Refreshed Wolverhampton economy plans to go before council cabinet

Extra measures to track the number of investment enquiries in Wolverhampton will go before the council's cabinet this week, as part of a refreshed 'city plan' for 2025-2026.

The 'Our City, Our Plan' document sets out how the council will work with its partners across the city to deliver a range of priorities, including health and social care, housing, jobs and the local economy.

The updated plan has been recommended for approval ahead of City of Wolverhampton Council's Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, February 19.

Under the refreshed plans, the total number of enquiries generated and received by the council from potential business investors will now be tracked as part of key indicators designed to ensure the plan is on track. 

Previously, only new investment opportunities directly generated by the council were recorded.

Wolverhampton's economy is estimated by the local authority to be worth around £4.7 billion, supporting over 100,000 jobs, and is predicted to be worth up to £6.7 billion by 2040.

The creation of a "thriving economy in all parts of the city" is one of the main objectives in the proposals, with four supporting outcomes set out to support it - including attracting new investment which brings "social and economic benefit to all".

The council says it's aiming to build "an even closer relationship with investors and strategic employers... to better understand their needs and how they can contribute to growth in our city," as well as working to attract new businesses to the city to increase the resilience of the local economy. 

Other stated targets in the plan include getting more local people into good jobs and training.

Speaking during a discussion on the plan at a meeting of the council's Scrutiny committee held earlier this month, Chief Operating Officer David Pattison said the policy would indeed help the authority get greater numbers of people from the area into work and training schemes.

"More local people into good jobs and training is a key part of the city plan, there are indicators exactly on that issue," he said.

"There will continue to be careful examination on this particular indicator and that's where the education and skills and employment strategy the council has got showing what work we're doing, a lot of work was done at Wolves at Work trying to shift the dial on those challenges and making sure we find people ways into paid employment."