Economic futures and scenario planning for a new unitary council

With its councils about to be replaced by a new unitary authority, Somerset needed a forward-looking view of the economy to inform the new body. The team established a baseline, drew out the key evidence and issues, and built a set of plausible social, economic, and environmental scenarios across the short, medium and long term, using structured foresight tools and reflecting the county's distinct economic geography, and supported a panel of experts as a sounding board. The work provided a building block for the incoming council's economic strategy. Delivered with collaboration partner Third Life Economics.