New Anglia Board Meeting Minutes (Unconfirmed)

30^th October 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

John Griffiths (JG)

West Suffolk Council

Pete Joyner (PJ)

Shorthose Russell

Dominic Keen (DK)

Britbots

Steve Oliver (SO)

MLM

Andrew Proctor (AP)

Norfolk County Council

Johnathan Reynolds (JR)

Nautilus

Lindsey Rix (LR)

Aviva

Sandy Ruddock (SR)

Scarlett & Mustard

Nikos Savvas (NS)

West Suffolk College

Alan Waters (AW)

Norwich City Council

Attendees

John Last (JL)

NUA - For Helen Langton

Shan Lloyd (SL)

BEIS

Sue Roper (SuR)

Suffolk County Council

Vince Muspratt (VM)

Norfolk County Council

Linn Clabburn (LC)

New Anglia LEP - For Item 6

Iain Dunnett (ID)

New Anglia LEP - For Item 8

Ellen Goodwin (EG)

New Anglia LEP - For Item 10

Julian Munson (JM)

New Anglia LEP - For Item 7

Chris Starkie (CS)

New Anglia LEP

Rosanne Wijnberg (RW)

New Anglia LEP

Helen Wilton (HW)

New Anglia LEP

Actions from the meeting: (30.10.19)

Chief Executive’s Report

To receive an update on the progress of dualling of the A47 at Tuddenham

Welcome from the Chair

Doug Field (DF) welcomed everyone to the meeting including John Last (JL) who was observing for

Helen Langton.

Apologies

Apologies were received from Jeanette Wheeler, Johnathan Reynolds, Tim Whitley and Helen

Langton.

Declarations of Interest

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

Steve Oliver (SO) noted an interest in item 8a - Growing Business Fund Large Company Scheme.

Minutes of the last meeting 25^th September 2019

The minutes were accepted as a true record of the meeting held on 25^th September 2019.

Actions from last meeting updated as follows:

The one page summary of the Local Industrial Strategy was distributed to board members.

Chris Starkie (CS) asked for feedback.

The revised LIS Foreword had been issued to board members and the LIS has been

submitted to Government.

CS advised that Sam Chapman-Allen (SC) had requested a one page summary of board

outcomes. This had been circulated with board papers and CS asked for comments to be

sent to Helen Wilton (HW).

Welcome from Cllr Sam Chapman - Allen

SC welcomed the Board to Thetford and provided the board with a brief overview of the area

noting the increase in home building. The board was advised that £20m had been allocated

to build 5000 new homes and work was also ongoing to improve existing estates with better

infrastructure and community facilities.

SC thanked the LEP for its contribution of £1.5m towards the roundabout at the Thetford

Enterprise Park and confirmed that work is continuing to secure further funding to develop the

site.

A number of collaborative projects are ongoing with West Suffolk College to support skills

development and training in the area.

Cambridge - Norwich Tech Corridor

Linn Clabburn (LC) provided the Board with an overview of the Cambridge-Norwich Tech

Corridor (CNTC) which was set up using pooled business rate funding with the aim of

attracting new businesses and investment to the area.

LC advised that the study carried out by Cambridge Econometrics proposed the project

should focus on the existing science and technology strengths and assets in the Corridor and

build on these to develop complementing clusters. In doing so the Tech Corridor has the

potential to create 26,000 jobs and add £2.75bn to the local economy. LC also noted that the

term “Tech” covers a wide range but focuses on the key strengths in the region including, life-

science, biotech, pharma, agritech, ICT, digital, AI and robotics and engineering,

The team identified that the CNTC needs to be more than the establishment of a brand and

are working to create joined-up, complementing, clusters in order to attract inward investment

LC reviewed some on the work currently ongoing detailing how the corridor is being promoted

with the web site receiving 1000 unique visitors per month and social media reaching a wide

audience by targeting influential people with a high number of followers.

An ambassador network has been set up with over 100 members who promote the CNTC

within and outside the region.

LC reviewed the next steps for the team including targeted sector promotion, international

partnerships and further work to develop the relationships and collaboration across the

Corridor and help the delivery of the Economic strategy and LIS.

John Griffiths (JG) noted the work also being carried out in West Suffolk and asked whether

the CNTC would be self-financing after the one year’s funding being requested was

complete.

CS advised that given the uncertainty over future funding from Government the practical

decision was to initially request funding for one year.

The meeting discussed the work being carried out to promote the Norwich end of the corridor

such as assisting with talent sharing for companies struggling to find the correctly skilled staff

and also links to other clusters outside the corridor ie energy around Gt Yarmouth. LC

confirmed that they were working with staff at NCC to identify areas for collaboration.

Matthew Hicks (MH) asked about the long term future of the project noting that it had the

potential to be bigger than the current corridor. LC agreed that there was potential for growth

and the partnership itself could agree the future direction.

John Last (JL) asked if there was a finite point for the project or whether success criteria had

been agreed. LC confirmed that indicators were being monitored but a final target had not

been set.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

• To continue supporting the CNTC by agreeing an allocation of £62k for the financial year

2020/21

• To work with corridor partners to secure their future commitment to the project

Norfolk & Suffolk Unlimited

Julian Munson (JM) reviewed the successful launch of the new brand and the positive

feedback received especially from the private sector where over 60 brand ambassadors had

been signed up.

JM reviewed the next steps and the work going on the promote the brand both within the

region and externally.

CS reviewed the confidential appendix proposing the combining the inward investment teams

of the LEP, Norfolk County Council and Suffolk County Council to create a single team -

Invest Norfolk and Suffolk, which would create a single inward investment strategy and

promote the new brand.

Pete Joyner (PJ) asked how success would be measured. CS confirmed that there would be

hard targets around job creation and also softer targets established with the former measures

brought back to the board as part of the Inward Investment Strategy.

Andrew Proctor (AP) noted that this proposal was at an early stage and that further details

and measures would be established during the next phase.

The meeting discussed the financial implications of the establishment of the team.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

• To endorse the forward plan of activity for the development of the Norfolk & Suffolk

Unlimited Brand

• To support the establishment of Invest Norfolk and Suffolk and the creation of a new post

of head of inward investment

Growing Business Fund Large Company Scheme Applications - Confidential

Equality and Diversity Action Plan

Rosanne Wijnberg (RW) presented the background to the production of the plan which has

been designed to support the statement and role of the diversity champion.

Three areas have been identified as priority areas of activity - recruitment and membership,

decision making and workforce.

RW confirmed that progress will be monitored and updates provided to the Board.

JL noted the issue of recruiting a diverse range of board members. David Ellesmere (DE)

noted that the initial drive from Government was for gender equality but agreed that further

diversification was an issue.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

• To endorse the Equality and Diversity Action Plan

Housing Update

Ellen Goodwin (EG) presented the main points of the report summarising the work of the LEP

on the housing agenda and recommending activities to support SMEs in achieving targets for

house building.

DE felt that the LEP should be focussing on lobbying Government on those areas of housing

building where developers were facing issues. AP noted that closer involvement with SMEs

would support the LEP’s role as enabler to growth and development.

EG confirmed that the Building Growth Group is reviewing its work and Terms of Reference

and is looking to reengage with the local authorities as attendance at the meetings has been

limited.

AW updated the meeting on the recent visit of the Housing Minister to Goldsmith Street in

Norwich which provided an opportunity to present her with the main challenges to providing

good quality housing.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

• To commission a research piece to identify construction and housebuilding SME activity in

Norfolk and Suffolk including barriers to construction

• To delegate authority to the Chief Executive to commission the above research once an

brief with partners has been agreed

• To agree the reconstitution of the Building Growth Group to align with the Norfolk and

Suffolk Economic Strategy, the Local Industrial Strategy and the outputs of the Housing

Conference

Brexit

CS reviewed the paper and noted that plans would be revised to the new Brexit deadline of

31^st January 2020.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

The Role of the Chair / Chair job description

RW presented the report and reviewed the process carried out for the production of the job

description.

LR observed that adding details of the time commitment of the role would be useful.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

• To endorse the job description for the Role of the Chair as attached

• To delegate authority to the Chair to approve the job description for the Role of the Vice

Chair

Skills Advisory Chair Panel

CS presented the paper advising that the Board needed to approve the new chair and that

Government guidelines stated that it should be a member of the LEP board but noting that, as

this may not always be possible, external candidates could be considered.

DF asked for nominations from the board and CS offered to discuss the role further with

anyone interested.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

• To approve the Skills Advisory Panel Terms of Reference

• To formally acknowledge the work of Paul Winter as Chair of the Skills Board

• To approve the proposal that a current LEP Board member takes on additional

responsibility for chairing the Skills Advisory Panel as recommended by Government.

• To seek nominations for the role of Skills Board chair from the board or to externally

advertise if there are no candidates from the LEP board

Chief Executive’s Report

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

CS advised that investigations were ongoing into the possibility of joining the London stand at

MIPIM in Cannes to promote the NSU brand.

SC requested an update on the progress of the dualling of the A47 at Tuddenham. CS

agreed to request an update from EG.

SC asked if there was an opportunity for a regional energy strategy. CS noted that this has

already been written with the Hertfordshire LEP and the CPCA. The accountable body of the

Energy Hub will be changing which will help in getting traction on key projects.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

• To receive an update on the dualling of the A47 at Tuddenham

October Programme Performance Reports

Rosanne Wijnberg (RW) reviewed the reports for October and highlighted key areas noting

that Small Grants Scheme applications were ahead in Q1 and have now slowed down but

area still ahead of profile.

The Board agreed:

• To note the contents of the reports

Quarterly Management Accounts - Confidential

RW presented the accounts which include the table of programmes and their respective end

dates as requested by the Board.

RW highlighted key variances in spend and income.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

Board Forward Plan

CS reviewed the Forward Plan and advised that the planning of items for 2020 was ongoing.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the plan

Any Other Business

DF advised that this would be Nikos Savvas’ (NS) last meeting and thanked him for his

commitment and contribution to the LEP during his time as a board member.

NS thanked board members and highlighted the growth and expansion of the LEP over his

term of office and expressed his support going forward.

Next meeting:

Date and time of next meeting:

10.00am - 12.30pm, 27^th November 2019

Venue: The Hub, Adastral Park, Ipswich