stage 4 - economic plan

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Sligo East City Regeneration

Economic Plan

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Table of Contents

Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 2

Section 1 Private Sector Employment ............................................................................ 11

Section 2 Local Enterprise Development ....................................................................... 18

Section 3 Incentivising Investment in the Area ............................................................... 25

Section 4 Public Procurement & Social Benefit .............................................................. 28

Section 5 Perception ...................................................................................................... 32

Section 6 Implementation, Monitoring, Evaluation ......................................................... 35

Appendix 1 Baseline Indicators .......................................................................................... 40

Appendix 2 List of Attendees of the Economic Plan Roundtable ....................................... 41

Timeframe

Term Key

Existing/Develop An action/project that is already in existence but needs to be continued and/or further developed

Short/Develop An action/project that should be initiated/further developed within Year 1 & Year 2

Medium An action/project that should be initiated within Year 3 & Year 4

Economic Plan Outline Section 1 is the Introduction and provides:

a profile of the regeneration area with a particular focus on on the economic issues identified in the 2013 Socio-Economic Profile of the regeneration area;

an introduction to the approach to the Regeneration Masterplan;

an introduction to economic regeneration;

summarises the process to develop the economic plan, the aims of the plan and the areas of focus.

Sections 2 to 6 outline the strategies and actions of the Sligo East City Regeneration

Economic Plan in the identified thematic areas:

Private Sector Employment

Local Enterprise Development

Incentivising Investment in the Area

Public Procurement & Social Benefit

Perception

Section 7 is the Implementation, Monitoring, Evaluation chapter and provides a plan for

ensuring the implementation of actions and a list of indicators to track progress.

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Section 1 Introduction

The Regeneration Area As the map below shows, the regeneration area is located in the east side of Sligo city. To date the

regeneration initiative in Sligo has focused on the Cranmore Estate. The scale and design of

Cranmore, combined with a lack of investment in maintenance and management, and a

concentration of high levels of socio-economic disadvantage, resulted in a disadvantaged urban

environment and community. Unemployment and joblessness combined with the low levels of

education and skills and the stigma that the regeneration area has historically experienced have

been consistently identified as major issues.

In order to reverse the social, environmental and physical decline of the area, and recognizing that

here was an issue which required long term targeted intervention, Sligo Borough Council (now

merged with Sligo County Council) with the support of the Department of the Environment,

Community and Local Government, established the Cranmore Regeneration Project in 2004.

The Cranmore Regeneration Project Social Plan (2007) identified unemployment as one of the key

social issues in the area (p. 28). The analysis of employment in the 2007 Social Plan concluded

that ‘many of the people living in the Cranmore area would be vulnerable in the event of a

downturn in the economy, particularly in the construction and manufacturing sectors.’ The same

report indicated that 34% of the population over 18 years were welfare dependent - lone parent

and jobseeker payments constituting the highest numbers receiving benefit.

As the 2013 Socio-Economic Profile, Building on our past…looking to our future1, outlines and

acknowledges, a considerable amount of work has already taken place as part of the Cranmore

Regeneration Project resulting in significant improvements for residents. Regeneration has been a

catalyst for an improved level of services within the estate. However, as the profile of the area

suggests, significant challenges still remain as the regeneration project enters a new phase.

Map 1 East Sligo City Recommended Regeneration Area

1 The Socio-Economic Profile can be accessed here

http://www.sligococo.ie/Services/CranmoreRegeneration/MasterplanningStage1andStage2Reports/


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The 2013 Socio-Economic Profile: Key Findings The Socio-Economic Profile, Building on our past…looking to our future2 presents a detailed profile

of the regeneration area. According to the 2011 Census of Population, the total population of the

regeneration area is 1,904 of which 1,305 or 68.5% were in the working age category.

Table 1 Age profile according to the Life Cycle 2011

Age Young People 0-14 People of Working Age15-64 Older people 65+

N % N % N %

Regeneration Area 354 18.6 1,305 68.5 245 12.9

Sligo Borough 2,763 15.7 12,355 70.3 2,450 13.9

Co Sligo 13,109 20.0 43,241 66.1 9,043 13.8

State 979,590 21.3 3,073,269 67.0 535,393 11.7

An analysis of key data indicates an area of significant socio-economic disadvantage. The HP

Pobal Deprivation Index, for example, indicates that the majority of the regeneration area is either

very disadvantaged or disadvantaged with scores significantly below those of the State and County

Sligo. The report identified that:

There were significant levels of educational disadvantage;

There were high levels of residents in low social class and low levels of residents in high social class;

Levels of computer ownership and internet connection were relatively low;

The unemployment rate in the regeneration area was over twice the national average;

Where people were in employment, it tended to be in low-skilled areas;

The number of lone parent households was 40% compared to 18% in the State.

The proportion of those unable to work due to permanent sickness of disability is 8% in the regeneration area, double that of the State (4%).

Graph 2 Economic Profile 2011

2 The Stage 1 report can be accessed here http://www.sligococo.ie/Services/CranmoreRegeneration/MasterplanningStage1andStage2Reports/

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Labour Force ParticipationRate

Unemployment Rate Low Social Class (Semi &Unskilled Work )

High Social Class (HigherProfessional Work)

Economic ProfileRegeneration Area Sligo Borough Co Sligo State


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Section 4 of 2013 Socio Economic Profile looked at employment unemployment and economic

development. The conclusions of that chapter (page 59) are particularly relevant for the Economic

Plan and have informed its’ development.

Economic development and employment is a particularly important factor in the regeneration of

disadvantaged areas. According to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local

Government, the aim for regeneration projects is more than physical improvement. It is to build

sustainable communities through a combination of social, educational and economic initiatives.

Increased competition for scarce jobs coupled with low levels of skills and education will create

difficulties for some residents in the Recommended Regeneration Area without significant

intervention.

In the absence of a focus on employment, issues such as poverty and disadvantage cannot be

addressed. Sligo as a county is economically disadvantaged by virtue of the regional

underdevelopment that has resulted in very limited investment in the area and a reliance on just

four large employers and the public service. Sligo also has an unemployment rate that is higher

than the national average. In the existing economic situation jobs are at a premium. In that context,

given the low levels of education attainment and the high rates of disadvantage, many residents in

the Regeneration Area will have significant difficulty competing for jobs in what is a very

competitive market.

Issues of employment/unemployment are primarily determined by:

The availability of jobs;

The accessibility of available employment in terms of distance and transport;

The education levels and skills fit of potential applicants;

The ability to access and utilise employment information points and networks, including informal social networks, and;

The ability to take-up employment in the face of childcare availability, childcare costs, family responsibilities etc.

Secondary factors may include prejudice based on social stereotyping and issues of

confidence/motivation. These are the issues that will need to be addressed by a comprehensive

strategic approach to unemployment and economic development in the future.

Improving education and skills levels will be essential to ensuring that unemployment is addressed

in a sustainable way. The provision of supports for unemployed people to take advantage of the

opportunities provided by the current policy on labour market activation will also be important if

further poverty and disadvantage is to be avoided. The provision of soft supports to people,

particularly those that have been unemployed for some time, will be crucial to enable them to make

the most of opportunities arising from the current labour market activation policy and other

opportunities.

The 2013 Socio-Economic Profile concluded that a strategic approach is required to ensure a

focused, multi-disciplinary, inter-agency approach to transforming the area. Education, training and

economic development are fundamental to making transformative and sustainable changes to

people’s lives. Children and young adults need to be encouraged to stay in education. Those

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unemployed need to be supported to develop skills that will enable them to compete in what is a

very competitive jobs market.3

Regeneration Masterplan The planned regeneration of the East City area of Sligo is ambitious and comprehensive. The

project aims to transform the social, economic and physical landscape of the area through

collaborative long-term strategic planning, investment of resources and urban regeneration.

Lifecycle Approach The Masterplan takes a lifecycle approach, seeking to ensure that the strategies and actions

address issues and challenges of children and young people; people of working age; older people

and communities. This framework enables an integration of initiative to address the cumulative and

interlinked disadvantages experienced by the people of the regeneration area and to ultimately

deliver a safe, sustainable community for people at all stages of the lifecycle.

Masterplan Approach – Lifecycle

3 Page 119

Children & Young People

People of working age

Older people

Communities

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Integrated approach Masterplan Approach – Integration

The Masterplan is also taking an integrated

approach. Research increasingly indicates

that physical regeneration interventions on

their own are insufficient to transform an

area and interventions should be tailor-

made to address underlying causal factors

that require social and economic, as well as,

physical interventions. The approach to the

Masterplan is an integrated one, seeking to

ensure that the social, economic and

physical elements of the plan are cohesive,

complementary and comprehensive. The

successful implementation of the Masterplan

requires an interdepartmental approach to

regeneration at the government level,

including the funding of social, economic and physical regeneration strategies, and the mandate

from parent departments to agencies to prioritise strategies in regeneration areas at local level.

Integrated approach to supporting regeneration

Economic Plan Roundtable September 14th 2014

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The potential of the physical elements of the Masterplan to contribute to the economic

development of the regeneration area is significant. The plans include considerable investment in

housing, energy saving schemes and infrastructural development in the area. In addition,

proposals in the Social Plan, particularly in the areas of education and learning, and unemployment

and training seek to create the conditions for successful economic regeneration by ensuring that

people of all ages receive the supports they need.

The plan is designed as a ten-year plan. In that context, the actions outlined throughout the plan

are those that have been identified as being immediately required. However it is acknowledged

that these are likely to evolve throughout the lifetime of the regeneration project as internal and

external circumstances change. The strategies and actions are not designed to replace or displace

existing work. Rather they are designed to build on and consolidate work that is ongoing in the

area. They are also designed to develop and expand existing strategies and to develop new

strategies where need has been identified.

Local Economic and Community Plan Under the Reform of Local Government 2014 Act a Local Community Development

Committee (LCDC) is being established in each local authority area. Together with the local

authority, the LCDC will have responsibility to developing a new Local Economic and

Community Plan (LECP). The LECP will:

Promote economic development

Promote local and community development

It is important that the regeneration masterplan is fully compatible with the LECP.

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Economic Regeneration This Economic Plan forms an essential element of

the Masterplan. It aims to strengthen the local

economy and create wealth by tackling

‘worklessness’4 and promoting job creation. It aims

also to change behaviour, encouraging and

supporting local people to become more

entrepreneurial.5 Economic Regeneration includes

actions designed to prepare and assist potential

employees for work (supply) and actions designed

to increase the demand for employees (demand).

Ultimately, the aim of economic regeneration is to

complement social and environmental regeneration

schemes, creating sustainable and inclusive

communities and tackling social exclusion.

A report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on

Area Regeneration Programmes in the UK6

suggested that the local dimension of employment

policy is crucial in taking action to regenerate

deprived communities because joblessness is at the

root of many social problems. The report found that

joblessness in many disadvantaged communities is

a function both of a lack of jobs and difficulties in

accessing existing job opportunities, within and

around, such communities.7 The report refered to

previous work8 to argue that jobs growth in localities

is not a sufficient condition for tackling

concentrations of long-term unemployment, stating

that jobs growth does not necessarily trickle-down

to the long-term unemployed or economically

inactive. The report suggested that it is necessary

to tackle the barriers that prevent the ‘structurally’

unemployed from accessing labour market

opportunity through, for example:

• improving skills and qualifications (most notably basic skills, life skills and core skills in most cases);

• tackling personal, health, housing and family problems; • activating job-search; • adapting employer recruitment practices; • providing childcare and other family care facilities.

4 A term used to include people who are unemployed, economically inactive or actively out of work. The term ‘joblessness’ is more commonly used in Ireland 5 The UK Economic Scrutiny Committee review of regeneration in Wales between 1994 – 2003 6 Regeneration in the 21st century Policies into practice 7 Professor Mike Campbell, Regeneration and employment in Regeneration in the 21st century Policies into practice 8 Campbell, M. and Sanderson, I. (2000) ‘The jobs gap and structural unemployment’, Appendix 19 in House of Commons Education and Employment Committee, Fourth Report: Employability and jobs: Is there a jobs gap? London: The Stationery Office.

A review of actions to help tackle

worklessness shows they include action to

tackle both the ‘supply side’ and the

‘demand side’:

Supply Side:

Increasing access to employment by improving transport links and providing accessible childcare

Increasing skills base by providing education and training

Helping the ‘hardest to reach’ into work

Improve support services to lone parents

Increase support to ‘second generation’ workless

Deliver support services differently e.g. via libraries, employment support centres, mobile job support centres

Providing intensive outreach and support to help overcome a culture of worklessness

Demand Side:

Challenging employers behaviour e.g. why aren’t they interviewing unemployed applicants

Encouraging a suitable infrastructure to support new job creation e.g. transport, housing choice and access to good quality services

Providing accommodation for new business

Attracting and creating new jobs

Encourage business start-ups

Providing business advice and support

Forming a partnership with local employers

Providing access to broadband (http://www.ragged-online.com/2012/08/economic-regeneration-2/)

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The Sligo East City Regeneration Economic Plan

Economic development in the regeneration area is an integral part of the economic

development of Sligo

Economic Plan: Methodology & Consultation The aim of the Economic Plan is to enhance employment and economic development in the

regeneration area. It will complement the Social and Physical elements of the Regeneration

Masterplan. In developing the Economic Plan, the Design Team undertook the following actions:

A review of the literature in relation to economic regeneration;

A review of regeneration project plans in Ireland;

A series of bilateral interviews with a range of agencies including: o IT Sligo Innovation Centre; o Sligo Chamber of Commerce; o IDA; o Enterprise Ireland; o Sligo County Council; o Sligo Local Enterprise Office (LEO); o Sligo LEADER Partnership; o Sligo Local Community Development Committee Chief Officer; o Community representatives;

A Consultation Roundtable was held on September 14th 2014 which was attended by the agencies outlined above and others (see Appendix 2 for details of attendees). A draft of the Economic Plan was presented and discussion took place in relation to the approach and strategies.

In Stage 4, the actions in the draft Economic Plan were refined and lead partners were identified. Each lead partner was invited to provide additional information to each of the actions and to identify supporting partners. Others involved in the drafting of the Economic Plan were also invited to indicate where they felt they might support the implementation of the Economic

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Plan. A significant amount of material was received in response and this additional information is contained in this Stage 4 Economic Plan.

It should be noted that a number of the actions outlined under each of the areas are either underway or are in advanced stages of planning. Others require further research, exploration or planning.

It is also important to note that responses from agencies and organisations indicate the difficulties associated with committing to a long-term plan when they are restricted to annual budgets within their own agency/organisation frameworks, goals and targets. This makes the inter-agency collaboration and partnership ways of working even more significant to the implementation of this Economic Plan.

The Economic Plan will initiate and strengthen measures to:

Develop the local economy including micro enterprise, social enterprise and community enterprise.

Change external perceptions of the regeneration area and perceptions about entrepreneurship within the regeneration area.

Enhance the employability of people in the regeneration area.

Stimulate inward investment into the regeneration area.

Engage the private sector in providing employment for people in the regeneration area

Stimulate a package of Corporate Social Responsibility measures within the private sector that support employment and economic development in the regeneration area.

Develop social objectives within public procurement strategies that target employment and economic development in the regeneration area.

The Economic Development element of the Masterplan will focus on the following:

Private Sector Employment Public Procurement & Social Benefit

Local Enterprise Development Perception

Incentivising Investment in the Area


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Section 2 Private Sector Employment

Sectors with Potential and Key Actors

Potential There was a consensus over the consultation for this plan that new jobs are scarce. The Sligo and

Environs Development Plan 2010-2016 notes that Sligo needs a ‘significant boost in terms of

employment opportunities’. A Sligo wide perspective needs to be taken with regard to private

sector opportunities. However, it is clear that increased employment in the private sector will be

key to the economic regeneration of the area.

Issues of employment/unemployment are primarily determined by:

The availability of jobs.

The accessibility of available employment in terms of distance and transport.

The education levels and skills fit of potential applicants.

The ability to access and utilise employment information points and networks, including informal social networks.

Factors of family responsibilities, childcare availability, and childcare costs affecting the ability to take up employment.

Sectors with Potential A number of business sectors with growth potential have been identified in Sligo. A range of

initiatives and supports have been taken or put in place with a view to developing these. As

developments in these areas come on stream they could offer job opportunities for people in the

regeneration area.

The Sligo and Environs Development Plan 2010-2016 notes the importance of the pharmaceutical

industry as an employer in the region as well as the services sector. It seeks to promote and

develop Sligo as a major centre for retail, services, tourism and culture.

Tourism is a key sector for indigenous enterprise development with associated jobs. The Sligo and

Environs Development Plan 2010 - 2016 sets out a growth framework for the city. Tourism

initiatives, particularly with regard to untapped tourism potential, are identified as one of the areas

with potential for employment, enterprise and economic development.

Sligo has both a cultural heritage and natural environment capable of generating a much greater

number of tourist visitors. The W.B. Yeats link is important. Consultants are due to report on the

development of a Yeats centre. This will depend on surrounding infrastructure. Rivers and lakes

are under-utilised. Green tourism, activity and special interest based on the natural resources and

cultural attributes of the area, is a focus for development.

Food production is a potential growth area. Enterprise Ireland has supported companies involved

in food production in the city and its environs. The Food Technology Centre in St. Angela’s College

is involved in new product development, offers a business mentoring service, and provides

training, courses and workshops for the food industry.

Significant tool making traditions in Sligo present an opportunity for development. The IDA is

looking at the potential in making Sligo a location for a cluster focused on precision engineering.

Customer service/contact centres have also been identified as holding potential. Invest Sligo is an

initiative of Sligo Chamber of Commerce involving the IDA, Enterprise Ireland, and the Institute of

Technology Sligo. It has set out the case for Sligo as the ideal location to establish a customer

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service/contact centre in particular due to available office space, business support network, talent

supply and transport and communication infrastructure.

Key Actors There are a number of key actors engaged in business support in Sligo. These entities have a

valuable contribution to make in enabling a private sector contribution to and involvement in the

regeneration area.

Sligo Chamber of Commerce represents over 300 businesses and organisations in Sligo city and

county. It aims to promote the long-term economic development of the County and to create,

maintain and develop an environment and infrastructure conducive to the development of local

business, industry and commerce. It provides networking opportunities for local businesses, offers

advice, information and other services to local businesses and provides representation and

advocacy for local business. It could offer key links for the regeneration area to private sector

companies.

Sligo County Council has established economic development as one of its corporate priorities and

plays a number of roles supportive of local business. It has taken steps in particular to support

tourism in Sligo. More generally, the recently established Local Enterprise Office provides advice,

training, mentoring and grants to support the development of micro enterprises and SMEs.

IDA Ireland is responsible for attracting and supporting foreign direct investment in Ireland. The

North West Region office is based in Finisklin Business and Technology Park in Sligo. There are

39 IDA supported companies in the North West Region. The main sectors supported in Sligo are

medical technologies and engineering. Clusters have emerged in the manufacture of medical

devices and automotive components. These involve companies such as Abbott Laboratories,

AbbVie, B. Braun, G. Bruss GmbH, and MCI (Mirror Controls International).

AbbVie recently opened an expanded manufacturing facility in Sligo with IDA support.

Overstock.com, an online retailer, recently announced that it is to create forty five jobs in Sligo with

the establishment of a software development team.

Enterprise Ireland has a regional office in Finisklin Business and Technology Park. It is active in

supporting SME development in the city and its environs. Many of these enterprises are involved in

engineering, food and plastics and some are involved in the high-tech sector.

The Institute of Technology Sligo houses the Innovation Centre of the Institute of Technology Sligo

and provides direct support to business including enterprise training, incubation space, applied

research and mentoring and networking opportunities. The centre currently houses over twenty

new business in a number of sectors including software development, chemical and environmental

analysis, biotechnology, health food development and e-learning and web design.

The Western Development Commission promotes social and economic development in the

western region, including Sligo. Its work has included developing projects in areas such as tourism,

the creative industries, renewable technology, and organic agri-food.

SOLAS is the further education and training authority with responsibility for funding, planning and

coordinating further education and training programmes. The SOLAS Corporate Plan 2014-2016

includes among its six goals the goals of Enabling Delivery of Skills for the Economy and

Supporting Active Inclusion.

The Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim Education and Training Board is the key provider of training programmes

in Sligo. These include specific skills training that allows participants to learn new job related skills

and traineeships which offer a combination of training and work experience on a full time basis. To

apply for a place participants must first register with Intreo.

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Business in the Community Ireland is a network for responsible business. It works with large

companies throughout Ireland to support them to develop, manage, and measure their corporate

social responsibility and sustainability strategies. It runs employment programmes, Ready for Work

and EPIC. These are aimed at supporting people with barriers to employment to secure work

and/or education. They involve businesses in providing work placements and links with schools.

The Department of Social Protection administers the Community Employment Scheme. This

Scheme is designed to help long-term unemployed people and other disadvantaged people to get

back to work by offering part-time and temporary placements in jobs based within local

communities.

Employers already in the regeneration area play an important role and it will be useful to sustain

and further expand their presence and capacity to employ local people. This includes Sligo

Racecourse which is in the middle of a ten year development plan.

Goals The goal of the Private Sector Employment strategy is to increase and realise employment

opportunities in the private sector for people from the regeneration area.

Principles The Private Sector Employment strategy is based on three key principles:

1. Mainstreaming: The strategy will involve mainstream agencies and organisations with mandates to support business development to include a concern for employment of people from the regeneration area in their activities.

2. Inclusion: The strategy will take specific steps to include the full diversity of people within the regeneration area. Particular attention in all actions will be given to the specific needs of long-term unemployed people, women, people with disabilities, lone parents, young people, older people, and members of minority ethnic groups.

3. Building on progress made: There have been valuable developments in the regeneration area over the past years and, where these exist this strategy should build on these developments and further enable them.

Strategy The implementation of the social plan for the regeneration area will contribute significantly to

enhancing the employability of people in the regeneration area. A number of further actions will

underpin the successful implementation of the Private Sector Employment strategy. The

engagement and commitment of private sector employers will be key in this regard. The

development of a private sector forum and the involvement of Sligo Chamber of Commerce will be

valuable.

In a context of limited job creation, employment schemes play an important role for economic

development. The Audit of Services in Cranmore initiated by RAPID in 2005, indicated at the time

that Community Employment (CE), Jobs Initiative (JI) and Back to Work (BTW) scheme as key

economic interventions in Cranmore. It is acknowledged that new jobs are scarce in Sligo. It is

important to sustain and expand the availability of employment schemes, specifically Community

Employment, to people in the regeneration area. They enable resilience and sustain employability

until such time as there is improvement in the economic context. Work placements with the private

sector can also be valuable in this regard.

Training interventions specifically designed to address the needs of people in the regeneration

area have been found to hold particular potential. The TAPPED (Technical And Pre-Professional

Employment Development) model has yielded results for a group of young men in the area. It

could be expanded and applied to other skills and groups. Participants are supported to move

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towards standards of employability. The course offers the technical language to frame and solve a

problem. The criteria identified for success are that the initiative has to be engaging for

participants, they must want to do it, and it has to be sufficiently challenging. Department of Social

Protection funding has been key to its success but they do not fund equipment.

Areas for business growth have been identified and are being addressed by the business support

agencies. These include tourism, food production, precision engineering, and customer

service/contact centres. People in the regeneration area could be up-skilled in time to compete for

jobs in these fields on an equal footing. A system of training, both in soft skills and in technical

skills, could be established for this purpose.

There is potential in developing a corporate social responsibility approach to private sector

employment in the regeneration area with some parts of the private sector. Large companies in

Sligo could be encouraged and supported to develop corporate social responsibility packages that

include the provision of employment and work experience for people from the regeneration area

and support for community-based employability initiatives in the regeneration area.

Some of these companies develop their corporate social responsibility outside of Sligo. Other

companies lead with this area from the Sligo locations. What is key is the package developed and

presented to the company. It is important to engage companies early as plans are made well in

advance of implementation.

Objectives The objectives of the Private Sector Employment strategy are to:

1. Establish an infrastructure to stimulate and support private sector engagement with the regeneration area.

2. Sustain and enhance the employability of people in the regeneration area. 3. Develop and implement ‘fast-track’ initiatives to enable people in the regeneration area to

compete successfully for new jobs coming on stream in Sligo. 4. Promote and support corporate social responsibility packages from large companies that

enhance employment levels in the private sector for people from the regeneration area and that stimulate the local economy.

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Private Sector Employment Strategy Actions

Action Timeframe Target/Outcome Cost Funding Sources

Lead/Partners

Objective One: Establish an infrastructure to stimulate and support private sector engagement with the regeneration area.

Private Sector Forum to secure private sector support for the regeneration process, and enable private sector engagement in regeneration actions.

Short/Develop Annual meeting to update on progress and plans and to explore supports

Negligible/ Existing resources

Regeneration Project and relevant partners

Regeneration Project to

explore with relevant partners

Objective Two: Sustain and enhance the employability of people in the regeneration area.

Maximise training and employment opportunities, including community employment, for those from the Regeneration Area on activation programmes

Existing/Develop More people in active labour market programmes and in work

Existing resources

DSP/INTREO DSP/INTREO

The TAPPED model for training intervention will be sustained and expanded into new areas

Existing/Develop MSLETB will continue to support Community Up education and training model when possible

Existing resources

MSLETB/SOLAS MSLETB, with Regeneration

Project and Cranmore Co-op.

Traineeships and apprenticeships will be developed and provided for people in the Regeneration Area in sectors identified as having growth potential in the wider Sligo economy

Existing/Develop MSLETB submit annual plans and targets to SOLAS.

Existing resources

MSLETB/SOLAS MSLETB, with Regeneration

Project, Cranmore Co-op, Abbeyquarter, Age Friendly Alliance

Alignment between the training offered to and taken up by people from the Regeneration Area and the current and future skills needs of employers in the local economy and the wider Sligo economy

Short/Develop This topic will be addressed on an ongoing basis by the interagency forum

Negligible/ Existing resources

Agencies on interagency forum

Interagency forum

Objective Three: Develop and implement ‘fast-track’ initiatives to enable people in the Regeneration Area compete successfully for new jobs coming on stream in Sligo.

‘Fast-track’ initiatives designed and implemented to suit new job opportunities emerging

Short/Develop MSLETB submit annual plans and targets to SOLAS.

Existing resources

MSLETB/ SOLAS

MSLETB

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Lead/Partners

Objective Four: Promote and support corporate social responsibility packages from large companies that enhance employment levels in the private sector for people in the Regeneration Area and that stimulate the local economy.

Corporate Social Responsibility packages designed and promoted to local large employers

Short to Medium Corporate social responsibility package to be promoted with local agencies agreed.

Large employers identified and database compiled to be reviewed and updated annually.

Large employers familiarised on the Regeneration Project through mailings and invitations to public information briefings

Negligible Regeneration Project and other sources that come available

Regeneration Project with

Sligo Chamber, Enterprise Ireland, BITC

Contact programme will be developed with local large companies to promote and secure agreement on a corporate social responsibility package targeting the regeneration area

Short to Medium Large employers identified database used to familiarise large employers on the Regeneration Project through mailings and invitations to public information briefings.



BITC

Support will be provided to local large companies to implement corporate social responsibility packages targeting the regeneration area

Short to Medium Confirmation process with businesses on what level or type of support might be required, numbers that might benefit and ways to provide the necessary support explored.

To be identified on foot of process

Regeneration Project and other sources that come available

Regeneration Project

Ongoing contact will be sustained with Business in the Community Ireland

Short to Medium Business in the Community Ireland liaison explored to see if needs can be met in this way.

BITC budget proposal of 36,000 Euro for part-time Corporate Responsibility Consultant



BITC

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Implementation The inter-agency forum established as part of the Local Enterprise Development strategy will be

the focal point for action on this Private Sector strategy. Within this forum and individually the

following institutions have key contributions to make:

Sligo County Council

Sligo Local Enterprise Office

Department of Social Protection

Intreo

SOLAS

Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim Education Training Board

Enterprise Ireland, Sligo

Sligo LEADER Partnership

IT Sligo Innovation Centre

Business in the Community Ireland

Western Development Commission

Sligo Chamber of Commerce

The Regeneration Team

Sligo Business Ageing Forum

Business in the Community

The Private Sector Forum established as part of this Private Sector Employment strategy will

enable a key contribution from private sector companies to its implementation.


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Section 3 Local Enterprise Development

Policy Context and Key Actors

Potential The concept of a local economy has central value for the regeneration area. It emphasises locally

based enterprise, employing local people, serving a predominantly local market, and retaining local

expenditure within the regeneration area. It holds additional potential to draw in people from areas

that border the regeneration area. Micro enterprises that are market economy based or social

economy based will be at the heart of this local economy.

The 2013 Socio-Economic Profile identified that, ‘in terms of addressing areas with significant

unemployment, support for small scale economic development and micro enterprise may be more

realistic than relying on the enterprise development agencies, important as these are in defining

the macro employment context. The remits of many of the larger state development agencies

make it difficult to focus their operations on smaller zones such as the regeneration area’.

The local enterprise development strategy aims to respond to this concern by developing an

infrastructure with a capacity to engage with local economic development in the regeneration area.

New Structures The Action Plan for Jobs is ‘a whole of Government multi-annual initiative that mobilises all

Government Departments to work towards the objective of supporting job creation’. This Action

Plan is updated and further evolved on an annual basis.

A key development under the 2013 Action Plan and continued under the 2014 and 2015 Action

Plans is the establishment and operation of a network of Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) in each

local authority. The Local Enterprise Offices are mandated to provide a range of supports and

services to local microenterprises. They carry out the combined work of the County Enterprise

Boards and the Business Support Units of the local authorities. They are supported by a Centre of

Excellence in Enterprise Ireland.

The 2014 Action Plan included commitments to making additional funding available to support

start-ups and expansions including a new Youth Entrepreneurship Fund; facilitating mentoring,

peer learning and knowledge sharing to develop entrepreneurial capacity; and encouraging

untapped potential among groups including ‘youth and graduate entrepreneurs, female

entrepreneurs, immigrant entrepreneurs and at regional level’ through the Local Enterprise Offices

and Enterprise Ireland.

The Local Enterprise Office in Sligo can make financial interventions with grants for feasibility

studies and business support. It can provide technical advice, training (in particular a foundation

programme on start your own business) and mentoring support. The services are open to all and

there is flexibility to waive fees for people on social welfare. The long-term unemployed are a

particular focus. The Local Enterprise Office is a key actor in supporting the development of

enterprise and a local economy within the regeneration area.

Micro Enterprise The 2013 and 2014 Action Plans included a focus on action to enhance access to finance for

micro, small and medium enterprises. The 2014 Action Plan commits to increasing participation in

Government sponsored access to finance schemes for SMEs including to improve the take up and

impact of the Microenterprise Loan Fund available through Microfinance Ireland; raising the level of

P a g e | 19

awareness among SMEs and entrepreneurs of business supports available; and enhancing the

financial capability of SMEs’.

Social Enterprise The 2014 Action Plan includes a specific focus on social enterprise. It commits to developing the

social enterprise sector by undertaking a programme of actions on foot of the Forfas Report on

Social Enterprise in Ireland. Social enterprise is identified as a growing sector that ‘can bring

further job gains and develop economic potential’. The Action Plan notes that very often these

enterprises employ those ‘that are most marginalized and who find it most difficult to get jobs’ and

that they ‘tend to provide local services so jobs are created in local communities’.

Social economy based enterprise has been found to be a key element in developing the local

economy in areas of disadvantage. This involves economic activity for social gain. The social gain

to be realised includes employment for those on the margins of the labour market, the provision of

services needed in the area that might not be economically viable given market failure in the area,

and an economic and social stimulus for the regeneration area. Social economy enterprise

requires long-term support in recognition of the social dividend and in response to the context of

market failure that it operates within.

The Community Services Programme supports community businesses to deliver local services to

their communities and to create employment opportunities for people from disadvantaged groups.

The Department of Social Protection funds the programme under the Social Inclusion section of

the National Development Plan 2007- 2016. Pobal manages the programme on behalf of the

Department. It currently provides funding support for some 425 community companies and co-

operatives.

Supporting Entrepreneurs The Innovation Centre in IT Sligo is another potential key actor in supporting enterprise

development and the local economy in the regeneration area. It has, with other Institutes of

Technology, developed a ‘New Frontiers Programme’. This is made up of three phases. Phase one

is an open phase for about forty people to get an overview on pitching their business ideas.

Fourteen places are available on phase two with a stipend for more intensive support. Phase three

is to support high potential start-ups.

Sligo LEADER Partnership provide mentoring and business start-up courses linked to their Jobs

Club. This is targeted at people experiencing disadvantage. This has already supported people

from the regeneration area in business start-up situations, including two local people currently

starting up a micro enterprise. Sligo LEADER Partnership would be another key actor in supporting

a Local Enterprise Development strategy in the regeneration area.

The Stage One report suggested that there might be some future potential for an enterprise

development focus on smaller scale areas when the Socio-Economic Committee is established as

part of the reform of local government.

Diversity A Local Enterprise Development strategy must address and benefit the diversity of the community

in the regeneration area. There are groups that experience a particular distance from the labour

market, in particular the long-term unemployed. Other groups face additional specific barriers such

as the need for adequate and affordable childcare for lone parents, an accessible environment,

transport system and workspace for people with disabilities, the stereotyping of older and young

people, and the legal status and social standing of many Black and minority ethnic people in the

P a g e | 20

regeneration area. It will be important to address these barriers in the implementation of this

strategy.

Goal The goal of the Local Enterprise Development strategy is to stimulate and support the local

economy within the regeneration area through a mix of market economy and social economy

micro-enterprise start-ups.

Principles This Local Enterprise Development strategy is based on three key principles:

1. Inclusion: The strategy will take specific steps to include the full diversity of people within the regeneration area. Particular attention in all actions will be given to the specific needs of long-term unemployed people, women, people with disabilities, lone parents, young people, older people, and members of Black and of minority ethnic groups.

2. Tailoring: The strategy will acknowledge the particular disadvantage in the regeneration area. This demands particular models of intervention, a tailoring of mainstream supports to ensure that they are relevant and accessible to local people and supports that are long-term over the life of the masterplan.

3. Social gain: The strategy will give some priority to initiatives that can demonstrate both economic and social gain. The emphasis on social gain will receive particular additional support to ensure that it can be realized.

4. Building on progress made: There have been valuable developments in the regeneration area over the past years and, where these exist this strategy should build on these developments and further enable them.

Strategy The development of enterprise and the local economy in the regeneration area will require a

support infrastructure over the life of the masterplan if it is to succeed. The enterprise development

and local economy infrastructure required includes enterprise support personnel, enterprise and

training facilities, inter-agency structures, enterprise start-up funding, and additional funding for key

agencies to provide the intensive and targeted support that is required.

This work will be developed in challenging circumstances given the level of disadvantage within the

community. It will need sustained and targeted investment. It will be developed within national

circumstances that are increasingly favourable for the development of local enterprise. New

supports will come on stream as the national economy strengthens and it will be important to have

a capacity in place to channel these supports into the regeneration area and to make best use of

them for the local economy in the area.

Entrepreneurs from within the regeneration area will be the key actors in achieving the goal and

objectives of the Local Enterprise Development strategy. Entrepreneurial capacity is present but

under-developed within the regeneration area. Initiatives will need to be implemented to promote

entrepreneurship and to build capacity among local entrepreneurs.

Start-up micro-enterprises are the next step and key measure of success of the investment in a

local economy infrastructure and in local entrepreneurship. There is a need to design and

implement a model of enterprise development that addresses the particular barriers people in the

regeneration area face. This model will involve market-based enterprises and social economy

based enterprises. The supports required will need to be intensive and long-term if business

success is to be achieved.

Objectives The objectives of the Local Enterprise Development strategy are to:

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1. Build an infrastructure to stimulate and support the development of enterprise and the local

economy in the regeneration area. 2. Stimulate and support the emergence of entrepreneurs from within the regeneration area

and stimulate and support start-up micro enterprises in both the market economy and the social economy.

P a g e | 22

Local Enterprise Development Strategy Actions


Lead/Partners

Objective One: Establish an infrastructure to stimulate and support private sector engagement with the regeneration area.

An interagency forum that brings together key agencies with a capacity to support local enterprise initiatives will be established

Existing/Develop Regular interagency meeting, exchange and shared planning convened by enterprise support officer

Hosting of meetings by Enterprise Ireland

Existing resources

Agencies involved

IT Sligo, with

Enterprise Ireland, IDA, MSLETB, DSP, LEO, Sligo LEADER Partnership, Sligo Chamber, SOLAS

An enterprise and training facility will be developed in the regeneration area

Medium Feasibility study including assessment of need and options for spaces to meet needs

Feasibility study - €5,000

Regeneration Project, DOECLG

Sligo County Council wih

LEO, Regeneration Project

An Enterprise Support Officer will be funded and employed for the Regeneration Area by a relevant local organisation

Short Key post in driving progress and outcomes from the economic plan, particularly in relation to enterprise development

Mentoring and support from Enterprise Ireland and other agencies

Cost of this post - €70,000 per annum estimated



Enterprise Ireland, LEO, DSP and SOLAS

An assessment of the potential for micro-enterprise initiatives will be conducted

Medium An initial scoping exercise to identify potential start-ups carried out by enterprise support officer




Feasibility studies will be carried out on the business ideas identified by this plan as having potential and on future ideas emerging from the assessment carried out

Short Two feasibility studies per annum to be contracted out but managed by Enterprise Support Officer

€40,000 per annum estimated




A funding strategy for supporting micro-enterprise will be developed and implemented through the inter-agency forum

Medium Funding strategy progressed with support of interagency forum

Local micro enterprise established to access existing funding sources with support of enterprise officer

Existing resources

LEO LEO with


P a g e | 23


Lead/Partners

Sligo County Council will identify and make available where possible vacant properties that it has control over that could serve enterprise development within this strategy

Medium Assessment of vacant spaces carried out with options for their re-use and re-letting

Possible re-letting costs to be determined

Regeneration Project, DOECLG, Sligo County Council

Sligo Land Assets with


Local community organisations in the Regeneration Area providing an infrastructure that supports the social economy will be sustained and further enabled to expand their supports in this field.

Existing/Develop Ongoing support to community organisations hosting social enterprise work depending on agency annual plans

Existing resources

MSLETB, DSP/INTREO and Sligo LEADER Partnership

MSLETB, DSP/INTREO, and Sligo LEADER Partnership

Objective Two: Stimulate and support the emergence of entrepreneurs from within the Regeneration Area and stimulate and support start-up micro enterprises in both the market economy and the social economy.

Innovation Centre IT Sligo will support local entrepreneurs

Existing/Develop Provision of enterprise training; appropriate and tailored Incubation space; applied research; mentoring and networking; specialist equipment and testing; video conference and meeting facilities; information on, and access to, funding opportunities available; business consultancy; on-Line learning and leading edge communication; and Hi-Tech business facilities as required.

Existing resources

IT Sligo (Innovation Centre)

IT Sligo (Innovation Centre)

Local Enterprise Office and Sligo LEADER Partnership will support local entrepreneurs with business start-up ideas

Existing/Develop Support to ten local entrepreneurs Existing resources

LEO and Sligo LEADER Partnership

LEO with Sligo

LEADER Partnership

An enterprise development support programme will be provided for local entrepreneurs

Existing/Develop One programme in initial phase €5,000 LEO and Sligo LEADER Partnership

LEO with Sligo

LEADER Partnership and INTREO

Market economy based micro-enterprise start-ups will be enabled

Existing/Develop Five micro enterprises Existing resources

LEO LEO with

INTREO

Social economy based enterprise start-ups will be enabled

Existing/Develop One social economy enterprise per annum Existing resources



Self-employment start-ups will be assisted with access to finance, market research and intensive supports

Existing/Develop Five start ups Existing resources

INTREO and LEO

LEO with Intreo

and Sligo LEADER Partnership

P a g e | 24

Implementation The inter-agency forum will play a key role in the effective implementation of this strategy and will

ensure coordination with the implementation of the Social Plan for the Regeneration Area and will

make links in this regard with the employment taskforce established under the Unemployment and

Training Strategy of the social regeneration plan.

The inter-agency forum will serve as the focal point for action on this strategy. Within this forum

and individually key contributions can be made by:

• Sligo County Council

• Sligo Local Enterprise Office

• Enterprise Ireland, Sligo

• Department of Social Protection

• Sligo LEADER Partnership


• Innovation Centre, Institute of Technology Sligo

• Sligo Credit Union

• Fáilte Ireland

• Western Development Commission

• Sligo Chamber of Commerce

• The Regeneration Team


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Section 4 Incentivising Investment in the Area

Attracting inward investment to the regeneration area will be a critical factor to success. There are

a number of largely undeveloped sites in the regeneration area that are owned by Sligo County

Council that may be suitable for small enterprises that Sligo County Council may be able to provide

incentives to develop. Crucial to the marketing of these sites will be the construction of the new

Eastern Garavogue Bridge. Currently there are no significant North-South Linkages across the

River Garavogue to the east of Sligo City Centre and one of main objectives of the bridge project is

to link communities North and South of the River Garavogue. The River Garavogue and Lough Gill

system, act as a barrier to communication and linkages between the areas to the north and south

on the eastern side of Sligo city centre and prevent critical mass being achieved. The proposed

Eastern Bridge and approach roads will provide the required North South linkages and will enable

the social and development benefits available from greater critical mass be achieved. The bridge

and the approach roads will provide a new high quality single carriageway link on the eastern side

of Sligo City. It will provide for the ongoing commercial, residential, recreational and social

development of communities in the east of the City, on both the north and south sides of the

Garavogue River. The scheme will link existing and proposed communities and commercial

development areas on the East side of Sligo City.9

There are also a number of vacant premises in the regeneration area that could be made available

for commercial activity. An important first step in this regard would be carry out an assessment of

the reasons why the premises are vacant and to undertake remedial maintenance and

enhancement of services here necessary.

Goal The goal of the Inward Investment strategy is to create the conditions for investment in the

regeneration area.

Principles The Inward Investment strategy is based on two key principles:

1. Prioritisation: The strategy will favour inward investment that will benefit and prioritise the employment of local people;

2. Non-displacement: The strategy will ensure that no local business is displaced.

Strategy Creating the conditions for investment in the local area will require collaboration between the

enterprise development agencies, Sligo County Council and local actors. It will require the

identification of the sites now, with an assessment of their future potential when the new bridge

opens. It will require a marketing strategy and the development of incentives such as reduced

levels of rent and rates.

Objectives The objectives of the Incentivising Investment strategy are to:

1. Establish a collaborative approach to inward investment in the regeneration area; 2. Establish the pre-requisites for promoting inward investment into the regeneration area; 3. Develop and implement a marketing strategy.

9http://www.sligococo.ie/Publications/GatewayInnovationFundSubmission/Appendix1ProjectDetails/EasternGaravougeBridge/

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Incentivising Investment in the Area Strategy Actions Action Timeframe Target/Outcome Cost Funding

Sources Lead/Partners

Objective 1 Establish a collaborative approach to incentivising investment in the regeneration area To establish a Taskgroup comprised of Sligo County Council, the regeneration team, Enterprise Ireland and relevant others

Short/Develop Invitations made, agenda developed, and meeting convened


Regeneration Project with LEO,

Enterprise Ireland

To identify and map the sites available and the type of planning permission they are zoned for

Short Sites identified and mapped for consideration by the Taskgroup

Negligible Regeneration Project

Sligo Land Assets (SCC)

with Regeneration Project

Objective 2 To establish the pre-requisites for promoting inward investment into the regeneration area To carry out an assessment to identify why vacant premises are unoccupied;

Medium Assessment report with recommendations completed

5,000 Euro estimated

Regeneration Project and DOECLG

Planning (SCC)

with LEO and Regeneration Project

To ensure that sites and premises are adequately serviced.

Medium Opportunities to improve infrastructure wherever possible depending on potential client needs

Cost to be determined


Infrastructure (SCC) with

planning and Regeneration Project

Objective 3 To develop and implement a marketing strategy To assess and target the types of enterprise that would match the sites;

Medium Initial assessment by Taskgroup and communicated to the relevant agencies for targeting

Negligible Taskgroup Taskgroup

To explore incentives to commercial entities; Medium Options explored and recorded for consideration by County Council

8,000 Euro estimated for options study and legal advice


ASSETS (SCC)

with Finance and Planning

To encourage and incentivise potential employers within these commercial entities to employ people from the regeneration area.

Medium Options explored and recorded for consideration by the Taskgroup

2,000 Euro Regeneration Project and DOECLG

LEO and


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Implementation The structures and drivers for this Incentivising Investment strategy will include:


• Sligo Local Enterprise Office

• Enterprise Ireland, Sligo

• Sligo Leader Partnership


• Local employers

• Western Development Commission

• IDA

• Sligo Chamber of Commerce

• The Regeneration Team

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Section 5 Public Procurement & Social Benefit

Public procurement refers to the acquisition, whether under formal contract or not, of works,

supplies and services by public bodies. It ranges from the purchase of routine supplies or services

to formal tendering and placing contracts for large infrastructural projects.

European level Public procurement is seen as one of the market-based instruments essential to the achieving the

ambitions of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth while ensuring

the most efficient use of public funds. For that purpose, the EU Directives were revised and

modernised in order to increase the efficiency of public spending, facilitating in particular the

participation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in public procurement, and to enable

procurers to make better use of public procurement in support of common societal goals.

The Directive10 acknowledges that employment and occupation contribute to integration in society

and are key elements in guaranteeing equal opportunities for all. The Directive allows for a number

of social considerations to be brought to bear in procurement including allowing for reserving the

right to participate in public procurement procedures to sheltered workshops and economic

operators whose aim is the social and professional integration of disabled or disadvantaged

persons. It also allows for lighter procurement procedures to apply to organisations that meet

certain criteria.

Socially Responsible Public Procurement Socially Responsible Public Procurement (SRPP) refers to procurement operations that take into

account one or more of the following social considerations: employment opportunities, decent

work, compliance with social and labour rights, social inclusion (including persons with disabilities),

equal opportunities, accessibility design for all, taking account of sustainability criteria, including

ethical trade issues and wider voluntary compliance with corporate social responsibility (CSR),

while observing the principles enshrined in the Treaty for the European Union (TFEU) and the

Procurement Directives.

The EU published a report entitled Buying Social: A Guide to Taking Account of Social

Considerations in Public Procurement. In it SRPP is described as a powerful tool both for

advancing sustainable development and for achieving the EU’s (and Member States’) social

objectives. SRPP covers a wide spectrum of social considerations, which may be taken into

account by contracting authorities at the appropriate stage of the procurement procedure. Social

considerations can be combined with green considerations in an integrated approach to

sustainability in public procurement.

National level In 2013, the Social Clauses in Public Procurement Bill was published by the Minister for Reform

and Public Expenditure. When enacted, it will provide for the inclusion of social clauses in all public

procurement contracts, to provide opportunities for unemployed persons and apprentices, to

ensure equality in the workplace in the carrying out of public contracts and to provide for

sustainable development.

10 Directive 2014/24/EU of 26 February 2014 on Public (Classical) Procurement replacing Directive 2004/18/EC;

P a g e | 29

A working group established by the Office of Public Procurement is currently assessing ways in

which clauses can be inserted to deliver social benefits.

Goal The goal of the Public Procurement strategy will be to ensure that local people directly benefit from

public contracts.

Principles 1. Directly benefit: The strategy will ensure that residents in the regeneration area will directly

benefit from public procurement contracts; 2. Inclusion: The strategy will take specific steps to include the full diversity of people within

the regeneration area. Particular attention in all actions will be given to the specific needs of long-term unemployed people, women, people with disabilities, lone parents, young people, older people, and members of minority ethnic groups.

Strategy The area of public procurement is highly regulated. Public procurement legislation allows, under

certain circumstances, social clauses to be included in tenders and in contract terms for successful

tenderers. Article 26 of the current directive states that, ‘Contracting authorities may lay down

special conditions relating to the performance of a contract, provided that these are compatible

with Community law and are indicated in the contract notice or in the specifications. The conditions

governing the performance of a contract may, in particular, concern social and environmental

considerations.’ The implementation of the Public Procurement strategy will ensure that full

advantage is taken of the opportunities afforded under public procurement legislation.

Objectives The objectives of the public procurement strategy are to:

1. Ensure that local service providers and employers benefit from opportunities afforded by public procurement, particularly those relating directly to regeneration projects;

2. Ensure that local employers and residents directly benefit from public procurement;

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Public Procurement & Social Benefit Strategy Actions Action Timeframe Target/Outcome Cost Funding


Objective 1 Ensure that local service providers and employers benefit from opportunities afforded by public procurement, particularly those relating directly to regeneration projects

An information campaign will be undertaken to ensure that local businesses and service providers are aware of the opportunities that regeneration will bring and to prime them to engage;

Short/Develop Short information campaign, could be developed as part of public relations campaign identified in Perception Strategy

Cost of short information campaign to be determined



with procuring agencies

Information and mentoring will be provided to service providers in the Regeneration Area or employing people from the local area in how to engage in competitive tendering as part of county wide work on this;

Short/Develop Training and mentoring provided to local businesses and service providers as part of county/wide activity

Existing resources

Sligo County Council and LEO

Sligo County Council and LEO

Objective 2 Ensure that local employers and residents will directly benefit from public procurement Sligo County Council will adopt a Local Labour Agreement Scheme for each of the construction projects that are to be undertaken as part of the regeneration project. This will encourage employers to prioritise the employment of suitably qualified local people;

Short/Develop Local Labour Agreement Scheme investigated for relevance for inclusion in contracts for construction projects that may be undertaken as part of the regeneration project. Report presented to Council Members for their consideration and for policy review


Procuring agencies

including Regeneration Project & Sligo County Council

Maximum use under the regulations will be made of social clauses in public procurement in favour of local employers/residents

Medium Investigation if regulations will allow for the inclusion of social clauses in favour of local employers/residents: Report presented to Council Members for their consideration and for policy review



The use of local service providers and enterprises will encouraged in all works associated with the regeneration project, as far as is possible under public procurement guidance.

Medium Investigation if regulations allow for the inclusion of social clauses of local providers with report presented to the County Council Members for their consideration and policy review



Chambere of Commerce

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Implementation An internal Taskgroup will be established within Sligo County Council to assess the possibilities

under procurement.

A Taskgroup will be established to ensure that the benefits of regeneration initiatives to local

employers and service providers are maximised to include:

• Sligo County Council • Sligo Local Enterprise Office (LEO) • Enterprise Ireland • Local employers • The Regeneration Team • Sligo Business of Ageing Forum


P a g e | 32

Section 6 Perception In their review of regeneration policy and practice, the Centre for Housing Research11 state that

design, housing management and social and economic elements often need to be addressed

simultaneously if regeneration projects are to be successful in the long run. They examine work by

Dean and Hastings (2000) conducting research on estates in the UK that emphasises the role that

stigma plays in precipitating estate decline. Their research indicates that estates that suffer from a

poor public image are more likely to require regeneration measures and are more difficult to

regenerate. Further research in the UK suggests that some housing estates do not simply endure

material disadvantage but also suffer from poor reputations, They can be viewed as ‘problem

places’ home to ‘problem people’ and these types of reputations can reinforce an estate’s

difficulties.12 This research found that despite substantive changes on the three estates, a poor

local images persisted and suggest that an estate’s reputation does not automatically improve as

the estate improves.

The Forkan research carried out in 2006 identified that Cranmore has a very negative reputation

and the name of the estate is synonymous with poverty, deprivation and anti-social behaviour.13

While the Stage 1 report, Building on our past…looking to our future identified improvements in the

external perception of the regeneration area, it is clear that poor image and stigma persist.

Stigma associated with areas can have a profound effect on the economic and social life of

residents. Residents from Cranmore, for example, report changing their address in job applications

to hide the fact that they live in the regeneration area.

The UK research strongly suggests that unless a housing estate’s image problems are effectively

challenged alongside regeneration, stigma will remain. Attention to addressing negative image and

stigma has played an important part in a number of regeneration projects in Ireland, for example in

Ballymun in Dublin and in Moyross in Limerick. Challenging stigma and external perceptions of the

regeneration area in Sligo will be a key area of action. This will require a concerted effort to

highlight the positive aspects of the area.

Goals

The goal of the perception strategy is to challenge prejudicial assumptions of the regeneration area

and to promote a more positive image, ultimately changing perceptions of the regeneration area.

Principles 1. Positivity: The Perception strategy will challenge stereotypes and prejudices and actively

promote the positive aspects of the regeneration area.

Strategy Externally held views based on stigma of an area can be detrimental to those living there,

particularly for those seeking employment and young people. Challenging perceptions of an area

can be difficult. The media, word-of-mouth, gossip and exaggeration all play a part in developing

and perpetuating prejudices and stigma about an area. They will equally have a role to play in

11 Regenerating Local Authority Housing Estates: Review of Policy-and-Practices Policy Paper, Centre for Housing Research 12 Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2000. Challenging images: housing estates, stigma and regeneration, 13 Forkan 2006. Listening to the Voices of Residents in Cranmore: A Platform for Regeneration Cranmore Regeneration

Thanks to Sue Mahon for the use of her paper on the need to address stigma, Changing the Perception.

P a g e | 33

challenging conventionally held perception of the regeneration area and promoting a more positive

view. Local people will be supported to promote a positive image of the area and to challenge

negative stereotypes.

Objective The objective of the Perception strategy is to:

1. Challenge stigma and prejudice and to promote a more positive view of the regeneration area.

P a g e | 34

Perception Strategy Actions Action Timeframe Target/Outcome Cost Funding


Objective 1 Challenge stigma and prejudice and to promote a more positive view of the regeneration area. A public relations strategy to accompany the regeneration plan will be developed. This strategy will focus on highlighting the positive elements of the Regeneration Area and will be consistent and sustained

Short/Develop Development and implementatio of a public relations strategy: Website, social media, PR agency, advertising and marketing promotional work of the area within the work of participating agencies

To be determined – estimated 50,000 Euro per annum over three years for development costs



partner agencies and organisations

Proactive linkages will be made with the media, inviting them to tour the area and meet with residents

Short/Develop Ongoing relationships developed and could be further developed as part of the public relations strategy



Work with Sligo Chamber of Commerce to proactively develop links with employers to break down any prejudicial perceptions they may have about the area and those that live there;

Short/Develop Ongoing channels of communication developed with specific actions developed as needed and could be further developed as part of the public relations strategy

Pilot programme to provide initial screening and then training for 25 Long Term unemployed for CV preparation, interview skills etc could be run by Chamber of Commerce and work placements for the 25 across the spectrum of its membership activities (Industry, Hospitality, Services, Retail) could be arranged

Existing resources

Regeneration Project and Sligo Chamber of Commerce

Regeneration Project with Sligo

Chamber of Commerce and INTREO

Identify champions and people of influence that will use their influence to promote a positive image of the area.

Medium Ongoing relations developed and could be further developed as part of the public relations strategy



Signage will be improved throughout the regeneration area.

Medium A signage strategy agreed with key stakeholders and implemented

To be determined - 40,000 Euro estimated


Roads, Planning, Tourism Sections of Sligo County Council

with Regeneration Project, Chamber of Commerce

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Implementation A Taskgroup will be established to develop a strategy around perception to include:

The Regeneration Team;

Sligo Local Enterprise Office (LEO);

Local representatives

Media champions



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Section 7 Implementation, Monitoring, Evaluation

This section of the Economic Plan sets out the structures, indicators, and planning/evaluation

processes required for the successful implementation of the plan.

Implementation Structures An Oversight Group is to be established. The mandate of the Oversight Group will encompass both

the social regeneration plan and this economic plan. In this way it will support the planning for this

economic strategy, drive the implementation of the economic plan, and extract learning from the

economic plan for application over the life of the regeneration plan and in other parts of Sligo.

This Oversight Group will include public sector bodies and other agencies with a key role to play in

the implementation of the economic plan. It will also include local community representatives and

organisations.

An interagency forum will be established that brings together key agencies with a capacity to

support economic development in the regeneration area. This forum will coordinate the deployment

in the regeneration area of the resources available to these agencies and enable a bridge for local

people to access their services. It will enable long-term planning for a coherent response to the

challenge supporting initiatives to enable local people compete effectively for opportunities that

emerge in the private sector and of developing the local economy.

A Private Sector Forum will be established under the auspices of the Sligo Chamber of Commerce.

The forum will serve to secure access to private sector guidance for the implementation of the

regeneration process, and in particular for the implementation of this economic plan. It will promote

private sector support for the regeneration process, and enable private sector engagement in

regeneration initiatives. A Taskgroup will be established to progress key areas of the Economic

Plan.

The key agencies for the successful implementation of the economic plan include: Regeneration

Team, Sligo County Council, Sligo Local Enterprise Office, Enterprise Ireland, Sligo, Sligo

LEADER Partnership, IT Sligo Innovation Centre, Sligo Credit Union, Fáilte Ireland, Intreo, SOLAS,

Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim Education Training Board, and Business in the Community Ireland

A foundational initiative to drive key elements of the economic plan includes the employment of an

Enterprise Support Officer to support start-up micro enterprises and to link local people to

mainstream business and economic development supports.

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Monitoring & Evaluation

Indicators Indicators enable progress to be assessed. Quantitative and qualitative indicators are required. Output and impact indicators are identified for

each of the objectives set out in this economic plan.

Private Sector Employment Indicators Objective Output Indicators Impact Indicators Monitoring

Establish an infrastructure to stimulate and support private sector engagement with the regeneration area.

Annual meeting of private sector forum.

Knowledge of and interest in the regeneration project among business leaders.

Data gathering on progress of economic plan (to be determined). Research, survey work, and evaluation.

Sustain and enhance the employability of people in the regeneration area.

Number of community employment places available.

Number of participants on TAPPED model training courses.

Growth in soft skills development for participants from the regeneration area.


Develop and implement ‘fast-track’ initiatives to enable people in the regeneration area compete successfully for new jobs coming on stream in Sligo.

Number of participants on ‘fast-track’ initiatives.

Number of local people securing employment through ‘fast-track’ initiatives.

Data gathering on progress of economic plan (to be determined).

Promote and support corporate social responsibility packages from large companies that enhance employment levels in the private sector for people from the regeneration area and that stimulate the local economy.

Number of corporate social responsibility packages implemented.

Number of local people securing employment through corporate social responsibility initiatives.

Number of enterprises securing contracts through corporate social responsibility initiatives.


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Local Enterprise Development Indicators Objective Output Indicators Impact Indicators Monitoring

Build an infrastructure to stimulate and support the development of enterprise and the local economy in the regeneration area.

Regular meetings of inter-agency forum.

Operation of enterprise and training facility.

Employment of enterprise development officer.

Establishment of micro-enterprise fund.

Knowledge of and engagement with the regeneration area among public sector decision makers.


Stimulate and support the emergence of entrepreneurs from within the regeneration area and stimulate and support start-up micro enterprises in both the market economy and the social economy.

Number of market economy micro-enterprise start-ups.

Number of social economy micro-enterprise start-ups.

Number of self-employed supported.

Number of local entrepreneurs identified and supported.

Number of local people employed in local micro-enterprise.

Data gathering on progress of economic plan (to be determined).

Incentivising Investment Indicators Objective Output Indicators Impact Indicators Monitoring

Establish a collaborative approach to inward investment in the regeneration area

Taskgroup established with participation from key agencies and Terms of Reference developed

Improved information regarding availability of sites;


Establish the pre-requisites for promoting inward investment into the regeneration area

Assessment carried out

Servicing improved

Sites and premises more attractive to investment

Evaluation

Develop and implement a marketing strategy.

Marketing strategy implemented

Incentives in place where appropriate

Increases interest in sites and premises


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Public Procurement & Social Benefit Indicators Objective Output Indicators Impact Indicators Monitoring

Ensure that local service providers and employers benefit from opportunities afforded by public procurement, particularly those relating directly to regeneration projects

Information campaign undertaken

Training opportunities provided

Number of local employers/service providers undertraining training

Increased capacity to participate in tendering opportunities


Ensure that local employers and residents directly benefit from public

Local Labour Agreement Scheme adopted by Sligo County Council

Number of residents benefitting from employed by regeneration projects

Number of local business/employers participating in projects

Data gathering on progress of economic plan (to be determined). Research, survey work, and evaluation

Perceptions Indicators Objective Output Indicators Impact Indicators Monitoring

Challenge stigma and prejudice and to promote a more positive view of the regeneration area.

Sustained public relations strategy

Relationships with employers developed

Signage improved promoting perception of the area as a welcoming community.

Levels of positive stories covered by local media;

Improvement in the external perception of the regeneration area


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Planning/Evaluation The planning cycle for the economic plan will be important in ensuring its ongoing relevance and

impact. The plan will be implemented on the basis of annual workplans. Data on implementation

and impact will be gathered so that progress in its implementation can be monitored and evaluated.

The economic plan is a ten-year strategy and will need to evolve over the period of implementation.

This evolution will be guided by monitoring and evaluating its implementation and by building the

learning from this into the annual workplans. This planning cycle should be implemented in a

manner that accompanies and links with the planning cycle for the social plan.

The evaluation element of this cycle will be put in place in the early stages of implementing this

economic plan. An evaluation team will be contracted to establish the necessary planning cycle and

to put in place the necessary tools for its implementation.

The tables of key output and impact indicators set out above will be integral to this process. The

evaluation team will need to:

Assess and finalise these indicators.

Gather benchmark data in relation to the indicators selected.

Establish time-defined targets in relation to each indicator selected. These targets will need to take account of the resources made available for implementing this economic plan.

Identify the data and data collection methods that will be required from different stakeholders to support tracking of the indicators selected.

As with the social regeneration plan, the Oversight Group will ensure that these indicators and

targets shape the management and implementation of this economic plan.

Baseline benchmark indicators were established during Stage 1 of this process. These are based

on an analysis of the Census 2011 data. As with the social regeneration plan, this analysis, with

some limitations, provides a useful baseline against which progress at a high level can be assessed.

It is reliable, regular, dependable and easily accessible on a cycle appropriate to measuring patterns

of change (every five years).

The evaluation team contracted will need to conduct surveys and research initiatives to support their

evaluation and review of the economic plan and its implementation. As with the Social Plan, a

formal evaluation of progress should be carried out in year three, six and ten of the economic plan.

Each evaluation should shape and inform the development of a renewed programme of work for the

following period

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.

Appendix 1 Baseline Indicators

HP Pobal Index Deprivation &

Affluence Social class Principal Economic

Status Education Health Computer & Internet

Deprivation Score 2006

Deprivation Score 2011

Pobal HP 2011 Description

Higher Professionals

Semi & Unskilled

Labour Force

Participation Rate

Unemployment Rate

Economic

Dependency

Ratio

Low educat

ion High

Education

Very good

& good

Very bad &

bad

With a comput

er

Without a

computer

Internet access

No Internet access

207082002 -19.8 -16.3 Disadvantaged 10.4 27.4 63.2 36.0 1.5 41.7 11.0 77.4 2.6 45.7 51.9 45.7 50.4

207082003 -18.8 -22.6

Very Disadvantaged 5.6 16.2 61.5 48.6 2.2 32.6 3.4 73.9 0.7 64.8 27.8 64.8 29.6

207082004 -26.4 -16.7 Disadvantaged 6.5 20.6 66.9 38.7 1.4 31.2 11.0 76.5 2.8 52.9 34.5 51.7 36.8

207082011 -13.3 -13.8 Disadvantaged 17.1 17.1 56.8 41.8 2.0 22.9 16.5 75.9 2.4 50.0 40.9 54.5 37.9

207082012 -6.8 -6.3

Marginally Below Average 12.8 5.5 53.2 35.1 1.9 22.2 29.4 63.8 4.3 30.8 29.4 32.9 25.9

207082013 -20.1 -14.8 Disadvantaged 13.7 27.0 66.0 40.7 1.6 31.5 12.2 81.3 2.0 56.6 39.4 64.6 33.3

207082017 -15.4 -13.2 Disadvantaged 20.5 16.2 53.4 27.3 1.6 26.9 14.0 78.6 3.4 56.4 40.0 52.7 43.6

207082018 -10.7 -8.6


207082022 -15.1 -18.2 Disadvantaged 7.9 33.2 61.3 43.7 1.9 26.7 6.7 80.8 3.7 56.4 41.0 56.4 39.7

Regen Area 11.7 19.6 59.2 37.6 1.7 29.2 14.1 75.3 3.0 48.6 39.6 50.0 38.5

Sligo Borough -2.52 -2.97


Co. Sligo -0.58 -0.17 Marginally Below Average 32.7 14.1 59.4 18.1 1.1 16.6 30.0 86.5 1.7 67.6 29.8 66.6 30.5

State -0.23 0.24 Marginally Above Average 34.6 14.3 61.9 19.0 1.0 16.0 30.6 88.3 1.5 72.7 25.1 71.8 25.8

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Appendix 2 List of Attendees of the Economic Plan Roundtable

Name Organisation/Agency Bartley Gavin

Director, Sligo County Council

Brian Quinn Fáilte Ireland

Camilla Smyth Sligo LEADER Partnership

Ciarán Hayes Chief Executive, Sligo County Council

Fergal Quinn Sligo Retail Park

Frank O’Beirne Representative of Sligo Racecourse

Frank Moylan Planning, Sligo County Council

Gail McGibbon BIDS project, Sligo County Council

Gary Kelly Community Warden Sligo County Council

Helen O’Hara Cranmore Co-op

Maeve McCormack Independent Community Liaison

Marian O’Callaghan Regeneration Project Sligo County Council

Marisa Moran Community Warden Sligo County Council

Martin Foley Representative of Sligo Racecourse

Mary Blowick Project Leader, Regeneration Sligo County Council

Mary Brodie Sligo Mayo Leitrim ETB

Mary Hartly Sligo Chamber of Commerce

Maureen Durkan Cranmore Co-op

Michael Carty Local Enterprise Office (LEO), Tourism, Sligo County Council

Michael Glennon Sligo LEADER Partnership

Niall McEvoy IT Sligo Innovation Centre

Padraig Greene Tonaphuble Resident Representative

Peter McCarrick Procurement, Sligo County Council

Seán Martin Architects Department, Sligo County Council

Sheila Haran Sligo Tourism

Siofra Kilcullen LCDC Sligo County Council

Stephen Walshe Sligo Local Enterprise Office (LEO)

Sue Mahon Cranmore Co-op

stage 4 - economic plan

Documents