West Lancashire Forum 13 th May 2015

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State and direction of travel of the West Lancashire economy PwC and Demos: “Good Growth for Cities” measures 10 key elements of economic wellbeing High scores across all of these indices say PwC is vital for judging medium to long term economic success Interesting challenge to try and apply the same process to West Lancashire Scoring is part scientific and part subjective Too harsh or too generous?

10 key elements of economic wellbeing Secure jobs Adequate income levels Good health (to be able to work and earn a living) Time with family / work life balance Affordable housing Sectoral balance of the economy Affordable and good quality transport Providing for the future (work potential) Protecting the environment Fair distribution of income and wealth

Secure jobs Strong employment growth over last 10 years exceeding national trends but high concentration in lower value sectors which tend to have lower occupational skill requirements Skelmersdale supporting 43% of all jobs and driver of local growth Unemployment rate 5.7% (UK 6.2%) Public sector is the largest employment sector and most likely subject to structural change Around half of agriculture jobs are part time or seasonal Overall, employment expected to grow at double average rate for Lancashire SCORE8

Adequate income levels Average earnings below the national average: £440 / week (UK £520 / week) based on workplace; £506 / week based on residence Resident earnings exceed workplace earnings - high income residents live here but commute out for work Low wage economy in many sectors Agriculture employees 4 x UK average where around half workers are part time / seasonal 9% of households “fuel poor” (UK average 10.4%) Overall, West Lancashire has low levels of deprivation and is a relatively affluent District but wage disparity SCORE6

Good health (defined as being able to work and earn a living) Significant health inequalities across the District: life expectancy is 8.5 years lower for men and 6.5 years lower for women in the most deprived areas than in the least deprived 20% of population residing in the most deprived wards in the UK – link with poor health Main causes of death for people of all ages were cancer and CVD Higher rates of alcohol-specific stays and hospital stays for alcohol-related harm than England average People diagnosed with diabetes is significantly worse than England average Overall the health of West Lancashire residents is mixed compared with the England average SCORE6 SCORE7

Time with family / worklife balance Scored from an employer’s point of view and not an employee Majority of businesses in West Lancashire are micro (under 10 employees) Despite working-time norms 66% of micro business owners work more than 48 hours a week; 44% work between 49 and 60 hours; and 22% work over 60 hours No data for employees in public sector or medium / large businesses SCORE5

Affordable housing House prices are rising by an average 15% - one of the largest growths in Lancashire (but wide disparity: £122,000 in Skelmersdale - £228,000 in Ormskirk) More than 30% higher than Lancashire average Home ownership higher than the national average Increase in social ownership (as rest of UK) but predominantly in Skelmersdale House price to earnings ratio indicates affordability of houses for working people West Lancashire is 6.96 (UK average 6.73, Lancashire average 4.58) SCORE4

Sectoral balance of the economy (eg the size of the manufacturing sector) Diverse local economy with manufacturing accounting for 15% of employment (UK average 9%) Transport, storage, finance, and insurance above UK average Public sector accounts for around 26% of jobs Higher concentration across lower value sectors compared to UK average (agriculture 4 x UK average) Economy worth £1,707m based on GVA GVA per job (£34.7m) second highest in Lancashire GVA expected to increase in those sectors which contribute most to overall employment growth Strong balanced economy but overly reliant on public sector for high skilled jobs SCORE 8

Affordable and good quality transport systems (road and rail in particular) Excellent regional road connections (M58 – M6) but: Ormskirk bypass removed from transport masterplan LCC master planning exercise – Skelmersdale transport network not fit for purpose (one of the largest towns in the UK not connected to national rail network) Impact of HGVs (rural economy) blight many rural roads and villages Burscough needs better rail connectivity Rural areas typically poorly served by public transport whilst distances to services are often too far to walk or cycle SCORE4

Providing for the future through the potential to be in employment and earn a living Unemployment rate 5.7 (UK 6.2%) residents economically inactive % (UK 22.7%) but that includes: 19% retired (UK 14.5%); 35.1% students (UK 26.7%); and 21.9% long term sick (UK 21.5%) 6000 (35.1%) residents who are economically inactive want a job (UK 25%) 25% of WAP (16 – 64) are qualified to NVQ Level 4 (34% UK); 12% WAP have no qualifications (10% UK) But overall, employment expected to grow at double average rate for Lancashire so prospects good SCORE9

Protecting the environment West Lancashire has some of the highest amount of designated Green Belt land in England. Three quarters of people travel to work by car (above the national rate of 63%) reflecting the rural nature of the District But the third highest CO2 emissions per person in Lancashire (8.5 tonnes), above the national average of 7.6 The District has one of the highest rates in Lancashire for household waste sent for recycling SCORE5

Fair distribution of income and wealth One in five residents over the age of 60 live below the poverty line Low wage economy in many sectors Disparity between resident and workplace earnings Pockets of high deprivation and benefit dependency Rural isolation and access to employment Indices of Deprivation places West Lancashire roughly midpoint out of 326 Districts and Unitary Authorities and improving SCORE6

And so to conclude To sum up: Secure jobs8 Adequate income6 Good health6 Worklife balance5 Affordable housing4 Sectoral balance8 Transport4 Providing for the future9 Environment5 Fair distribution of income6 TOTAL61 / 100 Too harsh? Or too generous?

And so to conclude West Lancashire is an exception in many ways. If 5 is average then the District scores above in terms of jobs creation, overall wealth, industry breakdown, and prospects for the future But success has its own costs: the issues living in a predominantly rural area, lack of affordable housing, health, transport and low wages are sufficiently prevalent to offset many of the benefits Economic “wellness” is not just about jobs and prosperity

Thank You