The Strategic Director, Place will present a report (Document “I”) which provides an overview of the current business support initiatives provided by the Council and its partners within the district and the City Region.

The Committee is asked for its comments in respect of the issues raised in Document “I”.

                                                            (Clare Wilkinson – 01274 433537)

The Strategic Director, Place presented a report (Document “I”) which provided an overview of the business support initiatives currently being provided by the Council and its partners within the district and the wider City Region.

In presenting the report the following issues were highlighted and responses given to Members’ questions and comments:

·         Officers were considering rolling out a discretionary business rate relief scheme, as utilised as part of the City Centre Growth Scheme, to other district centres.

·         Details of Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) schemes and other programmes part funded through the European Structural Investment Fund (ECIF) were included within the report.  Details of inward investment work could be included within future reports.

·         Evaluation was undertaken on a scheme by scheme basis. £23 million of support had been delivered as a result of work by the Invest in Bradford Team last year. It would be difficult to calculate an overall headline figure in terms of the benefit of all schemes as this covered such a wide range of activities.

·         The benefits to local business and the district’s economy were achieved through ensuring that businesses were resilient and competitive.

·         In terms of sustainability; the benefits/outputs were monitored for the length of the relevant programme but it was not possible to continue to do this indefinitely. The Economic Development Team tried to ensure that businesses were aware of the support available to them and that they reviewed their efficiency so that they were in the best possible position to move forward.  In terms of the creation of additional employment, verification was undertaken to ensure that the jobs created would be of an appropriate quality.

·         A set amount of rate rebate applied per job created regardless of the size of the business concerned. Smaller businesses would be permitted to achieve full rebate whilst others would have a ceiling applied. Approximately 95% of the businesses supported were independent.

·         There was a cap on the amount of public funding permitted for a single company (€200,000) which would affect larger businesses if they had claimed relief elsewhere.  The aim was for assistance to be provided in situations where the benefit would not have been realised other than through this funding being made available.

·         Officers were exploring what could be done to promote the Digital Enterprise Fund and to encourage take-up from Bradford businesses.  Currently 17 local businesses had benefitted from this scheme.

A Member commented that the City Centre Growth scheme had not just been aimed at Broadway but towards bringing empty units back into use. He was not aware of any of the businesses that had benefitted from funding/assistance having ceased trading.

Members and the Portfolio Holder also commented that:

·         Those car parks under Council control were the cheapest in West Yorkshire.

·         More and more shop units were being brought back into use and it was not true to say that ‘half were shut’. There was a recognised issue with the ‘top of town’ but consultation was currently being undertaken on a masterplan to address this situation.

·         The service charges for market stallholders were spent on the markets.

·         Participation in the Local Enterprise Partnership was very beneficial for the district and Bradford got its ‘fair share’.  Part of the Council’s role was to ensure that local businesses were aware of, and were encouraged to apply for, the available funding and that there were no barriers to them doing so.

·         Parking in the district was cheaper than the rest of West Yorkshire and the large majority of the country.  Although the charges at Broadway had recently been increased this was not within the control of the Council and was understood to be in response to supply and demand.

·         Bradford markets had a great offer with most of the stalls being occupied; they were being supported by the Council and a new shuttle service was in operation from the Interchange.  The service charges associated with renting a stall reflected the costs of running the service. The rents had not been increased for 25 years and the service charges only increased if the costs went up.

·         It was believed that the development of a new station would be transformational for the City Centre and the district and was a very important goal; it would bring more people into the City Centre and have a positive impact on investment.

It was noted that a specific item in respect of the district’s markets was on the Committee’s Work Plan for the 6 March 2018 meeting.

Resolved –

That the contents of Document “I” be noted and welcomed.

NO ACTION