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| Exeter has opportunities for small artisan traders as well as big High St brands |
As those of you that followed my election campaign might recall, my Tory opponents tried to make much of the fact that I used to be a councillor in Weymouth. I represented Littlemoor there, an estate that was not without its social and economic problems, but that came together as a community, and successfully bid for £1 million of Lottery money under the Big Communities initiative to improve the ward and develop community facilities.
Despite the success of projects like this, and despite the fact that the resort has just hosted the Olympic and Paralympic Games, as I follow Weymouth's fortunes I am sad to see that the Tory-run town is quite clearly struggling. There was embarrassment during the Olympics when the Bayside Festival - supposed to be a showpiece feature of the Games - went bust. Recently, high street fashion retailer Next announced it was leaving the town, following a similar move from Top Shop and Evans last year. All of this gloom came on the back of the Channel Isles Condor Ferries operation pulling out of Weymouth port following health & safety concerns over the state of the quayside.
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| Exeter is increasingly drawing major retail investment |
By contrast, in Labour-led Exeter I am finding that we have much to be optimistic about - despite the national gloom. You won't need me to remind you that we are in the throes of a double-dip recession, with economic growth and employment forecasts both recently revised downwards by the CBI, the IMF and the British Chambers of Commerce. All serious economists are now forecasting a sustained period of recession under this government, characterised by reduced consumer spending and increased unemployment. Nationally, the average proportion of empty shops (Retail Unit Vacancy Rate) has risen to a record 14.6%, or 1 in 7 shops now empty. Yet in Exeter, our vacant shops have actually fallen - to just 6.96% - less than half the national average!
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| RAMM Manager Camilla Hampshire receives the Museum of the Year award |
Why is Exeter booming when so many comparable towns and cities are struggling? Exeter Labour is serious about getting business investment in our city - but we also believe that a strong, resilient community requires the private, public and voluntary sectors to work together and to play to one another's strengths. The newly crowned "Museum of the Year", our own Royal Albert Memorial Museum is a perfect example. Still very much in City Council ownership, the RAMM has seen investment from the Council, partnership with the local private sector, and an army of community volunteers delivering an inspirational attraction of which we can all be proud. Exeter Labour held its nerve over continued investment, believing in its vision for a world-class facility, at a time when Tory and Lib Dem councillors fretted and sniped from the sidelines and through the local press. Labour showed leadership, and our staff and volunteers delivered. The result? Museum of the Year, and record visitor numbers coming to Exeter for the RAMM - and then spending money in our local shops and restaurants.
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| Ben Bradshaw MP helps cut turf on a new researchcentre at Exeter University |
On Tuesday evening at the Council's Scrutiny Committee for Community, we also heard from Exeter University. The university was this year awarded prestigious Russell Group status, which will bring more students to Exeter, and will see an expansion (and increased recognition) of the university's research programmes - which in turn will attract greater investment. The university aims to increase its capacity from its current level of 17500 students to around 20000. A stroll through Exeter's shopping districts and seeing new brands like Hollister, Jack Jones, Urban Outfitters and Republics will tell you what effect the "student pound" has on our local economy, and nationally it is worth noting that UK wide overseas students are estimated to contribute over £14 billion to our economy.
This is no time to be sending the signal that educating students - and specifically international students - are not a welcome part of our economic recovery. Yet the government's handling of debacle over the London Metropolitan University and the hike in tripling tuition fees that has seen an almost 8% fall in applications are all combining to undermine higher education in this country.
I welcome the growth of our local university, but my challenge to Exeter University is that it must do better on opening access to students from less privileged backgrounds. I am glad to see greater student numbers - including overseas students - bringing valuable income to our city, but I want the education that they benefit from to be open to all. A report in 2011 suggests Exeter remains a university that is "failing" poorer students. Labour is serious about business growth - but the benefit of that wealth must be for the many, not the few.
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| Exeter Science Park will bringer technological skill, investment and jobs to our city |
I could go on... The development of the Science Park, the partnership of Exeter City Council with neighbouring authorities to develop growth points at Cranbrook and Exeter Airport, the forthcoming opening of the new John Lewis store, the increased investment in the development of medical research facilities in the city are all bringing economic boosts to Exeter, and enabling us to the weather the storms of a fiscally incompetent government and the ever-deepening Euro crisis.
Exeter Labour has the talent, the steel and the leadership to continue to grow our local economy, and make Exeter a beacon for investment. We can be trusted with the economy. But perhaps more importantly, we can be trusted to be fair in how the benefits of growth are distributed, and to balance the needs of business, community, our precious local environment and our thriving cultural scene.
Under Labour, Exeter is a great place to live, and it's a great place to do business.
