Beat the downturn

West Sussex County Council has worked with the district and borough councils to create an action plan to reduce the impact of the downturn.

The plan is to...

Keep West Sussex working

What can the County Council do for businesses? 

• Cut the time it takes to pay suppliers to help with cashflow.
• Make information about selling to the County Council easily available.
• Work with Job Centre Plus to match companies facing "downsizing" with those companies that are recruiting.
• Support the West Sussex Business environment via the West Sussex Economic, Skills and Enterprise Board whose remit is to improve the economic well-being of the County.
• Work with employers to improve the skills and employability of young people.
• Promote the Buy with Confidence scheme which identifies local traders with guaranteed good reputations.

A pledge

West Sussex County Council has joined with all of the District and Borough Council in signing a 14 point pledge aimed at both helping the economy of West Sussex during the recession and to make the most of opportunities when the economy starts to recover. The pledge is based on the keep West Sussex working action plan which aims to support businesses and individuals affected by the recession. The pledge says...

To support businesses

• We will pay promptly (councils have already reduced the time for paying invoices from small and medium sized companies).
• We will buy locally where we can.
• We will support local business to get good information on contracts and opportunities with the local authorities.
• We will support local business to get good information on business support opportunities provided by Business Link.
• We will sustain refurbishment and maintenance work to help keep businesses going.

To support families and individuals

• We will notify council vacancies to Job Centre Plus to ensure people who lose their jobs can be made aware of opportunities with the council.
• We will strive to increase the availability of apprenticeships.
• We will ensure good access to money advice and debt counselling and housing aid services for local people experiencing difficulties.
• We will endeavour to ensure that there are housing options for those in financial difficulty, maintaining a flow of affordable housing locally.
• We will support schools and health providers to make sure families, children and individuals affected by the downturn can get the support they need to deal with their situations.

And in addition

• We will keep Council Tax as low as possible.
• We will strive to run our services as economically and efficiently as possible.
• We will hold regional support agencies to account for working effectively/flexibly/responsively in our local area to support businesses and individuals.
• We will work to develop the local economy in preparation to take up future economic opportunities.