The Head of Housing and Regeneration will report verbally.

A copy of the report is available in the Web Library

The Interim Director of Corporate Services presented a report comprising an overview of progress made against the indicators for 2010/2011 and key projects which were relevant to the Economy and Regeneration Overview and Scrutiny Committee covering the third quarter, from October to December 2010. Appendix1 provided the detail of the performance indicators that were reported for the third quarter.

There were 27 indicators that could be reported at this third quarter to this committee.  Of these 27, 22 could be compared with the previous year and 24 were reported against target:

  - 21 projects were green (all milestones that should have been met at this point had been met).

  - 2 projects were amber (critical milestones missed/serious slippage). Corrective action to bring amber projects back on track was provided.

In terms of risks, it was noted that the main risks to the achievement of performance targets was the current economic situation and the availability of external grant funding.

The report highlighted some of the key achievements:

•  Work was now underway on the new Asda store in Birkenhead, a development which would result in a £30million investment in the town centre. 

•  The seaside resorts of New Brighton, Hoylake and West Kirby were getting funding to drive forward economic regeneration.  A total of £200,000 had now been agreed by Government to help the towns build on their heritage and take advantage of new opportunities to develop strong economies and communities for the future.

•  Invest Wirral continued to support Wirral business initiatives such as the Think Big Grant

•  Wirral’s performance in Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) rates had been excellent over the last year with a reduction of 2312 claimants in 2010. Wirral had also been the top performing authority for JSA rates for four successive months to December 10.

•  The successful Wirral Apprentice programme was set to receive further funding after the Council had confirmed it would invest a further £1 million (possibly matched by ESF). With this latest commitment, the Council will have helped employers to create more than 300 apprenticeships.

The Director responded to questions from members regarding the following indicators:

NI 156 (Holmless households living in temporary accommodation)

Local 6272 (Opportunities to view investment messages)

He also agreed to circulate the latest available information regarding Wirral’s youth unemployment figures compared with the regional cohort.

Resolved – That the report and presentation be noted.

The Head of Housing and Regeneration will report verbally.

A copy of the report is available in the Web Library

The Head of Housing and Regeneration presented an overview of progress made against the indicators for 2010/2011 and key projects which were relevant to the Economy and Regeneration Overview and Scrutiny Committee covering the second quarter, from July to September 2010. Appendix1 provided the detail of the performance indicators that were reported for the second quarter and included the context and corrective action as requested by the committee.

There were 27 indicators that could be reported at the second quarter to this Committee.  In summary,  24 projects were green  (all milestones had been met), 3 projects were amber (critical milestones missed/serious slippage) and details of the corrective action to bring amber projects back on track was provided. Appendix 2 provided a list of the projects that were green.

He highlighted some of the key achievements:

-  The Wirral Waters scheme to regenerate derelict brownfield land within East Float at Birkenhead Docks had been approved;

-  The number of business start-ups supported through the Councils Business Start Programme had exceeded its quarterly target;

-     The number of jobs safeguarded by company expansions or by Invest Wirral support had also exceeded its target at quarter two.

-      Significant Job Seekers Allowance  Reductions (JSA) (Sept data):

•  Wirral now had the lowest JSA rate in the Liverpool City Region (LCR) at 4.4%

•  Wirral’s reduction was 2x faster than LCR, Regional and National rates

•  Best yearly reduction in rate at 1.0% which is over 2x faster than the England

•  average

•  Reduction of 1,872 claimants since September 2009.

In terms of risks, the fragile state of the wider economy continued to be a significant source of uncertainty for local businesses. Initiatives such as Wirral Waters, Invest Wirral, "Think Big Grants" and the wider Economic Recovery Plan were helping to offset the impact to some degree. However, the Government response to the budget deficit was also presenting a significant threat to priorities in this field in terms of changes to the welfare benefits system and reductions in staff and services in the public sector. The ‘Working Wirral’ initiative, coherent activity by the partners and the Invest Wirral programme may help to counter some of the impact.

There was also uncertainty about funding for delivering the Housing Strategy including the regeneration areas and initiatives such as the Warm Front initiative.

The departmental financial monitoring indicated that there were no significant budget variations projected at this stage of the year and spend was expected to be in line with the budget allocated.

Resolved – That the presentation be noted.