Category Archives: Small and Medium businesses

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17 Apr 2017

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Accountability, Business Rates, Economy, Small and Medium businesses

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“Tesco to save £105m in business rates after property revaluation”

“Tesco will see the business rates bill for its biggest stores fall by £105m over the next five years, highlighting another anomaly created by the controversial tax.

Earlier this year, the government came under pressure to take action on business rates after a revaluation of property in Britain hit independent shopkeepers hard in parts of the country where property prices had surged.

In Southwold, the coastal town’s property boom forced rateable values up by 152%, with some shop owner’s saying the hike threatened the viability of their business. Meanwhile, it emerged that online retailers such as Amazon, Shop Direct and Asos were enjoying tax cuts after the bills for their distribution centres declined.

MPs on the communities and local government committee will question the communities secretary, Sajid Javid, about the revaluation on Wednesday. Javid has already promised to “level the playing field” between online retailers and high street shops, and the committee chairman, Clive Betts, said he would press for a timetable for a review.

“There is a fundamental problem in the way valuations for business rates are done and that needs to be looked at,” said Betts. “High street shops seem to pay more than a similar unit out-of-town. That doesn’t feel right when there is a public and political view that high streets need some form of protection. There’s also an imbalance between property-based businesses and online sellers”

The Tesco store analysis by the business rates specialists CVS calculated that the bill for its largest stores in England and Wales would fall by £13m this year alone, from £450m to £437m.

“Over the next five years, allowing for transitional relief which limits how quickly bills can rise and fall … CVS projects Tesco will save £105.32m in rates under the revaluation for its largest stores,” said its chief executive, Mark Rigby. “In comparison, across England and Wales small shops have seen their rateable values, used to determine bills, increase by 8.5% whilst pubs have seen a 14.36% hike.

Tesco has 3,400 UK stores. The CVS figures is based on official data on its 563 largest shops, which are classed as superstores. The analysis estimates that the supermarket’s rateable value has fallen by 8.6% to £825.78m compared with 2010. It follows a 2015 writedown of the value Tesco’s property portfolio by £4.7bn.

Tesco said the 2017 revaluation would not alter its status as one of the UK’s largest ratepayers and called for urgent reform of the system, which many business leaders agree is not fit for purpose.

“Tesco is one of the UK’s largest ratepayers, paying almost £700m in rates in 2016-2017, and the 2017 revaluation will not alter that trend,” said a spokesman. “Tesco has a significant physical presence across high streets and town centres, and fixed costs such as business rates are placing huge pressure on our operations. The current rates system is unsustainable and needs urgent reform.”

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/16/tesco-to-save-105m-in-business-rates-after-property-revaluation

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20 Mar 2017

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Asset sweating, Business Rates, Consultation, Economy, EDDC, Small and Medium businesses

Views wanted on East Devon street trading

Owl says: make no mistake this is simply an EDDC cash cow. Instead of having a few regulated streets where outdoor trading can take place with a licence, this extends to ALL streets – bringing in more income for the council but potentially setting permanent traders with increased overheads (including business rates) against temporary traders without them.

No problem in vibrant, thriving towns but a big problem elsewhere. Except Sidmouth where local traders were so vehemently against it, the plan was dropped for that town only.

“District bosses are consulting on their latest plans for new street trading rules.

East Devon District Council (EDDC) is proposing to designate the whole of the district as a consent street, meaning street traders would have to apply to the council for a licence to trade.

However, following its initial consultation, EDDC now plans to exclude Sidmouth.

To take part in the consultation, visit http://www.eastdevon.gov.uk/streettrading, or to obtain a paper copy call 01395 517569. The closing date for responses is April 26.”

http://www.exmouthjournal.co.uk/news/views_wanted_on_east_devon_street_trading_rules_1_4935920

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18 Mar 2017

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Accountability, Economy, EDDC, Local Enterprise Partnership, Small and Medium businesses

99% of businesses in East Devon are small businesses

So why is our Local Enterprise Partnership made up of a handful of big business people, property developers and speculators? How do they represent East Devon

“4.4 We know that 99% of East Devon businesses are either micro or small enterprises. This is comparable with Exeter at 97%. This places our area in the top 30% of districts nationally for the number of micro businesses. The average business size is 6.4 employees which is below the Devon and Cornwall average of 8.1 and the national average of 9.9 employees.

4.5 In terms of the age 65+ population, there has been a significant rise of those who are economically active in the past decade. In 2005 just 5% of the 65+ population were economically active. In 2016 this has increased to 16.8%. This suggests that people are either choosing to postpone their retirement, continuing to work out of necessity or are re-entering the workplace post retirement.”

Click to access 280317-overview-agenda-combined.pdf

page 38

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10 Mar 2017

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Asset sweating, Coastal communities, EDDC, Exmouth, Philip Skinner, Regeneration, Small and Medium businesses, Spin, Tourism

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Exmouth seafront family business to be evicted for “regeneration”

“The owner of an Exmouth café has been left ‘heartbroken’ after being forced to close following plans to build a multi-million pound development on the seafront.

The family-run Harbour View Café and Chip Shop is set to disappear from the seafront after 40 years of trading, following East Devon District Council’s plans to build new development called Queen’s Drive Leisure Area. …

… Dawn said that they first found out about the development plans eight years ago.

She said: “The initial plan was that all of the independent businesses would be involved in the new development.

“I don’t know when that changed because it all went very quiet for a while, and then by 2014 we were given a formal notice and the council said we had to leave by September that year.

“At that point we had to decide whether we wanted to take it further and go to court or to agree to the end of the lease. And because we didn’t have the resources to take the fight all the way we had no other option but to agree to it.”

Since that point Dawn said that the council had given them an extension of their lease, but now that has ended and 2017 will be the last season. “I am grateful that the doors aren’t closed yet, but we did think that we would have at least another year of trading,” she added.

“The council have told us that we need to be out by the end of August, but I just wish we knew why. For the business to close in the peak of summer is the worst time for us as we will be so busy.

“We also have 19 members of staff that we will have to make redundant and we will still have to pay our mortgage somehow after August.

“Obviously we would love to keep Harbour View alive and we are currently looking for a new home. But it just scares me to know what the development is going to look like in three years’ time as I don’t know what I will be looking at.” …

… A spokeswoman for East Devon District Council said: “Change isn’t always easy to accept but Exmouth is a growing town with residents and visitors whose desires and expectations are changing as well. The council is committed to giving townspeople and visitors more and better attractions and facilities and that includes the Queen’s Drive site. Exmouth is the biggest town in Devon and it is starting to up its game.

“The café operators have known for two years that the Council is taking the site back and we have during that time supported them with a further season extension and free rent. We did this so that they have time to prepare to leave and plan for the future of their business.

“Mamhead Slipway, the Strand, the Premier Inn and M&S are all signs that Exmouth is embracing change and benefiting from new assets. A café at Orcombe Point could be next. Meanwhile Queen’s Drive investment is getting back on track.

“When the Council takes the Harbour View Cafe site back at the end of August we will also be preparing to move the road and car park and consultation will be under way on the water sports centre. For the Harbour View site in particular, once the council has it back, then we have the freedom to consider the best way forward and the best timing to bring a new and fresh eating place to what is one of the finest locations in the south west. …”

http://www.devonlive.com/family-run-exmouth-caf-to-close-after-40-years-due-to-seafront-redevelopment-plans/story-30194144-detail/story.html

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19 Feb 2017

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Business Rates, Inequality, Small and Medium businesses

Business rates row intensifies

“Ministers try to defuse business rates row

Philip Hammond, the chancellor, is examining ways of making the scheme fairer after widespread outrage at the first rates overhaul in seven years, which will come into effect in April.

Small businesses face huge increases while some of the biggest companies in Britain — including Amazon and large supermarkets — will benefit from rate cuts on some of their properties.

The chancellor will be looking at ways of ensuring things can be done a little fairer
Senior government sources insisted they would stick with the revaluation but conceded that more might need to be done to ease the pain.

Hammond is understood to be examining ways of preventing a “cliff edge” increase after business groups signed a letter demanding changes. But he is reluctant to pour more money into a fund to help those worst hit.

A senior government source said: “The chancellor has paid very close attention to the way this has played out over the last week. If you take money for this, it comes away from other things. The system has been fixed to ensure there are far more winners than losers.

“However, the chancellor is attuned to this and will be looking at ways of ensuring that things can be done a little fairer”. He will want to prevent “heavy-handed” implementation of the revaluation so as to ensure “the system never has a cliff edge like this ever again”.

The shift came as Grant Shapps, the former local government minister, said ministers should “quietly drop” the planned revaluation. He said he was “concerned” that the changes “may undo progress” on reviving Britain’s high streets. “Might be better not to revaluate BizRates,” he tweeted, adding that he would “need convincing transition plans will help”.

Shapps’s intervention came as the chief executive of Sainsbury’s waded into the row, calling for “fundamental reforms”. Mike Coupe described the current setup as “archaic” and called for a “level playing field”. He said: “The way it currently stands, there is an advantage for those without bricks-and-mortar operations so there’s a strong case for a level playing field in business rates and taxation generally.”

The Sunday Times has established that large supermarkets are to benefit from business rate cuts of up to 25% on their out-of-town stores while nearby struggling high streets are to be “hammered”.

Reporters analysed the top 20 towns being hit by the biggest rise in business rates, compared with the changes in rates at the local out-of-town supermarket.

Thirteen out of the 20 supermarkets were set for business rate cuts, five were having no changes and two faced higher rates.

Traders in Southwold, Suffolk, say the “rateable value” of their properties — which is used to calculate business rates — has risen by 177%. By contrast the nearest Tesco superstore — a 30-minute drive away in Lowestoft — has had its rateable value cut by 7%.

Rebecca Bishop, owner of the Two Magpies Bakery, who is facing an increase in her rates from £2,000 to £11,883, said: “The government is encouraging the growth of online retailing and out- of-town shopping and killing the high street.”

The fall in business rates for supermarkets in the 20 towns worst hit by the increases — including Cobham in Surrey, Padstow in Cornwall and Crowthorne in Berkshire — is reflected across the country.

The Valuation Office Agency is updating the rateable value of business properties on April 1 this year. The last time they were all valued was in 2010.

The rates rises have triggered a political storm with more than 500,000 traders facing increases.

The annual rates are calculated by multiplying the rateable value by a figure set by the government, which is up to 47.9p for 2017-18. There is also transitional relief to limit the sudden changes in bills.

Supermarkets are enjoying a rates cut because the rental values of their out-of-town stores has fallen.

Analysis by CVS, a business rates specialist, has found that the rateable values for 2,172 supermarkets in 2017 is £2.76bn compared with £2.93bn in 2010. The average superstore will see its rateable value fall by 5.9% or £79,368.

Sainbury’s said this weekend, however, that it expected its rates bill to rise from £483m to £500m.

CVS said it would “stick in the throat” of many small businesses trying to keep their “heads above water” while the warehouses of large online retailers such as Amazon and various superstores were getting business rates cuts.

It added that the government had said in 2015 that it would conduct a structural review of business rates but this was never delivered.

Mark Rigby, chief executive of CVS, said: “April will serve a hammer blow to small shops and the consideration should now be to ensure that they are in fact paying fair and accurate rates.”

The Department for Communities and Local Government said most businesses will either not see their rates rise, or will enjoy a fall.

It added that 520,000 ratepayers will see their bills increase, 920,000 will see them drop and 420,000 will see no change.”

Sunday Times, 19th Feb 17 (paywall)

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18 Feb 2017

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Austerity cuts, Business Rates, EDDC, Small and Medium businesses

Do our councils have plans for the effect of increased business rates on small businesses?

“Tory ministers were so concerned about the impact of business rates on the high street that they were planning extra financial support before the election, The Telegraph has learned, but the plans were later abandoned.

The Communities Department is understood to have grown worried that retailers were getting “completely clobbered” under the current business rates formula and worked with the Treasury to better protect the sector.

Plans were developed throughout 2014 and a review published before the 2015 election, but a Tory victory and a reshuffle saw the changes never adopted, with more modest reforms adopted instead.

The revelation that recent senior Conservative politicians were ready to act to protect the high street will fuel calls for Theresa May’s government to help those worst affected by an upcoming rates change.

For the first time in seven years business rates are being updated in line with property prices this April, leaving some firms facing increases of up to 400 per cent.

Small business owners have warned they face being driven out of business by the change, but government figures say the majority of firms will see no increase in their rates.” …

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23 Sep 2016

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Accountability, Consultation, DCC, Democracy, Devolution, EDDC, Local Enterprise Partnership, Small and Medium businesses, Spin, Transparency

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Devolution “myths” not myths at all, says Devon County Councillor

From the Facebook page of Lib Dem Councillor for Totnes, Robert Vint:

“On Monday Devon County Councillors were presented with a “Myth Busting” training session on Devolution. On Thursday there was a repeat session for South Hams District Councillors.

The “Myths” they were attempting to “bust” were that the Devolution process was led by the LEP, was undemocratic, would result in local government reorganisation / centralisation etc.

The explanations – or non-explanations – only strengthened my concerns. It was confirmed that there would be no public consultation on the economic development plan but only on the Combined Authority proposal and that the LEP had played a central role.

I asked why the plan did not start by identifying local needs such as rural unemployment and affordable housing then consult communities and small businesses on how to tackle these problems. They said not to worry as this was an outline economic plan – but later they confirmed that there would be no consultation on the economic plan or any opportunity to change it.

We have a Devolution Prospectus written by the few big businesses in the LEP to serve their own needs rather than those of the wider community of Devon and Somerset. This has then been rubberstamped by local authorities who did not have the staff, time or vision to rewrite it to meet our real needs and who failed to consult residents and small and family businesses. As a result we will be subjected, without any opportunity to comment, to a local economic development strategy that will serve the wealthy rather than the majority and that will fail to provide jobs where they’re needed or houses to the people who need them most.

In contrast the RSA – Royal Society of Arts – outlines how we should be delivering genuine, fair and inclusive devolution (see below).

The UK’s economic status-quo has resulted in huge sections of our population being ‘left behind’. So the RSA are proposing a radical programme of devolution, inclusive industrial strategies and investment in human capital to create a more inclusive, equal society.

https://www.thersa.org/discover/publications-and-articles/rsa-blogs/2016/09/inclusive-growth-proposals

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22 Sep 2016

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Economy, Lobbying, Small and Medium businesses, Transparency

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Theresa May disbands the “David Cameron Business Forum”

aka his “Business Advisory Group”.

““Theresa May has disbanded the group of business leaders assembled by her predecessor to advise on City and financial matters. The prime minster has not created an alternative team after telling the dozen or so business leaders their advice was no longer required.

Her decision to break up the so-called business advisory group – which included the Legal & General chief executive Nigel Wilson and Virgin Money chief executive Jayne-Anne Gadhia – was seen as a signal of a clean break from Cameron’s way of dealing with the City and big business. …

… The move was welcomed by small business leaders, who will be hoping for a bigger voice and influence as the Brexit negotiations take place. May’s first event at No 10 was a meeting with small businesses.

Mike Cherry, national chairman at the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “This is the right moment for No 10 to review its business engagement structures and to broaden them – and we look forward to making sure that small businesses are part of that.”

The CBI, which represents big employers, said: “The CBI regularly meets with the government – the prime minister, chancellor and secretaries of state – for bilateral meetings on a wide range of issues affecting businesses and the economy.”

Cameron’s business advisory group was described as a “small group of business leaders from sectors of strategic importance to the UK that provides regular, high-level advice to the prime minister”. Members were often picked to travel with ministers on foreign visits and were

It was reshuffled after the 2015 election and also included Carolyn McCall, chief executive of easyJet and Xavier Rolet, chief executive of the London Stock Exchange. During the referendum campaign, its members’ views on Brexit were closely scrutinised. A letter backing the Remain campaign was not signed by some of the advisers including Alison Brittain, chief executive of Costa Coffee owner Whitbread, and Jeff Fairburn, head of housebuilder Persimmon.”

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/sep/22/theresa-may-tells-big-business-advisers-no-more-advice-please

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17 Jul 2016

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Accountability, Cornwall, DCC, Devolution, Economy, Education (local), Post-Brexit Adjustments, Rural communities, Small and Medium businesses, Transparency

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Brexit: where now for Devon and Cornwall businesses?

Devon and Cornwall Business Council:

… “1) DEVOLUTION. This process may be very welcome to the business community (or it may not). There has been inadequate consultation for us to know what the implications might be. Either way it will create a period of uncertainty. We cannot afford to risk this whilst so many critical matters are up in the air. I propose that we ask for, at least, a 12 month moratorium whilst clarity is restored. Then we need a proper period of consultation knowing what we then know. Devolution has the potential to provide significant opportunities for devolved administrations to determine their own future when it comes to skills, transport, investment and development, but this agenda needs to be developed collaboratively with the private sector standing shoulder to shoulder with Government.

2) EUROPEAN MARKETS. More than 50% of South West trade is with near Europe. There have been some bold statements that 90% of trading opportunities will be outside the EU in the next 10-15 years. Many, however, of our investors are based in Europe – IMERYS, EDF Energy, Sibelco, Princes Yachts, Plymouth Gin, Barden Corporation to name but a few. Decisions are made in European capitals which affect a large number of our jobs and future growth prospects. We need to ensure that the existing investments are maintained and that we will feature in future investment decisions – access to the Single Market is vital. UK Trade and Industry (UKTI) department officials are already fully stretched (inadequate funding currently, with an increasing workload), we need to establish our own business trade ambassadors to ensure direct contacts are maintained and developed. From this base we can then begin to start creating a forward order book for whatever new trade agreements might emerge. This will also allow a programme to be developed to enable access into new global markets.

3) INFRASTRUCTURE. The South West has for too long been the Cinderella of the UK in terms of infrastructure investment. We have clearly supported plans for future spending on road, rail, air, marine and broadband projects. We must now directly lobby for these, acting as a single voice and ensuring that our South West MPs are lobbied to also speak with one voice. What, however, will make this happen is a demonstration that investment in infrastructure will result in direct business investment. We need to clearly demonstrate what we will contribute in return.

4) PLAY TO OUR STRENGTHS. Some of our most successful business sectors should be the subject of focussed programmes for ambitious expansion – food and drink, tourism and e-health are good examples of where the South West has specialist skills. Add to these; marine / maritime technology, aerospace / space, advanced engineering, digital and creative economy. Designed and co-ordinated tasks forces could achieve spectacular results in these areas of the economy.

5) GOVERNANCE/REGULATION. The system of regulation has been often complained about as a barrier to business growth – red tape, EU regulations or Gold plating from Whitehall? Staffing levels at regulators have been cut making the problems more acute. The establishment of voluntary codes and working partnerships led by trade bodies and self-regulated by them (with rewards for best practise) could greatly improve the current confrontational systems which have become entrenched – particularly in areas such as planning and environmental health.

6) PRODUCTIVITY. We have routinely lagged behind the average UK productivity levels (between 15-20% lower than UK average for Devon and Cornwall1). There are many drivers of productivity; investment, innovation, skills, enterprise and competition. This problem can be partly addressed by self-help. Simple work based systems can achieve significant improvements to outputs (and profits). These include Lean Production techniques. Training for all staff on digital skills and improvements to work/life balance (flexible working hours) which can reduce lost time off through stress / illness.

7) YOUNG BUSINESS. The Business Community has a collective responsibility to re-engage with the next generation to ensure we have attracted the huge talents of our young people. Business support can start by involvement as a Governor at Primary School all the way through to being a voluntary mentor for new start businesses. There are also great opportunities for assisting with work experience. The SW is blessed with some exceptional people with invaluable skills and experience. This should be high on the business agenda.

8) INNOVATION/SKILLS. We are proud of our Universities and Further Education Colleges. They deliver with national and international standards. The ground breaking research they produce is helping to change things around the world. We complain about a lack of relevant skills; however, do we fully engage with these institutions? Do we share with them our future business plans so that skill sets can be anticipated? Do we share with them our challenges in order to co-develop innovative solutions? Do we respond to their outreach work which can tackle production/system deficiencies? The answer is we could all do better. New partnerships should be formed as a priority. In part focusing on achieving young people with relevant skills (matched to growth sectors) through apprenticeships which, have the potential to greatly reduce our reliability on skilled labour from outside the UK, EU or otherwise.

9) URBAN/RURAL. For too long we have allowed ourselves to get sucked into Whitehall speak on the growth of Cities. Seen from the Whitehall bubble this is the best place to concentrate investment decisions. What we are missing by not forging strong urban/rural partnerships represents one of the greatest untapped opportunities for the growth of our economy – natural energy, local food production, health and well-being, water quality, flood/climate change management are all on our doorstep. DCBC will spearhead a rolling programme of partnership opportunities.

10) FUNDNG. The expectation that Government cash will still arrive as before is fool’s gold. Austerity will get worse before it gets better. Business will become even more important in the funding of growth opportunities. This could include matched funding with Devolved Authorities and perhaps taking advantage of cheap Government borrowing. We must set out our investment priorities more clearly and take these to our key stakeholders in the public sector for early discussions in order that improved delivery be achieved.”

http://www.dcbc.co.uk/news/brexit-where-next-business-community-10-point-recovery-plan#

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16 Apr 2016

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Accountability, Affordable and Social Housing, Devolution, Economy, Environment (local), Infrastructure, Local Enterprise Partnership, Small and Medium businesses, Sustainability

“The planning and delivery potential of LEPs” – Royal Town Planning Institute briefing

…”LEPs need to keep their private sector representation under review, and strengthen their relationship with local business organisations and local authority economic development teams, to ensure that plans and priorities reflect local business and interests. …

… LEPs should assess the social and environmental implications of decisions as part of their project appraisal processes. …

… The Local Growth Deals that have been agreed focus on transport and infrastructure aimed at unlocking employment and housing development. These appear quite generic in nature, with only a relatively small proportion of projects directed towards supporting priority growth sectors. Funding is also focused on principal urban areas and main transportation corridors. The resources secured and allocated by LEPs are being directed more towards areas of opportunity rather than need. …

… The relationship between local authorities and LEPs appears to be led at a corporate level and is largely resourced from economic development teams of upper tier authorities. There is little direct involvement of local authority planners with the work of LEPs and their awareness of LEPs’ activities is typically low (the exception is the West of England LEP, where the West of England Partnership has helped to bring forward additional joint working). …

… From the perspective of local planning authorities, LEPs are not seen as having a significant role to play in sustainable development given their clear remit around local economic growth. This stands in contrast to the work of the former South West RDA, which had a significant focus on environmental and social dimensions. …”

http://www.rtpi.org.uk/media/1733440/rtpi_research_briefing_-_local_enterprise_partnerships_in_the_south_west_18_march_2016.pdf

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15 Feb 2016

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Cranbrook, Infrastructure, Rural communications, Small and Medium businesses

Cranbrook can’t have a post office as Co-op and BT systems can’t talk to each other

th2In your dreams!

See the front page of the Cranbrook Herald for this gobsmacking story. There will be no post office for at least this year until each side works out how their systems can talk to each other (if at all).

http://www.cranbrookherald.com/home

The Co-op’s fibre system is called “See the Light” – except you can’t. So, no child benefit, no disability benefits, no old age pension if you rely on a Post Office for them. And as there is yet no bank, no banking services either, no travel money (well at least the airport is nearby!) and no sending parcels.

The nearest post office is in Broadclyst, for which you will need a car – otherwise take the bus to Ottery St Mary or Exeter.

A new town without a Post Office – what would Postman Pat and his black and white cat think!

AND the town council is VERY unhappy about the provision of 30 traveller sites in Cranbrook, now the Local Plan has been approved.

Prominence is also given to Councillor Cathy Gardner’s reservations about devolution plans.

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1 Jan 2016

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Asset sweating, East Devon economy, East Devon Growth Point, EDDC, Local Enterprise Partnership, Regeneration, Small and Medium businesses, Tourism

Regenerate, degenerate, exterminate …

Regeneration and Economic Development?

The Watch has already blogged (26 Dec) “East Devon Economy Booming? Not according to cabinet agenda data.” But we now have had time to explore the latest “Regeneration” proposals in greater depth.

A special item in the pack of papers for the 6 Jan 2016 EDDC Cabinet Meeting (page 107) proposes an additional £287,000 be spent in 2016/17 (with similar costs for 3 years) to add three more staff to the three full time and three part time members of the Regeneration and Economic Development Team.

Context – Central government grants are being cut severely and will disappear completely by the end of the current parliament in 2019/20. The Council core funding will then come from business rates, council tax and fee income (eg car parking). The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) predicts the 30% loss from central government funding will be made up from an increase in retained business rates, from the current level of around 25% to around 55% in 2019/20, rather than by other measures such as efficiency savings.

The £287,000 pa will be used directly to promote economic growth and increased business rate income outside the Growth Point and across the district.

The East Devon Growth Point is set to become an Enterprise Zone, where businesses can get up to 100% business rate discount worth up to £275,000 per business over 5 years but we gather that ALL business rates in enterprise zones go direct to the (you guessed it) Local Enterprise Partnership.

So what chance has this team got in succeeding? Aren’t businesses simply going to transfer to the growth point?

We are sure everyone wants to see a vibrant local economy, especially one attracting high value jobs. But why are we so underwhelmed by this proposal that we think this money could be spent in better ways?

It all gets off to a bad start. The proposal itself spells out the lacklustre performance to date of the three full time and three part time Regeneration and Economic Development Team. The economic profile for East Devon (Grant Thornton, Feb 2015) highlights:

•The average gross weekly earnings in East Devon are low at £409 compared with £503 nationally.

•The knowledge economy in East Devon accounted for just 13.5% of total employment in 2013, compared with 18.13% for the SW and 21.75% nationally.

•The self employment rate in East Devon is high and stable by national standards but new business formation rate is very low, ranking in the bottom 20%.

According to the Economics page of the EDDC web site the services industry accounts for 85.7% of the employment in East Devon with a large section of this being in the retail, hospitality and health sectors, all of which it admits are predominantly lower-paid sectors.

The South West Regional Tourist Board data (2011) shows a fall in visitors to East Devon from 800,000 visitor trips per annum in 2005 to 472,000 visitor trips in 2011. The income from overnight stays also fell from £3.7m to £1.8m in the same period. Tourism, according to EDDC’s Cabinet proposal is a key driver!

(The Watch has repeatedly drawn attention to the way EDDC has ignored Tourism and to its deficiencies in rolling out high speed broadband.)

In the proposal the Council claims it is adept at using its assets to “de-risk locations” and attract private sector interest. Two examples cited: the delivery of the new Premier Inn in Exmouth and the commercial success around Exmouth Strand, where the Council has used its land and property assets to achieve this aim.

But none of this is really relevant to realising the stated aim that: “our ambitions lie in high tech growth and an improved knowledge economy, exploiting the opportunities now emerging through our Growth Point and Enterprise Zone”. (It should be noted here that the growth Point was not successful in making Exeter the “Internet of Things” lead demonstrator city – which Manchester won).

According to the proposal, the draft local plan retains a target of 1 job per new house and predicts 18,500 new homes over the 18 year Plan period i.e. delivery of the plan requires the creation of 1,000 jobs every year. The only quantified successes claimed in job creation by the Regeneration and Economic Development Team, 44 jobs at the Exmouth Premier Inn and a projected 45 next year from Seaton Jurassic, represent only 4.5% of what is needed annually. Not much of an achievement is it? It begs the question of whether 1,000 jobs per year are remotely achievable.

The demographic trend in East Devon requires the creation of between 160 and 190 jobs per year. This should be achievable as it assumes average economic growth. In EDDC’s chosen metric this equates to delivering four Premier Inns across the district every year (not just the one held up as an example of success). However, to this total, in their wisdom, EDDC has added in the draft Plan a “policy on” job led growth scenario with a target of an additional 549 jobs a year.

The actual annual target in the draft Plan is still a large figure, and one that is clearly way beyond the Team’s ability to deliver, but is only about 70% of the astronomical 1,000 quoted to the Cabinet. So this is another example of EDDC playing fast and loose with numbers, ratcheting up the growth agenda at every opportunity.

Job creation on this scale should be easy to spot. We are already 2 years into the new Plan period so it should now be possible to review the Team’s progress to date in creating 2,000 jobs. Such a review would form a much better basis for judging the success of past measures and on deciding the direction of future expenditure on the best way to promote growth.

The “aims and objectives moving forward” of EDDC’s proposal contains nothing but platitudes such as: “delivering an economy which stimulates start ups and new businesses to grow to bring better paid jobs and increased wealth into East Devon”. There is no concrete plan, no: how to do it. It is an example of the poverty of ideas that results from Cabinet decisions made in secret.

The people of East Devon are not bereft of ideas or talent but they are never consulted. So here’s a radical idea. Consult the people of East Devon. They are the potential customers for these businesses, and isn’t the customer is always right?

Here’s another: with regions across the country all putting forward their own enterprise plans for devolution the priority might be to put more emphasis on winning the publicity war, though that might be difficult with the whole district a giant building site.

Finally, how does the Regeneration and Economic Development Team reconcile the conflicts between maximising fee income from car parking, and saving the High Street and encouraging Tourism?

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18 Nov 2015

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Latest news, Rural communications, Small and Medium businesses

Has your MP signed today’s letter to George Osborne?

Critics say rural broadband in Devon is in dire straits, partly because EDDC failed to work together with DCC to get maximum funding.

Now more than 100 MPs concerned about lack of broadband investment in their own areas have written to George Osborne, as detailed in this extract from the Broadband for Rural Devon and Somerset (B4RDS) Facebook page:

‘Over 100 MP’s of all parties have today taken an open letter to George Osborne calling for him to invest in fixed and mobile broadband. This is before next Wednesday’s announcement of the Autumn spending cuts. If your MP hasn’t signed you should ask him/her why not.’

Link to the letter, and names of MP’s who’ve signed, is here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/fast.rural.broadband/

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5 Oct 2015

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EDDC, Small and Medium businesses

Osborne to allow local councils to keep £26bn raised from business rates

Just watch that Business Rate Relief disappear for small, struggling businesses once the money doesn’t go to central government!

Ah, but wait: they can only raise them by a maximum of 2p in the pound and the view is that many councils will engage in a “race to the bottom” to attract new businesses.

Rather a dilemma there, then! And much worry about the north/south divide where, currently, richer councils with high value ratings subsidise poorer councils.

http://gu.com/p/4d2ee

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15 Sep 2015

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Austerity cuts, NHS (local), Police (local), Small and Medium businesses

From the papers …

Yet more examples of how our district is out-of-tune with both evidence and the electorate:

POLICING
Rural communities lose confidence in police
A new report from the National Rural Crime Network (NRCN) estimates that rural crimes are costing communities £800m while a quarter of crimes go unreported due to a lack of confidence in policing and low satisfaction with local forces. The NRCN found 27% of the more than 17,000 people in the countryside it consulted had not reported the las crime of which they had been the victim. This compares with a national rate of 20%. Of these, 44% said calling the police would have been a waste of time, while 43% said that the police could not have done anything. The report is published amid concerns over the impact that reductions in police numbers and budgets will have in more remote areas, as forces face further cuts of between 20 and 40%.
The Times, Page: 4

HEALTH
King’s Fund calls for further NHS funding
The King’s Fund has warned that an extra £8bn of funding promised to the NHS by 2020, a figure put forward by Simon Stevens, will not be enough. The think-tank claims additional emergency funding of about £1bn will be needed if standards of care and access to services are to be maintained.
Financial Times, Page: 4

TAX
Retailers call for rates cut
The Mirror reports that Tesco is among a group of 12 retailers which have signed a letter from the British Retail Consortium calling on George Osborne to cut business rates. The paper says the move reflects growing concern over the Government’s review of business rates, announced in the March Budget.
Daily Mirror, Page: 45