Steps are being taken to realise Bradford's ambition of being an economic driving force in the region.

Bradford Council's economic strategy which was adopted last summer outlines a vision for the district's economy as a place in which business thrives, creating opportunities, prosperity and jobs.

A first draft of the strategy has already been completed which outlines what is already being done.

The next step will be to indicate the resources available and timescales required.

A final delivery plan is expected to be in place by the end of March.

Changes to the strategy were made in October after a Council resolution required a "sustainability standard" to be developed which will be applied to all contracts with the authority.

The report to the Council's regeneration and economy improvement committee also includes details of the contribution of the district's Economic Partner-ship and the Local Enterprise Growth Initiative (LEGI).

The partnership was set up in 2003 and incorporates businesses as well as key organisations such as the Council, the Chamber of Commerce, Jobcentre Plus and Business Link.

One of the partnership's objectives is to oversee the development of the Bradford district's economic strategy.

It has also been responsible for allocating £3.25 million of Neighbourhood Renewal funding over four years from 2004 and the £21.4 million LEGI programme, which began in 2006.

LEGI aims to raise aspirations and create a more enterprising culture, and has helped 350 new business start-ups, seen 1,100 new jobs created, helped an additional 471 people into employment, loaned £650,000 to help businesses get off the ground, seen more than 6,000 children gain work experience to help them become more employable, and invested more than £1 million in making commercial property available and accessible to new and growing businesses.

Seven community partnerships have been formed to specifically focus on enterprise and business development and 15 locality plans are being developed to help in attracting external investment and to keep strong existing businesses which might otherwise relocate.