Independent report highlights Swindon’s continued economic successes

The latest Centre for Cities Outlook report, published this week, provides an annual summary of the economic performance of the 63 largest cities and towns in the UK and shows that Swindon has the eighth highest employment rate, higher than Reading and Milton Keynes.

Swindon has also managed to retain a strong GVA (Gross Value Added) per worker, which at £62,700 is higher than cities such as Birmingham, Bristol and Oxford and substantially higher than the national average of £57,600.

The town also has the third highest proportion of private sector jobs, up from fourth the previous year, and has one of the highest shares of highly skilled jobs.

The report indicates that between 2016 and 2017, Swindon saw the second highest increase in housing stock, which at 1.8 per cent puts the town behind only Cambridge.

Councillor Oliver Donachie, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Economic Prosperity, said: “These figures show just how well Swindon’s economy performs year after year.

“We are a top location for wealth-creating private businesses and our employment and productivity levels continue to put us among the country’s high flying towns and cities.

“As a Council, we work very hard to make sure our town prospers and I am extremely confident that we can continue to build on our economic achievements.”

Meeting social care costs continues to be a challenge for local authorities across the country and the Council has seen one of the highest increases in social care spending, up 14 per cent compared with the national average increase of 7.8 per cent.