Council to ‘reframe’ work on local economy amid warnings over impact of Tier 2 restrictions

The Town Hall is moving to “reframe” a strategy intended to make the local economy work for the whole of the borough.

Local economy chief Cllr Guy Nicholson was responding last night to a range of recommendations from councillors on how best the Town Hall should support businesses at a time when whole sectors of employment continue to reel from the effects of the pandemic and lockdown.

Cllr Carole Williams, who leads on employment and skills for the council, recently joined Nicholson and a range of leading councillors from across London in writing to Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak to warn of the impact of a Tier 2 lockdown on the hospitality sector.

Nicholson said: “When colleagues on the skills, economy and growth (SEG) scrutiny commission initiated the review [into making the local economy work for Hackney], we were not really in a phase of recession in the UK, and of course Hackney is experiencing that same recession. It is not exempt from what is going on around us at all.

“This looks towards recalibrating and reengineering the whole skills agenda, and the challenges that are emerging for all of us in seeking jobs in the labour market today. I’m sure we’re all hearing elements through the news about the impacts that are happening around the country, and indeed around London.

“The main emphasis behind this is about building back better. That does not mean that we are turning our backs as an administration on our inclusive economy objectives, but we have to reframe our strategy objectives around inclusivity and our economy within the context of building back better, rather than within the context of a very successful and rapidly growing economy, which was exactly what we were experiencing in Hackney prior to the pandemic and the implications of it on economic activity.”

The council is now to respond to a number of recommendations from its commission, including the development of locally-specific responsible business objectives to encourage employers to look at how roles are divided and labour is sourced.

In response, the Town Hall has said it will continue to share a toolkit for firms highlighting the need for the payment of the London Living Wage, to employ locally and to take on apprentices, with a business support programme also in development that addresses Covid’s medium- to long-term impact.

Other recommendations coming out of the commission’s work include a call for the Town Hall to use its business forums to influence behaviour, encouraging “fairer rewards, minimum employment standards and investment in the workforce”, with the council set to review the content of its forums in response to the pandemic.

Looking ahead to the rise of automation, councillors on the commission have called on Town Hall leaders to identify how to help residents “understand the change coming and have a clearer understanding of the steps they would need to take to transition following changes to their job and/or sector of employment”.

In response to this, the council administration said that it is increasingly focusing on training in digital skills for adult learners, with face-to-face support sessions planned for people who find themselves cut off by the digital divide.

Nicholson’s responses also accepted that the Town Hall needs to “work more closely” with anchor institutions and local businesses in the borough, and further hints at the commissioning in future of a study of the borough’s economy and workspace, which it is hoped would provide “valuable information on the extent that the pandemic has affected our local economy and inform a context for future business support programming”.

The Town Hall said, in response to a recommendation for it to explore if specific interest forums would help in supporting Black and minority ethnic businesses, that such a programme will seek to establish what specific support is required for certain sectors of business, with the impact from Covid continuing to play out.

London moved into a Tier 2 high alert level for Covid last Saturday, with a ban now in place for the capital on households mixing indoors, including in pubs and restaurants.

The letter sent by councillors to Sunak on the hospitality industry reads: “We recognise that the Tier 2 measures are necessary to prevent the spread of the virus. But it is very clear that they will have a significant impact on revenue for the hospitality sector. With households being unable to mix indoors, footfall in cafes, restaurants, bars and pubs will decline drastically from the already depressed levels. These are businesses and jobs that will be viable when the pandemic eases, and when restrictions are lifted.

“In Tier 3 areas – where hospitality businesses are required to close – employers are eligible for grants, and they are able to access the job support scheme even for staff unable to work any hours. This is not the case for businesses in Tier 2 areas that are not required to close, but which nonetheless see a significant and direct negative impact from these public health measures.

“As London boroughs, we have been working with hospitality businesses and with other hard-hit sectors to support them through the crisis. But given the financial challenges facing local government, what we can do alone is limited.

“We urge you to reconsider the support offered to businesses that are not required to close, but which will be hit hard by the Tier 2 restrictions – both in London and in other regions across the UK. Support must be put in place to protect these otherwise viable businesses and jobs.”