Agenda and minutes

It was resolved: That all items be webcast.

Apologies were received from Councillors Paterson, Naghi and Ash.  

Councillor Wilson was substituting for Councillor Paterson.

There were no visiting members.

There were no disclosures.

It was agreed that all items be taken in public as proposed.

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 27 August be agreed as a correct record and duly signed.

Interview with John Foster, Economic Development & Regeneration Manager.

The Chairman welcomed John Foster, Economic Development & Regeneration Manager to the meeting. Mr Foster gave the Committee a presentation (Appendix A) that focused on the current state of Maidstone’s economy the main points of which were:

·  More people commute into the borough for work than out.

·  The wage gap between workplace earning and resident earning had narrowed.

·  Indicators showed that there were more people claiming out of work benefits but unemployment rate for the last two years had been fairly static.

·  Maidstone was out performing the other Kent districts in terms of gross value added.

·  20% of all people in Maidstone have no qualifications.

The Committee noticed that overall the number of business had seen little variation over the last five years but that the number of employees had declined. One Member suggested that this could be just businesses being more efficient however Mr Foster stated that if this had been the case then productivity would have risen within the period, which it had not.

The Committee commented that the lack more recent data was not helpful. Mr Foster clarified that although the national statistics were generally released a year in arrears he also received qualitative data from surveys and feedback from various groups such as the Chamber of Commerce and the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP).

The Committee asked if there was a mismatch between jobs and skills levels and queried the type of jobs that people were coming into Maidstone for. Mr Foster clarified the majority of people coming into the borough for work came from the Medway towns for low paid and low skills jobs.

Maidstone’s approach to economic development was queried by the committee. They asked if the Council should be promoting a specialism or if there was a gap in the market the borough could fill. They were told that Maidstone has a mixed economy with no clusters of specific industries, it was explained that this was positive, as it meant that Maidstone was able to cope well with economic change. Mr Foster added that the building of the Kent Institute of Medicine and Surgery provided an opportunity for Maidstone to develop a specialism around medicine and healthcare.

A member asked about public sector reliance in Maidstone and the Committee was surprised to hear that since the economic downturn the public sector had continued to grow however Mr Foster stated that it was expected that there was going to be 2000 job losses in the public sector between now and 2015.

The committee thanked Mr Foster for his presentation.

It was resolved that the presentation be noted.

Interview with John Foster, Economic Development & Regeneration Manager.

The Chairman welcomed John Foster, Economic Development & Regeneration Manager to the meeting.

Mr Foster informed the committee that the work for the Regeneration & Economic Development Strategy had been commissioned, in tandem with the local plan, last year with the intention that both plans would be aligned. However, since then the local plan had been delayed and at present the plans do not align. Mr Foster explained to the committee that although the current plan was on hold until both documents could come together he was still pursuing other actions around economic development which were not dependant on employment land allocation.

The Committee heard that the economic development team was working in partnership with Kent County Council (KCC) on a regional growth which was expected to be a launched in November and that there was other partnership and collaborate initiative taking place including providing more business support services, new signage for the town centre and restructuring the team.

The Committee asked about how co-operation with neighbouring authorities, which was an issue for the local plan, was being addressed. Mr Foster responded that his main concern was the allocation of land for employment purposes. 

The Committee was assured that they would be consulted on any draft strategy and thanked Mr Foster for his update.

It was resolved that the update be noted.

Interview with John Foster, Economic & Regeneration Manager. 

The Committee welcomed John Foster Regeneration & Economic Development Manager to the meeting.

Mr Foster explained to the Committee that the aim of the project was to provide an affordable and flexible business environment for small businesses, the self-employed and starter businesses with business support and advice available. The starting brief asked him to look at the cost of delivery against potential return on investment. Following a question from the committee Mr Foster told the committee that he had draft projections which had been assessed by a national expert and local industry leaders who had agreed the validity of the projections however Mr Foster emphasised that there was more work to be done.

The Committee queried the funding of the project and its long term sustainability. Mr Foster responded that he had undertaken visits to see similar hubs also managed by local authorities and that a bid had been made to Kent County Council and one was to be made to heritage Lottery Fund (HLD) who had a new grant fund to incentivise bringing disused heritage buildings back into use for business purposes. 

The Committee was positive about the project overall and stated that it was a good idea and good use of an old building. They noted that the Cabinet Member was due to make a decision on the funding of the project in October and asked for an update report once funding was secured and work had begun.

The Committee thanked Mr foster for his update.

Interview with Jennifer Sibley, Employability & Skills Project Officer.  

The Committee welcomed Ellie Kershaw, Maidstone Families Matter Programme Manager and Jennifer Sibley, Employability & Skills Project Officer to the meeting.

Miss Sibley informed the Committee that the Council had been proactive in offering work experience placements to people not in employment, education or training (NEETs) and that from 24 individual work placements 13 people young people had since found employment. The Committee also heard that the Council had a mentoring scheme providing regular support including CV advice and practice interviews. From which six people had gone on to find employment.

The Committee asked what was the most common barriers to work cited by people. Miss Sibley responded that work experience, transport and childcare were the biggest barriers to employment. In response to another question the Committee heard that the officer was visiting local businesses to generate interest in both schemes and that the work experience placements at the Council lasted for two weeks.

The Committee was informed that there was a training programme to support businesses and individuals volunteering to be mentors or provide work experience placement and Miss Sibley asked if any of them had any interest in becoming a mentor or were able to offer work experience placements

 to contact her directly for more information.

Miss Sibley told the Committee there are lots of government initiatives available but that business may not have time to keep up to date with new initiatives. She explained that part of her role was working with businesses to help identify their needs. 

The Committee commended Miss Sibley for all her hard work, thanked for the update and requested another update at the end of the financial year.

It was resolved: that the Officer be invited to the Committee’s March meeting to provide an update.

The Committee considered the list of forthcoming decisions and their future work programme. It was noted that they were due to interview Cllr Greer in relation to his plans for Visitor Information. The Committee considered that it would be prudent to also invite Cllr Moss to the October’s meeting to discuss the lease for the Town Hall Foyer as this also had a role to play in providing visitor information.  The Committee agreed a small task and finish panel to meet prior to October’s meeting to scope the committees review topic – events.

It was resolved that:

a)  The future work programme be noted; and

b) Cllr Moss be invited to the committees October’s meeting.

18:30 to 20:35