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Improving understanding of changing economic circumstances

What is the challenge?

Ensuring that a continuous and adequate supply of appropriate employment land is provided in the Region to support economic development has been identified as a key implementation priority.
Government guidance in PPS4 sets out how local authorities shoudl be planning for the whole economy. This is a substantial shift from previous approaches.

What are we doing?

Clarified the way in which the employment policies should be used through statements that were submitted to the Wakefield Core Strategy Examination. These have been distributed to all Local Authorities. The statement on supply is available here. Advice on interpreting Table 11.3 in the RSS is available here.
Most Local Authorities have revised their Employment Land Reviews since the RSS was published. The Assembly and Yorkshire Forward have assisted in providing information to inform Employment Land Reviews.
The majority of local authorities have completed an Employment Land Review to inform policy development at local level but these need to be kept up to date to ensure planning for employment change and growth can be as effective as possible to achieve sustainable economic growth; this is particularly important given the current changing economic circumstances.
In general, the 5-year supply of employment sites has not been identified in Core Strategies and further work will be needed to ensure that this is undertaken during 2009.
A key difficulty experienced by many LPAs has been in the evaluation of the need to plan for "churn" and choice in the scale of provision of employment land. A project between LGYH and Yorkshire Forward is being carried out to offer a regionally consistent perspective on this issue. This is being undertaken by Roger Tym and Partners and should be available by the end of Summer 2009.
Policy E3 (Land and premises for economic development) of the RSS states that local employment land reviews should take account of this guidance ‘along with more detailed sub regional or local forecasts or more up-to-date information about land needs.’ Therefore, to ensure that Local Authority partners receive clear and consistent guidance on how to properly interpret IFF figures in to their ELR Yorkshire Forward is currently working with the LGYH to develop a Regional Guidance Note on Employment Land Reviews. This will be available Summer 2009.

What will we do next?

Views are being sought from authorities on those aspects of Employment Land Reviews, including the application of updated forecasts from the Regional Econometric Model, where additional information or guidance would be helpful. If you wish to comment please contact us here.
Helping to undertake local economic assessment work.

What outcomes does this work help to achieve?

Urban and rural economies are more diverse and competitive

LGYH: 1st Floor, 19 King Street, Wakefield, WF1 2SQ Telephone: 01924 200 262 email: mail@lgyh.gov.uk

EU 2020 Going Local Newsletter April 2012. Available here.

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New 'All Party Political Group for Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire' meeting in London for the first time on 21st March.