GREATER FOCUS ON THE FUTURE
FOR THE LAST 20 YEARS THE INITIATIVE HAS PROVIDED A LONG-TERM, STRATEGIC VIEW OF THE WAY THIS AREA COULD BE DEVELOPED FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE WHOLE COMMUNITY. NOW THOSE EFFORTS ARE BEING STEPPED UP THROUGH THE WORK OF THE POLICY AND PARTNERSHIPS TEAM.
Initiative members will see increased activity which will enhance the vision and leadership work, ensuring that business is well informed and so able to formulate coherent views on vital policy matters. The team will gather intelligence, produce briefings and provide analysis, whilst members will have more opportunities to take part in surveys and polls so that their opinions are heard through effective lobbying. Direct links into the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) mean that we can also play a part in forming national policy. The policy priorities will remain the same:
Transport and Connectivity, Planning and Development, Economic Growth, Employment and Skills and Energy and Environment. All of these are inextricably interlinked and will provide the foundation for our future prosperity.
WATCHING WHITEHALL
and the second was with a senior policy adviser from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
Since then there have been regular comments and suggestions for amendments to the Bill which have been passed through the BCC. They have included the role of business communities, Local Enterprise Partnerships, the role and purpose of planning and all issues that impose greater controls or burdens on business. This is an ongoing lobbying activity with the main point being to ensure the proposed changes to the planning system do not have a negative impact on business and that opportunities for business to benefit from the proposals are maximised. Tessa Coombes, director of policy for Business West, said: “The main point we have got over is that the business community is fully supportive of the Localism Agenda as long as it is Localism for Growth. We see ‘business localism’ as the way forward where business has a key role to play in promoting the longer term view and as advocates of the broader community benefit.
Many pieces of legislation coming out of central Government will have a real impact on business in the West of England, so it is essential to keep an eye on papers emerging from Whitehall.
Many pieces of legislation coming out of central Government will have a real impact on business in the West of England, so it is essential to keep an eye on papers emerging from Whitehall.
For example, as soon as the Localism Bill was announced last December the Policy and Partnerships team sprang into action, providing an initial briefing on the key issues that affected business along with a summary of the main content of the Bill. Since then two meetings have been hosted in Leigh Court with the BCC. The first was to help define the issues of concern that should be commented on
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“The new planning system must be ambitious and have a positive approach to supporting jobs growth across the country. The Localism Bill and the new Local Enterprise Partnerships need to embrace this fully and recognise the role business has to play in both strategic planning and local communities.”
TALK TO THE TOWN HALLS
It is essential to forge effective relationships with local authorities, which have a significant impact on the ability of business to develop and grow. Our approach is to listen to our members and then to lobby councillors and senior officers, challenging them to shape their policies.
Our members regularly spell out what they see as the key barriers to growth – availability of finance, excessive regulations, skills shortages, infrastructure deficit and insufficient land and premises. We believe the key to dealing with many of those barriers is for the public and private sectors to work together. In advance of the recent elections we produced a Manifesto for Business Growth which concentrated on three elements.
First was to highlight that much more can be achieved if councils and business work together, so consultation is important in advance of
Business West Update JULY/AUGUST 2011
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