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City Strategy

City Strategy. The Dudley Perspective 13 th September 2007. DUDLEY AND CITY STRATEGY: WHAT WE NEED. Gordon Brown: “I see the future, and its work” We need an approach that: Recognises the distinctive challenges and opportunities in each ward

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City Strategy

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  1. City Strategy The Dudley Perspective 13th September 2007

  2. DUDLEY AND CITY STRATEGY: WHAT WE NEED Gordon Brown: “I see the future, and its work” We need an approach that: • Recognises the distinctive challenges and opportunities in each ward • Recognises and builds on existing work and services • Recognises, and has innovative approaches to, tackling the barriers that have resulted in a culture of worklessness • Adds real value to existing services, and joins them up • Genuinely addresses the gaps between existing service provision • Ensures engagement with hard to reach groups, and supports them on a journey

  3. BRIERLEY HILL • Brierley Hill is different to Dudley’s other City Strategy wards, since it is a large town, as well as a ward. The ward has numerous employers within and around it, and contains one of the largest shopping centres in the UK. • Brierley Hill will be transformed over the next decade by a radical regeneration and re-shaping that is already taking place, and which needs to engage with the town’s residents. • Nevertheless, currently, around 22% of the ward’s working age population are workless, a situation that has persisted since the closure of the town’s massive steelworks in the 1970s.

  4. Brierley Hill Priorities for City Strategy • lone parents • NEET group • clients in receipt of Incapacity Benefit • tackling benefit dependency/worklessness ‘culture’ • effective client engagement • tackling low skills/qualifications • provision of enterprise advice

  5. CASTLE & PRIORY • Castle & Priory is a large residential area in the north of the borough. A large percentage of the ward comprises social housing. The ward has few enterprises within it and, economically and socially, is the single most disadvantaged of Dudley’s wards. • The ward is situated barely a mile from Dudley town centre, and close to exciting new regeneration opportunities. Yet 26% of the ward’s population is workless, a percentage that has remained stubbornly high.

  6. Castle & Priory Priorities for City Strategy • lone parents • NEET group • clients in receipt of Incapacity Benefit • tackling benefit dependency/‘culture’ • effective client engagement • tackling low skills/qualifications • provision of enterprise advice

  7. NETHERTON, WOODSIDE AND ST ANDREW’S • This ward, located on the eastern flank of the borough, has the small town of Netherton at its heart. A large percentage of housing consists of social housing. • A traditionally ‘white’ working class area, the ward now has an increasing population of Indian and Pakistani residents. • As with Brierley Hill and Castle & Priory, residents used to be occupied in metal trades and factory work, which has declined considerably. • A very large percentage of workless residents belong to the NEET group. In Netherton itself, 40% of 16-24 year olds are economically inactive.

  8. Netherton, Woodside & St Andrew’sPriorities for City Strategy • lone Parents • NEET group • Incapacity Benefit clients • specific BME groups • tackling benefit dependency/culture • effective client engagement • low skills/qualifications • enterprise advice

  9. ST JAMES’S • St James’s is situated a mile from Dudley town centre. Most of the housing is social housing, and most of the population was engaged in metal forming trades, that have now declined. • However, in addition to a myriad of opportunities within and around Dudley town centre itself, St James’s is close to Brierley Hill, and contains one of the single largest service providers in the West Midlands – Russells Hall Hospital. Despite this, 24% of residents are economically inactive.

  10. St James’s Priorities for City Strategy • lone parents • NEET group • Incapacity Benefit • Tackling benefit dependency/worklessness ‘culture’ • effective client engagement • low skills/qualifications • Priority for enterprise advice

  11. ST THOMAS’S • St Thomas’s comprises a large residential area, with Dudley town centre on its western margin, bordering Sandwell on its eastern side. The ward is adjacent to the new regeneration/development sites of Castle Gate and Castle Hill. • 25% of the population are economically inactive. St Thomas’s ward contains the highest percentage of BME groups in Dudley – (26.6%). The ward also has the second highest population of young people in Dudley, with over 30% in the 0-19 age group.

  12. St Thomas’s Priorities for City Strategy • lone parents • NEET group • Incapacity Benefit • specific BME groups (African Caribbean/Pakistani) • benefit dependency/worklessness ‘culture’ • effective client engagement • low skills/qualifications • enterprise advice

  13. CONCLUSION We need to see and ensure: • a commitment to local partnership working, and responsiveness and accountability to Local Management Groups, and Local Strategic Partnerships. • real, tangible, lasting results and impact – an investment in the local community

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