£4m worth of investment planned to kickstart district’s recovery
Members of Bradford Council’s Executive will consider £4m worth of new investments to support recovery for residents and businesses from the pandemic.
The proposals will be presented as part of a report giving an update on the forecast year-end financial position of the council for 2021-22 at a meeting on Tuesday 6 July.
Priorities recommended amongst the investment proposals include:
* 16 to 24 year old Youth Offer – £1m
Designed to offer more support to young people, especially those looking for employment. Using an additional investment of £1m the fund will offer additional work experience placements for young people not in education, employment or training and create additional apprenticeship places.
* Masterplanning and development frameworks for the district – £500,000
Bradford city and surrounding town centres have been hugely impacted by the economic restrictions of the last year. This funding is intended to help turn them around so they can survive and thrive.
* Supporting Enterprise – £1.5m
A package of support will be established from Economic Development via a Workshop programme to encourage people to set up new businesses and grow them.
Leader of Bradford Council, Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, said: “The council and our partners have continued to work together to tackle the impact of the COVID pandemic on our communities.
“As we now look to the future and further relaxation of restrictions we want to do all we can to kickstart and support the social and economic recovery for our residents and businesses.
“It’s not simply a case of going back to the old normal, this is about supporting our residents and businesses through challenging times and into the strongest possible recovery for the district.”
Cllr Imran Khan, deputy leader and executive member for education, employment & skills, said: “As part of this package of measures we are keen to support 16 to 24-year-olds who have sacrificed so much throughout this pandemic and at such a key time in their lives in terms of their education and career prospects.
“This additional investment will therefore bolster the interventions we are making to support this age group by linking them to high quality skills, job and leisure opportunities.
“This will ensure the strongest possible recovery both for our young people and the wider economy.”
Cllr Alex Ross-Shaw, executive member for regeneration, planning and transport, added: “The economic restrictions of the past year have obviously had a major impact on our city and town centres, as we’ve seen nationally, so this extra investment is an important additional measure to support the recovery.
“It will be used to strengthen and accelerate our masterplanning, enabling us to act quickly to unlock sites and get new development moving as quickly as possible, particularly in our towns but also in our city centre.
“It will also invest in an enhanced package of support for people looking to set up new businesses so we can encourage good entrepreneurial activity that creates the jobs and wealth for as many people as possible that we all want to see.”
