Meeting documents

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meetings held on 17 March and 27 May 2015, copy attached as Appendix A and B respectively.

RESOLVED –

That the Minutes of the meetings held on 17 March and 27 May 2015 be approved as a correct record.

To consider the report attached as Appendix C

Contact Officer: Mal Hussain (01296) 585256 / Charlotte Gordon (01296) 585060

Members received a report outlining the purpose and function of the Committee and in particular the work programme and background information relating to the economy of the Vale.

The Committee was advised that setting the work programme was an important stage in the scrutiny process.  The work programme would identify key topics for consideration during the life of the Committee.  It was essential for Members to be directly involved in the formulation of the programme, ensuring that it reflected the time available.  The following key principles needed to be considered when drawing up the programme:-

·           Topics should add value to the work of the Authority

·           Topics should involve partners, residents and businesses

·           There should be sufficient flexibility to allow for topics to be considered as and when they arose

·           Topics should reflect the views and concerns of the community

·           The programme should reflect a realistic use of resources

There were many ways by which topics could be identified, including the outcome of public consultations, suggestions from Members and/or Corporate Board, the Cabinet forward plan and quarterly performance and finance digests.  It was however again stressed that the programme should be manageable from the Committee’s perspective and resourcing work by officers.

A number of "one off" items had been considered specifically or had been reported on during the past year, including the following:-

·           Key employment sites

·           East/West Rail

·           Local Enterprise Partnerships

·           Economic Performance

·           Broadband provision

·           The Aylesbury Vale Estates Business Plan

·           Skills Update

·           Support for business growth within the Vale

Issues currently being worked on included:-

·           Inward investment

·           Economic Development Strategy and Action Plan

·           Business support

·           Start up businesses

·           European funded programmes

Copies of the Committee’s Terms of Reference, the current work programme and the selection criteria were attached to the Committee report.

To provide some context to the economy of the Vale, the Committee received a presentation giving a brief overview of AVDC’s economic development activity.  This included high level economic indicators concerning the current and projected demographic position, employment statistics and information about the businesses within the Vale.

By broad industry group, health employed the most people in Aylesbury and Buckinghamshire, with 24,600 working in this sector, ahead of retail (22,400), education (21,300) and the professional scientific and defence sector (20,900).

There were 9,570 businesses in the Vale, the majority of which were small businesses.  At 87% being less than 10 employees, Aylesbury Vale had been ranked 37 out of all 380 local authorities in the country.  These figures could be broken down as follows:-

·           0-9 employees – 8,390 (87%)

·           10-49 employees – 185 (10.2%)

·           250+ employees – 30 (0.3%)

There had been 1,075 "business births" in the Vale during 2013, which had been the highest since comparable records had begun in 2004.  A table detailing "business births and deaths" in 2013 in Buckinghamshire and the rest of the country was submitted.

Business intensity in Aylesbury Vale was strongest in construction, motorsport, wholesale, public administration and defence, education and arts/entertainment/recreation.  The business growth focus had been to ensure the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.