The Economy Scrutiny Committee met to review the Quarterly Economy Dashboard and discuss the council's work programme. Members raised questions about data reliability, population figures, and the impact of economic growth on residents.

Economy Dashboard

The committee reviewed the Quarterly Economy Dashboard, a report detailing Manchester's economic performance. Councillor Hussayn Salem, Chair of the Economy Scrutiny Committee, welcomed members and outlined the committee's role in scrutinising economic growth and its benefits for residents. The dashboard, which contains 39 metrics, was presented by Tim Robinson from the council's performance research and intelligence team.

Councillor Ghan, a new member of the committee, questioned the reliability of the data presented, particularly the employment rate figures. Tim Robinson assured the committee that efforts were made to be transparent about data reliability, with much of it regulated by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). He also noted that the council challenges ONS figures, particularly regarding population estimates, and conducts its own modelling. Councillor Bev Craig, Leader of the Council, confirmed that the council estimates Manchester's population to be significantly higher than the 600,000 figure presented in ONS mid-year summaries. The committee requested that future quarterly updates include a data point on population count.

Discussions also touched upon the differences in footfall between the city centre and district centres, with Councillor John Flanagan highlighting concerns about the location of measuring devices. Councillor Mandie Shilton Godwin, Executive Member for Clean Air, Environment and Transport, acknowledged that some district centre monitoring points might not accurately reflect overall activity and that a tendering process was underway to improve data capture.

The committee also discussed the work to reduce the number of young people not in education, employment, or training (NEET) and to address race and gender gaps in employment. The Director of Inclusive Economy informed the committee that ONS and Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) data on employment by age and gender is reliable, and further details would be provided in an update on the Work and Skills Strategy. A major programme to support NEET young people aged 16 and 17 has led to a reduction in unknown post-16 destination measures.

Concerns were raised about how the dashboard reflects deprivation at a ward level and the methodology for measuring economic benefits to residents. The Performance and Insight Lead explained that work is ongoing to measure the impact of economic growth on residents, which will be incorporated into future versions of the dashboard. The Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) was also highlighted as an official measure of relative deprivation by ward.

The committee noted the report, with a commitment to further discussions on data reliability and the inclusion of additional data points in future reports.

Overview Report

The committee also considered an overview report from the Governance and Scrutiny Support Unit, which detailed key decisions within the committee's remit, responses to previous recommendations, and the committee's work programme. Councillor Salem noted that the work programme for the forthcoming municipal year would be discussed in more detail in a private session following the meeting. The committee noted the report and agreed the work programme.