Ian Austin, Regional Minister for the West Midlands, today chaired the inaugural meeting of the West Midlands Taskforce which brings together a number of government and public sectors partners to develop a response to the current economic downturn and find long term solutions to the economic issues being faced by businesses in the region.
The West Midlands Taskforce has been set up by Advantage West Midlands to ensure that public sector agencies and business support organisations are working together to address the impact of the crisis so that more effective support can be provided to the businesses, individuals and communities that are being affected.
Working together the Taskforce will address a number of key themes that are paramount in ensuring the stability of the economy during economic downturns. These themes include:
• workforce retention and rapid response to lay offs,
• job replacement and retraining following large scale redundancy - such as that following the demise of MG Rover which ensured that 95% of the workforce found alternative employment;
• enhanced Business Support through Business Link and the Manufacturing Advisory Service;
• financial assistance for companies;
• investigation into opportunities to bring forward Capital Investment or infrastructure projects which create employment opportunities; and
• the establishment of a data and intelligence network to provide an ‘early warning’ system to identify the sectors and communities which are most at risk in the current climate.
Regional Minister Ian Austin said:
“A number of key initiatives have already been launched in response to the current situation such as the Transitional Loan Fund and Business Link’s “Credit Crunch” hotline. I think this shows government is listening and is on the side of businesses and taking appropriate action now. But I recognise that there is much more to do. I believe that the Taskforce will provide an important forum which can plan a rapid, appropriate and coordinated response to economic shocks, particularly with regard to preserving the workforce in employment as far as possible, and preventing loss of business stock in the region.
“The Taskforce will not only address the short term issues associated with the economic crisis, but will also look at the overall resilience of the West Midlands Business base and develop strategies and interventions that will improve the business resilience of the region in the long term. Investment in skills, innovation and business growth are all paramount in ensuring that we as a region emerge stronger and more resilient for the future.
“The Pre-Budget Report coupled with the very decisive action that we have seen the government take over the last few weeks is further evidence of the government’s determination to mitigate, as far as possible, the impact of the downturn. Ironically this region, because of the Rover Crisis, has already developed an approach which is effective at containing the impact of a large scale economic crisis”.
AWM Chairman Nick Paul said:
“We can draw on the lessons learnt from the MG Rover taskforce which resulted in 95% of workers getting new jobs and most supply chain businesses surviving the shock, while recognising the current situation is very different in terms of scale and complexity. We are not dealing with a single company, with a clearly defined supply chain and known workforce, instead the situation is far reaching and potentially far greater in scale than first anticipated, with both small and large scale businesses being affected. The West Midlands Taskforce has been set up to ensure that we are prepared to deal successfully with the current economic situation and similar situations in the future.”