Northumberland Approach
It is anticipated that local authorities will be required to start preparations for a new economic assessment from April 2010.
Promoting economic prosperity is a fundamental objective to improving the quality of life in Northumberland, as articulated in both the Sustainable Community Strategy and Local Area Agreement for the county . It was therefore agreed that work would start on preparing an economic assessment for the county in advance of the statutory duty being introduced. This work would also assist in informing the economic priorities of the new County Council.
Against this background, the process was initiated in January 2008 with a “futures” workshop aimed at stimulating debate as to the scope and approach to be adopted in preparing an economic assessment for the county. The session helped identify, several key issues and themes for consideration within the Economic Assessment. This was captured in an Outcomes Report (PDF, 85KB).
Following the workshop and further discussions with city regional and regional partners, a Scoping Paper (PDF, 300KB) was produced in April 2008. It identified a number of principles for the Economic Assessment, in that it needs to:
- enhance our shared knowledge of the dynamics of labour supply and demand within Northumberland and the impact those dynamics have on the economic productivity of our businesses and workforce;
- recognise that there is no such thing as a self contained “Northumberland economy” rather there are a number of overlapping economies that the county contributes to and participates within;
- be forward thinking and place as much weight on what the future holds for Northumberland should certain scenarios prevail as on defining the current state of economic performance in the county;
- recognise that Northumberland’s quality of place represents a considerable part of its unique selling feature; and
- provide a coherent evidence and intelligence platform for the new Council, in conjunction with its partners, to translate its findings into a medium-term economic strategy for Northumberland that will drive future county-based policy interventions and funding decisions and also shape ongoing city regional and regional activity.
On this basis, it was agreed that the Northumberland Economic Assessment would consist of three inter-linked elements.
Northumberland County Council has recently produced a Guide to Community Leadership (link to PDF on external website) which outlines through a series of Frequently Asked Questions how it intends working with partners and involving communities. This includes an explanation as to the respective roles of the Sustainable Community Strategy and the Local Area Agreement.