The pledges - creating prosperity

The council is working to create an economically prosperous city with good jobs available for local people. We do this by promoting the city to investors, supporting business and maximising public and private investment. We also help people to acquire new skills and to overcome barriers to employment.

What went well in 2009/10

• We set up Working Neighbourhood Teams to tackle worklessness in six of the most deprived areas of the city. This has led to a 55% increase in the number of out of work residents helped into employment through the Skills and Work Service.
• We developed 150 new jobs for the long-term unemployed through the government's Future Jobs Fund.
• We have made the most of the opportunities provided by MediaCityUK so far, with 1,521 local people employed at the site and £98 million awarded to Salford contractors.

Our challenges

Salford is the fourth most deprived authority in terms of both income and employment in Greater Manchester. There are pockets of deprivation and high unemployment in eleven of Salford's wards. We are targeting these areas and have launched Working Neighbourhood Teams in Eccles, Ordsall and Langworthy, East Salford, Swinton and Pendlebury and Walkden and Little Hulton. We have had significant success in making sure local people benefit from the development of MediaCityUK by creating jobs and working with schools. This year we will further increase our efforts to make sure that residents benefit from the vast opportunities that this development brings.

What we will do

To reduce unemployment we will:

• Implement a strategy which will provide 25 council apprenticeships.
• Ensure local people benefit from regeneration, for example by ensuring a minimum of 50 unemployed residents are supported into jobs at the new Tesco Walkden.

To grow and develop business and enterprise we will:

• Market Salford as a business destination, including launching a new website.
• Provide a business support, development and aftercare programme to key businesses in Salford.

To make the most of the opportunities that MediaCityUK brings we will:

• Improve public transport and walking and cycling routes to MediaCityUK.
• Set up video and digital media projects with the BBC and Salford University to help communities use new media, for example publishing video or media content.

This page was last updated on 24 May 2011