Issue - meetings

The Leader stated that it was the Council’s intention to transform the borough into a global economic hotspot in science, engineering, mathematics, technology, medicine, media and arts. The Council was in a fortunate position not only because of its location but also due to its Industrial Strategy with Imperial College London. In 2017 this partnership launched the White City Innovation District, which was growing rapidly and attracting new businesses.

Councillor Andrew Jones stated that this report provided an overview of the approach for the three-year economic development programme to facilitate and deliver inclusive growth in the borough. It focuses on three areas: delivering the Industrial Strategy and economic growth for everyone; supporting business and enterprise; and improving employment & skills. 

Councillor Andrew Dinsmore, Opposition Deputy Leader, asked the reason for the high employment in the borough when the country was experiencing a national labour shortage, and how the Council’s unemployment figures compared to other boroughs.

The Leader replied that the borough’s unemployment level was concurrent to other boroughs but not as high as other boroughs in West London. The closure of Heathrow Airport during the pandemic generated high unemployment levels in large parts of West London in the food processing business, travel industry, airlines, airport staff, etc, with a mixture of high and low skilled job losses. Despite that, Hammersmith & Fulham had more economic growth than the rest of West London, which was a tribute to the Industrial Strategy that had created 6,500 highly skilled jobs since it was launched. However, he was concerned about the lower skilled jobs in the retail, hospitality, and other sectors as people out of work were struggling to find a new job. Therefore the Council was setting up mechanisms to deal with that.

AGREED UNANIMOUSLY BY THE CABINET MEMBERS:

That Cabinet notes the overall approach for the three-year economic development programme to facilitate and deliver inclusive growth in the borough.