The Committee considered the Runnymede Economic Development Strategy for 2022 to 2026 which included a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis and provided an analysis of the local economy and identified the Council’s priorities and deliverables for supporting economic growth over the next four years.

The Government approach to supporting economic recovery and growth post – pandemic was set out in the paper “Build Back Better: Our Plan for Growth March 2021”.  The Levelling Up White Paper published in February 2022 contained the Government’s long-term economic and social plan to make opportunity more equal across the UK.  The Shared Prosperity Fund would help resource the plan for levelling up and the Council would be allocated funding through this Fund from 2022 to 2025. It was noted that the Council had received £1 million from the Shared Prosperity Fund in common with all Surrey Councils.  Officers would report on proposals for the use of this £1 million as part of the Corporate Business Plan.

The Runnymede Economic Development Strategy 2022 to 2026 identified six strategic priorities and a number of deliverables for the Council to support economic growth.  The Council had undertaken a Runnymede Economic Assessment which underlined that Runnymede had a highly competitive economy and was a dynamic location for business.  It was noted that the Savill Court Hotel referred to in the last paragraph on page 41 of the Assessment had changed its name to Fairmont Windsor Park.

Runnymede was ranked as the most competitive borough in the UK outside London (UK Competitive Index 2021), was the largest economy in the Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership (5.8bn GVA) and was home to a significant number of national and international companies.  There were a high proportion of jobs in tech and cyber security in Runnymede.  The borough benefitted from foreign direct investment, e.g. Netflix at Longcross.

The Committee was pleased to note Runnymede’s excellent performance against most of the economic indicators and commended the Economic Development Strategy. Runnymede was the 61^st least deprived local authority but the borough received less favourable results for affordable accommodation, had pockets of deprivation and suffered from a high degree of traffic congestion and a high level of car use compared to other local authorities.  One of the six strategic priorities (Number 6) in the Strategy was developing a low carbon economy.  The aim of this priority was to support and encourage businesses to be more sustainable or greener.

A number of objectives and deliverables were identified in Appendix 1 of the Strategy.  These included supporting inward investment, developing business awards and support for tech clusters, extending business engagement through Business Runnymede and the Town Teams, developing the tourism economy and strengthening pathways for residents to jobs in tech.  The Committee noted an Equality Screening and an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) for the Strategy.  One of the key themes of the EIA was that the strategy would encourage skills and education providers and careers advisers to target residents from disadvantaged groups and provide stronger pathways to employment and skills by promoting opportunities and addressing barriers.

The Council agreed that the Council would need to show how it would encourage residents to reduce their car use to develop the low carbon economy.  The Strategy would need to link to the Climate Change Strategy and encourage cycle, bus and train use.  Tourism would need to be promoted as the Council had a number of environmental assets that would draw people to the borough who would then spend money and enhance the local economy. 

Going forward the Committee indicated that it would like to see a specific Action Plan for the strategy.  It was noted that the Corporate Business Plan would set out work plans for the various Council strategies which were being drawn up. These strategies formed the core elements for the Corporate Business Plan. It was agreed that the Council should make the connections between the strategies clear to the local public. 

The Committee agreed that the Council should aim to improve performance on provision of affordable housing.  It was noted that affordable housing had a specific definition which might not make it really affordable to people on lower incomes and it was suggested that providing low cost accommodation should be a key aim of the Council.   In promoting economic development in the borough, it was agreed that the Council should seek to act as a catalyst for growth and that it was appropriate for risk taking to be undertaken by the private sector.

A Member referred to one of the key findings in the workforce dynamics section of the strategy that was also referred to in the Runnymede Economic Assessment.  This was that in 2020, there were 4,200 people in Runnymede with no qualifications which represented 7.2% of 16 to 64 year olds in the borough which was higher than the rate for Surrey and for the United Kingdom.  It was noted that the statistic of 7.2% was based on a low sample number.  It was agreed that the Member would be advised of the origin of the statistic and that officers would investigate whether there was any other data available which substantiated this statistic.

Recommend to the Full Council meeting which considers the Corporate Plan:

that the Runnymede Economic Development strategy for 2022 to 2026 be approved and in particular the assessment of the local economy and SWOT analysis be noted and the six priorities set out in the Strategy and the deliverables identified in Appendix 1 of the Strategy be approved.