{"id":2401,"date":"2018-12-21T08:56:28","date_gmt":"2018-12-21T08:56:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/factcheckni.org\/?p=2401"},"modified":"2022-03-02T10:58:13","modified_gmt":"2022-03-02T10:58:13","slug":"were-1900-jobs-created-by-belfast-city-council","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/factcheckni.org\/topics\/economy\/were-1900-jobs-created-by-belfast-city-council\/","title":{"rendered":"Were 1,900 jobs created by Belfast City Council?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This claim is inaccurate. 420 new jobs created plus 447 job vacancies filled. An unknown number of new jobs have been created from council\u2019s City for Investment service.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On 19 November, Sync NI Start-ups tweeted<\/a> that \u201cnearly 1,900 jobs have been created … by Belfast City Council over the last six months\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The claim also appeared on the Council\u2019s website<\/a> itself, where it is described as the result of the city\u2019s long-term development plan — the Belfast Agenda<\/a>. It says that the \u201cdetails about the number of jobs created, directly and indirectly, as a result of council support were given to councillors as part of a progress report on the 2018\/2019 City Growth and Regeneration Committee work plan\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This work plan was put forward 11 April 2018<\/a> and included a range of activities to be supported in the course of the year. It was stated back then that \u201cif all targets are met, this activity will support the creation of 1,664 jobs\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 1,900 jobs figure was announced at the 10 October 2018<\/a> meeting of the City Growth and Regeneration Committee, where it was stated that \u201cover the six-month period [April-September 2018], the Council had directly and indirectly supported the creation of 1,868 jobs\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 7 November 2018<\/a>, the committee launched an update of the plan, reporting on the progress made during the first six months of the Belfast Region City Deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FactCheckNI emailed Belfast City Council, asking for more detail. The request was dealt with by the council under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Its response included the following table, which lists job outcomes across thematic areas:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workstream<\/b><\/td>Job outcomes achieved<\/b><\/td><\/tr>
Working & Learning<\/td>447 individuals progressed into employment<\/td><\/tr>
Starting a Business<\/td>174 jobs created through the creation of new businesses<\/td><\/tr>
Business Growth<\/td>246 jobs created through the expansion of existing businesses<\/td><\/tr>
Investing in Belfast<\/td>Fifty businesses supported through our investment service committing to create 1,000 new jobs within Belfast<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

FactCheckNI notes that these four workstreams add up to 1,867 rather than the 1,868 figure given to the City Growth and Regeneration Committee. Three of the figures are precise, while the fourth is an estimate (with no +\/- error).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working and Learning<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the Working and Learning workstream of the work plan, the outcome of job delivery<\/a> is primarily through Employment Academies and match funding from the European Social Fund, both for programmes aimed at reducing the working age population of economic inactivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are 447 jobs attributed to this workstream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starting a Business<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the council, the 174 jobs under the theme, Starting a Business, are attributed to a number of business startup initiatives including the Go For It programme, Belfast Enterprise Academy, and the council\u2019s Social Economy programme, Go Social. These jobs are itemised as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n