Issue - meetings

An opportunity to question the Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Social Inclusion and Sustainability , Councillor Joe Goldberg, on his portfolio.

RECEIVED a verbal update on the work of the Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Social Inclusion and Sustainability, Councillor Joe Goldberg, including:

·         plans to celebrate 50 years of the Council;

·         a report on Economic Growth had been presented to Cabinet in January detailing the Council’s plans to tackle unemployment and attract employers to the Borough.  The report would be circulated to the Committee;

Action: Clerk & Vicky Clark

·         Cabinet Members and Officers were working across services to define social inclusion;

·         continued working with partners such as Durham University on sustainability and encouraging green enterprise.

NOTED, in response to questions, that

·         the challenge of providing sites for economic development when there was such demand for housing sites was recognised.  Job density per square metre would be a focus for the Council as less employment land would be available in the future;

·         the success of economic growth would be measured by lower unemployment figures provided in national public statistics;

·         Haringey did not currently have an established Chambers of Commerce for local businesses to network and drive the local economy;

·         the importance of rate relief for small businesses was recognised and there were concerns that some small businesses did not serve the local population but benefitted from high rate relief.

·         the Council was focussing on supporting and developing skills in the textile industry, which had maintained a competitive advantage during recent difficult times;

·         labour shortages in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) were recognised and the Council would focus on promoting such skills to children at primary school to enable young people to compete in the job market and to encourage females in these areas;

·         ‘Prospects’ careers advisors were visiting schools to educate Year 7-9 children before they made GCSE option choices;

·         the Council was always looking to establish arrangements with employers for local job opportunities, particularly as part of procurement processes.  Developers were obliged to provide apprenticeships as part of regeneration and construction projects in Haringey in partnership with Knowledge Innovation Communities (KIC) and Imperial College to ensure high quality, clear pathways for apprentices;

·         a large engineering depot would be established in Hornsey by Siemens and would offer apprenticeship opportunities;

·         the recently established Employment and Skills Board would work with local employment providers to agree strategic direction but it was accepted that local businesses were required to commit to the process;

·         getting young people into employment was the main priority, followed by dealing with the barriers to employment for the long-term unemployed, including social inclusion.

RESOLVED to note the work of the Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Social Inclusion and Sustainability.