Local Economic and Community Plans LECP | Guidelines 2021
approaches to economic development that have proved successful in other areas; need for adequate balance and diversity in the nature of development and economic activity in different locations, including town centres versus out of town locations; the importance of maintaining and maximising the potential of existing enterprises, including the large proportion who trade within the domestic market, as well as promoting new economic activities, for example through promoting innovation on the part of existing enterprises; possible support needs of categories of enterprises which may not come within the remit of the economic development agencies or the LEOs, including in relation to cost competitiveness within the area, and scope to help indigenous enterprises to compete domestically and globally; need for strong focus on skills requirements in line with the National Further Education and Training Strategy 2020–2024; the general economic and fiscal environment, including likely constraints on the public finances; cost implications of any proposals, based on rigorous costing and the need to maximise value for money; the importance of “place-related” factors to competitiveness (particularly for certain sectors such as tourism), subject to the likelihood that all locations will not have capacity to fulfil the same economic roles or reach the same level of performance. Unrealisable aspirations to disperse economic development equally to all locations need to be avoided; the need to respond to changes in the competitiveness environment and to requirements of enterprise in that regard;
wider economic trends and issues, particularly with regard to economic development in the regional context, including:- trends in economic activity/enterprise, including regional variations, geographic concentration, and changes in the structure of enterprises; potential for indigenous enterprises
expanding into global markets as an increasing source of economic development;
in the context of foreign direct investment, the need to focus increasingly on services; changes in the factors that provide advantages for economic development (e.g. the likelihood that FDI may be increasingly influenced by factors such as educational attainment and attributes of local areas); interaction between factors influencing local economic activity (e.g. between operation of the local labour market, housing market transport or locational factors) and possible need for research on these to address gaps in knowledge; and the possibility that economic development may be more broadly-based in the future, with possible increased difficulty in identifying specific areas of potential growth. Assessment of Sustainable Economic Development Objectives (SEDOs) The SEDOs should be subject to a specific written assessment and report to ensure consistency with the REPs/RSESs, by the planning or economic staff of the Regional Assembly, prior to finalisation of the LECP. The SEDOs should include a high-level economic appraisal to ensure their robustness from a value for money and economic return perspective.
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