Bringing new jobs and growth to Ipswich has been the top priority of the Labour group since we took control of Ipswich borough council in May 2011. Our focus has been on taking practical steps to bring an immediate boost to the local economy in the short term and laying the foundations for future growth in the medium to long term.
Immediate steps we have taken are:
• A targeted campaign to improve the take-up of small business rate relief which has brought an additional £220,000 into the town
• Tackling the impression that car parking in the town centre is expensive by targeted promotions which have seen patronage double and forced private operators to lower their charges.
• Running a ‘test trading; scheme in vacant shop units where new businesses can try out their ideas at minimum cost and no long-term commitment.
• Building the first new council houses in Ipswich for over 20 years, bringing new jobs in the construction industry.
• Investing in the council’s events team to run more popular events, bringing people into the town.
• Investing in eye-catching new Christmas lights and tree which became an attraction in their own right.
• We are also starting to rethink what the town centre of the future may look like by relaxing planning use classes to allow more non-retail leisure use. The first example was giving planning permission for a cinema in a vacant town centre shopping mall.
Ipswich has historically suffered from having a low-skill, low-wage economy. We are seeking to address this in the medium term by:
• Reopening the council-owned plant nursery which was closed by the previous Tory-Liberal Democrat administration. In an innovative partnership with the local further education college and a local charity, a new urban horticulture course and work experience for people with disabilities are now being run from our glasshouses.
• Encouraging young people to go to the local university by providing a small number of cash bursaries. We give priority to Ipswich families where no one has previously gone to university.
• Improving the take-up of quality apprenticeships by launching a brokerage scheme which will make it easier for SMEs to take on apprentices by handling most of the administrative detail.
• Making the centrepiece of our city deal bid to government more local direction of skills funding so we can better match provision of courses to the needs of employers.
As a town with a greater-than-average reliance on public sector employment we are looking to expand private sector employment:
• We have won European funding which will enable us to shortly open an enterprise hub for creative industries.
• We are working with local entrepreneurs with a successful track record to set up an innovation centre which will take small hi-tech business start-ups and take them to the next stage of growth.
And we are also taking steps to enable growth in the longer term:
• We have won £6.6m funding to complete a flood defence scheme which was threatened by government cuts. By innovative use of predicted community infrastructure levy receipts the £30m scheme was saved which will unlock 2,400 new homes and new commercial developments generating 4,000 jobs.
• We are pressing ahead with the production of a masterplan for the last major development area in Ipswich which will bring 3,500 new homes, along with new schools, a health centre and local shops.
Like all towns we are suffering from the effects of the recession but in the recent Centre for Cities Outlook Report Ipswich was reported as having one of the largest relative improvements in performance between the first half of the recession compared to the second, going from fifth from bottom of 63 towns and cities to 19th best.
We are not complacent. There is still much to do but it is clear that a dynamic and active Labour council is already having a beneficial effect on Ipswich and providing hope for the future.
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David Ellesmere is leader of Ipswich borough council and Labour’s prospective parliamentary candidate for Ipswich
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