New Anglia Board Meeting Minutes (Confirmed)

23^rd June 2020

Present:

Sam Chapman-Allen (SC)

Breckland Council

Claire Cullens (CC)

Norfolk Community Foundation

David Ellesmere (DE)

Ipswich Borough Council

Doug Field (DF)

East of England Coop

C-J Green (CG)

Brave Goose

John Griffiths (JG)

West Suffolk Council

Matthew Hicks (MH)

Suffolk County Council

Pete Joyner (PJ)

Shorthose Russell

Helen Langton (HL)

University of Suffolk

Dominic Keen (DK)

Britbots

Steve Oliver (SO)

MLM Group

Corrienne Peasgood (CP)

Norwich City College

Andrew Proctor (AP)

Norfolk County Council

Johnathan Reynolds (JR)

Opergy

Sandy Ruddock (SR)

Scarlett & Mustard

Alan Waters (AW)

Norwich City Council

Jeanette Wheeler (JW)

Birketts

Tim Whitley (TW)

Attendees

Kathy Atkinson (KA)

Kettle Foods

Jai Raithatha (JRa)

Suffolk County Council

Vince Muspratt (VM)

Norfolk County Council

Shan Lloyd (SL)

BEIS

Lisa Roberts (LR)

New Anglia LEP - For Item 6

Chris Starkie (CS)

New Anglia LEP

Rosanne Wijnberg (RW)

New Anglia LEP

Helen Wilton (HW)

New Anglia LEP

Actions from the meeting: (23.06.20)

Forward Plan

August Board meeting to be arranged

Welcome from the Chair

Doug Field (DF) welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Apologies

None

Declarations of Interest

None

Full declarations of interest can be found at http://www.newanglia.co.uk/about-us/the-board.

Minutes of the last meeting

The minutes were accepted as a true record of the meeting held on 20^th May 2020.

Chris Starkie (CS) reviewed the actions for the last Board meeting and provided the board

with an update on the recent Government submission for the Local Growth Deal 4.

CS advised that the LEP had been asked by MHGLC for shovel ready capital projects

which could be delivered in 18 months. Details of 70 projects were appraised and reduced

to 25 projects totalling £73m plus match funding. CS noted that those board members with

interest in the projects had not been entitled to vote but the 9 eligible board members had

unanimously endorsed the final list.

DF thanked the LEP team for their work in compiling and assessing the projects in the tight

timescales.

LEP Response to COVID-19

CS presented the paper to the board and thanked partners for continuing to submit

business intelligence which is being passed on to and used by Government.

It was noted that calls into the Growth Hub have reduced allowing the team to concentrate

on providing support for individual businesses and that the new Business Resilience and

Recovery Scheme continues to be successful with 19 approvals granted to date and more

than 39 applications in the pipeline. Further funding has been requested as part of the

Local Growth Deal 4 submission.

Claire Cullens (CC) noted the success of the vacancy page and asked for all colleagues to

raise any vacancies they were aware of and submit them to the LEP. CS thanked local

authority colleagues for continuing to raise the profile of the page.

The meeting discussed the upcoming Peer to Peer Network programme and noted that the

tourism and care sectors would be included as these businesses were not always

considered for such events but would benefit from participation.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

Covid-19 Economic Recovery Plan

CS reviewed the recovery plan and the process which has been carried out in collaboration

with partners to produce the document. It was noted that this is the plan for the Restart

Phase which covers the next 6-9 months and will be followed by another plan for the

Rebuild phase spanning 2-5 years.

The meeting discussed the importance of involving key sectors such as construction and

agri-foods in the future development of the economy.

CS confirmed that the plan had been presented to the Industry Councils and Johnathan

Reynolds (JR) also advised that the Innovation Board had also been engaged in providing

comments.

CS noted that the plan had been received by officials in Government who had approved

the approach taken.

The Board discussed monitoring of deliverables and the production of KPIs.

CS confirmed that an evidence pack had been produced which would be the basis for all

interventions in order to monitor outputs and that KPIs will be produced around the key

headlines as will individual local authority and sector delivery plans.

Steve Oliver (SO) expressed support for the plan and noted that it may be too early to

produce KPIs given the fluid situation.

DF thanked the LEP team for their efforts in completing the consultation and production of

the plan in such a short time.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

• To approve the Economic Recovery Restart Plan

Impact on Employment

CS reviewed the paper setting out the potential impact on employment across Norfolk and

Suffolk following this outbreak of Covid 19.

Andrew Proctor (AP) asked if there were details of those companies with staff on furlough

in order to provide support to them as the scheme ends. He noted it was important to

know who planning to make redundancies but the LEP could not be expected to prevent all

of them.

CS confirmed that HMRC had only just released figures at a district level and advised that

the LEP had carried out more analysis on the figures to provide more detail. A survey of

large business was also being carried out to obtain further information on their plans.

CS advised that a workforce group has been established which will coordinate the planned

initiatives and would report into the Skills Advisory Panel and the LEP Board.

Pete Joyner (PJ) asked if there was any data on the nature of the jobs lost given the LEP’s

aim of delivering high worth jobs and what interventions could be made as so many firms

were already well along the path to making staff redundant.

Lisa Roberts (LR) advised that those in low skilled jobs were disproportionally impacted

and this would be taken into account in the rebuild phase.

CS confirmed that the numbers of those furloughed was higher in hospitality and tourism

and that attention needs to focus on those companies which are unable to restart in the

near future.

SO left the meeting

David Ellesmere (DE) agreed that it was difficult to get involved with businesses early in

the redundancy process as they were reluctant to discuss their plans externally but he

supported the aim and asked for any information received to be passed to the local

authority following receipt of the company’s approval.

Sam Chapman-Allen (SCA) thanked CC for her work as Chair of the Skills Board. He

asked for more information on the plans to support school leavers, older workers and the

self-employed.

LR noted that discussions were ongoing on support for school leavers such as providing

virtual work experience.

SCA asked if furlough numbers could be provided by industry. CS advised that the data

had been extrapolated from national figures as it was not provided at a details level.

Corrienne Peasgood (CP) confirmed that the biggest concern is around Y11 pupils and the

concern is that NEAT numbers will rise. Government has also been discussing the

importance of the Participation Age to ensure that 16-18 year olds are kept in education

and training.

Jeanette Wheeler (JW) noted that many of the jobs lost would be low paid then the LEP

should not lose its aim of creating higher value jobs rather than solely basic ones

CS advised that job initiatives were expected from Government and the applications in the

LEP funding schemes have demonstrated that some firms are still taking on staff.

Tim Whitley (TW) supported the aim to rebuild better and noted that it was expected for

Government to push for the establishment of the UK as a science powerhouse. He noted

that the pandemic has forced businesses to use technology more efficiently but advised

that the UK was good at the research and development phases of technology but less so

at commercialisation.

SCA felt that the aim should be to incentive people to upskill and develop careers and the

LEP should focus on key sectors and deliver initiatives which really have a positive impact.

DF noted the huge rise in applicants for each role and expressed support for the approach.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

• To endorse the initiatives set out in the report

LEP Continuing Business

RW presented the paper to the Board and highlighted key items noting that 2/3 of the

Growth Deal Funding has been received and that a data submission had been made to

support the review of current projects and the final 1/3 of funding was expected in

September.

RW reviewed the ongoing work of the Inward Investment team and DF advised that any

request for assistance in attracting companies into the area would be supported by the

Board.

RW advised that the Careers Hub currently supports 32 schools and the latest award will

allow all schools and collages across Norfolk and Suffolk to participate making it the second

largest in the country.

The Board was advised that the audit of the LEP and New Anglia Capital (NAC) had been

completed but Price Bailey have advised that further work is required to assess the impact

of Covid-19 on NAC investments therefore completion of the draft accounts will be delayed

while this is carried out.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

June Performance Reports

RW presented the June Project Performance Reports.

SCA queried how the Enterprise Advisor Network report was still rated as green given

lockdown and the closure of schools. RW advised that work had continued with schools

and contractual requirements had been revised in conjunction with the Careers Enterprise

Company given the current crisis.

JR asked if the forecasts for investment in Enterprise Zones were still realistic. RW

confirmed that these were being reviewed and the number of jobs may be optimistic. CS

noted that floor space projections were on target and that a formula had been used to

ascertain the associated job numbers.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

LEP Operating & HR Policies

RW presented the following polices for approval:

• Modern Slavery Statement

• Environmental Policy

• Equality & Diversity Policy and Statement

• Board Attendance & Observers Policy

RW advised that a training session on Equality and Diversity had been planned for the

June meeting but this will now be delivered virtually at a later date. DE noted the

importance of this training given the issues which have arisen recently around this subject.

JR queried whether the policy should include the aim to have BAME representation on the

Board. RW agreed and will discuss further with DE as Diversity Champion.

The Board queried whether the Modern Slavery Statement and the Environmental Policy

applied to the projects and programmes in which the LEP was involved as well as the LEP

itself.

RW confirmed that they did and confirmed that documents would be amended to clarify

this.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

• To approve the policies subject to the agreed amendments.

Board Forward Plan

JR proposed an additional August board meeting should be held to provide an update.

ACTION: Helen Wilton (HW) to arrange a meeting in late August.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the plan

Any Other Business

CS confirmed that, subject to approval from the Norfolk and Suffolk Leaders, Recovery plan will

be launched on 30^th June. The media have been informed and a toolkit will be issued with a

logo to use on all initiatives.