The Gloucestershire Economic Strategy Scrutiny Committee met on 19 September 2025 to discuss the City Region Board update, receive the annual economic update, and review the committee's work plan. The committee heard that the Local Growth Plan is expected to be presented to the City Region Board in November, and that a working group has been established to review Strategic Economic Development Fund (SEDF) bids.

Annual Economic Update

Katherine Martin, Gloucestershire County Council (GCC)'s Data and Insights Manager for Community and Place, presented the annual economic update, which included data on population, geography and infrastructure, and employment and business.

Key points from the update included:

• Population Growth: Gloucestershire's population is projected to increase by 17.46% between mid-2022 and mid-2047, reaching 766,595.
• Housing Affordability: The ratio of house prices to earnings in Gloucestershire is 8.6 times, with a slight decrease of 0.9 points between 2023 and 2024.
• Digital Connectivity: 79% of premises in Gloucestershire have gigabit capability, which is below the government target of 85%.
• Rural vs. Urban: 87.5% of Gloucestershire's geographic area is classified as rural, with 29.2% of the population living in these areas.
• Employment: Data included jobs, job density, and claimant counts.
• Businesses: 93.8% of businesses in Gloucestershire survive for one year, and 57.6% survive for three years, both higher than the national average, though survival rates are falling.
• GVA, Productivity and Exports: There was a 21.8% increase in the value of exports between 2021 and 2022, which is higher than the national increase.

City Region Board Update

The committee received an update on the City Region Board (CRB) from Councillor Julian Tooke, County Council Cabinet Member for Business, Economic Development, Planning and Infrastructure and Chair of the City Region Board. The update covered the Local Growth Plan, Strategic Planning, and the Strategic Economic Development Fund.

• Local Growth Plan: Work is progressing to finalise the Local Growth Plan, with the aim of presenting the final draft to the CRB in November. Councillor Julian Tooke and David Owen, Director for Economy and Environment, have met with leaders of each authority to gather feedback. Updates to the plan will include an action plan, increased use of data, greater clarity on the document's role, and a repositioning of growth sectors to link with the UK's Modern Industrial Strategy¹. The plan will also give greater prominence to green skills and digital innovation.
• Strategic Planning Update: No update was provided at this meeting, but an item will be presented at November's meeting outlining the emerging approach to a Gloucestershire Spatial Development Strategy (SDS). It was noted that any work on the SDS should complement Local Planning Authority-led Local Plans.
• Strategic Economic Development Fund (SEDF): The approach to disclosing commercially sensitive information has been amended following concerns raised. A working group will review and discuss bids with promoters in early October, with senior officers appraising the bids ahead of the November board meeting when funding decisions will be made.

Work Plan

The committee reviewed its work plan, which includes regular updates on the City Region Board and Devolution, the GCC Economic Dashboard, and the SEDF.

Items to be scheduled or suggested include:

• Green skills strategy

Scheduled items:

• Devolution + City Region Board update (28th November 2025)
• Growth Hub's Carbon Net Zero Team (28th November 2025)
• Economic Dashboard (28th November 2025)
• Spatial Development Strategy (28th November 2025)
• SEDF Decision Reporting – Progress report on the Together Gloucestershire project (Cotswold District Council) (26th March 2026)