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Local Industrial Strategies: Action in the South East

The M3 Local Enterprise Partnership (known as Enterprise M3 (EM3)) has published a Local Industrial Strategy [1] aimed at defining a strategic framework of agreed priorities across the region, backed by key stakeholders and partners. It represents a call to action to promote the economy of the EM3 area. At the same time, the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership has published a progress update on its 2050 Strategy for the Solent [2].

The UK Industrial Strategy was announced in 2017 as a long-term plan for boosting the productivity and earning power of people throughout the UK. This nationwide strategy will be supported by Local Industrial Strategies which will be long-term, based on clear evidence, aligned to the UK Industrial Strategy and developed through government partnerships with local places across the UK. The strategies should set out clearly defined priorities for how cities, towns and rural areas will maximise their contribution to UK productivity.

EM3 Local Industrial Strategy

EM3 is a region without a single dominant settlement of its own. Instead, it contains a network of towns interspersed between rural areas. The largest of these towns by population are Basingstoke, Guildford, Woking, Farnborough and Andover. In addition to providing a wealth of information about the current state of the economy and particularly sectors within the region,  the Local Industrial Strategy focusses on a series of ‘barriers’ that have, and will likely continue to, prevent the area from fulfilling its full potential. 

These include:

  • A 21% skills shortage vacancy in 2017: Whilst the labour force is relatively highly qualified, it is aging, and the retention of younger professionals within the region’s economy is challenging. Many decide to work in London and commute.
  • Housing supply has not kept up with demand: This well-rehearsed and significant issue has implications on the affordability and availability of housing. It is a substantial problem for recruitment and retention of labour.
  • ‘Infrastructure deficits’ limits EM3’s potential: Infrastructure has not kept pace with economic growth. The region is held back by congestion on its major roads (east-west travel can be particularly difficult) and digital infrastructure which cannot keep up with the ambitions of EM3’s companies. Strategic rail links require improvement to more effectively link priority industrial regions together, and to connect the South East (of which EM3 is a central part) with the rest of the country.
  • The supply of commercial premises has not kept up with demand, inhibiting growth, particularly for high-tech start-ups.  

Solent 2050 Strategy

The Solent 2050 Strategy progress update includes a vision which aims to tackle acknowledged weaknesses, setting future facing solutions to maximise the economic returns across the five foundations of productivity (Ideas, People, Infrastructure, Business Environment and Places) and addressing the opportunities presented by ‘Grand Challenges’. The ‘Challenges’ are grounded in a ‘Clean Growth’ theme. The report highlights that the Solent has the potential to be at the vanguard of the national push towards clean growth by pioneering innovative solutions in maritime, logistics, transport mobility and coastal protection.

Co-ordination across the South East

However, perhaps the biggest challenge of all, acknowledged within both reports, is the co-ordination of initiatives across the Greater South East economic region to resolve common constraints to the economy. Both reports outline that there are many shared issues across the Greater South East, most of which result from consistently strong links with London (across labour and housing markets); in relation to sectoral growth dynamics; and in terms of land use and other environmental constraints. Because of this, it would be surprising if there weren’t significant commonalities across the region.

There is a recognition that most of “the rest” of England is organising itself into regional groupings (Northern Powerhouse, Midlands Engine, Oxford-Cambridge Arc) and alongside these, individual southern Local Enterprise Partnerships are struggling, politically, to be heard. In relation to economic development, “the Greater South East” (outside of London) does not have an automatic voice and it lacks any kind of governance set-up to engineer one. Yet the Greater South East plays a crucial role within the UK’s economy. It contains some of the UK’s most significant assets and opportunities, many of which were identified in the Industrial Strategy White Paper.

These reports are a step in the right direction in raising the profile of the EM3 and Solent 2050 region and highlighting its related challenges, as well as the role of the wider Greater South East regional economy, in the national political and economic context. 

However, in order to better reflect on its national significance and capture the attention of Government and industry to secure greater investment in infrastructure and the economy, the message would surely be more strongly conveyed if the EM3, Solent 2050 and other Local Enterprise Partnerships were to co-ordinate more closely in publishing a joint Industrial Strategy. This could capitalise on and shout about the successes of the region to date, its ability to meet the aims of the Government’s Industrial Strategy and the potential that the region has to fulfil a much greater role than it currently does.

In addition, the co-ordination of Local Industrial Strategies aligned to the UK Industrial Strategy will assist in addressing the recent imbalance within national and local planning policies between tackling housing and employment delivery. Whilst, quite rightly, significant priority has been placed on making up the significant housing shortfall through a number of planning mechanisms such as standard method for housing requirements; meeting unmet needs from wider Housing Market Areas; demonstrating a five year supply; and higher test of deliverability; very little, if any, focus has been provided for an equivalent test for meeting economic needs and addressing related barriers.

It will be important to ensure that the opportunities and challenges set out within Local Industrial Strategies are given appropriate weight and consideration as part of Local Plan preparation. This will ensure that meaningful development plan policies and allocations are explored and tested in full to respond to the important conclusions reached.

For more information about strategies across the South East please contact Simon Packer.  

25 March 2020

[1] https://www.enterprisem3.org.uk/local-industrial-strategy

[2] https://solentlep.org.uk/what-we-do/planning-for-solent-2050/

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