New Anglia Board Meeting Minutes (Confirmed)

27^th November 2019

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

Matthew Hicks (MH)

Suffolk County Council

Pete Joyner (PJ)

Shorthose Russell

Helen Langton (HL)

University of Suffolk

Dominic Keen (DK)

Britbots

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

Steve Gallant (SG)

East Suffolk Council - For John Griffiths

Viv Gillespie (VG)

Suffolk New Collage - For Nikos Savvas

Shan Lloyd (SL)

BEIS

Sue Roper (SuR)

Suffolk County Council

Lisa Perkins (LP)

BT - For Item 4

Ben Miller (BM)

Konica Minolta - For Item 6

Ellen Goodwin (EG)

New Anglia LEP - For Item 7

Lisa Roberts (LR)

New Anglia LEP - For Items 6 and 9

Chris Starkie (CS)

New Anglia LEP

Glen Todd (GT)

New Anglia LEP - For Item 6

Rosanne Wijnberg (RW)

New Anglia LEP

Helen Wilton (HW)

New Anglia LEP

Actions from the meeting: (27.11.19)

The LEP’s role in enabling infrastructure for growth

A document detailing infrastructure priorities to be drafted and circulated to Board members

before submission to the new government.

Welcome from the Chair

Doug Field (DF) welcomed everyone to the meeting including Steve Gallant and Viv Gillespie who

were observing for John Griffiths and Nikos Savvas respectively.

Apologies

Apologies were received from Steve Oliver, Nikos Savvas, Lindsey Rix, Claire Cullens and John

Griffiths.

Declarations of Interest

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

None

Welcome from BT - Lisa Perkins

Doug Field (DF) welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked Tim Whitley (TW) and Lisa

Perkins (LP) for hosting the meeting.

LP provided the Board with an overview of key successes at Adastral Park since the Board

had last visited in 2017 and highlighting the park’s role as one of BT’s key strategic sites.

LP advised that Innovation Martlesham had seen significant growth and now includes 132

businesses varying from start ups to established companies. Events are held regularly and

those such as the recent showcase help promote the cluster to a wider audience.

Considerable work continues to go into skills and training with 8000 students attending events

through the year. Important partnerships with West Suffolk College and the University of

Suffolk are in place and the training programmes initiated at Adastral continue to have a

national impact.

LP was pleased to inform the Board that Princess Ann had recently visited Adastral Park to

unveil a plaque for the new Digitech Centre, which received LEP funding, and which will

provide a strong offering for the area and help further identify Adastral as a key site.

Minutes of the last meeting 30^th October 2019

The minutes were accepted as a true record of the meeting held on 30^th October 2019.

Actions from last meeting updated as follows:

CS confirmed that written updates on the two enterprise zone items will be circulated shortly.

Enterprise Adviser Network and Careers Hub / Insight from Enterprise Adviser Ben

Miller

EAN and Careers Hub Extension

Glen Todd (GT) introduced Ben Miller (BM) from Konica Minolta who is an Enterprise Advisor

at Northgate School in Ipswich.

BM reviewed his career path and his role as a careers advisor. He stressed the importance

of providing appropriate work experience for students and noted that the programme can be

a two-way street keeping companies in touch with the views of students.

BM reviewed the extent of his work with Northgate and the initiatives which have been

introduced to assist students in gaining experience and making informed choices in the

career paths.

BM reviewed the successes to date and the aims for the future including sharing best

practice, meeting the Gatsby Benchmarks and focussing on the school’s approach to careers

support.

GT explained the Gatsby Benchmarks and highlighted research which has demonstrated the

importance of young people’s engagement with employers which has been confirmed to have

a positive impact both on the student’s study and future employment.

Lisa Roberts (LiR) addressed the board and confirmed that it had been a year since the EAN

had been transferred into the LEP and had achieved a great deal although there was still

much to do and funding would run out in August 2020. The Careers Enterprise Company

(CEC) had hoped to confirm another year’s funding but this has been delayed due to Purdah.

The Careers Hub currently covers schools in Norwich & Ipswich and the aim is to extend this

to cover all Norfolk and Suffolk schools by securing funding until August 2023 and also

extending contact to primary schools.

LiR asked the Board to approve spend of £155k to continue with the expansion of the current

model, assuming that the CEC will add £240k as per the current year.

The Board was also asked to agree funding to match the ESF bid which will be submitted in

January 2020.

The meeting discussed the coverage of the Careers Hub, the crossover with the Opportunity

Areas and the need to address those sectors highlighted in the LIS.

GT confirmed that the EAN used data provided to the LEP to assist in focussing on the needs

of keys sectors and companies.

Sam Chapman-Allen (SC) asked what the funding would be used for and asked for further

details of the numbers of students engaged to date.

LiR confirmed that work was ongoing to identify and quantify the impact of EAN intervention

which was challenging given the difficulties in tracking students’ movements. Most of the

students are still in education therefore their career choice cannot yet be identified. An

evidence base is being established.

The funding will be used to continue employment of the Careers Hub manager and the EAN

team and further funding will increase the EAN team from 8 to 10 allowing extended contact

between schools and businesses. It will also allow the development of the a platform to

assist in lesson planning.

Jeanette Wheeler (JW) asked for further information on the numbers of contacts with

employers to identify if pupils were hitting the recommended 4 contacts. LiR confirmed that

KPIs would be included should the expansion be agreed. Matthew Hicks (MH) noted that

there were other platforms in place and that any new system should not duplicate one

already in place. This was agreed.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

• To agree an allocation of £155k in the LEP budget for 2020/21 to enable a one-year

extension of the Enterprise Adviser Network and Careers Hub

• To agree to the drafting and submission of an ESF bid by the LEP and partners to enhance

the EAN and Careers Hub

• To agree an allocation in principle of up to £220k for 2021/22 and up to £225k for 2022/23

in match funding towards the ESF bid

The LEP’s role in enabling infrastructure for growth

Ellen Goodwin (EG) provided the meeting with a presentation outlining the different roles of

the LEP and its partners in the provision of infrastructure and highlighting the progress being

made in key strategic projects over the past year.

EG reviewed key achievements to date including projects delivered through the Growth Deal

and provided the meeting with an update on the work of Transport East and other sub

national transport bodies such East West Rail.

EG advised the Board of plans to hold a Connections Café in February 2020 to improve

networking amongst the SME community in the region and also the project to establish

integrated ticketing.

DF noted the extent of the work being done on infrastructure and proposed that the Board

should identify the priorities areas.

The Board discussed the issues around the Ely Junction project. EG advised that a revised

strategic outline business case will be provided at the end of the financial year noting that

there is now a funding gap.

SC noted that this junction was delaying growth in the region and at some point Network Rail

should be challenged on the rising costs.

It was agreed that issues with energy supply to some sites were preventing growth and CS

agreed there were currently issues with UKPN.

JW asked for an update on the issues around the Trowse junction. EG confirmed that a

meeting was scheduled for January 2020. CS noted that this was a complicated area with no

rapid solution due to the number of parties involved.

Andrew Proctor (AP) stressed the importance of contacting the new government immediately

to provide a joint submission detailing the key priorities for infrastructure.

ACTION: A document detailing infrastructure priorities to be drafted and circulated to Board

members before submission to the new Government.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

• To task the LEP’s sub boards and working groups responsible for infrastructure with

considering how the clean growth agenda might be achieved.

• To receive a document for submission to the new Government detailing infrastructure

priorities

Towns Fund and the role of LEPs

CS provided the Board with the background to the new Towns Fund including details of how

this fund aligns with much of the work of the LEP. Norwich, Ipswich, King’s Lynn, Great

Yarmouth and Lowestoft have been invited to put forward bids to deliver long term economic

and productivity and the LEP will be providing support to all towns in the production of their

bids.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the reports

ESIF Strategy

The Board was provided with an update of the European Investment Strategy for Norfolk and

Suffolk which underpins the allocation of the £86.43m European Structural and Investment

(ESIF) funding allocated to the New Anglia LEP area. Changes to the strategy were required

to support links to the national reserve fund.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

• To note the amendments to the European Investment Strategy Update November 2019 and

endorse its adoption by the ESIF Committee

Brexit

CS presented the Board with an update on the latest intelligence and advised that

Metrodynamics have been tasked with refreshing the work they carried out in 2017. The

Government has also requested detail of economics shocks.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

Chief Executive’s Report

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

CS advised that Claire Cullens had submitted her application for the role of chair of the Skills

Advisory Panel (SAP) and had attended a meeting to review its workings.

Her appointment was approved by the board.

CS also noted that 50 applications had been received for the Innovative Projects Fund call

meaning that it will be oversubscribed. Applications will now be assessed.

DE asked if the call had received more application from private businesses in this round. CS

confirmed that this was the case.

CS reminded Board members that they had previously granted approval for CS to sit on the

Board of the South East Energy Hub however in order to make funding decisions he was now

requesting agreement to fully exercise the role of the LEP.

This was approved by the Board.

CS noted that he and DF would be appearing before the Norfolk County Council Scrutiny

Committee in December. Alan Waters (AW) confirmed that he would also be appearing

before the Norwich City Scrutiny Committee and requested a copy of the report which the

LEP will be submitting.

The Board discussed the importance of project evaluations and LiR confirmed that a proposal

would be submitted at the January Board. Subsequent project evaluations will be based on

the criteria agreed by the Board at that time.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

• To support the appointment of Claire Cullens as Chair of the SAP

November Programme Performance Reports

Rosanne Wijnberg (RW) reviewed the reports for November and provided details of those

Growth Deal Projects where the rating had been downgraded. The Board was advised that

the overall finance rating had been moved from Green to Amber as the Lowestoft Flood Risk

Management and Ely Junction Projects have not yet claimed the expected amount. Work is

ongoing to reduce rollover into 20/21 but approximately £5m in underclaimed spend is

expected to the carried forward into 2020/21.

Work continues to progress Lowestoft Flood defences and Ely Junction but the delays are

due issues beyond the control of the LEP.

RW noted that the outputs on the dashboards have been extended beyond 2021 which has

allowed lagged outputs to be demonstrated.

The Board approved the Growth Deal Dashboard.

DE highlighted the issue of creating jobs which paid below the median salary and noted that

the Board considers the numbers of jobs a project will create but not the salary and this

should be included in future proposals

Helen Langton (HL) agreed and noted that universities were now being assessed on the

salaries of graduating students.

The Board agreed:

• To note the contents of the reports

• To approve the Growth Deal Dashboard

Board Forward Plan

CS advised that the forward plan for 2020 had been populated and asked for any additional

items from the Board.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the plan

Any Other Business

MIPIM Cannes - CS confirmed that the LEP had been invited to attend MIPIM in Cannes to

exhibit under the Norfolk & Suffolk Unlimited brand alongside the London Stansted

Cambridge Corridor in the London pavilion. This is one of the largest and most visited areas

of the show, with 2,500 delegates from 70 companies and 33 London Boroughs attached to

the pavilion. The budget is £25k.

Dominic Keen (DK) asked what the success criteria from attendance would be. CS advised

that the aim would be the introduction potential investors to Norfolk and Suffolk as other

regions attend and are able to establish a presence which we are currently missing.

Matthew Hicks (MH) enquired about results from attendance of the London MIPIM event.

CS confirmed that investment had been generated along with significantly raising awareness

of Norfolk and Suffolk and that staying away from Cannes would leave the counties as an

obvious gap.

AW confirmed that this had been discussed historically at Board meetings and it had been

noted that the East had been missing from the event and expressed his support for

attendance.

Pete Joyner (PJ) noted that there were limited other opportunities to promote NSU in this way

and that Cannes was the best event to attend.

The Board approved the spend of £25k and agreed it was vital to ensure that this event was

part of the inward investment strategy and that specific aims and objectives be produced.

The Board agreed:

For the LEP to attend MIPIM in Cannes to exhibit under the Norfolk & Suffolk Unlimited brand

at a cost of £25k.

Next meeting:

Date and time of next meeting:

10.00am - 12.30pm, 29^th January 2020

Venue: Liftshare Office, 4 Duke St, Norwich, NR3 3AJ, Norfolk