Agenda item

To note the progress made to date and next steps.

David Smith (Director of Economic Development) and Johanna Howarth (Deputy Director of Economic Development) were in attendance for this item.

1.    Mr Smith introduced the report that set out the Enterprise and Productivity Strategy which identified ways that local authorities across Kent and Medway, working with other public and private organisations, might help businesses to grow, move and thrive in Kent. The strategy also identified ways to increase the county’s economic productivity within a fast-changing technological environment as far as 2050 and has been formulated through the Leader’s working group of elected Members to reflect a breadth of innovative ideas.

2.       Mrs Howarth said that Kent County Council was working with key sectors, local businesses, local authorities and public service providers to identify better ways of measuring and understanding standards of living to provide stronger evidence with which to develop the strategy. Due to the scope of work required, the project would take a year to complete with an aim of publishing an agreed strategy by the summer of 2019. In other parts of the country, it has been demonstrated that areas with evidenced based policy making combined with strong collective governance over wider geographies benefitted from financial rewards and subsequent to that, Kent County Council were keen to ensure that the same approach be adopted when developing its own strategy. The first stage over the summer period would be the call for evidence which would be sent to all key target sectors, asking for their views on what they believe the data identified in terms of how people live, how productive and enterprising Kent’s businesses were and what areas of the strategy required further work. Kent County Council would be working with local and national policy academics and experts of Kent whose knowledge and understanding would play a critical role in providing further validation around the way in which Kent County Council gathered and applied evidence. A series of workshops would also take place over the autumn under the direction of the Leaders Group that aimed to work with local businesses, local authorities and service providers to identify what ‘good’ looks like in different areas and review ways in which Kent County Council could respond to the priorities and seek support from different parties to collectively deliver a short, medium and long term plan up to 2050.

3.    Members sought further information regarding the future of mobility for an aging population and how this fitted within Kent County Council’s policies, Mr Smith directed Members to the quotation in the report which had been extracted from a Government White Paper which challenged the nation to think about the future. Whilst there was not a direct link with the Councils current policies, the aim of the strategy would be to identify those issues so that they could be incorporated into future policies over the next 30 years.

4.    In response to Members concerns regarding the uncertainty of Brexit and whether Kent County Council was in a practical position to start producing the strategy, Mr Smith referred to the annex of the report which set out the future timetable of delivery and said that the challenge presented since November 2017 was that there had been no precedent that Kent County Council felt confident in adopting. There had been a variety of strategies and policies that had been endorsed and implemented by local and central governments, however, until Kent Council were in a stronger position with accurate evidence, the strategy would not be released as there would be potential for mixed interpretation. Therefore, the work that had started to take place was around how Kent County Council could produce that correct evidence base in order to take the policy forward.

5.       Mrs B Cooper (Corporate Director of Growth, Environment and Transport) said that the Enterprise and Productivity Strategy and Growth Infrastructure Fund both looked into the future position of Kent. There was also the Energy and Low Emission strategy that was due to be produced for Kent in consultation with District Councils and partners; the key component of which would be the future of transport, the detriment of air quality and the infrastructure needed to support future mobility. The paper would be going to the Environment and Transport Cabinet Committee on a regular basis and welcomed Members to raise their comments there.

6.    Members commended the work of the officers and recognised the strategies importance in driving Kent forward into the future.

7.    RESOLVED that the progress made to date and the next steps be noted.