Recently, Abi attended a stakeholder event for Somerset’s Economic Strategy. It was an interesting experience, and not necessarily in the ways that you’d expect. In this article, Abi shares her experience and thoughts.
On Monday 10 February I attended the Somerset’s Economic Strategy Stakeholder event at the Taunton Conference Centre. I was keen to attend as I’m really interested in the future of Somerset as a young person, and I have an interest in policies and the economy.
Around 40 people attended from the Council and the community. Predictably, there were only about three people under the age of 20, with the attendees mostly women, mostly white group and lots of people who recognised each other.
The agenda covered an introduction on developing a new ‘Economic Prosperity’ strategy for Somerset, the context of Somerset’s current economy, a vision for Somerset’s future economy, and looking at emerging themes for the strategy. Apparently, this is an overarching 20-year plan, set to be delivered by smaller three-to-five-year plans!
Why is this happening? Because the new government wants renewed county economic plans and because Somerset is also in need of one since moving to a new Unitary Council. The draft strategy plan is due to be published by the end of this financial year.
We were told that S𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝘁 has a number of economic challenges –
- It has an aging population and by 2043, a third of the population is expected to be elderly.
- It also has a lower earning potential than average. Although over half a million people live in Somerset, in 2022 Somerset provided only 252,000 jobs.
- We also have fewer jobs in ‘higher value knowledge based’ services, eight out of ten jobs service based, manufacturing our second largest employer and the health sector also a large employer.
- We are also less qualified than the England average
- And sadly, there are still SIGNIFICANT and PERSISTENT pockets of deprivation. We have areas that are within the 10% most deprived in the country!
It doesn’t help that Somerset’s other main issues include challenges with public transport reaching deprived areas, the growing affordability gap, underperforming schools, and insufficient grid capacity – which results in poor Internet, and mobile connection as well as transport links.
The emerging themes identified for the strategy were:
- Skills & labour
- Business envisionment
- Spatial disparities
- Distinctiveness
- Enabling infrastructure
Although I appreciate that some people think that the plan isn’t ambitious enough, I started to think the plan was going to need a lot of financial investment. Discussion got a little heated and people were not happy, with most of them believing that the money for something like this wasn’t going to emerge. People argued with the presenter, describing the plan as useless and unrealistic. They said that the county has been financially ‘sucked dry’, and despite the ‘Invest Somerset’ initiative, it’s unlikely we can secure enough investment to achieve the plan’s vision.
I understand that people are passionate and concerned, I too began to question how achievable the plans and strategy are. But I was totally unprepared for the behaviour of some very immature ‘grown’ men, who I had the misfortune to sit on a table with. Looking back, I regret the way I introduced myself because I was a bit timid. One of the guys was a self-employed small businessman, another worked at Taunton Town Council. The other man at our table worked for the tourist industry and stayed really quiet. One of these guy’s made fun of me and laughed at the notes I was taking (I like to draw diagrams), I wasn’t so much offended as much as I was angry and disappointed. The other offender kept telling a woman who was asking numerous questions to “shut up and let’s get on with it” half under his breath and half loud enough for her to hear … he behaved like a petulant child. I was so disappointed in some of the people who attended and felt that people should be able to respect each other even if they don’t agree. At the same time, it was interesting and although I may not be convinced about the plans ability to succeed, I still think that the presentation and people’s points were thought provoking
I would definitely attend something like this again but I’m now a bit more prepared for future events!
Abi
Not just elected members
Did you know that Somerset Youth Parliament isn’t just it’s elected members? Any young person in Somerset aged 10-25 years can become a member of the Somerset Youth Parliament Advisory Group.
For more information about becoming a member of the Somerset Youth Parliament Advisory Group and to join, visit our Join Us page.
