Community wealth building in a post-Brexit Britain

1. Community wealth building in a post-Brexit Britain Cllr. Danny Thorpe Leader of the Royal Borough of Greenwich

2. What do we mean by post-Brexit Britain? • Business uncertainty • Employment uncertainty • Potential continued wage stagnation • Likely continued reduction of public budgets • Potential loss in EU grant funding • Social tension • Cynicism in ‘the system’

3. Overview of Greenwich • London authority • High levels of regeneration • High levels of affluence and deprivation • High level of tourism which supports service and cultural industries • Strong Co-operative heritage

4. What does Community Wealth Building deliver in Greenwich? • Strengthens the local economy • Keeping money in the Borough by working with, and supporting local businesses • Supports the resilience of the individual • Supporting local people by putting them in, and keeping them in, well paid, secure jobs • Improves the offer to attract investment • Ensuring investment and regeneration delivers outcomes beyond new buildings • Empowers the resident • Bringing economic decision making down to the resident

5. Strengthens the Local Economy • Council spends circa £350m a year on goods, works and services, much of this with local suppliers. • Currently reviewing our procurement and commissioning approach as well as our social value policy. • Supporting the development of businesses of the future through our Smart City Strategy. • Use of derelict space in innovative ways to support and grow local businesses – such as Street Feast.

6. Supports the Resilience of the Individual • Conscious decision to keep services in-house • London Living Wage Employer • Encouraging local businesses to become London Living Wage Employers • Greenwich Local Labour Programme • Support for Greenwich and Bexley Credit Union

7. Improves the offer to attract investment • Greenwich has historically been successful in attracting inward investment • Focus on making sure Greenwich receives the right inward investment that has a positive long term impact • Example DLR – Crossrail – Woolwich Arsenal Regeneration

8. Improves the offer to attract investment • The Council is also investing to help support independent economic growth in Greenwich • Creative District • Regeneration of the former Woolwich MOD site into a leading cultural destination • Large scale concert venues, rehearsal space, studio spaces and offices • Over £30 million invested • Construction to begin in 2018 • DLR decision led to Crossrail which enabled the Council to invest in the Creative District • Success of linking inward investment with local investment

9. Empowers the Resident • Important focus on involving residents in local investment decisions • Neighborhood growth fund • Proportion of Community Infrastructure Levy funds made available to projects run by local residents • Ward Budgets • Allocation of £30k to each Ward to be used on community projects within that Ward • Protecting, and where possible, transferring assets such as community centres to community groups

10. Summary • Post-Brexit Britain is full of uncertainty • Prudent financial management has enabled Greenwich to remain a significant local employer • Greenwich has been successful at securing inward investment in the Borough • It has used this to ensure that its own investments deliver the greatest outcomes locally to help support its independent economic growth • High importance placed on empowering and involving residents in local investment decisions to ensure the community can prioritise actions based on their need