Walsall Economic Framework 2025 - Walsall’s Strategic Priorities

Targets

The Council has its sight set on actions that will shift the dial on three key indicators:

1. Narrow the productivity gap: output per hour worked is £32.80, compared to £41.70 nationally, a 22% shortfall.
2. Increase local people’s incomes: median annual earnings for residents are ~£32.5k a year which is £5.5k below the national average.
3. Get more people economically active: over 2,500 local people could be engaged in economic activity if Walsall reduced its inactivity rate from 24% to the national average of 21%. 

Basis & Approach

This economic framework replaces a predecessor strategy from 2022. It has been produced to:

1. Align local priorities with those that have emerged regionally and nationally in recent years.
2. Reflect the latest economic conditions and drivers of change that will shape the opportunities facing Walsall over the coming years.
3. Adopt an insight-led, partnership-driven model which ensures organisations involved in delivering change in Walsall have a shared understanding of the priorities and a collaborative approach that maximises the impact of every pound invested locally and the available resources.

Framework 

This strategic framework has been designed to meet the needs of Walsall’ s communities and build on its strengths and offer to the wider economy. It aligns with national and regional strategies, including the UK Industrial Strategy, the West Midlands Growth Plan, and the Local Government Outcome Framework. The Economic Framework provides a structure to organise all the economic actions in Walsall’s other strategies, sitting under the Walsall 2040 umbrella (Figure 1-1).

Figure 1-2 illustrates Walsall’s Economic Framework. This section then details the characteristics of change, the three pillars, and the priorities within each.

Figure 1-2: Economic Framework

Pillars and Priorities