Item 10 - Appendix 2
West Dunbartonshire Council · 1 November 2023
Back to Infrastructure, Regeneration & Economic Development Committee — 1 November 2023 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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AssessmentNo 399 Owner brmccolgan Resource Regeneration, Environment and Growth Service/Establishment Regeneration First Name Surname Job title Head Officer Alan Douglas Chief Officer Regulatory &Regeneration (include job titles/organisation) Members Gillian McNamara - Economic Development Manager Gillian Scholes - Business Support Co-ordinator John McKenna - Energy &Compliance Co-ordinator Brian McColgan - Business Support Officer Ricardo Rea-Performance and Strategy officer (Please note: the word 'policy' is used as shorthand for stategy policy function or financial decision) Policy Title Economic Development Strategy 2022-2027 The aim, objective,purpose and intended out come of policy By 2030, West Dunbartonshire will create fairer jobs, drive towards net Zero, and create vibrant places in partnership with our communities and businesses. Service/Partners/Stakeholders/service users involved in the development and/or implementation of policy. Economic Development Section Regeneration Section Energy &Compliance Section Does the proposals involve the procurement of any goods or services? No If yes please confirm that you have contacted our procurement services to discuss your requirements. No SCREENING You must indicate if there is any relevance to the four areas Duty to eliminate discrimination (E), advance equal opportunities (A) or foster good relations (F) Yes Relevance to Human Rights (HR) Yes Relevance to Health Impacts (H) Yes Relevance to Social Economic Impacts (SE) Yes Who will be affected by this policy? The residents of and businesses based in West Dunbartonshire. The Strategy will help to tackle issues around unemployment, availability of jobs, levels of wages, numbers of businesses, carbon emissions and physical infrastructure. Evidence of needs in relation to these areas is set out below. Who will be/has been involved in the consultation process? Relevant Council sections and partner organisations. The draft strategy was put out to consultation during September 2022. Responses were broadly supportive. Please outline any particular need/barriers which equality groups may have in relation to this policy list evidence you are using to support this and whether there is any negative impact on particular groups. Needs Evidence Impact Age Young people need support to start up and grow businesses. Around 60,000 young people in Scotland, or 13% of 18-24 year olds, were early-stage entrepreneurs, the We will provide support for young entrepreneurs to start up and grow businesses.. ITEM 10 - APPENDIX 2
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highest rate among the home nations. Entrepreneurship among people under 30 years old in Scotland has steadily grown from being the lowest in the UK at 3.5% in the 2007/09 period. (University of Strathclyde). Cross Cutting Economic Development cuts across the work of various sections of the Council including Regeneration, Planning, the Environment, Employability and Education. The draft strategy has been circulated to all relevant Council sections. We must respond to the opportunities set out in the West Dunbartonshire Community Empowerment Strategy Feedback from Council sections taken into consideration in finalisation of the strategy. The importance of just transition to a greener economy is noted. The Strategy notes the importance a stronger approach working to tackle issues and provide inclusive growth. There is a commitment to respond to the opportunities set out in the West Dunbartonshire Community Empowerment Strategy Disability Disabled entrepreneurs are an essential part of the UK economy, with disabled- owned small businesses accounting for 8.6 per cent of the turnover of all UK businesses. (Federation of Small Businesses) 41 per cent of disabled business owners have used no business support, compared with 35 per cent of non- disabled business owners. They are more likely to use informal support, such as FSB networks (15%) and other networks (19%). (Federation of Small Busineses). We will provide support to disabled entrepreneurs to help them start up and grow businesses, Social & Economic Impact The Council must take the Fairer Scotland Duty into account when doing strategic planning in UNEMPLOYMENT West Dunbartonshire experiences higher levels of The Economic Development Strategy provides direction to increase employment rates,
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this area and follow the Statutory guidance UNEMPLOYMENT West Dunbartonshire suffers from higher levels of unemployment than Scotland and Great Britain as a whole. JOBS There are fewer jobs available in West Dunbartonshire. BUSINESSES There are fewer businesses in West Dunbartonshire. WAGES Wages are lower in West Dunbartonshire. This is true for both residents of West Dunbartonshire and those who work in West Dunbartonshire. EMISSIONS CO2 emissions by area are higher in West Dunbartonshire unemployment than both Scotland and the rest of Great Britain. In terms of Economic Activity 75.2% are Economically Active compared with 76.4% in Scotland and 78.7% in Great Britain. Workless Households are higher in West Dunbartonshire too at 23.1% compared with 17.7% in Scotland and 13,9% in Great Britain. Claimant Count unemployment is also higher at 6.7% compared with 4.9% in Scotland and 5.3% in Great Britain. JOBS Job density measures the number of jobs available in an area. In west Dunbartonshire there are 36,000 jobs available a density rate of 0.64, i.e. there are roughly less than 2 jobs available for every 3 people. This compares with Scotland at 0.82 and Great Britain at 0.87. BUSINESSES There are fewer businesses in West Dunbartonshire at 343.8 per 10,000 of the working age population. This compares with 508.7 in Scotland and 657.1 in the United Kingdom. WAGES Average earnings by residence for West help more businesses to start up and grow and provide better paid jobs. It will also contribute to local and national targets around reduction of emissions and the move towards net zero emissions. The strategy will also address issues around the physical regeneration of West Dunbartonshire.
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Dunabrtonshire are £567.60 per week, compared with £595 in Scotland and £587.10 in Great Britain. For workers based in West Dunbartonshire the figures are £584.10 in West Dunbartonshire compared with £592.70 in Scotland and £586.70 in Great Britain. EMISSIONS CO2 emissions by area are higher in West Dunbartonshire at 2.4 CO2 tonnes per square kilometre than in Scotland at 0.4 and the UK at 1.4. Sex Men are still almost twice as likely to start businesses as women. The scale of Scotland's enterprise 'gap' is illustrated by estimates suggesting that Scotland would have an additional 108,480 businesses if women's business ownership rates equalled those of men. This would equate to a 32% increase in Scotland's business base. (Business Gateway) Women's enterprise can be difficult to precisely define and enumerate, but it is estimated that around 21% of Scotland's 339,000 small to medium sized enterprises are majority-led by women and a further 22% are equally-led by women and men. (Business Gateway). We will offer support to female entrepreneurs to start up and grow businesses. Gender Reassign N/A Health The Strategy responds to the Scottish Government’s vision of “A Wellbeing Economy: Thriving across economic, social and Economic well being and heath are interconnected The Strategy acknowledges the importance of improving health and well being
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environmental dimensions” Human Rights The Council is bound by the European convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The EHRC convention is relevant to social and economic rights The UK is signatory to the UNCRC and UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) The Strategy notes the centrality of tacking poverty and child poverty The Strategy note the importance of fair employment The strategy is supports the fulfillment of human rights, children's rights and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) Marriage & Civil Partnership N/A Pregnancy & Maternity N/A Race While it is widely recognised that Ethnic Minority-led Businesses (EMBs) make a variety of economic and social contributions to their communities and the wider society in Scotland, there are longstanding concerns that Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurs (EMEs) do still experience relative disadvantage in a number of areas. (University of Strathclyde Business School, Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship) The first area of disadvantage identified in this this report is gaps in financial management skills. EMBs in Scotland are significantly less likely to have someone with financial training managing business finances. Scottish EMBs are also more likely to overestimate costs, and to fail due to unprofitability and access to finance issues. (University of Strathclyde Business School, Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship) We will offer support for financial management skills to Ethnic Minority Businesses and to help them start up and grow businesses. We will offer support for financial management skills to Ethnic Minority Businesses and to help them start up and grow businesses.
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Religion and Belief N/A Sexual Orientation N/A Actions Policy has a negative impact on an equality group,but is still to be implemented, please provide justification for this. N/A Will the impact of the policy be monitored and reported on an ongoing bases? Yes. Q7 What is you recommendation for this policy? Intoduce Please provide a meaningful summary of how you have reached the recommendation EIA 399 details the new Strategy's potential positive impacts across the interconnected areas of equalities, human rights, health and welling being and reducing socio-economic inequalities, as well as just transition to a greener economy. The impact assessment notes relevant areas are highlighted in the strategy, as is improved partnership working being central to addresses inequalities and and sustainable inclusive growth and embedding fairness; the Strategy notes that we must respond to the opportunities set out in the West Dunbartonshire Community Empowerment Strategy The new Economic Development strategy will provide direction for helping the Council to meet those goals.