New Anglia Board Meeting Minutes (Confirmed)
21st February 2018
Present:
Cllr David Ellesmere (DE)
Ipswich Borough Council
Doug Field (DF)
East of England Coop
Cllr Cliff Jordan (CJ)
Norfolk County Council
Dominic Keen (DK)
High Growth Robotics
Colin Noble (CN)
Suffolk County Council
Steve Oliver (SO)
MLM Group
Cllr Andrew Proctor (AP)
Broadland District Council
Johnathan Reynolds (JR)
Nautilus
Prof David Richardson (DR)
UEA
Lindsey Rix (LR)
Aviva
Sandy Ruddock (SR)
Scarlett & Mustard
Jeanette Wheeler (JW)
Birketts
In Attendance:
Vivienne Gillespie (VG)
Suffolk New College (For Nikos Savvas)
Mike Stonard (MS)
Norwich City Council (For Alan Waters)
Vince Muspratt (VM)
Norfolk County Council (For Tracy Jessop)
Shan Lloyd (SL)
BEIS
Chris Dashper (CD)
New Anglia LEP
Chris Starkie (CS)
New Anglia LEP
Helen Wilton (HW)
New Anglia LEP
Sue Roper (SuR)
Suffolk County Council
Steven Greenwood (SG)
Cities and Local Growth Unit
Peter Sutton (PS)
Cities and Local Growth Unit
Jeannine Hoeckx (JH)
Government Internal Audit Agency
Patrick White (PW)
Metro Dynamics - For Items 6 and 7
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Actions from the meeting: (21.02.18)
Declarations of Interest - Ascertain whether regular Board substitutes need to complete
CS
Declaration of Interest Forms.
Economic Indicator Trajectories and Targets: To receive a paper on CO2 reductions for
CS/JR
consideration of inclusion in the economic strategy targets.
Brexit Analysis - To receive an action plan detailing the next steps, timescales and measures of
LiR
success
Governance Review - To receive a proposed scheme of delegation and decisions log at the
CS
March meeting
1
Welcome from the Chair
Doug Field (DF) welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked Lindsey Rix for hosting. He welcomed
the attendees including Vivienne Gillespie, deputising for Nikos Savvas, Mike Stonard deputising for Alan
Waters and Vince Muspratt, deputising for Tracy Jessop.
Chris Starkie (CS) updated the meeting on the Annual Conversation and the resulting deep dives being
carried out on a number of underperforming LEPs. New Anglia has been identified as a high performing
LEP and will be used as a control deep dive over the next 3 days. DF then welcomed those carrying out
the deep dive namely Jeannine Hoeckx who was in attendance and Steven Greenwood and Peter
Sutton, who joined the meeting at 10.20.
2
Apologies
Apologies were received from:
Cllr Alan Waters
Cllr John Griffiths
Dr Nikos Savvas
Tim Whitley
Tracy Jessop
Lisa Roberts
3
Declarations of Interest
The board were reminded that declarations of interest are required as part of LEP scrutiny and must be
submitted to the LEP office at the earliest convenience.
Declarations relevant to this meeting: None
Mike Stonard (MS) questioned whether those who regularly attend Board meetings as substitutes needed
to complete the Declarations of interest form. CS agreed to investigate further and advise the Board.
4
Welcome from Aviva
LR welcomed attendees to the meeting and gave an overview of Aviva, its role as a large local
employer and its importance to the region.
5
Minutes of the last meeting 17th January 2018
Actions from last meeting updated as follows:
Capital Growth Programme Projects - Identify whether other LEPS have received requests
CD
for investment in flood defence schemes. Investigations are ongoing.
Chief Executive’s Report
CS
For CS to produce a paper on the impact of GCGP changes - complete
Andrew Proctor (AP) queried whether the incorrect scoring on the Capital Growth Fund paper
presented at the last board had impacted on the decisions made about the bids. CS confirmed
that that decisions were based on the correct scoring.
6
Brexit Analysis
CS took the majority of the paper as read and provided background information on the Brexit
analysis carried out by Metro Dynamics.
Patrick White (PW) from Metro Dynamics updated the meeting on the background to the
research and the approach taken which aimed to link the analysis to the Economic Strategy.
The approach reviewed key sectors and then targeted individual companies to assess the
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impacts of Brexit specifically focussing on the impacts on trade, regulations, workforce and
funding.
The impact on the workforce was specifically identified as particular issue for this region given
the reliance on seasonal working and the issues already faced by companies in recruiting staff
with appropriate skills.
It was also noted that a replacement for current EU funding will be required however the details
of how this will be delivered remain unclear.
DF advised that the main report contained an initial action plan which will be progressed and
developed together with actions and targets. Timescales and measures of success will be
brought back to the Board in April or May.
David Ellesmere (DE) noted that companies employ staff elsewhere in the EU and the fall in
the value of the pound has already impacted upon the cost of employing them,
Jeanette Wheeler (JW) stated that companies were already struggling to recruit workers from
the EU and the LEP should focus on what can be done to assist in recruitment as all vacancies
will not be filled from within the UK.
Colin Noble (CN) felt that the LEP could have an important role post Brexit as it is a non-
political body which can have a key role in bringing together individuals and organisations
across the political lines. He also identified the skills shortage as the main issue and felt that
the LEP can lead on this point.
David Richardson (DR) agreed that the skills shortage would be significant and felt that the
LEP could be leading on co-delivery of programmes which would help to address this. He
requested that work start immediately to identify the skills gaps and investigate how they can
be addressed rather than leaving the work until Brexit has actually happened.
The meeting discussed how the Brexit research tied in with the Economic Strategy.
Shan Lloyd (SL) updated the meeting on Government work on the replacement of EU funding
advising that LEPs would play a key role in defining requirements.
The Board agreed:
To note the content of the report
To support the recommendations in the report
To receive an action plan detailing the next steps, timescales and measures of success
LiR
7
Economic Indicator Trajectories and Targets
CS took the majority of the paper as read and updated the meeting on the process followed to
build the trajectories and targets.
Dominic Keen (DK) queried whether economic fluctuations would be accounted for in the
projections. CS confirmed that progress against the targets was unlikely to be smooth but the
trajectory took this into account.
LR noted that having up to date data was key to ensuring that the projections were as accurate
as possible and also asked whether any qualitative measures were place. CS confirmed that
these would be included and proposed surveying businesses as an example of how these
could be gaged. LR proposed using a set of sample businesses who would participate in a
roundtable on a regular basis in order to monitor opinions.
Johnathan Reynolds (JR) proposed using sector groups and CS suggested contacting those
businesses which had received LEP funding to obtain views.
Vivienne Gillespie (VG) asked whether the skills targets could be broken down further. PW
confirmed that sub-metrics existed which would be recorded and reported back to the Skills
Board.
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The meeting discussed the role that the LEP should play in housing development given that the
LEP can drive provide infrastructure and help businesses in order to boost the demand for
housing but is not directly responsible for the provision of homes.
JR noted that there were no targets on CO2 emissions which were identified as key in the
Pathfinder project and recommended that this be included. It was agreed that a paper would
be submitted to a future Board meeting for consideration.
The Board agreed:
To note the contents of the report
Agree the methodologies that have been developed to set the targets for each of the
indicators up to 2021.
Agree the approach to monitoring and reporting on the indicators to the Board.
JR/CS
To receive a paper on CO2 reductions for consideration of inclusion in the economic
strategy targets.
PW left the meeting.
8
Governance Review
DF noted that, in order for the LEP to remain compliant, all Terms of Reference needed to be
published on the web site by 28th February and suggested that they be agreed by the Board
before going to each individual committee for approval. Part of each committee’s work
programme would be an annual review of its terms of reference to ensure its appropriateness.
CS updated the meeting on the background to the review and on work carried out to date. CS
thanked those Board members who had volunteered to sit on the various committees and
reviewed the high level details of the groups. He also confirmed that work was continuing on
the Scheme of Delegation and the Decision Log which would be brought to the March Board.
Chris Dashper (CD) outlined the Terms of Reference for the Investment Appraisal Committee
explaining its link to the Growing Business Fund Panel. Changes suggested at the recent
committee meeting would be incorporated into Terms of Reference.
It was noted that the Terms of Reference needed to include details of the committee
substitution policy.
DE proposed using the same approach to substitution as the main Board. This was agreed.
JW noted that the duration of appointment to each Board should be included.
The Board agreed:
To note the content of the report.
To agree the Terms of Reference for each of the Committees and Board subject to the
above changes.
To confirm the appointment of members to the new committees within the new
structure.
CS
To receive a proposed scheme of delegation and decisions log at the March meeting
9
24 Month Operational Plan Review
CS took majority of the paper as read and those areas where improvement had been made.
CJ asked whether sustaining businesses should be included as future aim as well as growing
the local economy. CS advised that this paper was a review of the previous plan which had
focussed on growth and agreed that this was included in future objectives as part of the
Economic Strategy. It was noted that the Board had agreed not to intervene in struggling
businesses but should support those existing ones which wish to evolve and expand.
JR queried the current status of the Oil & Gas Taskforce. CS advised that this was still
operational and he would be happy for JR to be involved in the future.
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The Board agreed:
To note the content of the report and the progress made against the 24 month
Operational Plan
10
New Anglia LEP ERDF Bid
CD took the majority of the paper as read and updated the meeting on the issues encountered
during the approval process for the last bid.
The Board was advised that, should the approval be delayed then there is a risk that there will
not be funding available for the Small Grants Scheme and Growth Hub after 31st August 2018
when current funding expires.
CD proposed that the Growth Hub and Small Grant Scheme continue in their current form until
the end of October 2018 to allow for possible delays and reduce the risk of the Programme
being disrupted. This would be achieved by using BEIS Growth Hub funding and Growing
Business Fund funding and would be recouped when ERDF funding was approved. In the
event that a decision on funding from MHCLG is still pending by September, the LEP Executive
would present a paper on future options to September’s board meeting.
The Board agreed:
To note the content of the paper.
To support the submission of a request for £7.4m of ERDF funding
To agree to the allocation of £150,000 of BEIS funding and £200,000 of the Growing
Business Fund to continue activity, should ERDF approval be delayed beyond August
2018.
11
Sub-National Transport Forum
CS took the majority of the paper as read and updated the meeting on the background to the
sub-national transport bodies and progress of the various bodies created to date.
A meeting was held in December 2017 which agreed to establish a sub-national transport
forum to be known as Transport East.
Steve Oliver (SO) asked how the LEP Transport Strategy was linked to this. CS advised that
the LEP would have its own strategy which will be presented at the May Board. Individual
counties or towns could also have strategies and this forum would pull together the various
strategies at a regional level.
The Board agreed:
To note the content of the report.
To agree to be a full member of Transport East
For DK to be a New Anglia LEP representative on Transport East
12
Chief Executive’s report including PwC and Mary Ney Review Implementation Plan
DF advised that a COO had been appointed with view to starting early in the summer. DF
thanked all those involved in the recruitment process.
CS took the majority of the paper as read and provided an update on the following items:
Growth Deal - CS reviewed the delivery of the Growth Plan detailing changes in spending from
last month.
Capital Growth Programme - CS advised that CEFAS & Bacton had been advised of the
decision. Deferred projects will be brought back to the Board meetings together for future
consideration.
Mary Ney Review - CS reviewed progress against the implementation plan.
The meeting was advised that the assurance framework needed to be updated in the light of
the changes agreed at this Board Meeting. This will be updated by the LEP team and added to
the web site by 28th February.
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JW asked whether requests for funding made to the Growing Business Fund would be added
to the web site. CS confirmed that only details of approved requests would be added as this
involved the spending of public funds. Those declined would not be included
The Board agreed:
To note the content of the report
13
Finance Report
CS took the majority of the papers as read and asked for questions from the Board.
It was noted that the cost of the Opportunity Area Director & her assistant were not included in
the budgeted costs but neither was the associated income so the net effect was nil.
The Budget will be presented to the March Board
The Board agreed:
To note the content of the report.
14
Any Other Business
DF advised that the Board Forward Plan would be a standing item at future meetings.
DF asked Board members whether they would prefer to receive appendices to Board papers as
a separate pack or as part of main paper. Board members agreed that they wished to continue
to receive them as part of the main pack.
Next meeting:
Date and time of next meeting: 21st March, 2018. 10am-12.30pm
Venue: The Jockey Club, Newmarket, Suffolk
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