New Anglia Board Meeting Minutes (Confirmed)

26^th February 2020

Present:

Claire Cullens (CC)

Norfolk Community Foundation

David Ellesmere (DE)

Ipswich Borough Council

Doug Field (DF)

East of England Coop

Pete Joyner (PJ)

Shorthose Russell

Helen Langton (HL)

University of Suffolk

Dominic Keen (DK)

Britbots

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

Shan Lloyd (SL)

BEIS

Jai Raithatha (JR)

Suffolk County Council

Chris Dashper (CD)

New Anglia LEP - For Item 8

Julian Munson (JM)

New Anglia LEP - For Item 7

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: (29.01.20)

Clean Growth Taskforce

Board members to consider a pledge which the Board could make and submit suggestions

All

to the Chair.

Chief Executive’s Report

To receive an update on Freeports at the next Board meeting

AOB

A letter of thanks from the Board to be written to long serving LEP employees on retirement

Chair

Welcome from the Chair

Doug Field (DF) welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanks David Ellesmere (DE) for hosting the

meeting.

Apologies

Apologies were received from Lindsey Rix, John Griffiths and Steve Oliver.

Declarations of Interest

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

Chief Executives report: Institute of Technology discussion - Jeanette Wheeler (JW), Helen Langton

(HL), Corrienne Peasgood (CP) and Dominic Keen (DK).

Welcome from Cllr David Ellesmere

DE welcomed the board to Ipswich and highlighted the success of various local projects

such as the development of the Malthouse which had been supported by the LEP and key

new buildings in the Enterprise Zones (EZs).

DE note that the Cornhill had received significant investment from New Anglia which had

also provided funding for events assisting in achieving improved levels of footfall and an

increase in retail investment.

Further developments were taking place on other EZs in the town with announcements of

new investment due in the near future.

Minutes of the last meeting

The minutes were then accepted as a true record of the meeting held on 29^th January 2020.

Establishment of Clean Growth Taskforce & Action Plan

Lisa Roberts (LR) reviewed the Clean Growth action plan requested by the board at the July

2019 meeting.

LR provided an overview of the steps required to develop a clean growth action plan which

will embed clean growth in all areas of LEP delivery. The plan identifies key steps which the

LEP should take to bring together key partners to collaborate, drive and implement the

actions needed to ensure the areas strengths as the UK’s clean growth region are fully

realised:

• Establish a taskforce whose members will be ambassadors for the “Clean Growth

Region” and ensure that clean growth is consistently part of the development and

delivery of the Economic Strategy and Local Industrial Strategy.

• Identify and agree to focus on the actions in areas that the LEP and partners can

achieve the biggest gains and impact.

• Evolve the evidence base and ensure that the interventions identified will deliver the

desired outcomes

• Work with partners in the development of the action plan to ensure their buy in and

commitment to their own role in delivering clean growth.

LR highlighted the LEP’s Environmental Policy and proposed that the Board consider

submitting a pledge of its own.

Andrew Proctor (AP) agreed with the direction of the work but asked where the funding

would come from to support the many actions identified.

LR confirmed that many of the interventions aligned with those in the Investment Plan

therefore funding would come from many different sources.

AP proposed that funding sources be identified and included in the clean growth plan.

Johnathan Reynolds (JR) noted that there was a significant degree of complexity involved in

coordinating between the boards and sub boards and the significant level of resource

required for this.

HL noted the size of the plan covered all elements of the LEP’s work and these ambitions

would prove challenging to deliver and proposed the aims should be more focussed with

more realistic delivery. HL also commented that pledges could be meaningless unless

those behind were completed committed to achieving the aim and had the means to do so.

DE identified the difference between ensuring all new growth was clean and trying to retrofit

clean growth requirements to existing projects. He proposed that interventions should

concentrate on practical help to new projects.

DF asked for the Terms of Reference to be amended to include reporting frequency and

suggested quarterly.

DF asked for suggestions for a pledge from the Board be submitted to him.

ACTION: Board members to consider a pledge which the Board could make and submit

suggestions to the Chair.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

• To the establishment of the Clean Growth Taskforce and its terms of reference subject to

inclusion of quarterly reporting

• To agree steps outlined in the report to develop the action plan further

• To note the LEP team Environmental policy and action plan

• To consider ideas for a Board pledge which will sit within the LEP’s own action plan

Approach to Developing a Tourism Sector Action Plan

Julian Munson (JM) presented the proposal for developing a Tourism Action Plan which will

identify those interventions which will raise productivity and the value of the sector and better

position the region to secure Government investment.

JM highlighted the collaboration with Cambridge which faces challenges in retaining tourists

who visit the town briefly and could potentially extend their visits into Norfolk and Suffolk.

Alan Waters (AW) noted the importance of ensuring that those new jobs created were well

paid and highlighted the challenges posed for the tourism sector by the new immigration

proposals.

Pete Joyner (PJ) cited that transport and infrastructure issues could pose a challenge in

allowing staff to travel to tourist locations to work as housing prices proved too high to live

there.

JW noted that many businesses relied on staff from overseas and had not made plans to

manage any shortfalls proposing that the LEP could provide support to such businesses in

the planning.

The meeting agreed that it was vital to receive feedback from businesses around the issues

they face to allow the LEP to feed comments and case studies into Government.

DF queried how increased visitor numbers and improvements in transport infrastructure tied

in with the clean growth aspirations.

JM confirmed that more could be done to promote existing infrastructure and transport links

and tie tours in across the region. It was important to link in with providers such as Stansted

and Greater Anglia to ensure that tourism was considered within their plans.

JW noted that as the clean growth region there needed to be sufficient charging points and

tourism businesses who promote clean growth should be highlighted.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

• To endorse the proposal to develop a Tourism Action Plan

• To approve the timeline and approach

Investment Plan Pipeline - Confidential

Chris Dashper (CD) presented the tactical project pipeline as requested at the last meeting

noting that this is an evolving document with a number of the currently in development with

partners while others at an earlier stage of development.

DF asked how clean growth aspirations were incorporated in the pipeline plans. CS

confirmed that clean and inclusive growth were included at the application stage.

JW asked how this fitted with the Investment Plan. CS confirmed that this was the starting

point of exiting projects and the Investment Plan would build on and augment this pipeline.

AP noted that projects would need to be prioritised and that the availability of funding would

impact on this process. AP also stressed the importance of getting buy in from MPs to

support the projects.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

• To endorse the project pipeline

Governance - Sub Board Reporting

Rosanne Wijnberg (RW) presented the proposed process for sub-board reporting which

ensures that the LEP Board are appraised of the priorities and progress of key sub-boards.

It was agreed that a limited number of key objectives would be reported against twice a year

and that clean growth would be included in the reporting.

David Ellesmere expressed a concern that the reporting would take up a considerable

amount of board meeting time.

DF noted that a number of the sub-boards were chaired by board members who would

manage the issue of the time and the reporting format.

Claire Cullens (CC) supported the plan as providing focus for sub-boards and also for giving

them the opportunity to escalate to the Board any issues impacting upon progress.

JR proposed circulating the reports from sub-boards to the others to allow for joined up

working and ease of identifying similar issues.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

• To approve the proposed reporting cycle and proposed reporting template

Election of Deputy Chair

CS presented the Board paper proposing the process for appointing a deputy chair.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

• To begin the process of appointing a deputy chair as outlined in this paper

Chief Executive’s Report

CS noted some of the highlights of the report and asked for questions from the board.

CS noted that the £1.1m ERDF application to extend the Growth Hub and the Small Grant

Scheme activity to the end of November 2021 is still awaiting approval from MHCLG.

DF proposed writing to express concern over the delay and the impact

DE asked if there was any impact if the funding was delayed into 2021 such as time

restrictions. CS confirmed this was not an issue in terms of timing of the spend.

HL, CP, DK and JW left the room.

CS confirmed that the Government has announced a second wave of bids to host an

Institute of Technology (IoT) and that the LEP has been asked to confirm its position. The

Board discussed the previous bid and the LEP’s involvement in the next round of

applications.

CS noted that clear feedback on the failure of the last bid has not been provided and

proposed that the LEP reviews all applications in the new round.

The Board agreed to provide support to all partners in compiling applications to host an IoT

HL, CP, DK and JW returned to the room.

CS advised that a consultation on Freeports is live and announcements for bids will follow.

LEPs & Mayorial authorities will be responsible for bids with only one bid per LEP area

according to current rules. New Anglia has begun conversations with 2 of the 3 companies

running ports in Norfolk & Suffolk.

AW noted that there were some issues around free ports and the wider economic impact

needed to be considered.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

• To provide support to all partners in compiling applications to host an IoT

• To receive an update on Freeports at the next Board meeting

February Programme Performance Reports

RW reviewed the reports for February noting areas where delivery has been delayed or

claims not received which has impacted on claims.

RW presented the economic and programme dashboards noting that the skills data showed

a downturn but the figures behind this are not clear and the LEP has requested further

information.

The Board agreed:

• To note the contents of the reports

• To approve the Growth Deal Quarterly Dashboard

Board Forward Plan

CS reviewed the content of the next board meeting and asked for any additional items from

the Board.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the plan

Any Other Business

DF noted that Nigel Best has retired and Keith Spanton will also be leaving shortly and prosed

writing that the Board write to long serving staff to staff thanking them for serving.

Next meeting:

Date and time of next meeting:

10.00am - 12.30pm, 25^th March 2020

Venue: Equinor, Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm, 50 South Denes Road, Gt Yarmouth, NR30 3PR