Introduction
Cllr McCabe welcomed all to the meeting, particularly Ken Corsar, Chair of NHS Lanarkshire who was attending for the first time. He also warmly welcomed Colin Sloey recently appointed Divisional Chief Executive of North Lanarkshire CHP, Douglas Millar, Chief Executive of Lanarkshire Chamber of Commerce and Superintendent Derek Dillon from Strathclyde Police.
Apologies were noted as above.
Before proceedings began, Brian Lister welcomed the Board to Cumbernauld College outlining the significant new developments both within the college and the town centre.
Minutes of the Last Meeting
These were agreed as an accurate record.
Matters Arising
-
As discussed at the last meeting, the write-up from the Cumbernauld Community Council/Community Forum workshop was distributed for information.
-
A list of North Lanarkshire schools grouped by Area Committee area had been produced.
-
The response to the consultation on the Advice Note on Community Planning and Young People will be submitted to the next meeting.
Item 1: Jobs, Business and the Economy Theme Progress
Liz Connolly, Programme Planning theme leader, gave a presentation (copy attached) which detailed progress with delivering of the Changing Gear Strategy in North Lanarkshire. The timing of this coincided with the annual report to the Economic Forum to take place shortly. She briefly recapped on the theme priorities and summarised the changing policy context.
Liz then noted the change in North Lanarkshire's position across a range of economic indicators since publication of the Community Plan. She confirmed that unlike other themes, no targets had been set for this theme other than the overall aim of working towards matching the Scottish average. She acknowledged that attribution remained an issue, but felt it entirely appropriate that we look at the interlinked indicators that showed improvement in North Lanarkshire over the last 2 years.
Some big issues remain such as the high proportion of economically inactive people, but there were also positives such as major jobs growth in certain sectors.
Key areas of joint action were set out under the priorities with examples such as new premises to support new business in Coatbridge, the new construction sector jobs linked to approximately £5 billion public sector investment and Ravenscraig and Gartcosh.
A number of major challenges remained, some of which are more directly within the partners' sphere of influence than others. We need to continue to work together to overcome these. Lobbying the Minister, as had been done recently, will hopefully bear fruit.
The Chair sought questions or observations.
Brian Lister commented that the meeting with the Minister had brought the collective influence of the partners behind a bid to address under-participation in the further education sector in Lanarkshire.
Liz Connolly noted the changing demographics and that opportunity to update the skills of older residents was also essential.
Councillor Smith agreed that addressing transportation issues should be a priority in the strategy. The problems experienced at Strathclyde Business Park, the A8, Shawhead and Raith needed action.
As well as affecting existing companies, Councillor McCabe noted this as a constraint to further investment.
David Collie noted the major focus of moving benefit recipients into work. The Closing the Opportunity Gap targets set for Lanarkshire are extremely challenging.
Douglas Millar requested emphasis on school industry links. Further work is needed on getting the message on growth sectors into schools. Initiatives like 'Determined to Success' are still Education-led and more business input is needed.
Liz noted these points which will be considered by the Economic Forum at its next planning phase.
The Chair thanked Liz for her presentation.
Search NorthWeb
