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Economy

Local authorities have vital roles to play in securing the economic, social and environmental well-being of their communities.

Local Enterprise Partnerships

In 2010 Councils and businesses across the West Midlands were invited by Government to develop Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) to promote economic growth.  Local partnerships submitted their proposals to Government in September 2010. There are 6 geographical LEP proposals in the West Midlands.  Below are links to the website for each Local Enterprise Partnership:

 

 Recently, Councils across the West Midlands have been instrumental in giving impetus and support to LEPs to put them in a position whereby they can fulfil Government’s ambition that LEPs

“…..are locally-owned partnerships between local authorities and businesses and play a central role in determining local economic priorities and undertaking activities to drive economic growth and the creation of local jobs."

They are also a key vehicle in delivering Government objectives for economic growth and decentralisation, whilst providing a means for local authorities to work together with business in order to quicken the economic recovery.

In order to clarify the role that Councils play as partners on LEP Boards and the wider role that they play in creating the environment which allows business to establish, thrive and create jobs and economic growth WMC has developed a Shared Narrative. The Narrative: 

  • describes the  local government role in relation to economic development, as distinct from the role ascribed by Government to LEPs
  • acknowledges that local authorities will work together in various configurations depending on the issue in hand, and
  • illustrates the above point with transport as an example.
     

The 2011 Edition of the Procurement Framework for Jobs and Skills

The West Midlands Procurement Framework for Jobs and Skills was launched in March 2010 and was developed by the West Midlands Economic Inclusion Panel to enable public, private and voluntary / community sector organisations to increase access to jobs and skills opportunities for local people through procurement.
The Framework aims to achieve the above by:
  •  Making access to jobs and skills a core requirement of procurement exercises
  • Addressing the real and perceived legal barriers to the use of jobs and skills clauses in procurement
  • Providing advice and guidance to help embed a focus on jobs and skills throughout the end-to-end procurement process – from setting strategic priorities to contract implementation and monitoring
  • Sign-posting procurers and prospective contractors to the range of support and advice that can help both parties deliver on the jobs and skills requirements to be delivered
The rationale for harnessing Public Sector buying power is the assumption that 2-4 jobs are secured per £1 million of procurement and it is estimated that approximately £16 billion of spending is procured annually by the public sector in the West Midlands.
The Framework was re-published in March 2011 to provide the following:
·         A fully revised Guide and Toolkit
·         Further assurance that applying the Framework is wholly consistent with the latest developments in EU Procurement Law
·         More ‘real time’ case studies showing how other public sector bodies have deployed the Framework’s approach to procuring jobs and skills outcomes
·         Better signposting in the Guide to relevant tools, templates and case studies within the toolkit
·         More examples of the barriers to, and the benefits of, deploying the Framework
·         An opportunity for peer-to-peer sharing of lessons learned
The 2011 Edition of the Framework is available here: Main Guide, Summary Guide, Toolkit.

For further details please contact: Sherman Wong via tel: 0121 245 0210 email:  s.wong@wmcouncils.gov.uk

Last modified on 1st February 2012 at 11:14 am by Kate Doogan.