New Anglia Board Meeting Minutes (Confirmed)

29^th January 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

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

Hannah Grimes

Norfolk County Council

James Allen (JA)

New Anglia LEP - For Item 7

Chris Dashper (CD)

New Anglia LEP - For Item 13

Lisa Roberts (LR)

New Anglia LEP - For Items 8 and 9

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)

Local Industrial Strategy - Investment Plan

The tactical pipeline of projects to be produced and reported to the board

The development of the Investment Plan to be reported to the Board on a regular basis

Evaluation Framework

The option of employing someone to carry out evaluations to be investigated

Board Recruitment

Details of job board vacancies to be circulated to Board members for onwards promotion

Welcome from the Chair

Doug Field (DF) welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanks Ali Clabburn (AC) from Liftshare for

hosting the meeting.

Apologies

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

Declarations of Interest

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

Item 13: January Programme Reports: New Anglia Capital Report: DF declared an interest in Nova

Farina and SupaPass.

Welcome from Liftshare

AC, CEO of Liftshare, welcomed the LEP Board to Liftshare. The Board were provided with a

presentation highlighting the volumes of empty seats in cars when commuting and the

progress that Liftshare are making in working with organisations to fill that excess capacity.

AC noted that commuting was now the highest source of carbon emissions and that Liftshare

had set a target of saving 1bn miles by the end of March 2020 and that this target would be

reached during February.

Liftshare are working with companies to join them to the network to reduce numbers of

journeys thus saving on emissions, reducing costs and freeing up parking all of which has

been proven help with recruitment.

AC was pleased to confirm that Liftshare had been awarded the Queen’s Award for

Enterprise for the second time and the Board congratulated him on the achievement.

Minutes of the last meeting 27^th November 2019

Two typing errors were corrected in the attendees’ details.

The minutes were then accepted as a true record of the meeting held on 27^th November

2019.

Actions from last meeting updated as follows:

Chris Starkie (CS) advised that the outstanding actions relating to Enterprise Zones were

covered in the report which annexes the January Performance Report.

Aims & Objectives for the Year

The Board received an update from CS which reviewed progress and key deliveries over the

past year and identified the key areas the LEP would be focussing on in 2020 under the

headings implement, promote, deliver and strengthen. The presentation also covered the

external drivers which the LEP needs to take into account when planning for the year ahead

which can be grouped under the areas of Brexit, the focus on the North and Midlands, the

devolution white paper and the future funding landscape.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the presentation

• To support the themes identified as areas of focus for 2020

Brexit Impact Report

James Allen (JA) presented the updated Brexit Intelligence report which explores the

implications for Norfolk and Suffolk of the two possible scenarios of a withdrawal agreement

with a trade deal and a no deal situation. It sets out implications and responses for

consideration as part of delivery plans for the Economic Strategy and Local Industrial

Strategy.

JA proposed that a light touch action plan be produced which will be reported back to the

Board on a bi-monthly basis.

Implications and responses to consider have been set out under the consistent headings of

workforce, funding and investment, trade and regulation, the majority of which are consistent

with the implementation plans in place for the Economic Strategy and Local Industrial

Strategy.

Jeanette Wheeler (JW) noted that there was a large gap in the technology developed for the

agri-food industry and that used on large estates around the region and suggested that the

LEP could work with the agritech industry to support the implementation of these innovations

on the ground.

Pete Joyner (PJ) proposed that, due to the size of the issue and the difficulties in influencing

Government policy, the LEP should focus on providing practical support for affected

companies.

Johnathan Reynolds (JR) suggested that work was needed in mapping supply chains across

Norfolk & Suffolk to help businesses target and win large contracts by demonstrating local

capacity.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

• To agree that its recommendations are used to influence the implementation plans for the

Economic Strategy and Local Industrial Strategy

Local Industrial Strategy - Investment Plan

Lisa Roberts (LR) presented the Board with the designed version of the Norfolk and Suffolk

Local Industrial Strategy (LIS) employing the Norfolk and Suffolk Unlimited branding.

The Board agreed the following amendments:

• Descriptions to be added to all photos for consistency

• Hethel signage to be updated

• Adastral Park to be included as a High Potential Opportunity (HPO)

JW asked that impact publishing the LIS would have. Shan Lloyd (SL) confirmed that it would

ensure Government buy in at a senior level and would provide support when highlighting

projects and targeting investment at a ministerial level.

The Board were asked for approval of the proposed approach and timeline for developing the

Investment Plan.

The Board requested that details of the tactical projects pipeline be included in the plan and

shared with the board as well as the strategic longer term projects.

DF expressed concern that the proposed timescales were too long & asked if priority projects

could be identified and progressed while the consultation continues.

Rosanne Wijnberg (RW) confirmed that there was a tactical pipeline which could be slotted

into the timeline immediately.

ACTION: The tactical pipeline of projects to be produced and reported to the board at the

March meeting.

Claire Cullens (CC) advised that the members of the Skills Advisory Panel (SAP) were keen

to be involved and wanted to understand which projects could be included and the right

approach to take when identifying them.

LR confirmed that the investment plan needed to contain both capital and revenue projects

and should include shovel ready projects. They should also include those which are longer

term but have business cases in place should funding be made available.

CS reiterated that this plan was looking at new aspirational projects as much of the pipeline

contained projects which had been around for some time.

JR queried whether the LEP can be smarter at identifying funding opportunities and be more

proactive in employing them. LR confirmed that work is ongoing to identify sources of funding

and will produce a one-page summary of each which can be publicised when opportunities

become available.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

• To approve the designed version of Norfolk and Suffolk Local Industrial Strategy

• To approve the approach and timetable for developing the Investment Plan and supporting

tools with regular updates provided to the Board

• To receive details of the tactical projects pipeline at the March meeting

Evaluation Framework

LR presented the Board with the revised Evaluation Framework, the programme of evaluation

and the proposed approach to implementing the framework. The proposal includes using a

call-on, call-off list of companies that will provide external, independent support in the evaluation

process.

LR advised that the framework sets out a more robust approach to evaluation and ensures

that it is also embedded at the design stage of projects and programmes.

LR also confirmed that the Enterprise Advisor Network would be evaluated in conjunction with

the Careers Enterprise Company and would focus on the quality and not just the quantity of

the contacts provided.

Helen Langton (HL) queried whether £50k would be enough to complete the evaluations. LR

confirmed that this was based on previous evaluations and that there would be a further ask

of the Board if required.

JR asked of the £50k could be better used strengthening the LEP team by employing

someone to complete the evaluations. LR noted this would lose the independent measure

and queried whether the skill set was available.

ACTION - The option of employing someone to carry out evaluations to be investigated.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

• To approve the updated Evaluation Framework and programme of evaluation for inclusion

in the 2020 Local Assurance Framework

• To approve the approach of having call-on, call-off list of companies that will provide

external support

• To approve a £50K allocation of the Growth Deal top slice to appoint a company to carry

out an evaluation on three LEP programmes

Board Recruitment

DF presented the Board paper advising that there would be 2 board vacancies over the year

including that of Chair.

David Ellesmere (DE) clarified whether the new Chair was being recruited externally and CS

confirmed that Government requirements dictate that the vacancy for the Chair need to be

advertised externally but that existing private sector board members could apply.

The Board agreed that the advert needs to clarify the required time commitment of the role so

that the expectations are clear to applicants.

ACTION - Adverts to be issued to Board members for onward promotion.

The Board discussed the requirements of specific sectors noting that the key LIS sectors

need to be strengthened as did ensuring the Board had access to relevant financial expertise.

It was noted that the vice-chair vacancy would be available from April and a process would be

in place to fill this role.

HL, JW, DE and PJ volunteered to assist on interviews panels.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report and approve the recruitment packs subject to clarification

of the required time commitments of the roles

• To support and promote the opportunities

• To approve the interview panels for the vacancies

Remuneration Committee Terms of Reference

JW presented the paper highlighting the key findings of the Gender Pay Gap Report noting

that the results were very positive and would be monitored going forwards.

The revised Remuneration Committee Terms of Reference were presented and JW

highlighted the amendment to holding the committee once a year as it only reviews the salary

of the CEO.

DE noted that gender gap was positive that but given the relatively small size of the

organisation changes in personnel could change the results significantly. The Board agreed

that other types of diversity should also be monitored.

SL noted that Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) diversity was also being looked at by

Government and should reflect the makeup of the geographical area.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

• To agree the revised Remuneration Committee Terms of Reference

Chief Executive’s Report

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

CS highlighted the request to transfer £4.1m from the Enterprise Zone Accelerator Fund to the

Growing Places Fund (GBF) and explained that this was because there was now insufficient

time to agree and defray funds on any co-investment opportunities before the end of the

Growth Deal in March 2021 but that £4.1m remained unallocated. The LEP is already

engaged with an applicant looking for co-investment of up to £5m and without this transfer there

are insufficient funds in the GPF budget to consider the application.

This was approved by the Board.

CS noted that Norfolk and Suffolk Unlimited had received successful coverage as part of an

item on Horecava on Look East and provided an update on the event planned for MPs on 5^th

February highlighting infrastructure requirements.

CS confirmed that the Peer Review meeting with the Heart of the South West LEP had

resulted in positive outcomes largely around the sharing of information. A visit to the New

Anglia LEP has been requested which will focus on operational matters.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

• To approve the transfer of £4.1m from the Enterprise Zone Accelerator Fund to the

Growing Places Fund

January Programme Performance Reports

RW reviewed the reports for January noting that applications to the Small Grants Scheme are

still progressing well and have not slowed down and confirmed that the ESF bid has been

submitted to extend the Enterprise Advisor Network.

RW advised that the focus in 2020 will be on promoting Enterprise Zones over the next year

and noted that the annexe to the report addressed the outstanding board actions.

Andrew Proctor (AP) reviewed the New Anglia Capital report.

The Board agreed:

• To note the contents of the reports

Quarterly Management Accounts

RW highlighted key items from the report noting that income has been received from Norfolk

and Suffolk County Councils to support the Innovative Projects Fund and the awards have not

been made yet.

Other variations were highlighted as follows:

Wages and salaries - there are variations around the timing of filling vacancies but there are

no current gaps in the team.

Innovative Projects Fund - there is a time lag on the spend.

Grants - It was assumed £30m would be paid by now however this figure is currently at £16m

paid out as claims are awaited.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

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

Tim Whitley (TW) confirmed that, as part of the High Potential Opportunities Scheme,

Adastral Park had hosted an inward investment delegation from Finland which has received

excellent feedback.

CS noted the LEP would be supporting SMEs at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in

March.

Next meeting:

Date and time of next meeting:

10.00am - 12.30pm, 26^th February 2020

Venue: Gallery Three, Ipswich Town Hall, Cornhill, Ipswich, IP1 1DH