Business Week and Small Business Saturday
Councillor Wendy Thompson to ask the Leader of the Council, Councillor Roger Lawrence:
Can the Leader of the Council indicate how the authority intends to mark Small Business Saturday on 5th December 2015, this being an excellent opportunity for all public institutions to celebrate the role of small businesses in our local economies, and also to set out the outcomes so far from the recent Business Week held in the city in terms of the extra inward investment that has been secured as a direct result of the preparatory work done to organise that week of events?
West Midlands Combined Authority
Councillor Wendy Thompson to ask the Leader of the Council, Councillor Roger Lawrence:
Can the Leader of the Council give and update on the position with the West Midlands Combined Authority, and progress with moving towards a bid for a Devolution Deal for the West Midlands?
BME Community in Teaching in Wolverhampton
Councillor Paul Singh to ask the Cabinet Member for Education, Councillor Claire Darke:
Given that the between 35% and 40% of Wolverhampton’s population are from a BME background, could the Cabinet Member indicate the number of BME teachers in Wolverhampton schools and what percentage of the teaching profession in Wolverhampton this constitutes?
Minutes:
Business Week and Small Business Saturday
Councillor Wendy Thompson asked the following question:
Can the Leader of the Council indicate how the authority intends to mark Small Business Saturday on 5th December 2015, this being an excellent opportunity for all public institutions to celebrate the role of small businesses in our local economies, and also to set out the outcomes so far from the recent Business Week held in the city in terms of the extra inward investment that has been secured as a direct result of the preparatory work done to organise that week of events?
Councillor Lawrence confirmed that the Council was working with local partners to promote Small Business Saturday. These partners included the Black Country Growth Hub, Access to Business, business organisations, the Wolverhampton Business Improvement District and individual businesses. A key event would be the Celebrating Enterprise Day at the Molineux on 2 December which would encourage more people to look at self-employment as a career option. Councillor Lawrence ensured Councillors that they would receive details events which were planned.
Councillor Lawrence also outlined the commitment to working with businesses throughout the year.
Councillor Thompson outlined that she was pleased with the investment being made to the railway. She also outlined that there needed to be greater improvement in the local skills base, in particular around mathematics education in school.
Councillor Lawrence confirmed that there had been concrete investment in the City and cited Wiggle as an example where 200 new jobs had been created. Council was also informed that work would take place with businesses for customised training. In relation to school results, the Leader outlined substantial improvement made over recent years and thanked the former Director of Education, Dr James McElligott for his work at the Council.
West Midlands Combined Authority
Councillor Wendy Thompson asked the following question:
Can the Leader of the Council give an update on the position with the West Midlands Combined Authority, and progress with moving towards a bid for a Devolution Deal for the West Midlands?
Councillor Lawrence outlined that the bid for a combined authority had been submitted for parliamentary approval on behalf of the seven metropolitan boroughs, the three local enterprise partnerships and six district councils. If successful, the Combined Authority would be inaugurated in April 2016. In relation to the Devolution Deal, Council was informed that negotiations were continuing, but at the request of the Treasury, were confidential. Councillor Lawrence explained that any decisions on a devolution deal or the creation of a regional Metro Mayor would require a decision by Council.
BMECommunity in Teaching in Wolverhampton
Councillor Paul Singh asked the following question:
Given that the between 35% and 40% of Wolverhampton’s population are from a BME background, could the Cabinet Member indicate the number of BME teachers in Wolverhampton schools and what percentage of the teaching profession in Wolverhampton this constitutes?
Councillor Darke explained that each school was responsible for their own recruitment and employment and as such the Council did not hold the information requested.
In response to a further question from Councillor Paul Singh, Councillor Darke agreed to provide him with the number of BME head teachers employed in the City.