Rutland Growth
Summit
Wednesday 8th January 2014
Rutland Growth Summit 2014
WELCOME AND OBJECTIVES
Cllr. Terry King (Chair)
Deputy Leader
Rutland County Council
Innovative and Growing Companies
MMT
Digital
Ltd
Growth: Our Strengths
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Relatively high skill base, level of professional and managerial
above national average
 Measure of untapped entrepreneurial capacity
 High business start-up rates
High overall employment, self-employment rates 3 times EM
Accessible to urban centres
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Peterborough, Leicester by A47
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Main N-S communication links
(A1, rail-link & Birmingham to Stansted)
Growth: Our Challenges
• Opportunities for higher skilled employment locally are limited
• High level of commuting to nearby urban centres
• In-commuting to lower level occupations
• Low wage equilibrium for those who live and work in the County
• Transport and connectivity issues within the County
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Loss of public sector employment, armed forces, prison closure
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Access to finance for SMEs
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An ageing population
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Low unemployment
THE ENTERPRISE PARTNERSHIP
APPROACH TO GROWTH
Mark Reeve
Chairman
Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough
Enterprise Partnership
Growing the economy
8th January 2014
Mark Reeve
Chairman
The LEP Team
… And you!
Our goal
“Our goal is to develop our
internationally competitive, nationally
significant economy bringing together
the diverse strengths of our area.”
Our Priorities
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Enterprise Zone
Infrastructure
Skills
Enterprise
International Profile
Skills
• Comprehensive skills survey underway
• https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LEPSkills
• Local Skills Team to be launched in 2014
– Rutland covered by the first wave
– Providing future workers with the skills you need
– Linking businesses to education
• Skills Strategy in place
Agri-Tech
• Successful £3.2m Regional Growing Funded
project
• Eastern England Agri-Tech Growth Initiative
• Grants programme launches this month
• Innovation Centre to be created
LEP Prize Challenge
• £1m fund for Voluntary
and Social Enterprise
led projects
• Getting people job
ready (1,000) and into
work (250)
Growing Places Fund
• £16.1m of funding
• Projects include:
– Oakham Enterprise Park
– Haverhill Research Park
– Fenland Horticulture & Land
Based Skills Centre
– Future Business Centre
– Transport improvements
GPF Round 2
• Circa £5 million
• Unlocking jobs
• Accelerating economic
growth
• Call for projects from
24th January
Grants4Growth
• Grants available for:
– Investing in technology or
processes to facilitate
growth, improve resilience
or create/ safeguard jobs
– Put in place efficiency
initiatives to reduce waste,
water or energy use
– Reduce the environmental
impact of operations
– kurt@grants4growth.org.uk
Looking ahead…
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European Funding Strategy
Local Growth Strategy
Year of Exporting
Growing our economy
Thank you for listening
info@yourlocalenterprisepartnership.co.uk
@YourLEP
www.yourlocalenterprisepartnership.co.uk
OVERVIEW OF CURRENT GROWTH PROJECTS
AND CONCEPTS IN RUTLAND
Cllr. Terry King
Deputy Leader
Rutland County Council
1. Employment Land
• Former HMP Ashwell, 24 acre site
• Four large former cell blocks demolished to
create 3 acre space for commercial building plots
• Prison fence being dismantled
• Over 60% of available business units either let or
under negotiation with tenants
• Sports centre now being used by local clubs, e.g. Vale Judo
• £0.5m Sport England bid for refurbishment of sports centre – decision
expected early January
2. Broadband
Superfast Fibre Broadband
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First Superfast Broadband enabled County
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BT, Rutland Telecom and Gigaclear already providing services to
parts of the County commercially
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Digital Rutland project to focus on areas that are not
covered by a commercial deployment
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All 10 exchanges in Rutland have been upgraded
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Download speeds of up to 80 Mbps
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1st live cabinet in the East Midlands using BDUK/public funding
(July 2013)
3. Supporting Business
• Labour Supply – Access to Transport
 Worklink employment shuttle bus
 Oakham Bus Station
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Business Finance Support
 RCC Business Loan Scheme
 Rutland Business Volunteer Mentor Scheme
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Skills Development
 Need to improve skills of workforce –
big split in skills between those who live
and those who work in county
4. Capital/Revenue Investment
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Supporting businesses to access GCGP
Growing Places Funding
Working collaboratively with
Northern GCGP EP authorities on funding bids
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Joint £475K p.a Ready for Work Growth
Deal Funding Bid submitted to GCGP EP
for consideration – 2015 onwards to
support apprenticeships network and
work placements
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Joint Interim Skills Pilot bid to GCGP EP –
2014 helping young people understand
the breadth of roles available in different
business sectors and developing their
employability skills.
Rutland Growth Summit 2014
Discussion Session
• What else can the Council do to help, not
hinder, your business growth?
• What do you want us to do ?
• What do we do that gets in your way?
Rutland Growth Summit 2014
QUESTIONS TO THE PANEL
Cllr Terry King (Chair)
BUDGET CONSULTATION
Saverio Della Rocca
Cllr. Terry King
BUDGET CONSULTATION
OUR MEDIUM TERM
FINANCIAL PLAN AND BUDGET
Saverio Della Rocca
BUDGET CONSULTATION
Key Points
• Council’s budget for 2014-15 is £30.5m (net of
depreciation). The budget is lower than it has been in last 4
years. (11-12 £31.4m, 12-13 £31.2m, 13-14 £32.1m)
• Council is making new savings of £925k but no reductions in key
services
• Council’s funding has reduced in 2014-15 and will do so again in
2015-16. Funding from Government (if we include business rates)
has reduced from £12.2m to £11.78m from 2013/14 to 2014/15
• No Council Tax rises planned for 4th successive year
• No major capital projects other than those ongoing e.g. Oakham
Enterprise Park
• Beyond 2015-16 is very uncertain and there are other threats on
the horizon, e.g. New Homes Bonus review
BUDGET CONSULTATION
Key Points
• Council’s strategy is to use balances in a controlled way whilst it
‘right sizes’ expenditure
• Government has announced 2% increase in Business Rates and
other changes, including extending small business rate relief to
April 2015; introducing a discount of up to £1,000 for retail
premises with a rateable value of up to £50,000; and granting of
a temporary reoccupation relief to business that occupy premises
previously unoccupied
• Council retains 49% of Business Rates income but pays a tariff of
c£790k to the Government
• Growth above baseline (the amount the Government believes we
need in addition to RSG) is retained subject to a 16% levy. Any
losses below baseline up to 7.5% are not refunded by
Government
• No real growth achieved in 2013/14
BUDGET CONSULTATION
YOUR VIEWS ?
Cllr. Terry King
RUTLAND GROWTH SUMMIT
NETWORKING AND CLOSE
Cllr. Terry King (Chair)