Local economies that work for local people
Local economies that work for local peopleSupporting the transition to a strong, inclusive and green economy by focusing on our businesses, our people and our assets
This is an important area for us. We want to enable the move to an economy that builds wealth locally and offers opportunities for everyone and people have the skills to take them. Cumberland’s economy contains strong agricultural and tourism sectors, but it has a much higher proportion of jobs in manufacturing when compared to the national average, driven in large part by the significant nuclear site at Sellafield which supports a valuable supply chain of businesses and a highly skilled workforce. Overall Cumberland’s unemployment rate is below the national average, but there are significant variations across our area in both unemployment rates and weekly earnings, with serious ‘cold spots’ of worklessness and deprivation. Cumberland’s workforce challenge is significant – our declining working age population presents a major labour supply challenge and we have a limited pool of higher level skills spread across a large geographical area. The rural nature of our area creates accessibility challenges in terms of having the right infrastructure to link communities with employment opportunities. But we have some significant opportunities, not least our outstanding natural environment and landscape providing key current and future resources for the UK in recreation, green energy and food production, and the potential for future major investment in clean energy.
As a major employer in Cumberland we want to make the most of our influence - we want to achieve greater social value in public sector procurements, exploring more ways of retaining wealth within our community. We will seek to utilise our assets as a catalyst for economic activity, generating opportunities for residents, businesses, social enterprises and the community and voluntary sector alike. We will work to ensure that:
- we are supporting our businesses and our people with the opportunities and skills they need to transition to an inclusive low carbon economy
- our local markets are diverse, sustainable and benefit from a focus on local spend by the council and others to create economic opportunities
- a wide range of investment in our businesses and physical and social infrastructure is unlocking a culture of innovation and inclusion
- we are an attractive place to live and work. Our town centres meet the future needs of our residents and businesses, offering quality cultural and recreational experiences for all
- we are collaborating with our training providers, further and higher education institutions to ensure our businesses can employ highly skilled people
Outcome measures
Successful delivery of the activities set out will help us make progress towards achieving our long-term aims for creating local economies that work for local people in Cumberland. Alongside these activities we will track a number of outcome measures over the life cycle of the Council Plan to help us assess the impact that our work in partnership with others is having. We want to see:
- increasing numbers of new businesses
- fewer people who are long-term unemployed
- improved skills levels with more people gaining NVQ3 and NVQ4
- a reduction in the percentage of residents earning less than the living wage
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Key activity |
Target timescales |
Lead roles |
|---|---|---|
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Work with stakeholders across the council and external anchor institutions to develop a circular economy in Cumberland |
September 2024
|
Director of Place, Sustainable Growth and Transport Leader of the Council/ Portfolio Holder for Vibrant and Healthy Places |
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Develop an overarching Economic Strategy for Cumberland which includes an integrated approach to Community Wealth Building
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September 2024
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Director of Place, Sustainable Growth and Transport Leader of the Council/ Portfolio Holder for Vibrant and Healthy Places |
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Deliver business support programmes, strengthening the business network across Cumberland and developing local supply chain opportunities
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September 2024
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Director of Place, Sustainable Growth and Transport Leader of the Council/ Portfolio Holder for Vibrant and Healthy Places |
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Implement a coherent strategic approach to the nuclear sector in Cumberland including potential new developments and opportunities to grow the supply chain and nuclear skills sector. |
September 2025 |
Director of Place, Sustainable Growth and Transport Leader of the Council/ Portfolio Holder for Vibrant and Healthy Places |
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Undertake work to review options for working towards paying the Real Living Wage through our contracts |
June 2025 |
Director of Business, Transformation and Change Portfolio Holder for Governance and Thriving Communities |
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Produce a commissioning strategy and market development plan for care services |
April 2024 |
Director of Adult Social Care and Housing and Portfolio Holder for Adults and Community Health |
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Develop an inward investment plan and prospectus
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September 2024
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Director of Place, Sustainable Growth and Transport Leader of the Council/ Portfolio Holder for Vibrant and Healthy Places |
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Develop the Cumberland 'story' to generate content and branding
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September 2024
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Director of Place, Sustainable Growth and Transport Leader of the Council/ Portfolio Holder for Vibrant and Healthy Places |
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Develop a Regeneration prospectus for Cumberland, including current and planned projects
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September 2024
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Director of Place, Sustainable Growth and Transport Leader of the Council/ Portfolio Holder for Vibrant and Healthy Places |
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Develop the regeneration project pipeline and undertake the relevant technical / feasibility studies to demonstrate deliverability
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September 2024
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Director of Place, Sustainable Growth and Transport Leader of the Council/ Portfolio Holder for Vibrant and Healthy Places |
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Deliver the Connecting Cumbria Digital Infrastructure Strategy 2020-2025 |
September 2025 |
Director of Place, Sustainable Growth and Transport Leader of the Council/ Portfolio Holder for Vibrant and Healthy Places |
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Develop and implement a Local Transport Plan for Cumberland |
April 2024 |
Director of Place, Sustainable Growth and Transport Portfolio Holder for Sustainable, Resilient and Connected Places |
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Develop a plan for arts, culture and heritage which includes support to sector development, the role of assets in enhancing Cumberland’s offer
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March 2024
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Director of Place, Sustainable Growth and Transport Portfolio Holder for Vibrant and Healthy Places |
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Develop a strategic Visitor Management Plan to attract and disperse to redistribute visitors across the Cumberland area |
September 2025 |
Director of Place, Sustainable Growth and Transport Portfolio Holder for Vibrant and Healthy Places |
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Develop a new overarching housing strategy for Cumberland considering all aspects of housing need, demand, supply and quality
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March 2025 |
Director of Adult Social Care and Housing Portfolio Holder for Children's, Family Wellbeing and Housing |
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Develop an approach to place making within towns and neighbourhoods supporting community wealth building, social economic activity and inclusion and focused on the role and use of public spaces, leisure, culture, access, green infrastructure, built environment and aligned growth |
March 2024 |
Director of Place, Sustainable Growth and Transport Portfolio Holders for Vibrant and Healthy Places, and Sustainable, Resilient and Connected Places |
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Deliver significant regeneration schemes across Cumberland’s towns (Future High Streets, Town Deal, Borderlands) |
March 2025
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Director of Place, Sustainable Growth and Transport Leader of the Council |
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Submit the Local Plan for St. Cuthbert’s Garden Village for examination
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March 2025
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Assistant Chief Executive Portfolio Holder for Policy and Regulatory Services |
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Complete the first stage consultation in the development of a new Local Plan for Cumberland |
September 2024
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Assistant Chief Executive Portfolio Holder for Policy and Regulatory Services |
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Deliver skills, training and employability programmes – providing pathways for local residents to access the benefits of regeneration investment
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September 2024
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Director of Place, Sustainable Growth and Transport Leader/ Portfolio Holder for Vibrant and Healthy Places |