Economy Scrutiny Committee
Our Current Investigations
Over the next couple of months we're planning to look at the following areas of work:
- Educational Maintenance Allowance
- Youth Employment
- Sustainable Economic Development
Latest News
05/04/2012 - 2011/12
We've reached the end of a busy year for the Economy, Employment and Skills Overview and Scrutiny Committee. Over the months, we've got to grips with a number of important issues and we look forward to next year when we will continue to exert our influence on the Council and our partners to ensure that they are prioritising the interests of Manchester residents.
One of the key pieces of work we did this year was to investigate the support available for starting businesses. A small group of Councillors on the Committee formed the Business Start Up Task and Finish Group to look into this in more depth. We will be considering their final report and recommendations at the first meeting of the Committee next year.
Next year will see new names for all the scrutiny committees, after it was decided at the last meeting of full Council to replace the current committee names with shorter, simpler names. This committee will become the Economy Scrutiny Committee.
21/02/2012 - Manchester People into Construction
This month we heard about a very interesting scheme called Manchester People into Construction. This is a programme for apprentices to be taken on by construction companies who hold contracts with Manchester City Council. It was proving to be very successful, with a significant majority of the participants being taken on into full time, permanent work, even before the scheme has come to an end. The focus of the report we received was a piece of work undertaken by the Centre for Local Economic Studies (CLES) into the value of the scheme. CLES found that the scheme was beneficial for the apprentices, the Council and the construction partners and that for every £1 invested in the scheme an additional £4.74 was generated in social, economic and environmental benefits. We thought Manchester People into Construction sounded excellent and are now looking into whether other parts of the Council would be able to introduce something similar.
19/01/2012 - Manchester's Economy
In January we held our meeting on the 24th floor of the CIS Tower. Despite the weather, the view was still spectacular and we got a great perspective of the new Co-operative's new NOMA development. This fitted with our agenda, as Sir Howard Bernstein, the Chief Executive of the Council, attended the meeting to talk to us about the city's economy and all the exciting new developments taking place. We also heard from Marketing Manchester about they work they do to encourage tourism in the city and from the New Economy about the Manchester's economic forecast. We found the meeting very interesting and somewhat reassuring, although the current economic climate is still very challenging. We intend to return to the subject at a later date, with more of a focus on how Manchester's residents are able to access the benefits of the recovering economy.
Get Involved
To find out more information have a look at our full work programme. This includes what topics we will be looking at, what sepcific issues we will be considering and who we will be hearing from. Please bear in mind that the programme is continually updated, and so dates and agenda items may change from those listed in the programme.
If there's an issue you want to contribute to, let us know. You can either send a written contribution to scrutiny@manchester.gov.uk or you can attend a meeting and ask the Chair if you can speak. You can also suggest a topic for us to look into by filling in our 'suggestions form.'
If you want to speak to somebody about contributing to the committee, please call our scrutiny support officer on 0161 234 4997 or e mail scrutiny@manchester.gov.uk.
Role of the Committee
Our main priority as members of the Economy Scrutiny Committee is to look at the issues that affect the Manchester's economy and how these issues affect the city's residents. We work closely with the Council and its partners to ensure that they are doing everything they can to maximise the benefits for residents from improvements to the economy and to ensure that they are protected in less prosperous times.
Our areas of interest include economic growth, strategic transport, employment and skills development, tourism, the voluntary sector and the regeneration of neighbourhoods.
Through this page you'll be able to keep in touch with what we've been doing, find out what we'll be investigating over the next few months and how you can get involved.
Councillor Joanne Green, Chair of Economy Scrutiny Committee.
