Local Economic Assessment

Legislation contained within the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill places a statutory duty on local authorities to undertake a Local Economic Assessment (LEA).  This came into affect in April 2010 and a Herefordshire Local Economic Assessment was published in the Autumn of the same year as part of the State of Herefordshire report.

The aim of LEAs is to equip local authorities and partners with a common understanding of the local economic conditions, economic geography and social and environmental factors that impact on economic growth. It should provide an evidence base to inform a range of local strategies, policies and interventions.  In particular the production of the LEA for Herefordshire was timed to coincide with the production of a revised economic development strategy for the county.

The 2010 version of the LEA was produced with reference to guidance issued by the Department for Communities and Local Government and built on work already undertaken for the State of Herefordshire report. In developing the LEA we focussed on filling gaps in information, particularly the views of businesses and other stakeholders.

To meet this need we carried out a survey of businesses and employers in order to better understand the needs and challenges they face. The results of the survey have to inform the Local Economic Assessment and by service providers across the authority. More information on the survey can be accessed via the following link Herefordshire Employers' Survey.

In developing the Economic Development Strategy for Herefordshire a more in depth consultation with businesses and other stakeholders was also undertaken. This enabled us to test some of the findings from the LEA and Herefordshire Employers' Survey as well as looking at some of the emerging priorities.  The Economic Development Strategy and report from the consultation (The Business Perspective of the Herefordshire Economy) can be found on the Economic Development pages of the Herefordshire Council website.  Section 4 of the strategy includes a list of indicators that will be used to monitor progress against the objectives in the strategy.

Updates to the Local Economic Assessment
No update to the The Local Economic Assessment document was undertaken in 2011.  We have however updated some of the analysis included in the report as well as the economic key findings included in the State of Herefordshire report. Updates to analysis can be found on the Economy theme page and the Key Findings document is available from the resource box below. The Research Team have also produced a set of Key findings documents for localities within Herefordshire.  These documents set out some of the key issues for areas within the county including economic issues. For more information see the about localities page.

If you can't find what you're looking for or need more information please contact us on 01432 260 893 or e-mail researchteam@herefordshire.gov.uk

Related resources

 

Last updated: 05 January 2012