To: Future Oxfordshire Partnership
Title of Report: Oxfordshire Inclusive Economy Partnership (OIEP) Update Report
Date: 30 July 2024
Report of: Emma Coles, OIEP Manager
Status: Open
Introduction
1. The Oxfordshire Inclusive Economy Partnership is a county-wide group that brings together employers, business, education, community groups and local government – to share knowledge, expertise and resources, and create links between different areas of work. Our aim is to work together to create a more equal region that creates opportunities and benefits for all people within the county. Our focus is on tackling areas that really need attention, which will have impact and will really make a difference.
2. Oxfordshire is home to significant inequalities. It is one of only three regions that contributes a surplus to the UK economy, but despite its global position and perceived affluence, its wealth and opportunities are not evenly distributed. According to the 2019 English Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) Oxfordshire contains 17 (out of 407) LSOAs (Lower-layer Super Output Areas) within the 2 most deprived IMD deciles – deciles 1 and 2. They are mostly contained within 10 wards – 1 in Abingdon, 3 in Banbury and 6 in Oxford[1]. The IMD focuses on seven domains of deprivation: income, employment, education, skills and training, health and disability, crime, barriers to housing and services and living environment. The city of Oxford is the second most unequal place in the UK (source: Cities Outlook 2022 | Centre for Cities) in terms of income, housing, affordability and life expectancy.
3. The OIEP is working together in partnership to tackle these inequalities and are working to create opportunities for all people in Oxfordshire, making use of everyone’s potential, so that we can all benefit from Oxfordshire’s success.
4. We have set up 4 action focused working groups to deliver our vision:
· Educational attainment – focusing on early years education and support, educations attainment and better links between business and education links to shape career choices
· Inclusive Employment - focuses on both employers and employees. Looking at how organisations can create better pathways into work whilst understanding the barriers people face to accessing employment.
· Social value and procurement - we are looking at how we can grow the amount of money that is spent within our county, for our county. We are also looking at how the businesses that benefit from this are investing into our local communities, through jobs, training or improving our environment.
· Place shaping– ensuring we invest in places that need it most. Communities need to be part of our work to ensure that money spent in our county helps address some of our biggest challenges – health, environment, housing – we need to ensure that we can answer these questions - what are the benefits that can be created for local people? How are the benefits of economic activity and growth shared locally?
OIEP Update
5. This report gives an overview of OIEP and highlights progress so far. Of note is the progress by the working groups to deliver their objectives, specifically the establishment of the OIEP HR Network to help build knowledge on the creation of exceptional recruitment pathways, development of a social value and procurement anchor sub-group; securing funding for the expansion of ARCh into more schools to benefit a greater number of children, development of the Theory of Change for the work of the partnership and the start of the OIEP seminar series.
6. The report also highlights the additional resource in kind that has been accessed through the three research projects that are being facilitated by the University of Oxford.
7. The OIEP published a new website oiep.org.uk at the end of last year, this enables a bespoke approach to how we present and share information for the OIEP and created a more interactive experience for users.
Communications
8. The OIEP website oiep.org.uk
Financial Implications
9. The OIEP Manager and communications support is provided through contribution from a shared Partnership budget.
Legal Implications
10. There are no immediate legal implications associated with the content of this report.
Other Implications
11. There are no other immediate implications associated with the content of this report.
Conclusion
12. Significant progress has been made by the partnerhip and we will continue to build momentum across the county to create a more equal and sustainable region that creates opportunities and benefits for all people within the county.
Background Papers
1. OIEP Strategy 2023-2026
2. OIEP Delivery Plan 2023-24
