Brighton and Hove economic strategy wins backing of political and business leaders

A five-year economic strategy from Brighton and Hove has been given the backing of the area’s political and business leaders.

The strategy has five key aims. They are to

• grow quality jobs and business opportunities in higher-value and lower-carbon sectors
• better align jobs skills to projected needs and in support of higher-value sectors
• tackle barriers to employment and create employment opportunities for all
• establish a strong and influential Greater Brighton city region
• enhance Brighton and Hove’s distinctive destination and lifestyle offer

A report to the Brighton and Hove Strategic Partnership said: “For most people ‘success’ in economic terms means a job and a home, preferably a job that pays enough to allow them to have a home that meets their needs.

“In these terms Brighton and Hove’s record is mixed. Certainly there has been good progress with job creation and keeping unemployment down but the provision of homes, especially affordable homes, is still inadequate.

“In many respects, the Brighton and Hove economy has weathered the 2008 recession and subsequent austerity quite well compared to other UK locations.

“Although it has not emerged unscathed, the broadening of its employment base since the 1990s recession, especially in the creative, digital and IT (CDIT) sector, has protected it from the worst of the downturn.

“Unemployment in the city, as measured by (jobseeker’s allowance) claimants, has declined by 16 per cent over the past year from 6,651 to just over 5,200 (the same level as October 2008).

“About 1,100 19 to 24-year-olds are unemployed (the same level as June 2008). Only 180 have been unemployed for more than 12 months.

“Four hundred and fifty 16 to 18-year-olds are not in employment, education or training (NEET), the lowest level in the city for eight years.

“Care leavers are disproportionately represented in that figure.”

“There is no complacency about youth unemployment and a number of agencies in addition to Job Centre Plus and City College Brighton and Hove are working to offer employment opportunities, especially apprenticeships.

“But there is a shortage of places. In July, for instance, 347 would-be apprentices actively applied for 91 vacancies on offer.

“Many more businesses offering apprenticeships are needed but we have only six large private-sector employers (1,000-plus employees) that have the capacity to offer volume apprenticeships.

“The city has made excellent progress in improving the qualifications of pupils leaving secondary school over the past two years.

“In 2010 the number of pupils gaining five GCSEs at grades A* to C including maths and English was under 45 per cent – over 6 percentage points adrift from the England average.

“In 2013 it has risen to 62 per cent and is likely to be above the average when national figures are released.

“However, the city still seems to have a ‘17 problem’, ie, young people starting further education when they leave school but too many dropping out at the age of 17 before they have completed their courses.

“The workforce can be broadly divided into ‘residents’ that live in the city but don’t necessarily work in it and ‘workers’ that work in Brighton and Hove but don’t necessarily live there.

“Residents earn far more than workers – median earnings of £27,492 per annum compared to £24,560 per annum respectively.

“But something in excess of 33,000 people have to leave the city every working day to earn those higher salaries.

“There is a glut of lower-paid jobs – paying less than the living wage – and a shortage of higher-paid jobs in the city.

“And entry-level jobs are often occupied by undergraduates seeking to finance their studies and/or postgraduates seeking to remain in the city but unable to find graduate-level employment.

“Brighton and Hove has the fourth best-qualified resident population in England but doesn’t have the jobs to match.

“Nevertheless our two universities are central to the city’s ambition.

“If Brighton and Sussex universities were combined they would be the fourth-largest (higher education) institution in the UK and they represent two of our most significant assets.

“They have extensive international connections, they are major suppliers of skilled labour and they have specialist technological expertise that can be better utilised to the benefit of the city region’s economy through stronger knowledge exchange partnerships and networks.

“Great strides have also been made in the productivity of the workforce.

“In 1999 productivity, measured as gross value added or GVA per head, was £12,634.

“By the end of the last decade, GVA per head was £20,611 and had grown faster than any other urban area of similar demographic size outside London.

“However, it is still slightly below the average for the south east.

“In terms of homes our landlocked city will never have a balanced housing market although it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that the wider ‘city region’ will.

“The City Plan estimates that between 16,000 to 19,000 homes will be needed over the next 20 years but to meet this need would require building on every piece of land including industrial estates and other sites earmarked for employment use.

“If we are to avoid becoming a dormitory town for London, a balance between homes and employment space must be maintained.”

One of the objectives in the economic strategy is intended to “take the city’s success and ensure that it benefits all residents by the creation of suitable employment and the up-skilling of residents furthest from the labour market”.

The report added: “The city contains some of the most significantly deprived areas in England, particularly in East Brighton, Queen’s Park and Moulsecoomb and Bevendean.

“Some 22 per cent of the city’s children live in poverty and the vast majority (70 per cent) come from workless households.

“The refreshed Economic Strategy seeks to address many of the city’s challenges including skills, development of sites, inward investment and climate change, with an emphasis on prioritising what is deliverable rather than just desirable.”