Issue - meetings

This report provides an update on the Economic Development Forward Plan.

The report was presented to the committee.

SBC was sometimes not comparable with other Surrey districts  It had however generally performed better than had been expected.

Various statistics were reviewed.  The number of people qualified to at least NVQ4 had increased, but this trend was identified across other boroughs.  Pay in the borough was often high, but many posts were occupied by residents from other areas.  The local job market was also heavily dependent on London Heathrow Airport, which had seen a significant numbers of redundancies due to Covid-19.  The ending of the government’s furlough scheme was expected to be a key point in the borough’s economic recovery.

[Councillor Nichols left the meeting.]

A local economic strategy was due to be developed in the near future.  It would focus on areas where the council could have the greatest possible impact.

The report was NOTED.