County Council Economy Plan

We have agreed an Economy Plan for the period 2020-2024 in response to the impact and challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The plan is an update of the Economic Growth Plan 2018-2023 and sets out our priorities for supporting the recovery of the West Sussex economy.

The Economy Plan has nine priority themes, setting out where the County Council is best placed to make a difference:

• Themes 1-3 reflect the spatial economic challenges for Crawley and the wider Gatwick Diamond, and for the coastal and rural economies.
• Themes 4-5 focus on the fundamental platforms of business start-ups, existing businesses, and employment and skills.
• Themes 6-7 focus on two key sectors hit hard, the visitor economy, with links to hospitality and the health and social care market, under considerable strain from COVID-19.
• Themes 8-9 focus on the opportunities we are keen to embrace around digital infrastructure and the application of digital technology to boost business productivity and enhance digital skills and the importance of embedding climate change and the environment in the reset approach.

The 2022/23 headline actions to be progressed by the council have been updated and are set out in the document below.

We have also produced the Economy Plan summary which gives a snapshot view of some of the ways we are working to aid economic recovery, support businesses and play our part in boosting growth and prosperity.

Partners and stakeholders contributed to the development of the Economy Plan and we will work closely with them to support the business community and to achieve these priorities.

For enquiries or questions, email business.support@westsussex.gov.uk. For further information, visit Business West Sussex.