We have identified 50 evidence-based social value themes for Worcestershire County Council in West Midlands across 39 service areas. These insights are derived from the latest council meeting transcripts and can inform your social value strategy for bids and tenders.
Science Park returns and dividends
The Science Park has generated significant financial and economic returns for the county, including a reported £630,000 dividend in 2024, plus business rates income and wider gross value added of arou…
“Speaker 3: So I think we can consider those that question probably a minimum of three parts. So first of all is the business rates that are paid by th…”
Phase 6 growth options
Malvern Hills Science Park Phase 6 is an identified growth opportunity, but councillors and officers said it is not currently viable for the County Council to fund a speculative build itself. They dis…
“Councillor Taylor? Speaker 7: Yes. Thank you, Chair. So mine's a bit twofold question, really. Looking through the development phases, you mentioned …”
Promoting flexible workspaces
The panel agreed to promote the Science Park more actively, including councillor visits and publicity for the £12.50-a-day hot desk offer, networking spaces, the cafe, and the site as a county asset. …
“Speaker 4: It's promote it, talk about it. And I'll arrange for a trip down and let's see how many of you we can actually get through the door.”
Science Park visit for councillors
Councillors agreed in principle to organise a site visit to Malvern Hills Science Park to raise awareness of the asset and its capabilities. This is a clear follow-up action but not itself a procureme…
“Speaker 4: What do you got? One of the biggest social media followings out there. So talk about it. I mean, honestly, we've got 57 councillors with a…”
Promote entrepreneurship support
The committee proposed exploring a half-day event with the Growth Hub, Beta Den and other partners to encourage young people into self-employment and entrepreneurship. Officers confirmed related work …
“Speaker 4: I've just been doing a bit of research while the panel's been discussing this. And it came up an Enterprise Nation report came up actually …”
Youth unemployment rising
Worcestershire is experiencing rising youth unemployment, especially in Redditch and Wyre Forest, despite overall claimant numbers falling. The report cites 2,355 young people claiming Universal Credi…
“Speaker 9: Worcestershire continues to operate in a really challenging labor market context, and there's particular pressures that we're seeing that a…”
Youth hub and careers funding
The county has funded and expanded youth employment support through Careers Worcestershire, Youth Hubs in Worcester and Redditch, informal hubs in Bromsgrove and Wyre Forest, and Connect to Work. Thes…
“Speaker 9: In 2021, we started Careers Worcestershire. And Careers Worcestershire has evolved dramatically and has become a service to support all 16 …”
New youth guarantee rollout
National policy changes are expected to require jobcentre claimants to be offered education or employment support within 13 weeks, with a later jobs guarantee and expanded youth hubs. Worcestershire e…
“Speaker 9: I wanted to talk to you quickly about the sort of national policy piece on this. And obviously, since I wrote this paper, this has evolved …”
Street trading policy overhaul
The committee considered a draft revision of the street trading policy, last reviewed in 2015, with updates covering definitions, seasonal licences, temporary and occasional trading, application asses…
“Um so yes the um report before you is to consider a review of the current street trading policy. Um there is a draft proposed policy given as appendix…”
Revise draft before consultation
The committee asked officers to take the street trading draft back for revision rather than sending it out immediately. Members wanted more local evidence, clarification of thresholds, and removal or …
“Well, look, I think trying to sum up then um if we tried to think about it in just a terms of some principles to go away with, I think one would be th…”
DBS checks for traders
The draft street trading policy proposed introducing basic DBS checks for applicants, following benchmarking against other councils. Members debated whether this was proportionate given the low compla…
“Two of the main things I think we felt was that um we could do better criminal checks on applicants by introducing the DBS system and also um to provi…”
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