We still need more local jobs!

What happens to computers taken to the recycling centres in Oxfordshire The computers are collected by a company called DTC. The computers that they collect are taken to...............where they are broken down into their individual components. The reusable bits are made to build computers for local schools and the non-reusable items are recycled. (Thats exactly the proposal that we made!) But where are the old computers taken to Which was the location that was preferred to Chippy as a site for creating jobs from the recycling of Oxfordshire's old computers

The old computers are taken to a prison in Nottinghamshire!

What is an Innovation Centre

Innovation centres are different to business centres and offices with managed workspace. They provide workspace for small companies in an instructive and supportive environment. Their aim is to maximise the formation and development of businesses with the potential for growth. Typical features include:

• Professional infrastructure and image for a small company
• Communities of like-minded entrepreneurs, individuals and companies
• The flexibility of a straightforward licence to occupy with only one month notice
• Selection on entry to ensure business viability and growth potential
• Practical help and access to a network of information sources and advisers
• Close relationship between centre management and client businesses
• Focus for support measures aimed at fast-growing companies

OK We'll have one of those in Chippy please. Soon as you can.

The Town Council agrees to give the Partnership 3,000
but only if it opens up its meetings and publishes its minutes.

Barry Norton - Leader of WODC - speaking on
BBC Radio Oxford March 6th

"We are close to concluding deals on two or three employment sites in Chipping Norton which will be providing several hundred jobs. The deals are commercially sensitive and confidential but we will be announcing the details in a few months time".

LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW

An Enterprise Centre to the Rescue

Over two years ago Parker Knoll - who had employed 500 people - decided to leave town. Their decision was made much easier by the WODC Planners agreement that 10 acres of their site could be developed for housing. A parting gift of something like 15m to the beleaguered company. A Joint Committee was formed between Town, County and District to consider ways in which the creation of new replacement jobs could be encouraged. The Town Council representatives pressed the case strongly that 200-300 "blue-collar" workers from the town would now be looking for work and it would be much better all round if they could find it in Chippy - instead of having to travel to Witney, Banbury and even Swindon. The County said it was prepared to spend some of its own windfall proceeds from the sale of land at Parker Knoll on employment projects in the town. Various ideas for schemes which would need council backing were presented by local business people - for example for a furniture refurbishment facility, a Furniture Village, a recycling operation for electronic goods and even for a WODC-financed Business Park. But the District didn't buy this approach at all. These schemes were simply dismissed out of hand. Its been obvious for ages that Witney are more than content to see the "gentrification" of Chipping Norton continue. Industry belongs in Witney and Carterton. "Blue Collar" workers would easily find employment somewhere. The District did absolutely nothing to help. They even reneged on the offer they had made to collect the details of workers leaving Parker Knoll so that they could subsequently be consulted. But what was even crazier was that WODC Planners continued to approve plans for building hundreds of new houses. Less jobs- more homes is the daft economic policy for Chippy which the District have been applying now for several years. The Planners solemnly promised that a binding marketing plan would be produced for the five acres of employment land at Parker Knoll and that Wimpey would not be allowed to sell its houses until this plan was in place. The plan would call for a mix of industrial units. This was a totally hollow promise which has been ignored and never enforced. Two years on and Wimpey are happily selling their houses but simply offloading the five employment acres on to somebody else. Nothing is being done there. Wimpey have simply ignored the Planners. Barry Norton (Leader of WODC) claimed back in March this year that all sorts of deals were being done to get "hundreds of new jobs in Chippy" and would be announced soon. So far we know that CETA have been persuaded to keep their 100 existing jobs in the town by subsidising the company's purchase of a plot of land for a new headquarters. Owen Mumford were given planning permission for a factory extension which should create 80 new jobs. But we need many more new jobs than this.

Two years ago the District and OCC closed down the Joint Committee and decided that any money from the County Council or from SEEDA should be spent though a new Town Partnership. The Partnership would take over the role of job creation in Chipping Norton. There is absolutely no doubt that when 60 people voted in the Town Hall for the formation of a Town Partnership in December 2004 they did so because they were led to believe that this would be the fastest way of getting public funds to help create new jobs in the town.

Two years on and how are they doing How many jobs have they come up with so far How many are they estimating Is there a clear economic strategy Is there good publicity material in place to sell Chippy as an employment centre How many trade fairs has our Trade and Tourism Promotion Group attended in the last year Is the WODC Rural Development Group actively marketing Chipping Norton as a place for inward investment If you read this website regularly, you already know the answers to these questions. The Partnership is beginning to look like yet another local quango that has talked a lot and done nothing. But hang on. There's been a development only this week. Is there light at the end of this particular tunnel

A report (READ IT HERE) is being presented by a WODC officer to the Cabinet of West Oxfordshire District Council tomorrow (Wednesday 30th August) about plans for an Enterprise Centre in Chipping Norton. Goodness knows why its being discussed by WODC before its even been shown to anyone in the town. Its full of wish lists and good intentions. Would you believe there is not a single financial figure in the whole thing. No clue as to what it will cost. More seriously not a murmur about how many jobs this project may create. I would have been laughed out of a board meeting in my old company if I had presented something as vague as this. We are told "WODC identified that a sustainable Enterprise Centre was a good way of encouraging structured business development in an area," then "The Town Partnership have fully endorsed this as an approach." So at least we know who to give credit to. This whole scheme is the District Council's who seem to have persuaded a gullible Town Partnership into believing that something useful will be achieved on the jobs front. Hardly surprising since by my reckoning out of ten Partnership members only one is actually involved in running a business. What on earth do schoolmasters, council bureaucrats, teachers, representatives of the Rotary, Ace Centre and Theatre know about profitable job creation A year ago they paid consultants 10,000 to do a study. These consultants concluded there was plenty of larger size business space available in Chipping Norton but an enormous shortage of smaller units - around 500 sq ft. They speculated that there were thousands of self-employed business people in West Oxfordshire who were trying to grow into bigger businesses and were frustrated by the lack of small office accommodation. These people could be the salvation of Chipping Norton. And on this dodgy assumption they built a so-called economic strategy. The problem is that the assumptions were all tosh. There have always been plenty of small offices available. Vacancies at Stones Business Centre, 2 West Street, above lots of shops, Cromwell Park. Absolutely no problem. However, small workshop units have always been like gold dust. And it's larger offices that have been impossible to come by. The Phone Co-Op, CETA and Wise Investment have all been looking for larger premises. But its obvious that the consultants were not really sure of their facts and suggested that WODC shouldn't do anything so rash as actually build anything. That would be too financially risky. Better to assess the demand by trying out a Phase1 scheme consisting of "hot desks" "easy in/easy out accommodation for start-ups" with add-on services like business mentors, training, seminars etc. The whole set up would have a Director and be run by SEEDA and Business Link. If it was successful business units and workshops could come later. (The report astonishingly says that there is a shortage of employment land in Chippy - another reason for moving slowly. What about the 5 acres of land at Parker Knoll which are still sitting idle) This "off-the-shelf" concept is all based on a scheme from SEEDA called "Enterprise Gateways". The report recommends that we visitwww.faringdongateway.co.uk to find out what it's all about. If you do that you find 2,500 sq ft of office desks and meeting rooms, a Breakfast Club, a Womens Networking Group, training courses and seminars, A Director who dispenses advice and 69 members. 40 of these members supply some details. Surprisingly only 14 are from Faringdon. 6 are from Oxford, 4 from Swindon,7 from Wantage 2 from Carterton, 2 from Henley - even one from Woodstock. Its a big catchment area. Apparently No retailers. No manufacturing companies. Marketing, Training, Web Design, Life Coaches...that sort of thing. Get the flavour from these phrases taken from the members descriptions of what their companies do.

So it seems as if what's being created here is a focal point for small business people over a wide area. Often one-man bands - with bright ideas. Usually in the services sector. A place to network, catch up with best practice - make presentations to potential clients. All sounds like good stuff. But it also sounds expensive. Is this money really well-spent or wouldn't it help budding entrepreneurs a lot more simply to cut out all this kind of expenditure on advisers and posh premises and lower crippling business rates instead Will the scheme create 500 jobs in Chipping Norton That's the real question to ask. The report doesn't provide any clues.

Whatever happens about this particular idea - nobody must be allowed to think that an Employment Gateway in any sense relieves the pressure and urgency on getting those 5 acres of employment land at Parker Knoll developed as industrial units. That is where both the District Council and the Town Partnership should be devoting their strongest efforts.

CABINET DISCUSS AN ENTERPRISE GATEWAY &
ONLY MARY NEALE ASKS THE RIGHT QUESTION

Mrs Neale stated that the Council had been involved in this project for some time but indicated that she had some concerns that an Enterprise Gateway would only be able to provide limited assistance. It would be directed towards office based services whilst an Enterprise Centre would provide a vehicle for business expansion and could include provision for light industrial units. Mrs Neale urged the Council to proceed with the development of a full Enterprise Centre concurrently. She noted that no costings had been provided for the proposed Enterprise Gateway and suggested that a little extra funding might be sufficient to meet the cost of establishing an Enterprise Centre.

Spot on Mary! Absolutely right! But as far as I can see nobody answered your point. They seem to be ploughing on regardless. You don't usually let people off the hook that easily. Please speak up even louder and make them see sense. PS Please come back and re-join the Partnership. All is forgiven.

Close vote as salary put under scrutiny

TOWN councillors in Chipping Norton voted only narrowly to hand over their 3,000 share of funding to the town partnership towards the year's salary of the partnership's programme manager, Catherine Chater. Several councillors voiced concerns at an apparent 50 per cent increase in pay for the manager, who will carry out the work over 100 days for 20,000. Cllr John Galbraith told a council meeting on Monday: "We are now paying 50 per cent more salary, having advertised the post at 100 a day, even though the responsibilities haven't changed. "The partnership cannot say that if they had advertised the job at a higher rate, they wouldn't have attracted a different sort of applicant. I am not suggesting that anything improper has taken place, but this appears to have been mismanaged." Partnership chairman Simon Duffy (pictured left) said the budget for the post had been between 15,000 and 20,000. He added: "We wanted people to come to us and pitch for the work, telling us how many days it would take them to complete the projects. The bids varied hugely, with some people asking 250 a day. "We have chosen the best person for the job and we know she will make a great contribution to the benefit of Chipping Norton. "As programme manager, she will direct our efforts and bring in funding to provide business support. We want to promote the town as a business destination to help create more jobs." The council voted by five votes to three with two abstentions to make the grant of 3,000. The role is also being funded by West Oxfordshire District Council, the Chipping Norton Society and Chipping Norton & District Guild of Commerce. The partnership's initial projects include an Enterprise Centre to help new and growing businesses, the marketing of the town to businesses and tourists, developing a clear understanding of employment issues and needs, and the development of a Youth Forum.

"Give-em-the-money"
say these 5 councillors

From the left: Councillors Qadir, Greenwell, Davidson, Jarrett and Graves. Just five votes. That's all it needed on Monday night for the Partnership to get 3000 of the Town Council's money to go alongside 7,000 from the District and a promised 10,000 from the Guild of Commerce to pay for a Programme Manager who will spend her time applying for grants to help create jobs in Chipping Norton. Three councillors voted against. Two abstained. Two couldn't vote because they are members of the Partnership. Four councillors were away. What kind of "representative" democracy is this The council had written to the Partnership querying the way in which the Programme Manager had been selected and asking for an explanation - before the money was handed over. The Mayor had chosen to interpret this as a personal criticism of herself and Councillor Evans and before she absented herself for the discussion and vote she launched an astonishing blast at the Council saying that she was very upset at the implications of the letter. This was quite clearly intended to influence the vote that was to follow and somebody should have ruled her remarks out of order - except it was the Mayor herself in the chair. In the discussion Councillor Galbraith thought that no satisfactory explanation had been offered as to why the Partnership had advertised the Programme Manager job and invited applicants on the basis of 3 days a week at 130 per day and then appointed somebody for two days a week at 200 per day - particularly since at the presentation which Simon Duffy had made to the Council, Councillor Galbraith had specifically queried whether the terms being offered would attract the right applicants and had been told categorically they would. This sort of thing wouldn't happen in private business (Councillor Galbraith has spent many years in big business). "Oh yes it does" said Councillor Graves (who is a teacher). "Its quite common for a salary to be negotiated quite different from what is advertised". So now we know. Councillor Alcock (who has spent all his life in big business) then expressed the view that having a selection panel some of whom knew the candidates well wouldn't happen with important jobs in business either. "Well " said Councillor Graves "that is quite common in Public Service jobs - particularly teaching". So now we know. It could explain quite a lot. Councillor Graves had heard the new Programme Manager at the Partnership Meeting last week and been very impressed. Let her now get on with the job raking in the money. At least that seemed a reasonable position to take. But we didn't hear what the other give-em-the money councillors thought since they didn't say anything. Councillor Galbraith continued to fret about the way things were done in the Partnership. They seemed to think they could do what they like - without reference or accountability. He was reprimanded by the Acting Chair (who later voted to give-em-the-money). Councillor Galbraith had already said that three times in different ways so would he now move on please. Councillor Alcock had another grumble about acquaintances serving on selection panels. (As my old mum used to say....a blind man on a galloping horse could see what was going on here.....but the bureaucrats were closing ranks and everyone else was looking the other way) And so it came to pass... a cash-strapped council which has been forced to cut its recreation playground budget to zero chose to hand over 3000 to an outfit which has been in existence for nearly two years with a remit to create jobs and has so far achieved nothing. Its latest plan is to launch a website soon. They have also made a deep analysis of the employment needs of Chipping Norton and decided that what is required is lots more small office space. Total fantasy but hey...lets get funding for an Enterprise gateway - which is a SEEDA invention and seems to consist of a meeting room, some "hot" desks for start-up companies, some Business Link mentors and (oh yes) a Chipping Norton Business Champion who will be a successful local entrepreneur. It makes you weep when what we want (and have been promised many times by the planners) is workshop units. It doesn't look as if they will be built any time soon. There had obviously been some heavy lobbying going on to secure the votes of Councillors Qadir and Greenwell last night. (although Yasin vehemently denies this in the this morning) Councillor Galbraith was approached last week with a suggestion he should join the Partnership - presumably in an attempt to "nobble" him ahead of last night's vote. I guess that offer is now withdrawn! I suggest we all remember to approach these five councillors over the next year or so with regular friendly enquiries like "How many jobs has the Partnership created this week then". That is if we all manage to survive the hefty tax and utility bill increases expected this winter.

The bottom line is that so far - after two years - the number of jobs created equals one

Miskersation reports on Wednesday's public meeting of the Steering Group of the Town Partnership. Post your comments in the

The Editor - who was also present - comments: Miskersation's account is absolutely spot on. The whole thing was a farce. How on earth can high-powered people like Richard Dudding (Head of Econonic Development OCC) and Tony Walker (Head of Tourism and Economic Development WODC) waste their time sitting listening to such stuff They hardly said a word. The ramblings of Chater, Biles, Evans and Duffy were clearly boring them rigid. There was much discussion about the new website, The funny thing was when Mike Howes said he had visited the site and couldn't find any content. This provoked uproarious mirth among the techie administrators who clearly thought Mike was out of the ark and said things like...."Ho Ho...didn't you press the red button in the bottom left corner and access the drop-down and pop-up menus". When Mike said he hadn't seen those the administrators almost fell of their chairs with laughter. He would have to report for some urgent training, Unfortunately the vast majority of Chippy residents are much more like Mike than they are like Roger Backhaus. Doesn't bode well. But we must be patient until Dec 4th.The only sense all evening was talked by Councillor John Grantham from the Public Gallery who was pushing the case for developing the employment land at Parker Knoll hard. He knows more about job creation than the lot of them put together. To top off all the politically correct mumbo-jumbo, the Chairman announced that he wanted one of his sixth- formers to join the committee. In the next couple of weeks the Town Council must decide whether to support the Partnership financially next year.