Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Rae Bhatia and Councillor Valand.

Members are asked to declare any interests they may have in the business to be discussed on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the meeting of the Commission held on 16 June 2021 are attached and Members are asked to confirm them as a correct record.

AGREED:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Economic Development, Transportation and Climate Emergency Scrutiny Commission on 16 June 2021 be confirmed as a correct record.

The Monitoring Officer to report on any Questions, Representations and Statements of Case received in accordance with Council procedures.

The Monitoring Officer noted that none had been received.

The Monitoring Officer to report on any Petitions received in accordance with Council procedures.

The Monitoring Officer noted that none had been received.

The Director of Tourism, Culture and Inward Investment submits a report on the COVID Economic Recovery.

Members of the Commission are recommended to note the report and pass any comments to the Director for Tourism, Culture and Inward Investment.

The Assistant City Mayor for Jobs, Skills, Policy Delivery and Communications introduced the item and noted that:

·         New information indicating that Universal Credit claimants had dropped in recent months and Leicester was performing better than its neighbours

·         Local efforts were being directed in the right sectors

·         Kickstart Apprentice were in their roles within the different Council departments with more roles to follow

·         Support for 18+ looked after children on Kickstart Apprentice Programme

·         Encouraging early signs in the city, having a positive impact on the local economy.

The Director for Tourism, Culture and Inward Investment provided an overview of the report.

The City Centre Director delivered a presentation on the ERDF Reopening of High Streets Safely and Welcome Back Funding.

As part of the discussions it was noted that:

·         Welcoming visitors back into the City Centre was a priority

·         The Capital Investment on the cathedral would be for the Heritage Learning Centre, facilitating a 2000-year heritage

·         The number of visitors at the cathedral was continuously growing and the Heritage Learning Centre would support further growth

·         The centre would allow for the cathedral to host events and benefit from the evening economy. More details on the cathedral scheme would be provided in the future.

·         The planned works would allow for employment opportunities to local people and businesses

·         An additional £500k would be allocated to support disadvantaged groups in the labour market

·         The provision of an extra screen at the Phoenix Theatre would allow for more occupancy and improve the income. The current occupation numbers did well, and the model was proven to work

·         Although the bus campaign welcoming people back reached all neighbourhoods improving the footfall in the city centre, it was suggested that multilingual signs would have reached further into the different communities across the city

·         With 43 new vacant units in the city centre some units in the Highcross and on Market Street had been let with interest from new independent local businesses for other units with competitive rents better than out of town shopping centres.

·         Most new businesses in the city centre were in the food and beverage sector with local operators providing a rich variety and a mix of cultures

·         Although efforts were concentrated on different means of transportation, existing signage was in place to filter people to parking spaces available at the various car parks in the city centre.

·         It was suggested that people use the city centre for different experiences and that the ongoing work in the city centre should continue.

AGREED:

1)    That the report be noted;

2)    That Officer be thanked for their efforts and;

3)    That the Director of Tourism, Culture and Inward Investment be requested to provide a progress report to the Commission at a future meeting

The Director of Tourism Culture and Inward Investment submits a report providing updates on progress with the inward investment and place marketing elements of the economic recovery plan.

Members of the Commission are recommended to note the contents of the report.

The Assistant City Mayor for Jobs, Skills, Policy Delivery and Communications introduced the item.

The Director for Tourism, Culture and Inward Investment delivered an overview of the report noting that £185,000 had been received from the Leicester, Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP) to promote digital assets on visitor economy and inward investment.

As part of the discussions it was noted that:

·         Trials and Itineraries was promoted using several local influencers on social media to have a broad and far reach

·         Members of the Commission would appreciate an update on the impact the media campaigns have had

·         Members suggested that, although this was the first campaign, future campaigns should include the diversity of the city and that the campaigns should go into the different communities across the city

·         Stories online covered a diverse range across the city to help promote the city to visitors and investors

·         Heritage panels were now in the different neighbourhoods of the city and not just concentrated in the city centre

·         Tourism was important to the city and county, future campaigns would include a various range of attractions outside of the city centre, including the diverse range of communities

·         Members suggested that this was a good starting point for this campaign and future campaigns should include the diverse communities of the city.

AGREED:

1)    That the report be noted;

2)    That the Director of Tourism, Culture and Inward Investment be requested to provide an update of the impact from the media campaigns and;

3)    That the Director of Tourism, Culture and Inward Investment be requested to provide further information on the LLEP partnership.

The Director of Tourism Culture and Inward Investment submits a report and presentation on the Economic Data Dashboard.

Members of the Commission are recommended to note the report and pass any comments to the Director of Tourism, Culture and Inward Investment.

The Programme Manager for Smart Cities delivered a presentation on the Economic Recovery Dashboard.

It was noted that this was a journey that the team were on developing a platform to archive data. The team were in a process of now understanding the data that is being collected with the platform continuously growing as new data is received and Members were requested to consider further areas that could be considered for the dashboard.

As part of the discussions, it was noted that:

·         The platform was an open data platform, which was free to use, regardless of ownership

·         There were currently 28 data points with room for further development

·         The organisation had Officers who were data literate with a able to analyse the data collected.

·         The future aim was to become more data agile and improve data literacy across the organisation and the public

·         Not all authorities had a platform where they stored data

·         Members of the Commission suggested a training be provided on how to integrate data

AGREED:

1)    That the report be noted

2)    And that Officers be requested to provide an update in the future

For Members consideration, the Work Programme for 2021/22 is attached.

Members of the Commission were requested to forward proposed items for the work programme to the Chair or the Scrutiny Policy Officer.

Members of the Commission requested a detailed report be brought to the Commission on information on the future of the Haymarket Theatre. It was noted that, currently there was engagement work taking place, following which a report would be produced. It was suggested that Members of the Commission may be invited to attend a meeting of the Heritage, Culture Leisure and Tourism Scrutiny Commission as the report would be presented there.

It was noted that a Special Meeting of the Economic Development, Transportation and Climate Emergency Scrutiny Commission was scheduled for Tuesday 7 September 2021 at 5:30pm for the item on the Local Transport Plan and Workplace Parking Levy.

There being no further items of urgent business the meeting closed at 8:03pm.