolitan town centre.

• Involvement in the plans and participation in the forum therefore need to come from across the borough and include residents, traders, shoppers, commuters etc.

• Neighbourhood plans have to contribute to and be in accordance with regional and local plans and the delivery of targets relating to jobs and homes contained in them.

- 15 - • Neighbourhood plans may have their greatest benefit if focussed on tackling particular local problems and supporting local economic development.

Present Actions 4.54 Two formal applications have been received and processed by the Council thus far for both Central and West Ealing. These areas have been defined and both have been designated as "business areas".

4.55 The Central Ealing Neighbourhood Forum was formally recognised as the qualifying body on March 27 2013 and was officially launched at a public meeting on July 24 2013. The Forum has agreed an initial vision to "make Ealing a destination, not become a dormitory" and undertaken work around four themes – Open space & heritage, Getting around, Shops, offices & jobs and Culture.

4.56 The West Ealing Centre Neighbourhood Forum was formally recognised as a qualifying body on March 27 2013 and was officially launched on June 18 2013. It has produced a leaflet inviting views on its work and focused initially on the High Street, Movement, Crossrail, Social provision, Heritage and Housing. The Forum participates in the Opportunities in West Ealing steering group which has resources from the High Street Innovation Fund and Riot Recovery Fund. Work is underway to align the visioning and community engagement work of both groups.

4.57 Both Forums are still very much in the early stages of their work and are functioning adequately. Dialogue continues with the Council on providing and making available information to the Forums to assist them in preparing baseline data for any emerging plan. They continue to participate in many of the more important debates and public consultation exercises in their areas.

4.58 Both Forums have participated in a workshop led by lmagine Places exploring the best experiences of community engagement in other neighbourhood forums. In response to a request from the Forums, the Council is also commissioning some formal training and awareness in basic planning law and procedures for members of the Forum.

4.59 Despite the progress made thus far, neither Forum is close to articulating either the detailed scope or content of their plans and a considerable amount of work must be done before a plan will be ready for examination. It still remains prudent to assume that plans will be progressed to referendum during 2014-2015 although project management of the plan making process is almost entirely outside the Local Planning Authority's control.

Further Neighbourhood Plans 4.60 Two other formal applications to prepare a neighbourhood development plan are anticipated for:

• Hanwell/Boston Manor area (including part of neighbouring London Borough of Hounslow); and

- 16 - • Acton Town Centre and environs

4.61 Neither application has been formally received by the Council although the applications for Hanwell/Boston Manor will be lodged by the end of 2013 and Acton in early 2014.

Government Grants 4.62 In respect of Central and West Ealing, the Council successfully applied for grants under the fifth and final tranche of the Neighbourhood Planning Front Runners scheme in November 2011. The grants are to be used to help local planning authorities gain insight into how the provisions for neighbourhood planning are likely to work in practice. On 5 March 2012, the Council learnt that it has been successful and received a grant of £40,000 (£20,000 for each area).

4.63 In addition, Ealing also benefits from financial support for neighbourhood planning by way of a Neighbourhood Planning Grant (NPG) from government. This is subject to an annual review, cash limits, claims windows and a number of other conditions.

4.64 Thus far Ealing Council has received £50,000 in grants including front runner money and first payments for Central and West Ealing. A claim for second payments of NPG for Central and West Ealing for an additional £10,000 has also been submitted. Expenditure to date totals £10,864.

4.65 However, the expenditure to date does not include the costs of any staffing resource from the Planning Policy Team or elsewhere in the Council. Neither does it include the services of the Consultant who has been contracted to help provide support and assistance for the Forums. Nor does it include the costs of procuring certain training and facilitation programmes for Forum members. These costs have all been met from existing Council budget provision.

Key Issues • Considered the Local Plan to be an excellent piece of work to be commended. • Acknowledged the good work of the Ealing Centre Neighbourhood Forum and the West Ealing Centre Neighbourhood Forum.

Recommendations

No. Recommendation In implementing the Local Plan, the Council should continue R6 supporting the existing Neighbourhood Planning Forums and support new ones.

- 17 - BUSINESS RATES New Flexibilities 4.66 Under the former rating system the Government had collected business rates from businesses and paid the income into the national business rates pool. In 2012/2013, Ealing’s contribution to the national pool was £134.5M. The Government had paid Ealing £135M in Formula Grant that was funded through a combination of redistributed national business rates and a central Government funded Revenue Support Grant. Any variance in business rates income against forecasts impacted on the national pool and did not directly affect an authority’s share of the Government grant.

4.67 The Local Government Finance Act 2012 saw the introduction of new legislative powers which allowed the Council to retain 30% of growth in business rates (with 50% to the Government and 20% to the Greater London Authority). The scheme also provided for the local authorities to share a similar percentage in respect of business rate losses, such as for appeals and write offs above baseline amounts.

4.68 Ealing is a top-up authority as the Borough’s funding needs are greater than its collectable business rates. In 2013/2014 (the first year of the scheme), Ealing had received £28M as a top-up. It would continue to receive this amount, increasing in line with the retail price index, until the Government chooses to reset the scheme (which is thought to be in 2020 at the earliest). The amount is fixed and not affected by positive or negative growth in business rates either in the Borough or across England as a whole.

4.69 Under the Business Rates Retention Scheme, from 2013/2014 Ealing has to calculate the expected business rates income factoring in growth and losses. As part of the Budget process Ealing calculated that the net yield for the Borough in 2013/2014 would be £127.557M of which Ealing would retain £38,298,396. The yield would be distributed as follows:

Business Rate Yield 2013/14 £ Amount of Business Rates to be paid to Central Government £63.830,660 Amount to be retained by Ealing under the rates retention £38,298,396 system Amount to be passed to GLA £25,532,264 Total £127,557,855

4.70 As part of the calculation of the net yield, estimates are included of growth and losses. One of the key factors is the amount of outstanding valuation appeals. Valuation appeals are determined by the Valuation Officer Agency (part of the Inland Revenue) and by the Valuation Tribunal and higher courts. Ealing are not party to these appeals, and cannot influence the outcome of appeals. At the time of the calculation of the yield in January 2013, the total rateable value in Ealing subject to appeal is set out in the table below:

Total Rateable Value Subject to Appeal 2010 Rating List £136.9M 2005 Rating List £13.2M

- 18 -

4.71 When appeals are settled, Ealing has to bear 30% of the cost of any refunds made to businesses. Refunds in respect of successful appeals up to the 2010 List could be backdated as far as 1 April 2010, with backdating in respect of the 2005 List to 1 April 2005. It is estimated that the total losses for appeals in 2013/2014 would be £17.789M, while estimated growth is only expected to garner £1.269M. This leaves a net loss of £16.520M which has been built into the budget calculations for setting the Council Tax budget.

4.72 Business rates income is now part of the Council’s core revenue funding under the Governments Business rates retention funding scheme. As such, any growth in business rates income goes towards assisting the Councils overall budget strategy in the context of further government funding reductions and does not represent an additional resource.

4.73 The calculation of the yield is based on a number of variable amounts and reliefs. In most cases Ealing has little flexibility and unless there are very major developments in Ealing, or a change in rating legislation, there is now little prospect of generating additional funding from Business Rates to promote economic growth.

4.74 Current risks for the Borough include the increasing trend of the opening of charity shops. Any additional rate relief given to registered charities would now have to be 30% funded by Ealing. There is also concern over losses related to empty property relief. Many owners are retaining empty properties to use avoidance/evasion schemes in order to avoid paying full rates.

4.75 Empty Council properties can also generate business rates if these are let out e.g. as in businesses occupying the Southall Town Hall so they pay both rent and business rates.

4.76 On the positive side, the Borough could retain additional rates from any renewable energy schemes although these are unlikely to generate significant additional income.

4.77 Overall, it was considered that unless various development schemes of considerable significance take place within the Borough, growth is highly unlikely to outnumber losses.

4.78 The Business Rates Service has received a very low level of complaints against them due mainly to the high level of professional customer service.

Draft Business Rates Discretionary Relief Policy 4.79 Under the Localism Act 2011, the Authority has a wide range of powers to grant relief to any business ratepayer. All registered charities or community amateur sports club, using a business property for charitable purposes, are entitled to receive a mandatory relief of 80%.

- 19 - 4.80 The existing policy on discretionary relief is being amended in view of the wide powers in granting relief that had been enabled under localism arrangements resulting from the Localism Act 2011.

Steve Wells, Head of Revenues, presenting to the Panel

4.81 The document sets out the Council’s policy for dealing with applications for discretionary rate relief under the Local Government Finance Act 1988 and relief that can be awarded to any business under the Localism Act 2011. The draft policy would need to consider the following elements:

- Individual applications - Group applications - Alignment to Council priorities and Community Strategy - Local, national and international businesses (state aid) - Applicants finances - Ealing Council finances - Administration and appeals

4.82 The Council will consult with businesses through the Business Rates Forum on the draft Business Rates Discretionary Relief Policy in January 2014 and with the Ealing Business Partnership in February 2014. Thereafter, in March 2014 the policy will go to Cabinet for agreement. Applications will then be considered from April 2014 onwards.

10 Year Projection for Potential Growth and Related Revenues 4.83 The Local Government Finance Act 2012 has seen the introduction of new legislative powers which allows the Council to retain 30% of growth in business rates (with 50% to the Government and 20% to the Greater

- 20 - London Authority). The scheme also provides for the local authorities to share a similar percentage in respect of business rate losses, such as for appeals and write offs above baseline amounts.

4.84 When appeals are settled, Ealing would have to bear 30% of the cost of any refunds made to businesses. Refunds in successful appeals up to the 2010 list could be backdated as far as 1 April 2010, with backdating in respect of the 2005 list to 1 April 2005. It is estimated that the total losses for appeals in 2013/2014 would be £17.789M, while estimated growth is only expected to garner £1.269M. This leaves a net loss of £16.520M which has been built into the budget calculations for setting the Council Tax budget.

4.85 In 2011, DCLG issued consultation and eight ‘technical papers’ on Business Rates Retention scheme. Following responses to the consultation, the Local Government Finance Act 2012 introduced the legislation powers in respect of the scheme.

4.86 The new funding system allows the Council to retain 30% of growth in business rates (50% goes to the Government and 20% to the GLA). The scheme also provides for the local authorities to share a similar percentage in respect of business rates losses, for example losses in respect of appeals and write offs above baseline amounts.

4.87 The Council agreed a policy for Business Rates Discretionary Relief in 2011. It is proposed to amend this policy to include criteria for considering relief under powers enabled under the Localism Act 2011 that came into force on 1 April 2012. The Council now has the general power to reduce the business rates of any local taxpayer provided it acts reasonably in the way it spends council tax payers’ money.

Financial Implications 4.88 Under the former rating system the Government collected business rates from businesses and paid the income into the national business rates pool. In 2012/2013 Ealing’s contribution to the national pool was £134.5M. The Government paid Ealing £135M in Formula Grant that was funded through a combination of redistributed national business rates and Central Government-funded revenue support grant. Any variance in business rates income against forecasts impacted on the national pool and did not directly affect an authorities’ share of government grant.

4.89 Under the Medium Term Financial Strategy, the forecast for growth, and losses in respect of appeals was earlier forecast to be similar to 2013/2014. However, it is now likely that there will be less growth and an increase in rating appeals in 2016/2017, the last year in which appeals can be made.

4.90 Some recent estimates of growth have been prepared for the next 10 years using known planning applications. It is difficult to accurately predict the exact level of growth, a number of factors make long term forecasting

- 21 - unreliable. For the ten year growth projections, long term forecasting proves to be difficult and unreliable. Reasons for this include:

- 20% of all planning applications expire without developments ever taking place. - Planning applications are time limited. - Historical data has shown increases and decreases in floor space. - There are trends showing that more former business properties are being converted for residential use and this means that less business rates are being received. - A revaluation of business properties will be undertaken in 2017.

4.91 The growth will need to be seen in the context of the overall funding reductions. This is estimated to be around £0.5M a year. The losses expected in the same period will be significantly more than this.

4.92 Whilst the Council allocates sites for future development in the borough as part of its Planning Policy documents, these allocations relate to those developments which are considered significant enough to support the delivery of the overall Development Strategy for the borough. Accordingly, development on such sites would represent a snapshot only of development which may come forward during the plan period. Many of the sites allocated in the plan are identified to accommodate a mix of uses and the plan does not specify quantum for floor space or units as this level of prescription would be overly rigid, unresponsive and stifle innovative developments. Therefore, attempting to predict growth based on such allocations is complex and may not provide a full picture of future change in business floor space.

4.93 An analysis of historical data of completions for business uses is also inconclusive. It highlights the unpredictable nature of business growth in the borough. For three years there was a net loss of floor space and the average yearly gain was 5,109.39 m².

4.94 Applications are also made to demolish commercial developments and there is a growing trend to convert business properties to residential use, partly facilitated by changes to permitted development rights allowing a change of use from B1c to C3, without the need to obtain full planning consent.

4.95 There will be a revaluation of business properties in 2017 and the business tax base at Ealing could vary significantly depending on property valuations here compared with other parts of London and across the UK plus the national multiplier which is also reset. In 2010, Ealing lost £2.0M of yield as a result of the revaluation whilst other Councils had much larger variations.

4.96 Any discretionary relief awarded under the Localism Act is funded by Ealing council tax payers. Central Government and GLA do not contribute to any awards of relief. There has been no budget approved to fund awards of relief.

- 22 - Key Issues • Accepted that selling some of the Council’s property assets is less likely to help increase business rates as it is more likely to lose the Council money in the current market.

• Recognised that new properties and developments are the source of growth and these are closely monitored to help calculate the potential gains.

• Queried the current expectations over the next ten years for growth including the potential impacts arising from the Crossrail project and were advised that current forecasting did not allow the department to look beyond 2017. A policy for relief was being drafted and it was proposed to consult with businesses on the proposed policy through the Business Rates Forum in January 2014.

• Established that the Ealing Local Plan sets out potential developments for up to 2026 and some liaising between departments should be encouraged on this.

• Learnt that it would be hard to judge potential rateable values other than Council Tax from the current vantage point but a theoretical Local Plan exercise could be undertaken.

• Queried how losses had been budgeted for and whether it was a provisional forecast or based on actual data.

• Learnt that a forecast had to be made on the yield in January prior to the financial year. Projections are made on information available from the past, other partner boroughs and ongoing appeals. The 30% that Ealing needs to bear has to be factored now so that the forecast can be included in the base. This is not an actual loss but a variant against the base.

• Asked about the appeal levels from the past but the details were unavailable at the time so will be feedback.

• Expressed concern that the projected forecasts for growth would allow for very little mitigation on future cuts. It was disappointing that whilst Councils have been granted more powers they have no money to go with it.

Petition from Traders in Bilton Road, Perivale 4.97 A petition bearing the signatures of all the traders on Bilton Road in Perivale was received in which the petitioners raised concerns about their business rates which they perceived to be too high compared to some other parts of the borough.

4.98 The traders expressed that issues regarding the excessive level of Business Rates being paid by Bilton Road shopkeepers and businesses had been raised at Perivale Ward Forum meetings many times with no action had been taken on their behalf.

- 23 -

4.99 They stated that some shops had already closed down and subsequently have remained vacant for over a year whilst others had been put up for sale. They felt that nothing was being done to alleviate the situation and to protect local community shops which are considered vital to the sustainability of the Perivale community.

4.100 A dearth of local customers was not considered to be the issue that ‘crippled’ local business as many local people use the shops on Bilton Road despite the availability of major superstores such as Tesco. Even for those who do use the superstores, the local shops are still a lifeline on Sunday mornings and evenings when superstores are restricted by Sunday trading laws. Instead the issue was caused by the extortionate business rates.

4.101 The traders questioned why the rateable value for businesses on Greenford Road in Harrow were £300 per square metre for Zone A of their premises and £150 for Zone B, whilst on Bilton Road they paid £375 and £187.50 respectively per square metre. It was found that the rates paid by some businesses on Greenford Broadway were at the lower rate as well despite the large number of high street amenities available on Greenford Broadway which is classed as a town centre by Ealing Council.

A Bilton Road, Perivale trader addressing the Panel

- 24 - Key Issues • Received the petition on business rates from the traders of Bilton Road, Perivale.

• Asked why there appeared to be a lack of uniformity when it came to business rates and why some better connected town centres appeared to be receiving lower rates. Also, whether sensitivity analyses could take place for discretionary rate relief to avert these kinds of situations.

• Learnt that the Ealing Valuation Office Agency would need to be liaised with to provide information about the uniformity of rates. Rental values did change but the next revaluation process was in 2017 (with the last one having taken place in 2010).

• Noted that rental rates values coming down would show how much the businesses were suffering but it would be too late by 2017. Going to a valuation appeal was not really an option for many of the struggling business owners.

• Agreed that a meeting between the business owners/shopkeepers of Bilton Road and the Valuation Office Agency was a necessary next step towards providing the clarity and advice that they required.

• Asked the Head of Revenues to liaise with the traders of Bilton Road, Perivale and the Ealing Valuation Office Agency for a meeting to address their concerns.

• Heard that information on business rates is available on the Council’s website and people can ring the Council’s dedicated Revenues Helpline.

• Requested information on past appeal levels.

Recommendations

No. Recommendation R7 Relevant Departments should liaise regularly on the potential developments in the Ealing Local Plan to ensure collaborative working. R8 Council Officers should work with all businesses and the Valuation Office Agency for better outcomes on business rate charges.

- 25 - SMALL SCALE BUSINESSES The Role of Local Authorities in Business Support 4.102 There is limited support available from discretionary funding for locally accessible business support and therefore local authorities need to ensure that it has a priority focus on value for money business development work that will be sustainable in the medium to long term without requiring ongoing investment. It should build on existing strengths and focus on ways to add value in selected top priority areas.

4.103 Consideration should be given to creating the right conditions so that businesses start­up and grow but also recognising the imperfections of the market for business support, which may require some direct interventions where appropriate.

4.104 The challenge is to understand where and how and to what degree support should be levelled so that business growth can be achieved.

Businesses in Ealing 4.105 Enterprises by Age of Business London London London London London London Region Country Office of Borough Borough Borough Borough Borough Borough London England National Barnet Brent Ealing Hillingdon Hounslow Harrow Statistics Data Count Count Count Count Count Count Count Count March 2010 (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%)

All VAT and/or PAYE 331,540.00 15,755.00 10,220.00 11,765.00 8,445.00 8,460.00 9,090.00 1,797,910.00 Based Enterprises Less than 2 62,085.00 2,780.00 2,105.00 2,340.00 1,535.00 1,810.00 1,760.00 266,475.00 Years Old (18.70%) (17.60%) (20.60%) (19.90%) (18.20%) (21.40%) (19.40%) (14.80%) 2 to 3 57,460.00 2,490.00 1,825.00 2,100.00 1,420.00 1,525.00 1,500.00 267,220.00 Years Old (17.30%) (15.80%) (17.90%) (17.80%) (16.80%) (18.00%) (16.50%) (14.90%) 4 to 9 94,470.00 4,430.00 2,875.00 3,330.00 2,360.00 2,245.00 2,640.00 507,770.00 Years Old (28.50%) (28.10%) (28.10%) (28.30%) (27.90%) (26.50%) (29.00%) (28.20%)

10 or More 117,525.00 6,055.00 3,415.00 3,995.00 3,130.00 2,880.00 3,190.00 756,445.00 Years Old (35.40%) (38.40%) (33.40%) (34.00%) (37.10%) (34.00%) (35.10%) (42.10%)

• Ealing had 11,765 VAT and/or PAYE based enterprises in 2011; which is the second highest rate out of the West London boroughs. Barnet was the highest with 15,755 enterprises and Hillingdon less with 8,445 enterprises.

• 19.9% of these enterprises in Ealing were less than 2 years old, which was slightly above the London average (18.7%) and higher than the average for England (14.8%).

• There were fewer businesses in the 2-3 years old category for Ealing (17.8%) which was average across the other West London boroughs and London (17.3%) and higher than England (14.9%).

• The percentage of enterprises aged between 4-9 years old averages quite evenly across West London – Ealing (28.3%), London (28.5%) and England (28.2%).

- 26 - • Eating had slightly less enterprises aged 10 or more years old (34%) compared to London (35.4%) and England (42.1%).

Size of Businesses 4.106 Local Units in VAT and/or PAYE Based Enterprises Office for National Total 0-4 5-9 10-19 20-49 50-99 100+ Statistics Data Units Units Units Units Units Units Units March 2012 Count % % % % % % Ealing 14,370 75.5 12.0 6.3 3.6 1.4 1.1 Barnet 18,920 78.2 11.8 5.2 3.0 1.2 0.7 Brent 12605 75.0 12.4 6.5 3.7 1.3 1.2 Harrow 11,145 79.1 11.3 5.1 2.7 1.0 0.8 Hillingdon 11,420 69.6 13.1 7.4 5.3 2.3 2.3 Hounslow 11,405 73.2 12.1 6.7 4.3 2.0 1.7 West London 79,865 75.1 12.1 6.2 3.8 1.5 1.3 East London 63,325 72.8 13.2 6.8 4.2 1.7 1.3 London 419,750 71.8 13.2 7.4 4.5 1.7 1.4

4.107 Business Rates Total number of new business Total number of businesses rates registrations (at end of Total de-registering (at end of year) year) number of businesses Year Variance Variance registered Variance Variance (from (from (at end of (from (from Count previous Count previous year) previous previous year) year) year) year) % %

2008/2009 - 2,650 - - 2,578 - - 2009/2010 9,315 2,489 -161 -6.1 2,501 -77 -3.0 2010/2011 9,369 2,538 49 2.0 2,505 4 0.2 2011/2012 9,429 2,828 290 11.4 2,622 117 4.7 2012/2013 9,574 2,415 -413 -14.6 2,290 -332 -12.7 Source: Ealing Business Rates Team, June 2013

• On accounts with a start/end date from 1 April-31 March of the financial year uncovers that although there have been more accounts starting than ending, in 2009/2010 there were 161 fewer businesses registering for business rates than in the previous year.

• In 2011/2012, there were 290 more businesses registering than in 2010/2011. Significantly, in 2012/2013 there were 413 fewer businesses registering than the previous year.

• In 2011/2012, although there was an increase in business rates registrations there was also a high rate of accounts closing (117 more than the previous year).

• In 2012/2013, although there were fewer new accounts opening (14% fewer than the previous year) the number of closing accounts also decreased (by 12% compared with the previous year).

- 27 -

• The number of new accounts starting and accounts ending for 2012/2013 were lowest for at least the last 5 years.

4.108 Enterprise Births and Deaths Table 4: Births & Deaths of enterprises 2011

Difference Difference Difference Difference Difference (2007 to 2008) (2008 to 2009) (2009 to 2010) (2010 to 2011) (2008 to 2010) Births 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Number % Number % Number % Number % Ealing 2035 2155 1940 1715 2210 120 5.9 -215 -10.0 -225 -11.6 495 28.9 -440 -20.4 Barnet 2305 2610 2410 2440 2835 305 13.2 -200 -7.7 30 1.2 395 16.2 -170 -6.5 Brent 1750 1950 1685 1630 1915 200 11.4 -265 -13.6 -55 -3.3 285 17.5 -320 -16.4 Harrow 1310 1435 1455 1470 1605 125 9.5 20 1.4 15 1.0 135 9.2 35 2.4 Hillingdon 1220 1395 1230 1190 1520 175 14.3 -165 -11.8 -40 -3.3 330 27.7 -205 -14.7 Hounslow 1360 1510 1310 1415 1885 150 11.0 -200 -13.2 105 8.0 470 33.2 -95 -6.3 West London (total) 9980 11055 10030 9860 11970 1075 10.8 -1025 -9.3 -170 -1.7 2110 21.4 -1195 -10.8 Average West London 1663 1843 1672 1643 1995 179 10.8 -171 -9.3 -28 -1.7 352 21.4 -199 -10.8 Average East London 1146 1326 1193 1267 1554 180 15.7 -134 -10.1 74 6.2 286 22.6 -59 -4.5 London 53120 57955 50575 52755 61395 4835 9.1 -7380 -12.7 2180 4.3 8640 16.4 -5200 -9.0

Difference Difference Difference Difference Difference (2007 to 2008) (2008 to 2009) (2009 to 2010) (2010 to 2011) (2008 to 2010) Deaths 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Ealing 1460 1500 1935 1615 1450 40 2.7 435 29.0 -320 -16.5 -165 -10.2 115 7.7 Barnet 2650 2345 2980 2800 2645 -305 -11.5 635 27.1 -180 -6.0 -155 -5.5 455 19.4 Brent 1360 1350 1800 1405 1350 -10 -0.7 450 33.3 -395 -21.9 -55 -3.9 55 4.1 Harrow 1145 1250 1515 1360 1280 105 9.2 265 21.2 -155 -10.2 -80 -5.9 110 8.8 Hillingdon 990 1000 1295 1120 1035 10 1.0 295 29.5 -175 -13.5 -85 -7.6 120 12.0 Hounslow 970 960 1320 1220 1010 -10 -1.0 360 37.5 -100 -7.6 -210 -17.2 260 27.1 West London (total) 8575 8405 10845 9520 8770 -170 -2.0 2440 29.0 -1325 -12.2 -750 -7.9 1115 13.3 Average West London 1429 1401 1808 1587 1462 -28 -2.0 407 29.0 -221 -12.2 -125 -7.9 186 13.3 Average East London 911 897 1207 1119 962 -14 -1.5 310 34.6 -88 -7.3 -157 -14.0 222 24.8 London 43470 40695 54130 48100 43730 -2775 -6.4 13435 33.0 -6030 -11.1 -4370 -9.1 7405 18.2

Source: Office for National Statistics

• In Ealing, new start-ups (enterprise births) fell by 20% from 2008 to 2010 – which is the highest % decrease compared to other West London boroughs. The decrease for West London was 10.8%. The average for London was a 9% decrease.

• There was an 11.6% decrease in enterprise births in Ealing from 2009- 2010 – which was significant in comparison to surrounding boroughs – Brent and Hillingdon saw a decrease of 3% each whereas Hounslow had an 8% increase in enterprise births .in the same period. The average for London was a 4.3% increase.

• From 2010 to 2011 however Ealing experienced a complete turnaround with a 28.9% increase in births. This was higher than the average for West London (21.4%), East London (22.6%) and significantly higher compared to the London average (16.4%). Hounslow also had a significant increase of 33.2% for the same period.

• Ealing had a 29% rise in enterprise deaths from 2008 to 2009 – which was average for the West London boroughs (29%) but lower than the East London (34.6%) and London averages (33%) Hounslow had a higher rate of enterprise deaths (37.5%) during this period.

• There was a positive 16.5% decrease in enterprise death rates in Ealing from 2009 to 2010 which was good in comparison with West London

- 28 - (12.2%) and London (11.1%) averages. East London did better overall with a 7.3% decrease.

• There were less enterprise deaths in 2011 in comparison to the previous 4 years which is very encouraging. And the % difference in enterprise deaths between 2008 and 2010 there was only a 7.7% decrease which was very good compared to the West London (13.3%) and London (18.2%) averages.

4.109 Survival of Newly Born Enterprises (New Start-Ups) Table 5: Survival of newly born enterprises Year of birth 2008 Births 1 year survival 2 year survival 3 year survival Count Count % Count % Count % Ealing 2155 1970 91.4 1530 71 1175 54.5 Barnet 2610 2295 87.9 1775 68 1395 53.4 Brent 1950 1790 91.8 1385 71 1055 54.1 Harrow 1435 1325 92.3 1060 73.9 845 58.9 Hillingdon 1395 1290 92.5 1050 75.3 835 59.9 Hounslow 1510 1400 92.7 1110 73.5 830 55 West London (total) 11055 10070 91.1 7910 71.6 6135 55.5 West London Average 1843 ------East London (total) 9285 8455 91.1 5860 63.1 4385 47.2 East London Average 1326 ------London 57955 51265 88.5 39775 68.6 30490 52.6

• The survival rates of newly born enterprises unfortunately decline quite dramatically year on year over the course of the first 3 years of business. Just over 50% of businesses that started in 2008 survived after 3 years of trading.

• In Ealing 91.4% of new enterprises (starting in 2008) survived after the first year of trading, 71% were still trading after the second year and 54.5% survived after year 3.

• These compare similarly with the averages for West London. East London however had fewer enterprises surviving after year 2 (93.1%) and year 3 (47.2%).

• The rates for the London region during the same period were also lower than Ealing and West London with 88.5% surviving after 1 year; 63.1% surviving after year 2; and 52.6 surviving after year 3.

- 29 - 4.110 Sectors by Employment Table 6: Population aged 16-64 in employment by sector Oct 2011-Sep 2012

Distribution, Banking, Public admin, Agriculture Energy and hotels and Transport and finance and education Other and fishing water Manufacturing Construction restaurants communications insurance and health services

% % % % % % % % % Ealing .. 0.9 5.8 6.8 21.7 19.1 18.7 20.8 5.3 Barnet .. .. 3.1 7.3 15.8 9.9 27.4 24.3 9.6 Brent .. 1 6 10.4 21.5 10.4 20.2 24.9 5.4 Harrow .. 1.1 4.4 10.3 15.9 12.5 20.8 28.5 6 Hillingdon .. 0.9 6.2 10.4 17.7 21 14.9 22.5 5.3 Hounslow .. .. 5.2 6.4 16.4 21.9 17.9 24.9 6.3 West London Average 0.7 5.1 8.6 18.2 15.8 20.0 24.3 6.3 East London Average 0.9 3.2 8.8 18.6 11.0 22.2 27.7 5.9 London 0 0.9 3.7 7 16.1 12.2 25.6 26.8 6.8

Source: Office for National Statistics

• The largest employment sector for Ealing is Distribution, Hotels & Restaurants (21.7%) This is higher than any of the other West London boroughs and the London region average (16.1%).

• The second largest employment sector for Ealing is Public Administration, Education and Health (20.8%). This is lower in comparison with other West London boroughs – the West London average (27.7%), East London average (27.7%) and London (26.8%).

• The third largest employment sector for Ealing is Transport & Communication (19.1%) which is higher than West London (15.8%) East London (11%) and London region (12.2%) averages.

4.111 Interpreting the Data and Responding to Trends • The collation of data assists in understanding the profile of businesses in Ealing.

• The data reveals that Ealing businesses experienced higher levels of business closures and significantly lower levels of business start-ups during 2008-2010 compared to other West London boroughs and the London average.

• The data also shows that whilst the figures were disappointing for closures and start-ups from 2008-2010, Ealing businesses are bouncing back. Since 2011, figures reveal higher levels of business start-ups when compared to the average for West London.

• Presently, there is little knowledge of new businesses starting-up; how many plan to recruit new staff, sectors they are in and plans for growth or expansion, etc. There is a further need to explore the feasibility of interrogating data sets for business registrations and de-registrations as it would assist in having a better understanding of specific trends.

• No data collated on current specific local business support needs and challenges experienced by small enterprises. However, some conclusions can be drawn and comparisons made from anecdotal evidence, feedback from business networks as well as regional and national studies.

- 30 -

Business Support Initiatives 4.112 The table below outlines a number of business support initiatives being delivered in Ealing – some in conjunction with the Local Strategic Partnership associates to support and engage with businesses in Ealing.

Initiative/Organisation Support/Engagement Ealing Business Ealing Business Partnership is a borough wide Partnership (EBP) business partnership open to all businesses in the borough. Originally established as a mechanism for formal consultation between the Council and local businesses, it has recently been revised to create a more collaborative and broader approach. The EBP has elected a business Chairperson and agreed to hold three (rather than one) meetings or events a year. These events will focus on issues identified by business and to provide more opportunities for networking.

The recent improvements to the EBP have resulted in improved attendance, increased profile and provide an opportunity to expand the activities of the partnership to create more effective business engagement, collaboration and through this support business growth.

There are opportunities to continue to develop the partnership as a key LSP ‘prosperity’ partnership and to encourage engagement of businesses and development of value-adding activities through the EBP work programme. Business Improvement A Business Improvement District (BID) is a Districts (BID): partnership between a local authority and the local business community to develop projects and services (a) Ealing Broadway BID that will benefit the trading environment within the boundary of a clearly defined commercial area. Ealing has an established BID – the Ealing Broadway BID Company has been successful in securing private sector funds of £400,000 for central Ealing. These funds have helped to ensure the town centre remains vibrant in the face of competition.

(b) Feasibility to Deliver a The Bid is also delivering, as part of the West Ealing Bid in West Ealing High Street Innovation fund, a BID feasibility for West Ealing.

There may be opportunities to explore BID development more broadly as part of a project looking at business support.

On 14 March 2014, the Council learnt that West Ealing businesses had voted resoundingly in favour of a BID. The ballot undertaken by the Electoral Reform Services showed that half of the businesses took part in the West Ealing ballot and of those, 87%

- 31 - Initiative/Organisation Support/Engagement voted for the creation of a BID.

The BID will start from 1 April 2014 and will run for five years. It will be financed through a BID levy (1.07%) on the rateable value (£10,000 or more) of the town’s 331 businesses. The BID will spend the money it raises on projects set out in its business plan, including improving the safety and environment of the town, marketing and promotion and support for business.

A task force group has been formed to manage the BID in its first year before holding elections to a Board of Directors in 2015. The elected Board will then oversee the BID for its remaining term which will end on 31 March 2019. The West Ealing BID will work in close partnership with the existing Ealing Broadway BID. Southall Big Conversation The Big Conversation was a year-long dialogue between the stakeholders of Southall and the Council to set out a shared Vision to shape its future. Over 1,400 people including local businesses were consulted. One of the outcomes was a Patrons group set up with local businesses to provide resources including financial to champion business related initiatives. West Ealing Innovation With £300,000 from the Department of Communities and Riot Recovery and Local Government (DCLG) as part of the High Street Innovation Fund and Riot Recovery Fund, a partnership was formed with the voluntary and community sector, local businesses, Ealing BID, educational establishments and young people to develop a vision and projects for West Ealing to help improve the vitality and vibrancy of the town centre.

To date projects agreed specifically to address businesses needs include a bid Feasibility for West Ealing, a hub feasibility, a young people’s conference and a number of events aimed at increasing footfall to the area. Accession Social Accession Social Enterprise is a partnership between Enterprise Ealing Council, West London Mental Health Trust and others. Accession was formed as a company limited by guarantee in April 2011 and trades in horticulture, community retail, print & design, catering and arts & crafts. Accession provides training, volunteering and employment for adults with learning disabilities, physical disabilities and mental health conditions, as well as others who find it difficult to access employment through other routes. Accession also provides practical support to people who would like to set up their own social enterprise.

Traders Association: Hanwell Association of Traders (HAT) was the first traders association to be set up in Ealing. HAT

- 32 - Initiative/Organisation Support/Engagement Hanwell promotes and supports local businesses though Acton lobbying the council and other decision makers to act Greenford in the interests of traders.

Other Traders Association have been legally constituted with external funds (Acton and Greenford) but they are not as active as Hanwell – further work and engagement is required to help increase their membership and develop some project ideas.

4.113 Some Initiatives Presently Delivered by Economic Regeneration Service • Setting up of Business Improvement Districts (BIDS) – a BID campaign was underway in West Eating. However, on 14 March 2014 the Electoral Reform Services revealed the results of the ballot showed that half of the businesses took part in the West Ealing ballot and of those, 87% voted for the creation of a BID. The BID will commence on 1 April 2014 and run for five years. It will be financed through a BID levy (1.07%) on the rateable value (£10,000 or more) of the town’s 331 businesses. The BID will spend the money it raises on projects set out in its business plan, including improving the safety and environment of the town, marketing and promotion and support for business.

• A task force group has been formed to manage the BID in its first year before holding elections to a Board of Directors in 2015. The elected Board will then oversee the BID for its remaining term which will end on 31 March 2019. The West Ealing BID will work in close partnership with the existing Ealing Broadway BID. Other town centres are being explored for possible BIDs – feasibility is due to start in Southall.

• Developing Trader Associations – where a BID may not be appropriate given the size and composition of businesses, Traders Association can help local businesses to pool their resources together to achieve economies of scale, successful initiatives include shop local campaigns and promotional events. The Hanwell Traders Association is particularly effective in supporting local traders in Hanwell and bringing businesses together to promote the town centre by hosting events and activities.

• Working in Partnership with the University of West London to create a Southall Destination Market – The objective is to attract new shoppers to Southall and provide opportunities for local businesses to gain exposure.to a wider audience.

• Introducing & Market Strategy – The aim is to open up opportunities for better quality markets to be set up in Ealing with the potential to help young people and start-up businesses to test trade their products and ideas on a market stall whilst keeping their overhead costs low.

• Hub Feasibility for West Ealing – Setting up a business Hub to support start-up businesses especially those in the creative sector is being

- 33 - explored. Hubs have been very effective in other parts of London such as Shoreditch, Kings Cross, Westminster and Camden.

• Pop-Up shops – These can help to support new start-ups without the financial commitment of set up costs while they test trade their products and services, whilst adding vibrancy to High streets that have been blighted with empty premises.

4.114 Suggestions for future Initiatives and Projects to help support small scale businesses • Facilitate business to business networking and collaboration through events and using new media - membership directory, events and meetings, new media and web based contacts. • Improve access to business support services through better signposting and information - newsletters, seminars, workshops and online information. • Provide a mechanism for local businesses to shape and influence local projects and services through consultation. • Deliver annual events such as business awards, networking events such as business dinners, breakfast etc. • Support local business access to tender opportunities e.g. web based info and portal·. • Facilitate business to business mentoring. • Develop relationships with local property owners, working in partnership to avoid empty shops for long durations, dragging down the image of the high street. • Using local markets to provide the infrastructure for young people to test trade their products. • Improved collaboration between Universities and businesses especially in areas of innovation exploiting new technology, and understanding how best to employ new media platforms for marketing purposes. • With the demise of the Park Royal Partnership there is a gap to identify appropriate support and engagement with businesses, given the large number of businesses located in the area.

4.115 Examples of projects in West London boroughs, Leeds, Newcastle, Bromley, Oldham, Lambeth, Southwark and Birmingham City:

• Provision of Incubation space • Colleges charging fees for Business support • Further research and data gathering to understand the demographics and sector priorities • Regular business breakfast meetings- some sponsored by the private sector such as banks and accounting firms • Establishing partnerships with Universities and Colleges • Providing online advice and information • Provide specific start-up advice and support

- 34 - 4.116 Examples of priorities and success measures that need to be considered prior to the implementation of any initiative to support small scale businesses in the borough:

• More people in employment • More businesses starting up • A higher business survival rate • More productive companies measured by higher levels of Gross Value Added • Higher concentration of high growth companies • Increased data capture from key stakeholders and strategic partners to monitor and increase ongoing understanding of current provisions, gaps, and deliver better referrals.

Current Regional Developments – The Whole Place Community Budget 4.117 West London is one of nine areas chosen by the Government to develop a Business Case for the Community Budget. The West London Alliance proposition aims to tackle key economic issues in the sub-region, as part of the new Public Services Transformation Network, to develop business cases by December 2013 in the following five areas:

- NEETs·- Young people not in education, employment or training - Adult long-term unemployed/workless - Support for businesses to grow - Support for business start-ups - Addressing skills mismatch

4.118 The Panel sought to align with these priorities and build links with the ongoing discussions and activities to consider opportunities for regional and sub-regional working. Notwithstanding that the WLA schemes will take some time to scope, develop and implement.

Representations by Small Local Businesses 4.119 A cross-section of local small businesses was invited to a Panel meeting. This provided Members the opportunity to seek their views and ask questions about the issues and challenges that they experience.

4.120 Several local businesspeople related their personal experiences of business conditions within the borough as follows:

Mr Nigel Pesky – Express Print (West Ealing) 4.121 Mr Nigel Pesky, owner of ‘Express Print’ in West Ealing, advised that he began the business in 1982. In 2000, he altered the type of services offered to keep pace with the market. Over the years he had seen many businesses in his locality cease due to weakened trading conditions.

4.122 He listed some of the positive aspects of his locality and felt that footfall would increase in West Ealing once Crossrail commences. He praised the Council’s efforts in keeping the streets clean and the regeneration team in their support to the local business e.g. the Shop-front scheme. He believed

- 35 - that following the London Riots of 2011, which had directly impacted on Ealing, the Council has maintained a strong dialogue with businesses and provided a much welcomed riot recovery fund.

4.123 He hoped that the West Ealing BID application would be successful as it could potentially provide £1M of revenue over a 5 year period.

4.124 He deemed parking issues in the borough to be a major weakness that reduces potential footfall. He considered it difficult to get action taken on areas of concern. High business rates were also an issue and were affecting the ability of many businesspeople to maintain a profit.

4.125 He also advised that he was involved in another pop-up shop scheme that would be offering the successful candidates a three month pop-up shop opportunity. There were currently 12 candidates and the judging process included an emphasis on fully detailed planning and implementation strategies.

Mrs Magdalena Silva Roldan – Silva Café (West Ealing) 4.126 Mrs Magdalena Silva Roldan, owner of Silva Café, West Ealing and the Vice-Chair of West Ealing Centre Neighbourhood Forum (WECNF), advised that the WECNF had been active since May 2012. It was trying to improve parking, safety and other areas relevant to the development of the area. She also confirmed that the WECNF was fully supporting the West Ealing BID application.

4.127 The WECNF looked to try and help freelancers, traders and start-ups to work together ensuring that nobody felt they were working in isolation.

4.128 One demographic receiving particular attention was young mothers. WECNF is looking at initiatives to help them back into work within the locality.

4.129 West Ealing is on the cusp of change with new housing and Crossrail forthcoming. Close links need to be maintained between local Councillors, officers and businesspeople to ensure that opportunities are capitalised.

Tony Bonaventura – Arthur Razor (Acton) 4.130 Mr Tony Bonaventura opened Arthur Razor, a hairdressing business in the Churchfield Road area of Acton, 14 months ago. He provided a ‘premium level’ business to his customers and was looking to help develop the Churchfield Road area so that it could become an attractive ‘specific destination’ akin to Portobello Road.

4.131 He felt that this could be achieved as the locality essentially had the basic necessities in place but it would take drive and change. More choice and quality were principal to this idea. He thought that having an area dominated by betting shops, fast food outlets and off-licences was disconcerting to potential customers.

- 36 - 4.132 He felt that one avenue for improving perception of the locality would be to hold local events such as ‘food days’, ‘music days’, etc.

Harvey Mann – Peter John Footwear (Greenford) 4.133 Mr Harvey Mann, representing Peter John Footwear in Greenford, said that recent years had seen increasing competition from the likes of the Westfield Shopping Centre and online vendors.

4.134 He also felt that the current provision of shops in his locality such as betting shops and off-licences did not attract people to the area. He believed that there were increasing levels of shopkeeper apathy due to local shops being run by hired managers rather than owners, which made it hard to work collectively to improve the locality.

4.135 A Greenford Market had been trialled but after a bright start had become little used as it had nothing special to offer. He considered the lack of parking in the area to be a major issue.

Gulu Anand – Brilliant Restaurant (Southall) 4.136 Mr Gulu Anand said that he had opened the Brilliant Restaurant in Southall with a bank loan in 1975. In the following 38 years the restaurant had been expanded six times and was now highly regarded on an international scale. He had seen the locality grow substantially and then fall into a period of decline. He now felt that the locality had the potential to slowly grow again, aided by such factors as the Southall Gasworks development.

4.137 Like other respondents, he considered well located and fairly-priced parking to be vital to the success of the area. He felt that the Council was helping, with the recently opened Southall High Street car park held up as an example.

4.138 He also considered that training young adults in the locality was important to the area’s growth. He worked closely with the University of West London in hiring and training students in all areas of the hospitality trade – from kitchen staff through to front of house maître ‘ds. There had been plans for a Southall catering college which had not come to fruition. He felt that such establishments would be beneficial to the locality from an employment and image perspective.

June Martin – The Little Art Room (West Ealing) 4.139 Mrs June Martin, owner of The Little Art Room in Hanwell, was greatly involved in community projects in the locality and stated that the area had seen improvements in vacancy rates since the economic recession of 2008.

4.140 She claimed that 2013 had seen the highest number of closures since then and so the vacancy rate was expected to rise again. She stated that Hanwell had felt left behind in the development of Crossrail initiatives so extra tools and resources were needed to help develop Hanwell into an active town centre destination.

- 37 - 4.141 She mentioned some of the initiatives that had already taken place to attract people to Hanwell including a winter fair in 2012 and a music festival which had attracted around 5,000 people into the area.

4.142 She hoped that the Council would spend less time on short-term fixes and look at develop a more sustained long-term strategy for the area.

Gulu Anand (Owner, Brilliant Restaurant, Southall) speaking at the meeting

Key Issues • Queried how the Council was ensuring that people and businesses received necessary support and experience including the challenges faced by small businesses within the Borough.

• Although the Council does not give direct business support it is tasked with helping to create the right environment in which businesses can survive and thrive.

• The challenges faced by small businesses within the Borough are broadly the same sort of issues faced by all small businesses within the current national context of austerity.

• Whilst agreeing that unattractive shopping options were not conducive to the development of shopping districts was mindful that the Council had few formal powers on the type of retail outlets that they could/could not licence.

• Sought clarification on the difference between the West Ealing Hub and the West Ealing BID and learnt that the BID would charge a levy to existing local businesses which would be used on projects to support and

- 38 - enhance business within the locality. The Hub is a separate project which looks to change the whole local environment and attract new people/businesses towards West Ealing.

• Queried whether there was scope for developing a Residents Card initiative which could make offers such as 10% reductions on parking and shopping and were informed that a similar kind of initiative was being considered by the Cabinet. A business guide had been prepared which would provide a directory for relevant links to information for local businesspeople.

• Recognised the concerns over challenges relating to parking so the Council had offered free weekend parking throughout the Christmas shopping period in December, which whilst not providing a permanent solution, showed that the Council understood concerns and was trying to help where it could.

• Agreed that a better mix of shops would go a long way towards improving shopping areas so the Council was pushing to have Licencing Policy tightened. National legislation curtailed most efforts but the Council would continue to press.

• Shopping parades are being re-paved with better layouts, more street furniture and a generally improved public realm. The idea of improving the perception of areas with events such as food days is considered as worth progressing. A more community focused market at Greenford was being looked at. The overriding problem was considered to be the lack of funding available but the Council was doing all it could with the monies that were available.

• Heard that often utility companies and contractors who were hired to do works in paved areas often just ‘patched up’ pavements with cheaper materials, leaving an inconsistency in street paving. This leaves the Council open to injury claims if pedestrians trip over. There should be tighter restrictions to ensure that the pavements are filled properly to leave them ‘as found’.

• Commented that younger people would benefit from the help of local businesses if they could be employed in Saturday jobs and similar roles because these are beneficial to the local community as well as the future job prospects of young people.

• Recognised that many small scale businesses failed because of poor business models and a lack of understanding of the particulars of cash flow management.

• Recognised that further contextual information on businesses would be helpful, such as details on what kind of companies tend to go out of business and which types were seeing most growth.

- 39 - • Most people appeared to manage the ‘execution’ element of running a business but administrative elements such as keeping paper trails, maintaining cash flow and holding stock counts were where many need help. Aspiring business people need to have access to advice on these particular elements of running a business.

• Identified that a problem seen across the business environment e.g. previously shopping centres used to go through full business plans with potential businesses to ensure their viability but nowadays the importance of accruing the necessary shop rental rates meant that long term viability was rarely measured.

• The two elements paramount to ensuring successful local businesses in the borough were finding a way to mentor young start-up ventures and providing a structured support mechanism thereafter.

• Advised that such mechanisms had been explored during the ultimately unsuccessful ‘Portas Pilot’ bid and were now being explored through the business hub scheme. This was considered to be a significant project if undertaken and consistency would need to be sought in the quality of the advice that was given.

• Commended the idea of a business mentoring scheme with the Council playing a strong role in acting as a facilitator to bring established businesspeople and young start-ups together.

• Appreciated that the Council needs to think about whether it is in a position to deliver direct business support. There needs to be concentration on smarter ways of working and strengthening business networks.

• Raised the question of pop-up shops asking whether there was a process in place to help make them more permanent after their initial run and were advised that the pop-ups were monitored to gauge the impact these had on the locality.

• Learnt that in one locality the pop-up shops open only for 6 weeks and this did not allow adequate time to understand the true nature of running a business as this was not long enough for them to learn to live with failures or calculate successes.

Recommendations

No. Recommendation R9 The Council should act as a ‘knowledge hub’ helping to create a business support infrastructure by devising a toolkit which provides all the information that existing and start-up businesses may require to help with the management of their business. For example, working with local places of interest for them to produce leaflets for distribution to their guests/visitors.

- 40 - No. Recommendation R10 A mentoring program should be investigated in which established businesses could provide guidance to new start-ups. R11 Local businesspeople should be recommended to join or form traders associations to work together proactively. R12 The Council needs to consider ways in which it can deliver direct business support including smarter ways of working and strengthening business networks.

HOME-BASED BUSINESSES 4.142 Most home-based businesses do not require planning permission. Many people run businesses from home but the main use remains residential therefore permission is not required.

4.143 The only applications that the Council has received for the change of use of homes has been of one room within a residential property to a mini cab office use. From 1 April 2011-31 November 2013 only 7 such applications were received by the Planning Services.

4.144 Carlene Bender (Editor-Publisher of Contactus Ealing), Glenda Shawley (The Training Pack) and Shelly Henderson (Ealing Mums in Business and Pitter Patter Hub) attended a meeting to discuss their experiences of running home-based businesses in the borough.

4.145 The representatives explained that according to the Department of Business Innovation and Skills, businesses with no employees (owner managed) account for 75.3% of all private sector employment and 6.4% of private sector turnover equating to £208,626 million. The Federation of Small Businesses estimate that at least half of these micro businesses are home based so these businesses make a significant contribution to the economy. Based on information from the Office of National Statistics and the Federation of Small Businesses there could be about 16,000 home-based businesses in Ealing.

4.146 People choose to run a business from home for many reasons such as low overheads, flexible working arrangements, carer responsibilities, redundancy and lack of suitable employment opportunities.

4.147 These business owners contribute to the local community in many ways:

• Their default position is to buy from other local businesses where possible.

• Many are active in their local communities as school governors, PTA representatives, volunteer helpers in schools, charities, etc. Working from home gives them the flexibility to choose the working hours and to contribute to the community which often employees cannot.

• They often organise events for themselves, other businesses, charities, schools and community groups.

- 41 - • For most of them networking with other local business owners is their primary marketing tactic and so tend to spend money in other local businesses.

• Many small business owners provide informal peer or mentoring support to other business owners and start-ups.

• They ‘pay their way’ rather than claiming benefits and State support.

• Home based businesses make a significant contribution to the local economy and whilst not paying business rates are council tax payers.

Carlene Bender (Editor-Publisher, Contactus Ealing) presenting to the Panel

4.148 Some of the issues highlighted by owners of home-based businesses are:

• Isolation: spending much of their working lives at home with limited contact with other adults.

• Restrictions in use of property: there are bona fide reasons why there are restrictions about what types of work people can do working from their homes especially for tenants of rental properties.

• Lack of visibility: with no shop front they are entirely dependent upon their own marketing efforts to raise awareness of the business.

• Parking: the spread of CPZs can make it difficult and costly to visit other local business owners or to see clients at their own homes.

- 42 - • Insurance: insurance premiums are often high, restrictive or insurance unavailable.

• Credibility: are often dismissed as unimportant but are increasing in numbers more rapidly than any other section of the business community.

• Safety: there are risks in small business owners working in isolation seeing unknown customers and suppliers in their own homes.

4.149 The home-based business representatives would like to see the Council recognise the role it has to play in encouraging this sector of the local economy and proposed that the Council could help them in the following areas:

• Recognition and support.

• An ‘Ealing Means Business’ type event which the Council Leader is already working on. They have put on similar events in the Borough previously on a budget of less than £2,000 so the Council could help provide a venue, underwrite a small budget and assist in publicising the event. The event would cover its costs and possibly make a small profit. It would also demonstrate that the Council was doing something to support local businesses of all sizes.

• A Work Hub or incubator units would be helpful as would be more creative access to community spaces such as meeting rooms at an affordable hire charge e.g. the community rate rather than a business rate.

• Would like the Council to act as a conduit of information for local businesses of all sizes. The Council’s website could signpost more clearly regulations, information and organisations that would help. It would also make it easier to find where to go in the Council for specific queries. Some of the information currently on the website is out of date and much of it requires determination and more understanding of legislation and licensing than many business owners have. They are happy to assist with developing this webpage.

• A regular business feature in the Council’s regular Around Ealing magazine would draw attention to initiatives happening in the Borough, where to find support and how the Council could help start-up and growing businesses.

• Help with parking and insurance although they recognise that these issues are not easy to resolve.

• The Council to look at its own procurement practices to ensure that small contracts do not have unreasonable pre-qualification requirements which exclude home-based businesses.

- 43 - • The need to forge a positive, collaborative working relationship between the Council and home-based business owners.

Glenda Shawley (The Training Pack) speaking at the Panel meeting

• By being constructive and using the very wide ranging skills, experience and connections would like to work with officers, Members and other local business organisations in putting these to good use to help Ealing to thrive and prosper.

Key Issues • Queried what the male/female balance was in home-based businesses. • Learnt that there were more women although the balance was gradually shifting towards an equal footing. • Found that an increasing number of younger people were becoming self- employed. • The sector is becoming increasingly competitive due to recent influxes. • Discussion focused on the provision of a meeting space for home-based businesses. Local hotels and community centred buildings e.g. local libraries could be used as meeting spaces. However, it was cited that many hoteliers did not return the calls on requests for availability. • Discussion ensued on the dedicated small business advice page of the Council’s website. It was considered that this could also be used to provide information to self-employed businesspeople such as which Council meetings they could best have a ‘voice’ at; which organisations they could go to for help and where they could go to make use of business space. • Proposed that a small ‘virtual hub’ for small businesses would be a quick win for the Council.

- 44 - • Recognised that search engine optimisation is a key factor in promoting small businesses to new clients online. • The need to relay information on the promotion of a possible business fair in the borough in the autumn.

Recommendations

No. Recommendation The Council should play a key role in relaying information on R13 the promotion of the potential business fair in the borough this autumn. The Council should consider a regular feature in the Around R14 Ealing magazine for initiatives aimed at businesses around the borough. The relevant service officers should review the Council’s small R15 business advice webpage to make best use of it.

EMPLOYMENT AND SKILLS 4.150 For ‘employment and skills’ service providers who aim to help the most disadvantaged groups find and sustain work, this is currently a challenging environment in which to operate. There are significant levels of unemployment locally and the operating context is changing with the government’s welfare reforms, changes to the way in which national services are funded and delivered, new approaches to procurement and contracting and more limited availability of resources for local (borough level) provision.

Employment and Unemployment 4.151 Although Ealing is considered to be relatively prosperous and has an overall employment rate of 67.9% (slightly lower than the London average at 69.8%), it has a relatively large population with 29,720 people on ‘out of work’ benefits and 8,623 people claiming Jobseekers Allowance. Ealing has lower than average proportions of residents achieving qualifications at Level 1 and 2 and a higher number of residents with no qualifications than any other West London borough.

4.152 Ealing has areas with more concentrated levels of unemployment inactivity. Southall, Northolt and Acton have the highest level of worklessness. Within Ealing, the Norwood Green Ward has the highest rate of residents who are out of work at 20.6%. The Hanger Hill Ward has the lowest rate of 6.3% (a difference of 14.3%).

4.153 The number of people in the borough not in education, employment or training (NEET) has been quite stable over the last two years ranging from 343 NEETs in December 2012 to 337 NEETs in December 2013. The Northolt Mandeville, Northolt West End and Greenford Broadway Wards have the highest number of NEETs. The data suggests that age 18 is where the highest number of NEETs exist in the borough with the number of males higher than females – see figure below.

- 45 - 4.154 Local Authorities also record the number of 16-19 year olds where their education, employment or training status is ‘Not Known’. Ealing performs well in tracking young people and has a lower percentage level of ‘Not Known’ compared to other Local Authorities. In July 2013, the percentage of ‘Not Known’ in Ealing was 3.3% (353 people), the London average was 7.7% and the England average was 12.7%. The majority of this group is likely to be in education, training or employment.

NEET Data – December 2013

4.155 There is a strong correlation between concentrations of social housing and higher levels of unemployment across the borough as shown in the maps below. The out of work claimant data for 2013 also reflects this picture with Norwood Green, Northolt West End, Northolt Mandeville and Greenford Broadway Wards having a significantly high number of claimants.

4.156 More than 20% of residents in Southall, Northolt and Greenford have no qualifications and more than 30% of residents have no qualifications in the Northolt West End, Southall Broadway, Southall Green, Greenford Broadway, Dormers Wells and Northolt Mandeville Wards.

- 46 - Unemployment

Concentration of Social Housing

- 47 - Concentration of Unemployment Aged 16-24 Years in 2011

Ealing’s Labour Market 4.157 Heathrow and Park Royal are the largest employment sites/areas within close proximity to Ealing. Heathrow supports 114,000 jobs and 5,760 Ealing residents work in and around Heathrow.

4.158 As with the London labour market, the general picture in Ealing is that the highest levels of employment are in professional and technical roles with approximately 70,700 people employed in these sorts of roles between October 2012 and September 2013. This reflects national and regional trends towards a requirement for higher levels of skills by employers.

4.159 However, for people seeking entrance to the labour market for the first time often the most important issues are not about having higher level qualifications but about having basic skills, attitudes and behaviours that all employers require – literacy, numeracy, IT skills, communication skills, reliability and punctuality.

4.160 Jobcentre Plus (JCP) is an important source of vacancies for unemployed people. The Ealing JCP has seen the highest number of recent vacancies with larger employers from food manufacturers such as Kerry Foods in 2013. They have also supported new store openings and direct recruitment for retailers such as Poundland, Matalan, TK Maxx, Dunelm Mills and Tesco. They have also been working closely with Royal Mail in their seasonal recruitment. However, most of the vacancies (74% since November 2012) that JCP advertise are with small and medium sized employers.

- 48 - Resident Population

Total Population (2012) Ealing London Great Britain (Numbers) (Numbers) (Numbers) All People 340,700 8,308,400 61,881,400 Males 170,600 4,105,600 30,420,500 Females 170,100 4,202,800 31,460,900 Source: ONS mid-year population estimates

Population Ages 16-24 (2012) Ealing Ealing London Great (Numbers (%) (%) Britain (%) All people aged 16-64 232,900 68.4 68.6 64.2 Males aged 16-64 117,700 69.0 69.2 65.0 Females aged 16-64 115,200 67.7 68.1 63.4 Source: ONS mid-year population estimates Notes: % is a proportion of total population

Labour Supply

Employment and Unemployment (October 2012-September 2013) Ealing Ealing London Great Britain (Numbers) (%) (%) (%) All People Economically active† 175,000 76.4 76.6 77.4 In employment† 156,100 67.9 69.8 71.2 Employees† 122,700 53.8 57.4 61.1 Self-employed† 32,700 13.8 11.8 9.5 Unemployed (model- § 15,800 9.2 8.7 7.7 based) Males Economically active† 103,500 86.2 84.0 83.2 In employment† 91,900 76.3 76.7 76.2 Employees† 66,900 56.0 60.2 62.5 Self-employed† 25,100 20.3 15.8 13.1 Unemployed§ 11,600 11.2 8.6 8.2 Females Economically active† 71,500 65.6 69.1 71.5 In employment† 64,200 58.7 62.8 66.2 Employees† 55,900 51.3 54.6 59.7 Self-employed† 7,600 6.7 7.6 6.0 Unemployed§ 7,300 10.2 8.9 7.2 Source: ONS annual population survey †numbers are for those aged 16 and over, % is for those aged 16-64 §numbers and % are for those aged 16 and over. % is a proportion of economically active

- 49 - Economic Inactivity (October 2012-September 2013) Ealing Ealing London Great Britain (Level) (%) (%) (%) All People Total 52,700 23.6 23.4 22.6 Student 17,200 32.6 32.0 25.8 looking after family/home 18,800 35.7 29.6 25.6 temporary sick ! ! 2.0 2.0 long-term sick 10,700 20.3 16.3 21.8 Discouraged ! ! 0.5 0.6 Retired 2,700 5.2 8.3 15.4 Other # # 11.4 8.8 Wants a job 11,200 21.2 27.3 24.5 Does not want a job 41,500 78.8 72.7 75.5 Source: ONS annual population survey # Sample size too small for reliable estimate (see definitions) ! Estimate is not available since sample size is disclosive (see definitions) Notes: Numbers are for those aged 16-64 % is a proportion of those economically inactive, except total, which is a proportion of those aged 16-64

Employment by Occupation (October 2012-September 2013) Ealing Ealing London Great Britain (Numbers) (%) (%) (%) Soc 2010 Major Group 1-3 70,700 45.5 54.9 44.1 1. Managers, directors and 13,300 8.5 11.4 10.1 senior officials 2. Professional occupations 32,500 20.8 25.3 19.7 3. Associate professional & 24,900 15.9 17.7 14.0 technical Soc 2010 Major Group 4-5 32,900 21.1 18.1 21.5 4. Administrative & secretarial 14,400 9.2 10.5 10.9 5. Skilled trades occupations 18,500 11.8 7.5 10.5 Soc 2010 Major Group 6-7 21,300 13.7 14.2 17.1 6. Caring, leisure and Other 9,600 6.2 7.6 9.0 Service occupations 7. Sales and customer service 11,700 7.5 6.5 7.9 occupations Soc 2010 Major Group 8-9 30,700 19.7 12.7 17.3 8. Process plant & machine 9,200 5.9 3.8 6.3 operatives 9. Elementary occupations 21,500 13.8 8.8 10.8 Notes: Numbers and % are for those of 16+ % is a proportion of all persons in employment

- 50 - Qualifications (January 2012-December 2012) Ealing Ealing London Great Britain (Numbers) (%) (%) (%) NVQ4 and above 101,300 45.7 47.6 34.4 NVQ3 and above 134,000 60.5 63.2 55.1 NVQ2 and above 159,700 72.1 75.1 71.8 NVQ1 and above 176,300 79.6 83.6 84.0 Other qualifications 20,200 9.1 8.0 6.3 No qualifications 25,200 11.3 8.4 9.7 Source: ONS annual population survey Notes: For an explanation of the qualification levels see the definitions section. Numbers and % is a proportion of resident population of area aged 16-64 % is a proportion of resident population of area aged 16-64

Earnings by Residence (2013) Ealing London Great Britain (£) (£) (£) Gross Weekly Pay Full-time workers 566.5 613.3 518.1 Male full-time workers 585.3 657.6 558.8 Female full-time workers 541.6 574.9 459.8 Hourly Pay Full-time workers 14.71 16.14 13.18 Male full-time workers 14.80 16.77 13.80 Female full-time workers 14.51 15.43 12.27 Source: ONS annual survey of hours and earnings - resident analysis Note: Median earnings in pounds for employees living in the area

Out-of-Work Benefits 4.161 The Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) is payable to people under pensionable age who are available for, and actively seeking, work of at least 40 hours a week.

Total JSA Claimants (January 2014) Ealing Ealing London Great Britain (Numbers) (%) (%) (%) All people 7,195 3.1 3.0 3.0 Males 4,353 3.7 3.6 3.9 Females 2,842 2.5 2.4 2.1 Source: ONS claimant count with rates and proportions Notes: % is a proportion of resident population of area aged 16-64 and gender

- 51 - JSA Claimants by Age Duration (January 2014) Ealing Ealing London Great Britain (Level) (%) (%) (%) Aged 16 to 64 Total 7,195 3.1 3.0 3.0 Up to 6 months 3,880 1.7 1.6 1.7 Over 6 and up to 12 months 1,235 0.5 0.5 0.4 Over 12 months 2,080 0.9 0.9 0.9 Aged 18 to 24 Total 1,215 4.1 4.0 5.1 Up to 6 months 925 3.1 2.9 3.5 Over 6 and up to 12 months 160 0.5 0.5 0.7 over 12 months 130 0.4 0.6 0.9 Aged 25 to 49 Total 4,620 3.2 3.0 3.2 Up to 6 months 2,420 1.7 1.5 1.7 Over 6 and up to 12 months 855 0.6 0.5 0.5 over 12 months 1,345 0.9 1.0 1.0 Aged 50 to 64 Total 1,360 2.7 2.8 1.9 Up to 6 months 535 1.1 1.1 0.9 Over 6 and up to 12 months 220 0.4 0.4 0.3 over 12 months 605 1.2 1.3 0.7 Source: ONS claimant count - age duration with proportions Note: % is number of persons claiming JSA as a proportion of resident population of the same age

Working-age Client Group – Key Benefit Claimants (August 2013) Ealing Ealing London Great Britain (Numbers) (%) (%) (%) Total Claimants 28,700 12.3 12.6 13.6 By Statistical Group Job seekers 8,000 3.4 3.4 3.2 ESA and incapacity benefits 12,530 5.4 5.5 6.1 Lone parents 2,850 1.2 1.4 1.3 Carers 2,460 1.1 1.0 1.3 Others on income related 750 0.3 0.3 0.4 benefits Disabled 1,740 0.7 0.9 1.2 Bereaved 380 0.2 0.1 0.2 Key out-of-work benefits† 24,130 10.4 10.6 10.9 Source: DWP benefit claimants - working age client group † Key out-of-work benefits include the groups: job seekers, ESA and incapacity benefits, lone parents and others on income related benefits. Note: % is a proportion of resident population of area aged 16-64

- 52 - Labour Demand

Employee Jobs (2012) Ealing Ealing London Great (Employee Britain Jobs) (%) (%) (%) Total Employee Jobs 119,700 - - - Full-time 85,100 71.1 73.0 67.2 Part-time 34,600 28.9 27.0 32.8 Employee Jobs by Industry Primary Services (A-B: 100 0.0 0.1 0.3 agriculture and mining) Energy and Water (D-E) 300 0.3 0.5 1.1 Manufacturing (C) 10,800 9.1 2.5 8.7 Construction (F) 5,700 4.7 3.4 4.5 Services (G-S) 102,800 85.9 93.4 85.5 Wholesale and retail, including motor trades 23,500 19.6 12.6 16.1 (G) Transport storage (H) 8,800 7.4 4.9 4.6 Accommodation and 9,300 7.8 7.6 6.9 food services(I) Information and 6,000 5.0 7.1 3.9 communication (J) Financial and other 23,600 19.7 33.0 21.5 business services(K-N) Public admin, education 27,100 22.7 23.3 28.1 and health (O-Q) Other Services (R-S) 4,400 3.6 5.1 4.5 Source: ONS business register and employment survey - Data unavailable Note: % is a proportion of total employee jobs. Employee jobs excludes self-employed, government-supported trainees and HM Forces. Data excludes farm-based agriculture.

Jobcentre Plus Vacancies (November 2012) Ealing London Great Britain (£) (£) (£) Unfilled jobcentre vacancies (numbers) 1,554 31,696 389,889 Unfilled jobcentre vacancies per 10,000 - 56 98 population aged 16-64 JSA claimants per unfilled jobcentre - 5.4 3.0 vacancy Source: Jobcentre Plus vacancies – summary analysis

Existing Provision in Ealing for Employers and Jobseekers 4.162 There are a wide range of local services aimed at creating opportunities and getting unemployed or ‘out of work’ residents into jobs or training. There are also services aimed at employers who are looking to recruit staff or to train and develop their existing workforce. These services are delivered by a wide range of organisations – it is a complex picture of services and of course the ‘travel to work/training’ area for Ealing residents is much wider than borough boundaries.

- 53 -

4.163 The Council works to support residents into work in a number of ways across all its service areas. The Council has recognised the importance of Employment and Skills work by (in 2013) creating a new Cabinet Portfolio with specific responsibility for Employment and Skills. Alongside this a new cross Council officer group – Employment Learning and Skills Group now meets regularly to develop strategies and plans and to coordinate activities across different service areas. This group is developing a draft Employment Learning and Skills Strategy which will guide the Councils work on this issue.

4.164 The Employment and Skills Team (Regeneration and Housing) play a coordinating role on employment and skills both within the Council and with external partnerships. The team delivers the councils work on apprenticeships, steers externally funded employment programme and supports the development of employment and skills projects and services.

4.165 The team also support the Council’s work with local employers, developers and contractors to promote and create local jobs, apprenticeships and other opportunities for residents. The Council uses development, planning and procurement processes to ask contractors to create training opportunities such as apprenticeships and to target any jobs created at development sites, or through contracts, at local residents by making sure that vacancies are advertised through local agencies.

4.166 The key local services and provision for both residents and local employers are:

• Jobcentre Plus (JCP): This is a nationally funded provision offering unemployed and ‘out of work’ residents support to find work including job vacancies, help to acquire skills and work experience and support with ‘job-search’. JCP also offer employers recruitment services – including a free vacancy advertising service, screening and shortlisting of candidates.

JCP work in close partnership with Ealing Council and now work jointly with the Council on a number of specific initiatives. A JCP worker has been seconded to the Think Family Plus team and staff are co-located with the Council’s Welfare Assistance Team. An Employer Account Manager from JCP also supports the work of the Ealing Apprenticeship Network.

• Work Programme: The Department for Work and Pensions’ main ‘welfare to work’ programme serves longer term unemployed people who often face additional barriers to securing work such as a lack of basic skills, disability, or a health condition. Locally, three main contractors (Ingeus, Reed and Maximus) and their sub-contractors work with individuals to help them find and sustain employment. Nationally, there have been concerns about the performance of the Work Programme. Recent DWP data shows an improvement in performance but continues to confirm that the Work Programme is working better for those who are ‘job ready’ but it continues to struggle to achieve sustained job outcomes

- 54 - for the more disadvantaged groups e.g. for Employment Support Allowance claimants.

• Ealing Apprenticeships: The Council recruits a minimum of 25 apprentices and 20 pre-apprenticeship ‘Pathways Trainees’ each year. The Council has trained over 160 people on these programmes since 2007. Of the 110 who have completed their apprenticeship training to date, 79 young people from the Council’s Apprenticeship Scheme have moved into employment internally or with an external employer. 7 young people have progressed onto further learning or training such as university. 37 individuals who have been on the Council’s Pathways (pre- apprenticeship) programme have moved onto an apprenticeship within the Council or a job externally.

• Ealing Apprenticeship Network: Following on from the success of the Council’s own Apprenticeship Scheme, the Council launched the Ealing Apprentice Network (EAN) in 2012 which promotes the benefits of apprenticeships to other local employers and supports them to recruit apprentices. The recent EAN campaign ‘100 in 100’ resulted in local employers pledging 167 local apprentice vacancies.

• Youth and Connexions: This provides impartial information, advice and guidance (IAG) and support to young people aged 13-19 (to 24 years for those with disabilities). Connexions has a network of personal advisers who offer support in each secondary school and secondary special school, the college, training providers and from Youth & Connexions drop-in centres in Ealing and Southall. The Connexions staff support the Apprenticeship and Pathways programmes as well as the externally funded V Inspired Talent programme.

• Ealing Adult Learning Service: This is funded primarily through the Skills Funding Agency and as part of its offer provides dedicated programmes, courses and advice sessions to support residents back into work. There are two main strands of activity – increasing employability for residents through 1-1 advice sessions, mentoring and employability skills courses; and supporting residents (particularly those with low skills) to build basic skills and achieve qualifications.

• Local Welfare Assistance Team: This team supports people impacted by welfare reforms and the Benefit Cap. Working closely with JCP and other services the team delivers money advice, employment focused workshops and referral to employment and training support.

• Housing Demand Employment Link: This service supports tenants, residents and people in temporary accommodation to engage with employment services and to find work. The team has established three ‘Work Clubs’ at Northolt and Ealing Libraries, Copley Close and Acton Vale and has delivered local ‘jobs fairs’.

• Think Family Plus: This service is part of the government’s ‘Troubled Families’ initiative and targets identified families with multiple needs and

- 55 - problems. The majority of families need support with employment issues, with many facing long-term and deep seated barriers to securing and sustaining jobs.

• Voluntary and Community Sector: Locally and across London the voluntary and community sector play a key role in local delivery, often providing effective ways of reaching and serving ‘harder to reach’ communities, but also participating in more mainstream programmes such as the Work Programme or ESF.

• ESF (and other) Programmes: There are two local European Social Fund projects which support local unemployed people: - Heathrow Academy: Supports long-term out of work residents into jobs at Heathrow in various sectors such as retail, aviation, logistics and construction. - Catalyst Jobs and Skills: Supports long-term out of work residents with a target to get 100 Ealing residents in to sustained jobs.

• Work Clubs: A number of Work Clubs are offered around the borough, some in the local libraries or in various estates to supports residents with job search and interviews skills. These are also offered by the voluntary sector providers in the borough e.g. at the Lido Centre in West Ealing.

• Skills Provision: Local colleges, universities and other local training providers operating offer accredited vocational courses for local residents and for employers looking to train their own staff. The Ealing Hammersmith and West London College has three campuses in the borough. The West London University is also based in Ealing.

• Housing Associations: All the main housing associations operating in and around Ealing have significant services aimed at helping their own tenants and other local residents to find work and to develop employment skills. Locally, Catalyst Gateway and A2Dominion work closely with local partners and the Council to plan and deliver employment and skills services. Other housing association operate across the area too.

Potential Issues and Areas to Explore Employer: The Council is a major local employer and is therefore a source jobs and provider of ‘entry-level’ or training opportunities such apprenticeships or structured work placements for unemployed residents.

Providing Employment and Skills Services: Direct services which help residents acquire skills and/or to find and sustain employment.

Purchaser: The Council is a significant purchaser of services and supplies and can use procurement processes to try and promote and secure local jobs and training opportunities.

Development: Using development processes and capital projects to promote and secure local jobs and training opportunities.

- 56 - Partnerships: Working in partnership with other local employers and service providers to improve the effectiveness of local services, attract more resources and funding to Ealing, and to influence national or regional services and policies.

SUB-REGIONAL PROVISION AND INITIATIVES West London Alliance 4.167 The West London Alliance (WLA) is a local authority partnership comprising Barnet, Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Hillingdon and Hounslow councils. In working together the councils aim to:

• Provide improved and more resilient services, focussed on and responding to the needs of residents, businesses and other service users. • Achieve better value for money and realise financial savings. • Enhance the social, economic and environmental position of West London.

The WLA objectives are to: • Improve the prospects of achieving the participant councils’ strategic objectives by working together where that adds value over the option of councils acting individually. • Share investment, purchasing and resources where it will achieve improved services, better value for money and financial savings. • Provide a unified voice for public sector interests in West London in order to have a greater impact on the regional and national policy and strategies affecting the interests of West London councils and its communities.

4.168 The WLA does not deliver any direct services presently but is coordinating discussions about potential West London collaboration on employment and skills and growth agenda through the ‘Community Budgets – Whole Place’ initiative.

Whole Place Community Budgets 4.169 Whole Place Community Budgets (WPCB) are about:

• Building services around people and communities – the customer and their experience of services is the starting point. • Removing barriers to achieve better outcomes and reduce costs – integrated working across agencies – looking at resources and effort to tackle common aims and objectives - and focussed around people and places - is more effective and efficient. • Involving all sectors - public, business and voluntary, taps into invaluable skills, networks and experiences – in transforming/re-designing services for residents and businesses. • Working in partnership – sharing effort, taking joint responsibility and realigning resources. • Involving central government departments – to help co-design/redesign services – brings in useful expertise and increases buy-in to the final business case.

- 57 - • Local delivery and investment mechanisms – shaping services better tailored to local needs.

4.170 A Partnership Programme Board with members drawn from the WLA six boroughs; Department of Work and Pensions; Skills Funding Agency; West London colleges (via their forum); West London Business; Federation of Small Businesses; Public Services Transformation Network; West London Network; GLA/London Enterprise Panel; Higher Education Institutions; with the WLA Assistant Director Economic Development in attendance has been established.

4.171 Following a wide partner forum in July (public, private and third sector partners from across West London) and focused workshops in August, five key work streams have emerged, each of which is led by officers from one of the WLA boroughs. These are:

Young People: Focusing on one of the three groups originally identified, i.e. 14-25 year olds at risk of becoming NEET. Intended outcomes are fewer disengaged people and lower financial costs to the public purse. Work stream lead - Ealing

Long-term Unemployed: Focusing on concentrations of high levels of unemployment and worklessness and those in receipt of a current DWP working age benefit including ESA claimants. Intended outcomes are more people in employment and, in the long term, a reduction in the burden on public sector finances. Work stream lead - Brent

Skills Mismatch: Focusing on wrap around support for those in employment, who are low skilled and on low incomes, particularly tenants in the privately rented sector and in receipt of housing benefit. Intended outcomes are a better skilled workforce, career progression and increased income for low earning employees. Work stream lead – Hounslow.

Business Start-Ups: Focusing on developing a free, high quality and accessible West London Business Diagnostics service to identify needs and refer to the most appropriate support; improve access to face to face support through existing physical hubs; increase the diversity of business mentors (in terms of their skills, areas of expertise, ethnicity and gender); and implement a marketing campaign. Intended outcomes are lower business failure rate, business growth and increased employment. Work stream lead – Harrow.

Business Growth: Focusing on promoting business growth through facilitating knowledge exchange between West London Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) that are ready to grow and able to benefit from the universities’ technology, expertise, talent and know-how. Work stream lead – Barnet.

Promoting West London’s Interests 4.172 A Vision to promote economic growth and support communities within West London is being developed. This is being taken forward by the WLA in

- 58 - conjunction with the WLA Economic Corporate Directors Board from the six boroughs chaired by Pam Wharfe, Strategic Director for Growth and Environment, LB Barnet. The Vision will be based around the following headings:

• Business • Skills & Employment • Housing • Infrastructure • Town Centres

4.173 The Vision consultation document will be produced by end of March 2014. The document will be consulted with businesses, business support agencies and key strategic partners.

4.174 In January 2014, Councillor Julian Bell (Council Leader and Chair of WLA) with other Local Authority representatives presented the emerging WLA Growth Vision and progress on the Whole Place Community Budgets to the London Enterprise Panel which was chaired by the Mayor. They argued for greater devolution of decision making and delivery of employment, skills and housing issues to West London and other groupings of boroughs.

4.175 The presentation was well received. The Panel was positive about West London’s ability to work effectively sub-regionally and the importance of West London to the wider London economy was recognised.

Infrastructure 4.176 The six West London Alliance boroughs will be producing by June 2014 a combined Infrastructure Plan looking forward to 2036 for supporting economic growth in the short, medium and long term.

Key Issues • Questioned the amount of job vacancies currently unfilled within the borough and queried whether this was related to a job skills gap within the Borough. • Whether there are too many agencies involved presently and if a more streamlined approach would be advantageous. • The level of agencies available can occasionally make it difficult to distinguish which ones bring most value to the end user. • Does the Council have a role to ‘look after’ the agencies? • The Local Strategic Partnership brings the agencies and local businesses together to promote networking. • Each agency needs to be looked at to see ‘what they bring to the table’ and that this will be taking place over the following months. • Sought clarification on why unemployment statistics are so much higher in Southall and Northolt and what measures are undertaken to help residents in these areas. • Learnt that it is a complex issue to explain in simple terms but the concentrations of social housing, deprivation and lower education attainment play a part.

- 59 - • A focussed targeting service takes place in these areas. • It is a job for the Council and local representatives to make sure that all available services are known about. • Employer – Whilst there are many avenues available to help the young entry level residents into employment, what extra help can be provided to older residents seeking employment? • Service Provider – How can services offered by different areas of the Council be joined up to work together effectively on employment issues? • Purchaser – The tendering process should be scrutinised. Can a provision be added that ensures winning contractors make use of the local job market? • Development – Where the Planning Policy allows for it, can the Section 106 agreements and planning agreements on new developments have an added provision ensuring that the developer makes use of the local job market? • Partnerships – How can the Council work most effectively with all its partners and avoid duplication of work and resources?

Recommendations

No. Recommendation There are many avenues available to help the young entry level residents into employment within the scope of the Council and its partners but there is a need for extra help to older R16 residents seeking employment. The Council and partner agencies should also work more effectively in respect of employment in the borough to avoid duplication of work and resources. The services offered by different areas of the Council should R17 be joined up to work together on employment issues more effectively. The Council’s tendering process for services should be R18 reassessed to include a clause for the successful bidder to make use of the local job market. Where the Planning Policy allows for it, the Council’s Section 106 agreements and planning agreements on new R19 developments should have an added provision to ensure that the developer makes use of the local job market and aim to employ local people.

EXPERIENCES Council Apprenticeship 4.177 Yazmine Davenport, a Council Apprentice, stated that she had suffered from a lack of ambition before starting the program. She had completed a beauty therapy course at college but had found that she had little interest in it, leading her to work in a succession of unengaging low skill jobs. Since joining the LBE Pathways Program she had received regular mentoring from her personal advisor which had helped her decide on a career path. She had participated in the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme and had also taken part in work experience at schools. This had made her more

- 60 - confident in her abilities. She is now aiming to gain experience in youth work to attain her eventual target of working in Youth Offending.

Yazmine Davenport relating her experience on the Council’s Apprenticeship Scheme

4.178 The Panel Members congratulated Miss Davenport on the progress she had made and considered her story an encouraging example of the success of the Apprenticeship Scheme.

Jobcentre Plus West London 4.179 Stuart Bennett (District Manager, Jobcentre Plus West London) and Jessica Yuille (District Operations Manager, Jobcentre Plus West London) explained that their work involved a difficult ‘balancing act’ of providing the best quality service to local residents whilst also meeting their responsibilities to the Department of Work and Pensions.

4.180 Various schemes available were detailed, such as the work experience scheme for 18-24 year olds giving them 2-8 week job ‘tasters’, wage incentive offers which offered £2,500 grants for employers to take on temporary staff and a work academy scheme that involved pre-employment training, on the job training and a possible job offer at the conclusion of the scheme.

4.181 They advised that whilst the economy seemed to be improving, which had resulted in levels of employment returning to those seen in January 2009, there were still significant issues that were masked by the employment statistics. The number of residents claiming jobseekers allowance had reduced slightly over the last few years but this was not a significant reduction with the statistics for the long-term unemployed claimants. There were also concerns regarding ‘churn’ employment in which people are

- 61 - employed for 2 weeks before returning to benefits for two weeks and remaining in a cycle.

4.182 With the spending pressures faced by Jobcentre Plus, reprioritisation was taking place with a more focussed effort to help those with more acute needs. The ‘top 25%’ that are self-sufficient in their job seeking ability would be able to make more use of the self-service functions that Jobcentres are rolling out. Those with issues such as motivation/confidence, mental health problems, etc. need to be worked with more closely to provide the skills required to enter the workplace market.

Stuart Bennett (District Manager for Jobcentre Plus, West London) presenting to the Panel

Whitefriars Nursing Home - Experience of Apprentices 4.183 Rea Williams, the Manager, first heard of the Council’s Apprentice Scheme in 2012. Thereafter, she attended a related event and eventually hired two apprentices who were both 17 years old at the time. One of the apprentices had some initial external challenges which had denied her reaching her full potential but she had persevered. The other apprentice has completed her NVQ Level 2 and signed up for Level 3. Both apprentices are now considered to be valuable employees to the organisation.

Acton Action Limited 4.184 John Blackmore (Chief Executive) explained that Acton Action Limited was a local company that promoted employment, education and enterprise in West London. It provides enterprise opportunities to the unemployed and those in low-paying and part-time work. An example was the Acton Town Centre street market which offers trading experience in a real-world setting whilst helping to regenerate Acton Town Centre. This brings multiple benefits to the local community.

- 62 - 4.185 They work with many people in the community who find it hard to procure the help they need elsewhere. This includes people with mental health issues, ex-adult and youth offenders, refugees and single parents. There are concerns that presently many voluntary sector groups are ‘going under’ and have to become sub-contractors in order to remain solvent. He emphasised the need for voluntary groups to be involved in the creation of the local employment strategy and its delivery.

Rea Williams (Manager, Whitefriars Nursing Home) presenting to the Panel

Key Issues • Established that the Council operates a Workforce Development Strategy. • Recognised that in helping people find experience, the Council runs an Apprentice Scheme for school leavers which is proving to be successful. It is also working with many partner organisations to help encourage work schemes. • Expressed concern at the lack of training help available to those who wished to work in the health sector. With the sector requiring applicants with experience but those seeking jobs not being able to get experience meant that there was a dearth of quality applicants available. • Learnt that there is a ‘Flexible Support Fund’ available and handed down to regional Jobcentres allowing them to use it for more ‘bespoke’ training needs that may be more expensive than the standard training courses. • Recognised that the training available often focusses on certain sectors of the employment market at the expense of others, a situation that the Jobcentre should look to rectify where possible. • Heard from Councillor Dabrowska of her experience of using Jobcentre Plus when she was unemployed. She had found the advice to be of a poor quality with an intense compliance focus so had better success in undertaking personal research. She felt that Jobcentre Plus did not have a favourable image for those looking to return to the job market soonest.

- 63 - • Accepted that this was a fair challenge and there was recurring concern at the lack of skill set available to help those with ‘higher aspirations’. • Acknowledged that there is an increasing push to move from a compliance focussed facility to a more positive form of service. • Enquired about the volume of people Action Acton Limited had helped back into the work market and requested the relevant statistics. • Enquired whether Jobcentre Plus was able to work out the average cost of getting one person into the labour market. However, recognised that there were many variables involved that made it a difficult task but would be a useful exercise to undertake to get a picture of the average ‘end to end’ process. • Learnt that the West London Alliance is undertaking an initiative that would analyse the costs involved to shape where best value for money could be attained in servicing the employment needs of residents.

John Blackmore (Chief Executive, Acton Action Limited) with Cllr Hitesh Tailor (Portfolio Holder for Housing, Employment and Skills) presenting to the Panel

Recommendations

No. Recommendation Jobcentre Plus should ensure that they have appropriate R20 referral mechanisms for all levels of employment. The Council should continue the successful Apprenticeship R21 Scheme and actively develop and promote it.

- 64 - STREET WASHING ARRANGEMENTS 4.186 The Panel expressed concern at the amount of mess and stains (including chewing gum) on the pavements and the lack of street washing, particularly in Ealing Broadway and Southall.

4.187 It was explained that Enterprise is contracted to carry out street washing in town centres and busy transport hubs annually as part of the Environmental Services Contract with the Council. Last year, the programme was subcontracted to an approved specialist subcontractor who carried out part of the street washing programme on behalf of Enterprise. This year, Enterprise is carrying out the work and has commenced operations in the eastern Wards across Acton and Chiswick using two vehicles with built-in pressure washers (similar to that of the Council’s graffiti removal team).

4.188 There was a delay in commencing the 2013/2014 programme for Enterprise’s operatives to receive training on the new equipment and implementing a regular programme of inspection and monitoring. The inspection/monitoring is undertaken to ensure that the works do not cause loosening/washing out of older paving stone substrate/jointing materials as a result of the pressure washing operation. The programme is being monitored by both service officers and Enterprise to review its success. Work is ongoing and approximately 8km of linear footway was washed by July 2013.

Removal of Chewing Gum 4.189 The removal of chewing gum is not included within the present street washing specification. It is a separate provisional item within the Environmental Services Contract and, therefore, requires additional budget from Ward Forums or other sources to be carried out.

Key Issues • Comprehended that the chewing gum removal was a separate cost to normal street cleaning. • Recognised that spitting in Southall is considered to be more of an antisocial issue than chewing gum so asked that the possibility of creating a bylaw to ban spitting in the street should be researched. • Learnt that in the latest round of consultations street washing had not registered as one of the higher priorities. The provision of street washing should be looked into.

Southall 4.190 As a result of their concern on the lack of street cleaning in Southall the Panel received a street washing schedule until 30 September 2013 for the area.

4.191 The Panel also expressed concern at the spitting problem that is prevalent in Southall and enquired about addressing the predicament with a bylaw.

Bylaw Banning Spitting in Southall 4.192 The Panel was informed that the Council already has a bylaw under the Bylaws for the Good Rule and Government of the London Borough of

- 65 - Ealing, (Bylaw 24 Spitting on Paved Footways) that was made by the Council on 4 August 1969.

4.193 In addition, spitting can be dealt with as a littering offence under Section 87 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. The definition of litter is widely drawn and it is understood that some other local authorities have taken action under these provisions. The advantage of using the littering legislation is that an offender is able to be issued with a fixed penalty notice of £80 reduced to £50 if paid within 10 days. A fixed penalty notice provides an offender with the opportunity to discharge liability to conviction by payment of a prescribed sum.

4.194 Where an offender chooses not to discharge their liability to conviction by payment of the fixed penalty they may be summoned for the original offence and dealt with in the Magistrates Court.

4.195 A concerted campaign against this activity through a programme of enforcement would require sufficient staff to carry out enforcement activity at varying times of the day and at the expense of other duties. Also, without the support of Police Officers offenders would not identify themselves and with Council Officers having no power to detain them would simply walk away. The Council will have to put in place sufficient back office arrangements to process and record the fixed penalties for which payment is received. In the event that an offender does not discharge liability to conviction it will be necessary to take a prosecution for the original offence. Staff will have to prepare cases for Court and the cost of the Legal Officer’s time must also be considered.

4.196 Whilst the amount of any fixed penalty paid accrues to the Council, any fine levied on an offender as a result of an appearance in Court is retained by the Courts Service. Whilst the Council may apply for its costs in bringing the case the full amount claimed may not necessarily be awarded.

4.197 This subject was previously considered as a Community Safety project. Signage was prepared together with an educational campaign. There was also a proposal to involve the Police issuing Penalty Notices for Disorder where officers witnessed spitting.

Key Issues • Recognised the difficulties in implementing the bylaw banning spitting. • Expressed concern that street traders take up large portions of pavements within the Southall locality making it hard for pedestrians to get past. • Received assurance from the Council Leader that the widening of pavements within Southall town centre would help alleviate this problem and traders would not be allowed to make use of the extra room by further encroaching upon the pavements.

- 66 - Recommendations

No. Recommendation R22 The Council should maintain street cleanliness to a high standard to draw further investment in the borough. R23 The Council should work with the local Police to stop antisocial behaviour in the streets such as chewing gum, littering and spitting in public areas.

RESIDENTS REWARD SCHEME 4.198 The Panel requested information on the Residents Reward Scheme and was informed that the Cabinet had considered a report on 17 December 2013. It provided details of the Residents’ Recycling Reward Scheme, the service enhancements and activities carried out as part of the “50% by 2020” campaign. Subsequently, the item was called in by the Shadow Cabinet and considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC) on 16 January 2014. The OSC rejected the Call-in and upheld the Cabinet’s decisions so the recommendations will now be implemented. The OSC will monitor the scheme’s participation rates in a year’s time.

Background 4.199 The residents’ reward scheme is designed to provide an incentive to residents to start, continue and increase recycling activity to earn points that can be used to take up offers and discounts from local and national shops and businesses. Incentive schemes are considered by the Government to be good practice and our aim is to get 30% of households to sign up to the scheme by the end of March 2015.

4.200 The residents’ reward scheme is part of the “50% by 2020” campaign to support a 50% recycling rate.

4.201 Using grant funding secured from the DCLG, the recycling team have procured Greenredeem (formerly Recyclebank) as a partner to manage the scheme.

How the Scheme Operates 4.202 Each household will earn points by recycling irrespective of the services they receive and use i.e. kerbside collections, communal recycling facilities, mixed recycling (flats) or via neighbourhood recycling centres or the main reuse and recycling centres in Greenford and Acton.

4.203 Additional points can be earned for other everyday green actions (e.g. pledging to use green travel, completing surveys and quizzes etc.)

4.204 No operational changes are required and recycling services remain the same.

4.205 Residents will receive weekly account statements, which can be personalised to include localised messaging specific to Ealing e.g. collection changes, festival details etc.

- 67 - 4.206 There is an adaptive points system, where members can be rewarded differently for each material stream, depending on what the Council’s recycling priorities are e.g. maximising food recycling.

The Resident Experience 4.207 Greenredeem maintains a website and smartphone app for residents to register and manage their personal account, supported by a telephone service for those who choose not to use the website or app.

4.208 Residents earn points immediately just for registering as an incentive to take part.

4.209 After registration, residents personalise their account; monitor their own recycling activities and learn about Ealing’s recycling and waste activities; redeem points for rewards and earn additional points for learning about and taking other everyday green actions.

4.210 Points awarded to residents can be used for rewards available from local businesses and national partners, or members can choose to donate their points to local schools, community projects and charities. Rewards will also be available at Council facilities, and other council schemes e.g. festivals, Ealing Broadway Cycling Hub, etc.

4.211 Redemption of points can be via Greenredeem’s website, smartphone app and telephone through the customer care team. Reward vouchers can be printed at home, ordered and redeemed via smartphone apps or posted.

4.212 There will be a minimum of 150 live rewards at any time. Participants could easily realise £70 savings a year.

4.213 In addition, the scheme will provide targeted campaigns with random selection of prize giving to residents, based on recycling performance.

4.214 Timeline of Residents Rewards Scheme • Late February/early March – Around Ealing article • 24 February to 24 March – Awareness campaign: train, tube and bus shelter adverts, billboards and large media raising awareness of residents’ rewards • W/C 24 March – Registration packs delivered to all households • 31 March – Scheme Launch and launch event • 31 March to 14 April – Reminder campaign: tube, train and bus shelter adverts, ATM adverts reminding residents to register • April-June – targeted marketing to unregistered residents: door to door campaigning, reminder postcards and outreach work

Driving Up Participation 4.215 The residents’ rewards scheme acknowledges that residents are motivated to recycle by a range of different incentives, and supports this, by providing a range of rewards e.g. discounts in local retailers and businesses, council services and the ability to donate to schools, community projects and

- 68 - charities. This will encourage residents that may not have participated in the services previously to do so now.

4.216 In addition, the scheme has the capacity to incentivise and reward residents in a variety of ways, e.g. double points for food waste, greater incentives to poor performing areas, greater rewards to higher performing areas etc.

Local Spend 4.217 Whilst rewards for national retailers and companies e.g. Marks and Spencer vouchers, will be available through the scheme, a large proportion of the rewards available to residents will be related to local retailers and businesses, specific to the borough. This will encourage spend in the local economy. There will be 100 local offers active at any one time in the scheme.

50% by 2020 Campaign 4.218 There are a range of other activities running alongside the Residents Reward Scheme as follows:

• Installation of two trial sites for food waste recycling in flats (July 2013); • Schools plastic recycling service introduced to 90 schools (September 2013); • Furniture and white goods reuse scheme launched in partnership with London Reuse Network (September 2013); • Targeted recycling campaign in ‘low performing’3 wards including door knocking 2,300 properties (October 2013); • Flats cardboard and plastic recycling roll out to 100 sites (November 2013); • Electrical and electronic good recycling banks at 13 recycling sites with the aim of recycling 25 tonnes of small electrical and electronic goods (January 2014); and • ‘Medium performing’ recycling campaign targeted at two wards (February 2014).

Key Issues • The Panel noted the information on the new Residents Reward Scheme and agreed that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee should review the scheme after a year of its implementation.

SITE VISITS 4.219 As part of the review of small businesses, the Panel members attended various meetings and visited several businesses around the borough as well as in the London Borough of Hounslow. Their observations are as follows:

Within the Borough 4.220 Ealing Hotels Network Meeting • Presently, Ealing has an 86% hotel occupancy rate. • Parking was expressed as an issue in Central Ealing. • Proximity to Heathrow Airport is beneficial. • Guests mostly see Ealing as good for shopping and food as there are lots of restaurants.

- 69 - • Hotels need to be able to meet the needs of residents and tourists by being able to disseminate interesting information relating to the borough accordingly e.g. Southall can be marketed for shopping, Indian food, connections to Paddington/Heathrow, etc. • Bigger hotels have the capability to advertise more widely (larger budgets, economies of scale, etc.) compared to smaller ones. • Ealing Council should provide the Events Calendar (e.g. Ealing Festivals, etc.) information early to the Hoteliers who can then promote these events to their guests. • Ealing Council could create publicity leaflets which highlight places of interest in the borough e.g. Ealing Studios, Hanwell Community Centre, Southall Gurudwara, Farmers’ Market, etc. and give these to the Hoteliers for distribution to their guests/visitors. • Informed that mainly foreign employees in this industry because they tend to have better work ethics and accept lower wages compared to most British born young people. • Also, hospitality as a profession is taken much more seriously in some countries e.g. in France. • Foreign workers are also keener to learn more about the locality so are able to give directions on how visitors can get to key places in the borough and elsewhere e.g. Madame Tussauds in Central London.

Cllr Harbhajan Kaur-Dheer (Chair), Cllr Nigel Sumner (Vice Chair) and Lucy Taylor (Assistant Director of Regeneration and Planning Policy) at the Ealing Hotels Network Meeting

4.221 Ealing Business Partnership Meeting • Good opportunity to meet representatives of local businesses and organisations. • Learnt about the possibility of reopening the south entrance of Hanwell Station by summer 2014 as this would help connectivity in the area and increase footfall.

- 70 - • Learnt of the role and responsibilities of the Ealing BID. • Work cohesively with the local businesses. • Provide help and support in levy arrangements. • Keeping the environment clean, tidy and safe for consumers and businesses. • A Southall BID would help deliver some of the aims and objectives of the Southall Charter. • BIDs have to be a certain size to be viable but can be project specific especially in smaller areas. • The Southall Charter is a good starting point to develop a Southall BID. • The next step would be to get the support of the local business community before developing a suitable business plan. • There appears to be keen interest from Southall businesses for a local BID. • Learnt of the “Ealing Love Your Space” Programme to be launched in February 2014 to increase footfall in the borough. • Local businesses and residents will be invited to take ownership of their local spaces for themed events (e.g. the recent Ealing Eateries Week, Art and Music Week, etc. that took place outside the Ealing Town Hall).

Cllr Mark Reen speaking at the Ealing Business Partnership meeting

Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College • The College facilities are available to businesses as meetings venues. • Keen to run courses and training for businesses in specific areas. • The Skills Support for the Workforce Programme provides free accredited training available for all small and medium sized enterprises employing less than 250 people. • The College is also keen for businesses to utilise the skills of students e.g. developing websites, establishing a social media presence, etc.

- 71 -

Southall Broadway Works • The Leader of the Council provided an update on the Work in the Broadway which is part of the Southall Big Plan. • The Programme and other subsequent works will improve Southall and help it to cope with the impending Southall Gas Works development.

Cllr Harbhajan Kaur-Dheer with the Council Leader (Cllr Julian Bell) and Cllr Yvonne Johnson (Portfolio Holder for Finance and Performance) at the Ealing Business Partnership meeting

4.222 West Ealing BID Task Group Meeting • The new BID would: - provide help and support to businesses; - help maintain a clean and safe environment for shoppers and businesses; - provide assistance in marketing and promotion of businesses; - provide assistance in improving employment opportunities; - provide assistance in co-ordinating levy arrangements; and - Ealing Broadway BID to now actively campaign for the introduction of the new West Ealing BID. • Raised concerns about the lack of parking facilities in the area.

- 72 -

Cllr Harbhajan Kaur Dheer and Cllr Mohammed Aslam at the West Ealing BID Task Group Meeting

Small Businesses in Acton 4.223 Parties & Presentz • A husband and wife team with one full time and one part time staff. • Have been running the business for 32 years. • Started as a newsagent shop and over the years have expanded by taking over the shop next door and developing it into the current business. • So now paying rent for two units. • Working hard but struggling to make ends meet as business not doing so well. • Expressed concern that the business rates were too high and had gone up by about 60% in 3 years. • Lot of small family run businesses e.g. the butchers, etc. have disappeared in the area over the years. • Supportive of the new Oaks Development as this will help boost the local trade. • Hoping that Waitrose will set up in the High Street so this would increase the footfall in the area. • Presently, there is higher footfall by the Morrison’s Supermarket. • Keen to explore taking on an apprentice and will contact the Council about this soon. • Not impressed with the hanging pots in the street and deems them to be a total waste of money.

- 73 -

Cllr Harbhajan Kaur-Dheer with Mr Sonny Suchak (owner of Parties and Presentz) on Acton High Street)

4.224 Pearls Dry Cleaners • Started own business 6 years ago. • Employs 6 part-time staff who are highly skilled in different roles. • Has 2 websites for online business. • It is a freehold property so no rent to pay but finds the business rates too high. • Conscious about customer care and the provision of good quality of services. • Have invested in good modern machinery and will be refurbishing the front of the shop soon. • Free parking spaces are available for shoppers. • Looking to expand by opening another shop in the right location. • Has had a lot of support from the Council’s Regeneration Officers. • Small business so unable to take on apprentices presently as too busy to train someone.

- 74 -

Cllr Harbhajan Kaur-Dheer with Mr Nish Tank (owner) and a staff of Pearls Drycleaners on Church Road, Acton

Small Businesses in Greenford 4.225 The Bike Shop • Has been running his business for 25 years. • Employs two staff (one part time). • Participates in the community payback scheme by linking in with the local school. • Pays a 1% industry levy although this is optional. • Fixing bikes is about 65% of the business nowadays as most people tend to buy new bicycles from the larger shops. • Rent keeps going up. • Business rates are too high for the area as Greenford Broadway is now only a secondary shopping parade. • Non employment (e.g. Taylor Woodrow, Glaxo, etc. leaving) in the area is having a negative on the small businesses. • The Olympics created a lot of interest in cycling but the recession is a damper on actual purchasing. • The Council should not be charging an administration fee for the renewal of licenses, etc. as the businesses complete all the paperwork. • The Council should not be charging small businesses for displaying the wares in their forecourt. • Pleased the market stalls have gone as these attracted the wrong sort of people to the area giving rise to increased petty crime e.g. pickpockets, etc. • Alley-gating in the area would help reduce anti-social behaviour, etc. • Very transient population in the area to don’t see the same local customers about for long.

- 75 - • We need fewer loading bays and more parking bays in the area. • The new Glaxo Development will take business away from the Greenford Broadway.

Cllr Harbhajan Kaur-Dheer speaking to Mr Colin Fuller (owner, The Bike Shop) on Greenford Broadway

• The Council should help small businesses to acquire the 50% rates reduction as is the case in some other London Boroughs. • Cannot have an apprentice because the criteria is too much hassle e.g. need to get a C in Maths even though the young person is mechanically sound. • Cyclists and motorists (especially HGV drivers) should be well trained and follow the Highway Code at all times. • Motorists should have due regard to cyclists.

4.226 One Stop Retail • Family run business started 3 years ago. • No staff employed. • Small value items so experience less theft in the shop compared to some businesses. • Were affected by the market stalls as people tended not to go inside the shops as much. • Business much better after the end of the market but still just surviving. • The rents and rates are too high in the area for small businesses. • Need a small business rates relief as we are just outside of the threshold for this. • To help businesses the Government should increase the threshold for the 50% rate relief based on the size of the shop. • Lack of parking is an issue for the area.

- 76 - • The size of the wide pavements should be reduced to accommodate more stop and shop parking. • The Council should not be charging struggling businesses the £20-£25 per week for displaying their wares outside the shop. • There should be sign posts for the car park. • The service road behind the shops to the car park needs bumps installed to control speeding vehicles and thereby preventing serious accidents occurring there. • Need big famous names in the High Street to increase footfall in the area.

Cllr Harbhajan Kaur-Dheer speaking to the Shin Family (owners, One Stop Retail) in Greenford Broadway

4.227 Uniq Hairdressing • Operates as a one-man band with no staff. • The rent and rates in the area are excessive. • The cost of living is very high e.g. large utility bills, price of food, etc. • The Council should work with the utility companies to control these steep rises. • There is insufficient car parking in the area so this does not help small businesses.

Small Businesses in Perivale 4.228 Meeting with Various Traders of Bilton Road • Met with 11 Traders (mainly Asian) from Bilton Road, one Neighbourhood Watch representative and Alex Nieora (Independent Councillor Candidate 2014). • Not a High Street and most traders have been there for years. • Mainly a residential area with no High School.

- 77 - • Bilton Road does not have the same benefits as High Streets e.g. banks, etc. • The traders seem to be paying higher rates than Greenford/Ealing Broadways. • There are presently 6 shops vacant in the parade and this has been the case for the last two years. • The average business rates are around £9,000. • For example, the Lunch Box pays £10,000 rent per annum but its rateable value is £13,000 per annum. The reality check needs to be that the rateable value should be lower than the rentable value. • Said that there are 20 shops in the parade and yet there were no rubbish bins along there. • So people just tended to throw litter in the street making these worse. • Previously, there were a number of rubbish bins in the area and there was some littering so the Council installed CCTV cameras to monitor fly tipping and have since reduced the number of bins to two. • So now there are only two bins for the whole of Bilton Road which has about 45 shops in total.

Cllr Harbhajan Kaur-Dheer in a meeting at Mahesh Hairdressers with Alex Nieora and some Bilton Road, Perivale traders

• They also believe that the double yellow lines from Empire Road were going to affect adversely on their businesses. • Stated that big deliveries should only take place in the early morning and not from 10.00-11.00am. • Said that large delivery trucks have been blocking the area so accidents have occurred. • Also, there are traffic jams when buses come by.

- 78 - • The traders feel that there should be more loading/parking bays along Bilton Road. • They would like to see traffic wardens there to manage the situation with large lorries. • The traders are asking that the Monday-Friday 90-minute stop and shop restrictions should also apply on Saturdays. • On Saturdays, the parking bay is full by 8.30am as people tend to park there and use the 297 buses to attend matches in the Wembley Stadium or go shopping on Ealing Road in Wembley. • Apparently 7 large warehouses on the entry road have closed down and relocated to other areas e.g. Ruislip. • The traders feel that Ealing should follow up its policy to support small businesses in the borough. • One trader has a zebra crossing outside his shop so does not have a loading bay to unload his heavy supplies. • Some businesses have had to get rid of their staff in the last two years due to the increased business rates. This does not appear to help the employment levels in the borough. • One business will be changing the use of the premises from an A1 shop (butchers) to A3 (restaurant). • The traders complained that the Ward Councillors listen to their issues but do nothing about resolving them. • The traders spoke highly of Alex Nieora and consider him to be a local champion of their issues. • Advised the traders to attend the Panel meeting on 3rd December to get answers/advice from senior officers.

Small Businesses in Southall 4.229 Southall Rights • Have been there for more than 40 years. • The staff comprises two lawyers (who have grown up running this organisation) and a part-time Secretary. • Primarily their role is to provide advice on legal matters to the local community. • They deal with complex cases and also represent such cases in the courts. • It costs nearly £80,000 to run the organisation. • The rent is £20,000 per annum and the business rates are £6,000 per annum. • They think their business rates are excessive so had applied to the Council for a waiver of the business rates but that was unsuccessful. • Are aware that the Councils have limited funds. • They had to let go of the Receptionist so now rely on volunteers to man the Reception. • Used to provide informal advice but now only tend to provide formal legal advice. • Were previously funded by the local authority but no longer get any grants. • Now only have a contract on the Housing side with the Legal Services Commission (LSC).

- 79 -

Cllr Gurmit Mann, Cllr Ashok Kapoor and Cllr Harbhajan Kaur-Dheer speaking to Mr Kashminder Bhogal at Southall Rights in High Street, Southall

• Contracts came into effect in 2000 (before that it was free on legal aid). There are about 40 law firms locally but only about 10 of these now have contracts with the LSC. • Had an LSC audit earlier this year which they passed. Need to pass this and is valid for 3 years. Then have to undergo another one every three years. • There has been a change in the law so a lot of their contracts have been withdrawn. • They find it difficult to survive on just the one contract so are now charging £30/half hour consultation fee to some clients – normal fee would be more than £150/half hour. • Since April 2013, they only offer free advice to people who qualify i.e. have been granted legal aid. • Previously, used to get about 20 people each evening. • They said that cases were very expensive to run (cost in the thousands). • Southall Rights is a recognised training institute so can take on trainee Solicitors for two year training periods – offer civil experience to the trainees but this costs £18,000 per annum which is quite costly for them. • Lots of local solicitors were trained here and most of these have now gone on to establish legal firms of their own. • They would like to have another Lawyer and a full-time Receptionist but are unable to consider this for another year.

- 80 -

Panel Members talking to the owner of the newly opened Pawan Jewellers on Southall Broadway

4.230 Punjabee Restaurant • Have been there for 38 years. • A family business which is doing well. • Have 7 staff (3-4 chefs). • Open from 10.00am to 8.00pm to maintain a work-life balance. • Most other similar businesses close about 11.00pm. • Their business rates are about £18,000/annum for the whole building as the upstairs is used as an office. • The rateable value of the premises is £38,900. • The owner had spoken to other nearby businesses and said that parking was their main concern. • Currently pays £3.75 per permit (£17.50 per booklet) which used to be £1.00 each so people from neighbouring towns don’t bother coming for lunch to the restaurant anymore so all this has a negative impact on their business. • He said that the new car park and the Herbert Road Car Parks were not really convenient for the way in which Asians shop as they tend to buy in bulk. • Said that the Herbert Road car park was always full and the Hambrough Road car park was not well publicised. • Deemed the new car park too far away from their side of the Broadway.

- 81 -

Cllr Ashok Kapoor, Cllr Gurmit Mann and Cllr Harbhajan Kaur-Dheer chatting to Mr Bhandari (owner) and his son at the Punjabee Restaurant on Southall Broadway

• Said that the CPZs were previously from 10.00am-6.00pm which was good as most businesses close about 7.00pm but the timings had now been changed to 10.00am-8.00pm.

Cllr Gurmit Mann and Cllr Ashok Kapoor studying the parking meter on Oswald Road, off Southall Broadway

- 82 - • The Shopkeepers tend to put their wares well out of their allowable boundaries (9 feet) and that endangers pedestrians. He said that this had been reported several times to the Council but little has been done by them on this matter. • He claimed that the crime level was lower but prostitution was still a big problem in the area. • He felt that cleaning was much improved as it took place daily so the streets were nice and clean every morning. • He said that there needed to be more public toilets in Southall considering the footfall in the area. • He complained that there was an increase in the Romanian beggars in the area. • Highlighted the need for more controlled/pay as you go parking meters in Southall.

Panel members examining the encroachment of the pavement on Southall Broadway

4.231 Jobcentre Plus, West Ealing • The main task of the Job Centre Plus is to get unemployed people into jobs quickly. • Claimants are expected to make online claims. • Thereafter, the Centre staff undertake face-to-face interviews with the claimants that can last for an hour in order to make the necessary checks e.g. ID, proof of address, etc. • People on student visa cannot claim job seekers allowance (JSA). • JSA is contribution based and means tested. • Thereafter, the claimants sign on every two weekly. • The HMRC and JCP computer systems are now connected. • Cash in hand jobs are a big problem for JCP.

- 83 - • Claimants are expected to attend training and interviews otherwise the allowance is not sanctioned.

Panel Members in a meeting with the staff at Jobcentre Plus, West Ealing

• Claimants get reduced travel costs. • 60% of claimants are in employment within 13 weeks and 90% are in employment within 52 weeks – JCP has targets to meet. • Claimants are offered appropriate training to up-skill mainly in business administration, customer services, retail, hospitality, etc. • JCP works with various partners/colleges for the provision of training. • Interview and CV writing skills are also provided at JCP. • JCP use the job search engine, Universal Job Match, for job vacancies. • Claimants must attend the mandatory work activity for several weeks. Under 18 Years: • Young people under the age of 18 years enrol with the Connexions Service unless they suffer hardship. Age 18-24 Years: • Young People of 18-24 years are mainly offered work experience and apprenticeship placements. This age group is mostly in jobs within 39 weeks of enrolment. • JCP hold joint initiatives with the Connexions Service to help young people with jobs. • Offer strong mentors. • Try and offer work experience placements in the area that the young person is interested in so usually get them into a job within 13 weeks e.g. two job experience young people were offered jobs in Bhs whilst two were offered jobs in JCP.

- 84 - • JCP also works with Ealing Council on the Apprenticeship Scheme and have taken on some apprentices at the Job Centre. 50+ Years: • Response to redundancy. • Retrain individuals. • Pension credit (which is means tested) for people over 60 years on low income.

Outside the Borough Small Businesses in Hounslow 4.232 A.M. Newsagent • A family-run business that has been doing very well but less so in the current climate. • They also employ a student staff for 20 hours/week. • Opened 15 years ago and is in a prime location in the main shopping centre. • Open from 7.00am-6.30pm.

Cllr Harbhajan Kaur-Dheer talking to Mr Patel of A.M. Newsagent in Hounslow

• Nowadays only deliver newspapers to a few nearby businesses. • The shop is on lease and they pay a rent of £27,000/annum. • The business rates are £6,699/annum and these go up each year but thinks that these are fair. • The rateable value is £14,000. • There is now an increasing trend of temporary 99p stores opening that do not have long-term leases. • Get frequent phone calls from companies wanting to help businesses to reduce their business rates for a percentage of the savings made for them in the rates.

- 85 - • Was not aware of whether their local authority runs or is involved in an apprenticeship scheme. • Had no complaints as it is a small but very busy shop with a high footfall. • He is satisfied with the services that their local authority provides.

4.233 Langfords • A family business that has been in the present location for 8 years. • Were previously located further down in the High Street. • Presently employ 3 part-time staff. • Find it difficult to employ students as the law now only allows 20 hours/week working for students undertaking degree courses so those doing diploma courses no longer qualify. • Mrs Sharma has a business background so runs the business full time whilst Mr Sharma is also a voluntary Immigration Lawyer.

Cllr Harbhajan Kaur-Dheer speaking to Mr Sharma of Langfords in Hounslow

• They are looking to expand their business and would consider a suitable place on Ealing Broadway. • Pay £27,000 business rates per annum in 10 monthly instalments which is manageable. • Own freehold property so there is no rent to pay. • Some businesses in Hounslow have successfully appealed for a reduction in their business rates. • A company had approached them some years ago about getting their business rates reduced for a percentage of the reduction received, an offer that they never took up. • They consider Hounslow Council to be good as it deals with disputes quite quickly and efficiently.

- 86 -

Cllr Harbhajan Kaur-Dheer speaking to the staff at Langfords in Hounslow

Key Issues • Better promotion of the Council’s Events Calendar. • The need for publicity leaflets which highlight places of interest in the borough. • Very transient population in some parts so do not see the same local customers about for long. • Lack of parking in most areas. • The willingness to take on apprentices but a lack of awareness of the Council’s Apprenticeship Scheme. • An increasing trend of temporary 99p stores opening that do not have long-term leases. • The need for more public toilets in Southall considering the footfall in the area. • Recognition that Councils have limited funds. • Many matters could be resolved at Ward levels e.g. CPZs, yellow lines, parking, loading bays, etc. • Some traders feel that the Council should follow up its policy to support small businesses in the borough. • The rents and rates in some areas appear to be excessive - the reality check should be that the rateable value should be lower than the rentable value. • Need more big famous names in the High Street to increase footfall in the area. • To help small businesses, the Council should lobby the Government to increase the threshold for the 50% rate relief based on the size of the shop.

- 87 - • Alley-gating in some areas would reduce antisocial behaviour. • The Council charging an administration fee for the renewal of licenses, etc. as the businesses complete all the paperwork. • Good support received from the Council’s Regeneration Officers in some areas. • Lots of small family run businesses have disappeared over the years. • The Council should continue to encourage more people to cycle and work with the Government and others to make the roads safe for them. • The Council should assist voluntary sector organisations to secure grants as they provide a useful service to people on low income and often give training to young people. • More local businesses should use the Job Centre to take on young people for work experience. • There should be very strong advisers for 18-24 year old young people. • Schools should play a bigger part in preparing young people for employment. • Need to make youngsters more employable by giving them some of the skills at schools. • Having role models in schools/families is very important for young people. • The need for more employers and schools to use the Job Centre Plus to advertise jobs, receive advice, etc.

Recommendations

No. Recommendation Ealing Council should work more closely with the hotel industry in providing them timely information about local festivals and R24 other interesting events as well as promoting the hotels on the Council’s website and other marketing literature. The Council should work with the Ealing Broadway BID R25 Company to support the plans for a West Ealing BID and investigate the feasibility of a Southall BID. The Council should advise schools to play a bigger part in R26 preparing young people for employment. These skills would make youngsters more employable after school. The Council should regularly patrol all the main shopping areas of the borough and stop businesses from encroaching on the R27 pavements as this often makes it difficult and dangerous for pedestrians to get past. R28 The Council should stop dangerous practices such as deep frying in hot oil on the pavements, especially in Southall, as this is a health and safety hazard.

- 88 - FUTURE MONITORING 4.234 The Panel suggests that an appropriate Scrutiny Panel should undertake the monitoring of the implementation of the recommendations and further ongoing monitoring.

Recommendations

No. Recommendation The Overview and Scrutiny Committee ensures that an appropriate R29 scrutiny body undertakes the ongoing monitoring including the implementation of the agreed recommendations.

- 89 - 5.0 KEY LEARNING POINTS 5.1 Some of the key learning points for the Panel were:

• Recognising the numerous and diverse organisations that operate across the borough in different ways and managing expectations.

• Engaging with the community – seeking the views of the local people through publicity, site visits and their attendance at Panel meetings were a very valuable source of gathering information directly from the key stakeholders.

• Benchmarking exercises provided important comparisons.

• Site visits made a significant difference to the information obtained.

• Established good contacts with some external agencies e.g. investors, businesses, groups, providers, etc.

• The difficulty in engaging some external agencies and areas of the community.

• The inevitability of identifying problems in the current provision and making suggestions for improvements.

• Through the meetings, have raised the profile of the economy and business development in the borough and promoted discussion between organisations.

• The review has produced ideas for future development.

• An important element in the success of initiatives is the promotion and communication of activities, opportunities and new initiatives to the widest audience using appropriate communication channels.

- 90 - 6.0 MEMBERSHIP AND ATTENDANCE 6.1 The Table below shows the membership and attendance of Panel Members at the meetings.

Membership and Attendance at Panel Meetings Total Actual Apologies Name Possible Attendance Received Cllr Harbhajan Kaur-Dheer (Chair) 5 5 - Cllr Nigel Sumner (Vice Chair) 5 4 1 Cllr Shahbaz Ahmed 5 3 1 Cllr Sitarah Anjum 5 4 1 Cllr Mohammed Aslam 5 4 1 Cllr Joanna Dabrowska 5 5 - Cllr Ashok Kapoor 5 5 - Cllr Gurmit Mann 5 5 - Cllr Timothy Murtagh 5 3 2 Cllr Mark Reen 5 3 2 Cllr David Scott 5 4 1 Cllr Andrew Steed 5 4 1 Cllr Surinder Varma 5 4 0

Substitutes and Other Councillors Meeting 2: Cllr Rajinder Mann substituted for Cllr Sitarah Anjum Cllr Julian Bell (Leader of the Council and Regeneration & Sport)

Meeting 3: Cllr Mik Sabiers substituted for Cllr Mohammed Aslam Cllr Julian Bell (Leader of the Council and Regeneration & Sport)

Meeting 4: Cllr Hitesh Tailor (Portfolio Holder for Housing, Employment and Skills)

Other Large Scale Investors/Developers Benson Elliott Capital Management, British Land, Ealing Broadway BID Company, St George, St James, Segro

Small Businesses Express Print, West Ealing; Silva Café, West Ealing; Arthur Razor, Acton; Peter John Footwear, Greenford; Brilliant Restaurant, Southall; The Little Art Room, Hanwell; Class Design, Hanwell; Hanwell Traders Association; West Ealing Business Hub; Traders from Bilton Road, Perivale

Skills and Employment Jobcentre Plus, West London; Action Acton; Whitefriars Nursing Home

Home-based Businesses Contactus Ealing; The Training Pack; Ealing Mums in Business; Pitter Patter Hub

- 91 - 7.0 BACKGROUND INFORMATION 7.1 Useful Papers Ealing Council’s Constitution, available at http://www.ealing.gov.uk/info/200892/decision_making/597/council_constitut ion

Scrutiny Review Panel 3 – 2013/2014: Economic Growth and Business Development Terms of Reference, Work Programme, Agendas, Minutes and Reports available at http://ealing.cmis.uk.com/ealing/Committees/tabid/62/ctl/ViewCMIS_Commit teeDetails/mid/381/id/38/Default.aspx

Overview and Scrutiny Committee – 2012/2013: Agenda, Minutes and Reports available at http://ealing.cmis.uk.com/ealing/Committees/tabid/62/ctl/ViewCMIS_Commit teeDetails/mid/381/id/34/Default.aspx

7.2 Useful Websites 1. Ealing Council – www.ealing.gov.uk 2. Centre for Public Scrutiny – www.cfps.org.uk 3. Government Services and Information – www.gov.uk 4. Office for National Statistics – www.statistics.gov.uk 5. Jobcentre Plus – https://www.gov.uk/contact-jobcentre-plus 6. Contactus Ealing – www.contactusealing.co.uk 7. West London Alliance – www.westlondonalliance.org 8. Ealing Broadway BID – www.ealingbroadwaybid.co.uk 9. West Ealing BID – www.westealingbid.co.uk

7.3 Further Information For further information about Scrutiny Review Panel 3 – 2013/2014: Economic Growth and Business Development please contact:

Harjeet Bains Scrutiny Review Officer Ealing Council Tel: 020-8825 7120 Email: [email protected]

More information about Scrutiny in Ealing, including meeting dates and work programmes, is available at http://www.ealing.gov.uk/info/200892/decision_making/344/scrutiny

- 92 - 8.0 RECOMMENDATIONS

Rec Recommendation No. R1 The Council should create the right conditions for large businesses to invest in the borough in creating a balance of areas in which to work and play. R2 The Council should continue to meet regularly with developers to exchange information and enable developers to be aware of development opportunities in Ealing. R3 Ealing Council should continue with the approach of being ‘open for business’ with developers and businesses. R4 The Council should review the issues concerning inadequate parking signage and take appropriate action accordingly. For example, the car parks in Southall should be better publicised and clearly sign posted as lots of people visit the town. R5 The Council should give careful consideration to the issues that can arise from a clustered residential and industrial mix. R6 In implementing the Local Plan, the Council should continue supporting the existing Neighbourhood Planning Forums and support new ones. R7 Relevant Departments should liaise regularly on the potential developments in the Ealing Local Plan to ensure collaborative working. R8 Council Officers should work with all businesses and the Valuation Office Agency for better outcomes on business rate charges. R9 The Council should act as a ‘knowledge hub’ helping to create a business support infrastructure by devising a toolkit which provides all the information that existing and start-up businesses may require to help with the management of their business. For example, working with local places of interest for them to produce leaflets for distribution to their guests/visitors. R10 A mentoring program should be investigated in which established businesses could provide guidance to new start-ups. R11 Local businesspeople should be recommended to join or form traders associations to work together proactively. R12 The Council needs to consider ways in which it can deliver direct business support including smarter ways of working and strengthening business networks. R13 The Council should play a key role in relaying information on the promotion of the potential business fair in the borough this autumn. R14 The Council should consider a regular feature in the Around Ealing magazine for initiatives aimed at businesses around the borough. R15 The relevant service officers should review the Council’s small business advice webpage to make best use of it. R16 There are many avenues available to help the young entry level residents into employment within the scope of the Council and its partners but there is a need for extra help to older residents seeking employment. The Council and partner agencies should also work more effectively in respect of employment in the borough to avoid duplication of work and resources.

- 93 - Rec Recommendation No. R17 The services offered by different areas of the Council should be joined up to work together on employment issues more effectively. R18 The Council’s tendering process for services should be reassessed to include a clause for the successful bidder to make use of the local job market. R19 Where the Planning Policy allows for it, the Council’s Section 106 agreements and planning agreements on new developments should have an added provision to ensure that the developer makes use of the local job market and aims to employ local people. R20 Jobcentre Plus should ensure that they have appropriate referral mechanisms for all levels of employment. R21 The Council should continue the successful Apprenticeship Scheme and actively develop and promote it. R22 The Council should maintain street cleanliness to a high standard to draw further investment in the borough. R23 The Council should work with the local Police to stop antisocial behaviour in the streets such as chewing gum, littering and spitting in public areas. R24 Ealing Council should work more closely with the hotel industry in providing them timely information about local festivals and other interesting events as well as promoting the hotels on the Council’s website and other marketing literature. R25 The Council should work with the Ealing Broadway BID Company to support the plans for a West Ealing BID and investigate the feasibility of a Southall BID. R26 The Council should advise schools to play a bigger part in preparing young people for employment. These skills would make youngsters more employable after school. R27 The Council should regularly patrol all the main shopping areas of the borough and stop businesses from encroaching on the pavements as this often makes it difficult and dangerous for pedestrians to get past. R28 The Council should stop dangerous practices such as deep frying in hot oil on the pavements, especially in Southall, as this is a health and safety hazard. R29 The Overview and Scrutiny Committee ensures that an appropriate scrutiny body undertakes the ongoing monitoring including the implementation of the agreed recommendations.

- 94 - 9.0 RECOMMENDATIONS WITH OFFICER COMMENTS

Recommended Rec Service Officer Comments Cabinet Panel Recommendation No. (Including Any Resource and Legal Implications) Response (Accept/Reject) R1 The Council should create the right conditions for large Carol Sam (Senior Economic Regeneration Manager) Accept businesses to invest in the borough in creating a A number of initiatives have been piloted and more balance of areas in which to work and play. planned to be delivered through place making activities to create spaces and places that people will want to work and play and act as an incentive to developers. Examples of successful partnership work in delivering such activities are the “Roof Top Cinema in Springbridge road car park last summer in partnership with the Ealing Broadway Bid to create, “cool places’. Ealing can capitalise on its Arts quarter and annual Jazz Festival. More collaborative work could be scheduled with stakeholders to deliver joint place making events in the future and building on current successes such as the Ealing Jazz and Comedy Festivals R2 The Council should continue to meet regularly with Lucy Taylor (Assistant Director of Regeneration and Accept developers to exchange information and enable Planning Policy) developers to be aware of development opportunities in The Council works with developers through the Ealing Ealing. in London partnership. This will be continued and consideration given to additional ways to meet more developers. R3 Ealing Council should continue with the approach of Carol Sam (Senior Economic Regeneration Manager) Accept being ‘open for business’ with developers and Agree and Ealing’s presence at shows such as MIPIM businesses. helps to promote the case. MIPIM is the world’s leading real estate event for property professionals, bringing together the most influential players in international property in Cannes, France. R4 The Council should review the issues concerning Barry Francis (Assistant Director for Parking) and Shahid Accept inadequate parking signage and take appropriate action Iqbal (Assistant Director of Highways)

- 95 - Recommended Rec Service Officer Comments Cabinet Panel Recommendation No. (Including Any Resource and Legal Implications) Response (Accept/Reject) accordingly. For example, the car parks in Southall As part of the Southall Town Centre Project we will be should be better publicised and clearly sign posted as reviewing the car park signage. lots of people visit the town. R5 The Council should give careful consideration to the Lucy Taylor (Assistant Director of Regeneration and Accept issues that can arise from a clustered residential and Planning Policy) industrial mix. Agree. R6 In implementing the Local Plan, the Council should Lucy Taylor (Assistant Director of Regeneration and Accept continue supporting the existing Neighbourhood Planning Policy) Planning Forums and support new ones. Agree. R7 Relevant Departments should liaise regularly on the Lucy Taylor (Assistant Director of Regeneration and Accept potential developments in the Ealing Local Plan to Planning Policy) ensure collaborative working. There are a number of internal cross-departmental working groups where developments are discussed. R8 Council Officers should work with all businesses and the Jane Pearson (NNDR & Insolvency Manager) Accept Valuation Office Agency for better outcomes on The Valuation Office as an agency of HMRC is business rate charges. independent of the Council. Ealing has established liaison arrangements already in place and will continue to seek to enhance our relationship and the communication between the VOA and ourselves to affect and expedite any protracted or other issues in the best interests of all our ratepayers. Ealing will also continue to provide advice and direction to our ratepayers in respect of their rateable value appeal rights, etc. wherever possible. R9 The Council should act as a ‘knowledge hub’ helping to Carol Sam (Senior Economic Regeneration Manager) Accept create a business support infrastructure by devising a A good idea – however will be better to create on-line toolkit which provides all the information that existing resources – so it can easily be updated. Use current and start-up businesses may require to help with the technology to link other useful sites that exists already management of their business. For example, working to provide business support information – such as the with local places of interest for them to produce leaflets British Library IP centre, Business Link National

- 96 - Recommended Rec Service Officer Comments Cabinet Panel Recommendation No. (Including Any Resource and Legal Implications) Response (Accept/Reject) for distribution to their guests/visitors. website- then include what the Council specifically offers. R10 A mentoring program should be investigated in which Carol Sam (Senior Economic Regeneration Manager) Accept established businesses could provide guidance to new Agree – however formal mentoring programmes start-ups. require quite a lot of resources and investment to recruit and train mentors to ensure a level of quality and consistency of advice and support. Another informal way is to facilitate a self-selection and matching programme where businesses seeking particular help and assistance can pair up with those providing support – could be developed through current Ealing Business Partnership (EBP) in collaboration with other partners/stakeholders such as the Ealing Chamber of Commerce – a Business Match Making Mentoring website could be set up to deliver this. R11 Local businesspeople should be recommended to join Carol Sam (Senior Economic Regeneration Manager) Accept or form traders associations to work together Regeneration is already working to establish Traders proactively. Associations across Town Centres (Acton, Southall and Greenford) – some more successful than others such as the Hanwell Traders Association (HAT). R12 The Council needs to consider ways in which it can Carol Sam (Senior Economic Regeneration Manager) Accept deliver direct business support including smarter ways Need to define what we mean by direct business of working and strengthening business networks. support – start-ups or High Growth – each will require a different level of approach and resource intensity. Agree there is merit in working with business networks – more importantly knowing who they are, understanding what they do and to ensure we can promote them if appropriate to local businesses.

- 97 - Recommended Rec Service Officer Comments Cabinet Panel Recommendation No. (Including Any Resource and Legal Implications) Response (Accept/Reject) R13 The Council should play a key role in relaying Carol Sam (Senior Economic Regeneration Manager) Accept information on the promotion of the potential business Agree. fair in the borough this autumn. R14 The Council should consider a regular feature in the Carol Sam (Senior Economic Regeneration Manager) Accept Around Ealing magazine for initiatives aimed at Agree and link to response at R11 above re website businesses around the borough. R15 The relevant service officers should review the Council’s Carol Sam (Senior Economic Regeneration Manager) Accept small business advice webpage to make best use of it. See response to R11 R16 There are many avenues available to help the young Simon Brooke (Head of Employment and Skills) Accept entry level residents into employment within the scope The Council already works closely with key local of the Council and its partners but there is a need for partners and coordinates the LSP Skills and extra help to older residents seeking employment. The Employment Group. The proposed Council Council and partner agencies should also work more Employment and Skills Strategy aims to enhance and effectively in respect of employment in the borough to improve the effectiveness of partnership work with avoid duplication of work and resources. other agencies. R17 The services offered by different areas of the Council Simon Brooke (Head of Employment and Skills) Accept should be joined up to work together on employment The Council created the cross-council Employment issues more effectively. Learning and Skills Group in 2013. This brings key officers (and Portfolio holder) together to address this issue and achieve better co-ordination. The proposed Council Employment and Skills Strategy also aims to address this issue. R18 The Council’s tendering process for services should be Simon Brooke (Head of Employment and Skills) Accept reassessed to include a clause for the successful bidder Consideration of this issue is now a duty under the to make use of the local job market. Social Value Act – this is already implemented in tenders but not consistently applied across the Council. R19 Where the Planning Policy allows for it, the Council’s Simon Brooke (Head of Employment and Skills) Accept Section 106 agreements and planning agreements on Planning agreements and Section 106 agreements are new developments should have an added provision to already used in this way. Some review of planning ensure that the developer makes use of the local job policy as it applies to this issue is planned in 2104.

- 98 - Recommended Rec Service Officer Comments Cabinet Panel Recommendation No. (Including Any Resource and Legal Implications) Response (Accept/Reject) market and aims to employ local people. R20 Jobcentre Plus should ensure that they have Simon Brooke (Head of Employment and Skills) Reject appropriate referral mechanisms for all levels of I think as this should be a recommendation for Council employment. action (rather than telling JCP to rectify something) – I’d be inclined to reject it. I can’t see what action we could take on this and I am not sure that JCP would agree with this analysis, or that they have the resources to focus on training for all sectors of employment – the nature of scarce resources, the priority groups they target and the local jobs market means they will always focus more strongly on some sectors. R21 The Council should continue the successful Simon Brooke (Head of Employment and Skills) Accept Apprenticeship Scheme and actively develop and Agreed – this work is ongoing as covered by existing promote it. resources. R22 The Council should maintain street cleanliness to a high Earl McKenzie (Assistant Director of Street Services) Accept standard to draw further investment in the borough. This is a standard contract objective. R23 The Council should work with the local Police to stop Earl McKenzie (Assistant Director of Street Services) Accept antisocial behaviour in the streets such as chewing Joint working with Police/Safer Communities officer gum, littering and spitting in public areas. ongoing in respect of enforcement of anti-spitting. Discussions underway regarding approach to prevention of chewing gum litter. R24 Ealing Council should work more closely with the hotel Lucy Taylor (Assistant Director of Regeneration and Accept industry in providing them timely information about local Planning Policy) festivals and other interesting events as well as Agree. promoting the hotels on the Council’s website and other marketing literature. R25 The Council should work with the Ealing Broadway BID Carol Sam (Senior Economic Regeneration Manager) Accept Company to support the plans for a West Ealing BID Agree. and investigate the feasibility of a Southall BID.

- 99 - Recommended Rec Service Officer Comments Cabinet Panel Recommendation No. (Including Any Resource and Legal Implications) Response (Accept/Reject) R26 The Council should advise schools to play a bigger part Julie Lewis (Assistant Director - School Effectiveness) Accept in preparing young people for employment. These skills This is a key objective in the Council’s 14-19 plans and would make youngsters more employable after school. is currently supported by an external consultant who works 2 days a week to support Raising the Participation Age and 14-19 matters in schools. The Council’s capacity to advise schools on this specific area is currently limited by capacity. There is no longer dedicated funding to support a full-time post dedicated to 14-19 issues. R27 The Council should regularly patrol all the main Earl McKenzie (Assistant Director of Street Services) Accept shopping areas of the borough and stop businesses An issue for Envirocrime Prevention, regular town from encroaching on the pavements as this often makes centre patrol ongoing and action taken (including it difficult and dangerous for pedestrians to get past. prosecution) against activity outside of licensed areas. R28 The Council should stop dangerous practices such as Earl McKenzie (Assistant Director of Street Services)/ deep frying in hot oil on the pavements, especially in Mark Wiltshire (Head of Regulatory Services) Southall, as this is a health and safety hazard. This requires policy development with Regulatory Services (food safety).

Mark Wiltshire has been asked for his input but has yet to respond. R29 The Overview and Scrutiny Committee ensures that an Keith Fraser (Head of Scrutiny and Committees) Accept appropriate scrutiny body undertakes the ongoing The Overview and Scrutiny Committee normally monitoring including the implementation of the agreed reviews the progress on, a six-monthly basis, all Panel recommendations. recommendations that have been accepted by the Cabinet/Other Bodies.

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