Following this week’s announcement that Axminster Carpets had entered administration, East Devon District Council has said it will be working with partner organisations to assist staff facing redundancy.

East Devon council offers support to Axminster Carpets staff

The historic carpet-making company, once one of the biggest employers in the area, entered administration on Wednesday with almost all of the remaining 90 staff members being made redundant.

The council is re-convening a support network, which will give staff the opportunity to access direct support, advice and guidance to help them through this difficult period.

East Devon is bringing together a group of relevant organisations, who will be available at the Axminster Job Club at Pippins, Lyme Road, Axminster on Thursday, February 27.

This session will be repeated over the following weeks as many times as is necessary to ensure that the needs of all redundant staff are met.

Affected staff will be offered the opportunity to come and speak one-to-one with representatives from organisations to find out about universal credit/benefits, council tax, options for retraining and skills development, finding alternative work, support for self-employment.

Organisations offering support will include the council itself, as well as Business Information Point, Job Centre Plus, Citizens Advice, the National Careers Service, Education + Training Skills, Learn Devon, Axminster Job Club, and Community (trade union).

The council wants to encourage all staff, including those unable to attend the event, to speak to the right people and organisations who will understand their individual situations and who are best placed to offer advice and valuable practical support.

Councillor Kevin Blakey, East Devon District Council’s portfolio holder for economy, said: “We are deeply saddened at the news of further redundancies at Axminster Carpets.

“East Devon District Council responded in October 2019 with a programme of support for employees affected by redundancy at that time. We are now working with a range of partner organisations to widen our support via a series of redundancy support events at Axminster Job Club for as long as the support is required.

“We recognise that finding alternative employment is a daunting task for those facing redundancy, but we are keen that the skills and expertise of the highly trained workforce are recognised by other prospective employers who undoubtedly can benefit from this pool of talent.”

Owls’ previous post  mentioned the IPPR ( Institute for Public Policy Research ) study on devolution. This is their view of the South West.

They use the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) definitions of regions.  In this definition the South West includes, not just the area of the Great South West, but Gloucestershire, Bristol, Bath, Swindon and Wiltshire.

https://www.ippr.org/files/2020-02/the-devolution-parliament-feb20.pdf  

(page 53)

The South West is perhaps the more challenging part of England to group together at scale. Cornwall has a very strong regional identity which is often overlooked by policymakers, and it is crucial that, in devolving power out of Westminster, this sense of identity is duly respected. That said, there is an economic case for grouping the South West together, due to the economy of scale and the resilience that comes with an area that is more socially and economically diverse.

Taken as a whole region, the South West would be home to 5.6 million people. With annual GVA of £139 billion, it would be the smallest English region, but it would have an economy twice the size of Wales. This region would unite the high-productivity city of Bristol, its affluent commuter belt, high-tech clusters, and universities with the rural Devon and Cornwall, with their natural assets and tourism economy. There are significant disparities in income and wealth between Cornwall and Gloucestershire for example; and there is currently a great deal of geographical fragmentation too. Bristol has been working closely with Cardiff recently in the Western Gateway project and such cooperation should be encouraged rather than impeded by any new governance structure in England.

However, all these factors could be better addressed by more cooperation within this region. The region could work at scale to reduce economic disparities and to enable better connectivity, and could also use devolved power to forge stronger partnerships across the Severn estuary. Given the strong economic case for working at a regional tier, this appears to be the best starting point for this part of England. However, economic arguments can only take policy so far, and identity must also be respected. The area may therefore benefit from a bespoke governance solution and more powers devolved to Cornwall than to subregional authorities elsewhere. 

Owl has been reporting on the very public way the new unelected, unaccountable, unrepresentative Great South West, chaired by Steve Hindley (Chair MIDAS Group) and previous Chair of HoTSW, has been pushing its prospectus for your future to Ministers (including Sajid Javid).

Under the headline “Regions must be given new powers” today’s Western Morning News gives a more balanced view from a Northern Think-tank.

Owl wonders whether Exeter University, whose representatives are claimed to contribute to HotSW, has produced a regional view as comprehensive and reflective as this? Are we letting the North seize the initiative?

Sophie Morris, Western Morning News 21 Feb 2020:

The Government must deliver a devolution Parliament and open the door to more devolved power across England, including the South West, to level up the country, a think-tank has said.

A report by IPPR North suggests almost half of England’s job increases in the last decade were in London or the South East and calls on the Government to implement a four-year programme that “puts power and resources into towns, cities and regions” across the country.

Greater powers should be given to mayors and local leaders and areas that already have devolution such as Greater Manchester, the West Midlands and London should be permitted to take on more, the research suggests.

The Local Government Association also urged the Government to publish its promised devolution white paper “as soon as possible’.

England has the worst regional inequalities in the developed world with 47% of the increase in jobs in the last 10 years occurring in London and the South East, despite the area being home to just a third of England’s population, the research shows. This Parliament must be the “devolution Parliament” to reduce divides both between England’s regions and between the people living within them, IPPR North said.

The think-tank’s proposals to bridge the gaps include giving additional power to mayors and local leaders over issues such as schools commissioning, job centres and some taxes and setting up a “new geography of regional collaboration” with four regions in the North, the Midlands, South East and South West led by council leaders and mayors.

Holding a “convention on devolution in England” to “set the direction of travel and empower citizens” is also recommended.

The report suggests that Germany, which spends twice as much locally or regionally on supporting their economies as a percentage of GDP, is “better placed to support economic prosperity’.

Senior Research Fellow at IPPR North, Luke Raikes, said: “For too long, Westminster has hoarded power and held back prosperity in all of England’s regions, including London.

“Levelling up should mean opening the door for all of England to benefit from devolution, while also letting areas that have devolution take on more.

“This Parliament must be the Devolution Parliament. It is time to overturn the centralisation that’s let towns, cities and regions fall into decline. The Government must give places the power and resources they need, to adapt to the decades of change that lie ahead.”

Responding to the report, Sir Richard Leese, chair of the Local Government Association’s City Regions Board, said: “There is clear and significant evidence that the country gets better value for money when decisions over investment and how to run local services are taken closer to communities and businesses.

“As this report shows, with the right powers and funding, devolution can lay the foundations for a more inclusive arid prosperous economy across the whole of England. Democratically-elected councils are best placed to support the Government in seizing the opportunities for growth in the years ahead. They also make a huge difference to their communities by building desperately-needed new homes, creating jobs and providing care for older and disabled people.

“We urge the Government to publish its promised Devolution White Paper as soon as possible, and to reignite the process of handing councils the freedom and resources they need to get on and deliver for their communities:’

Last year, Local Government Association chairman James Jamieson said of Conservative plans for a Devolution White Paper: “Taking decisions over how to run local services closer to where people live is key to improving them and saving money.

“There is clear and significant evidence that outcomes improve and the country gets better value for money when councils have the freedoms and funding to make local decisions!’

Next door to us in Devon, East Devon District Council is discussing a poverty strategy that addresses issues of incomes, rent, rural isolation, debt and general well-being. So if you live in Honiton or Axminster the council is actively engaged in addressing your problems. If you live over the border in Lyme or Beaminster – or if you’re in Sherborne or Wyke or Swanage or Ferndown … bad luck!” Owl thinks this is the advantage of having a Council no longer dominated by Conservatives unlike the Dorset unitary authority.

www.dorsetecho.co.uk /news/18250506.low-wages-driving-young-people-dorset—may-contribute-suicide-rates/

Chronic low wages are not only driving Dorset’s young people out of the county to find work – but may also be contributing to suicide rates and poor health.

Professor Phil Marfleet says that while the incidents of people taking their own lives in rural Dorset increased by almost 40 per cent last year, in neighbouring Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch it reduced.

Some of the poorest and most deprived areas of the country are in South Dorset – which also has one of the lowest average household income figures.

Profesor Marfleet told Dorset Councillors at their February meeting in Dorchester: “chronically low wages are driving away our young people. Many of those who can leave – especially if they have appropriate qualifications – do leave, and don’t return. Among those who remain, job opportunities are depressed by employers who take advantage of the low-wage economy by violating the law on pay, contracts and in-work benefits. This is becoming a systemic problem, especially in South Dorset – and especially in leisure, hospitality, retail and the care sectors, which dominate the local economy.”

He said that in a few years the ratio of those in work in the area, compared to those who are economically inactive, will be 1:1 – a ratio which he says is not sustainable and will leave the county in deep trouble.

“Chronically low wages have their impact on local businesses – less to spend, less commercial income and more business failures. This is part of the syndrome which leads to a collapse in new business starts. Weymouth & Portland dominates the Dorset Council area demographically … but here, where wages are lowest, the number of new companies is a fraction of those established elsewhere in the county and in Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole.”

He says that other councils with similar problems have intervened – with Cornwall and Bristol guaranteeing the real living wage of £9.30 an hour to its lowest paid, compared to just 12 registered Living Wage employers across the whole of south and west Dorset.

“Next door to us in Devon, East Devon District Council is discussing a poverty strategy that addresses issues of incomes, rent, rural isolation, debt and general well-being. So if you live in Honiton or Axminster the council is actively engaged in addressing your problems. If you live over the border in Lyme or Beaminster – or if you’re in Sherborne or Wyke or Swanage or Ferndown … bad luck!”

He said that so far, despite Dorset Council setting up a panel to investigate, it had made no recommendations:  “Other local authorities are intervening directly to tackle wage poverty and social deprivation. Why is Dorset Council apparently unable to take the initiative? “

Fellow speaker Jenny Lennon-Wood said that one third of children now live in poverty in the Dorset Council area.

“Parents frequently go without food so that their children can eat. Even so, children often go to school hungry and, during school holidays, food banks do their best to make up for the loss of the main daily meal. Hungry children can’t get the best out of their education and impoverished parents can’t afford extras like school trips. So the one-third of Dorset’s children who live in poverty are doubly disadvantaged in the education system,” she said.

She also highlighted the area’s gender pay gap – at 29% compared to 8.9% nationally.

“This grim situation serves only to bring down the economy of the county as a whole,” she said.

Cabinet brief holder Cllr Gary Suttle says that work an economic growth report is expected by the council later in the spring.

“In the short-term the council is providing leadership to drive improvement and is working with partners to deliver interventions such as the work of the Careers Enterprise Company.  In tandem with the Careers Hub focussed on Weymouth & Portland this will raise aspirations amongst young people, develop linkages between schools and business, and identify appropriate pathways for progression.”

He said the other initiatives included special events in the coming months to raise awareness of careers in science, technology and maths subjects, and jobs in construction.

Cllr Suttle said that the impacts of equal pay and adopting minimum wages needed to be“fully appraised, and if considered appropriate could take significant time to deliver.”