New Anglia LEP Investment Appraisal Committee
18 October 2018
9am-9:45am
Sizewell B Visitor Centre, Leiston, Suffolk, IP16 4UR 19 September 2018
Agenda
Committee Members
Lindsey Rix
Aviva
Cllr David Ellesmere
Ipswich Borough Council
John Griffiths
St Edmundsbury Borough Council
Sandy Ruddock
Scarlett and Mustard
Alan Waters
Norfolk County Council
Tim Whitley
BT
Dominic Keen
High Growth Robotics
Exec Members
Rosanne Wijnberg
New Anglia LEP
Chris Dashper
New Anglia LEP
Chris Starkie
New Anglia LEP
No.
Item
1.
Welcome
2.
Apologies
3.
Declarations of Interest
4.
Minutes of previous Meeting
5.
Horizon Paper - Confidential
Items for discussion
6.
Growing Places Fund programme report
7.
Albert Bartlett Growing Business Fund grant request Confidential
8.
MSF Growing Places Fund request Confidential
9.
Nar Ouse Enterprise Zone Investment Confidential
10.
Rouen House variation letter Confidential
Other
11.
Any Other Business
Date and time of next meeting: Thursday, 21 November 2018. 9am-9:45am
Venue: Keystone Innovation Centre, Thetford IP24 1JD
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New Anglia Investment Appraisal Committee
Meeting Minutes (Unconfirmed)
19 September 2018, International Aviation Academy,
Norwich
Present:
Committee Members
Lindsey Rix (LR)
Aviva
Tim Whitley (TW)
St Edmundsbury Borough Council
Dominic Keen (DK)
High Growth Robotics
Cllr David Ellesmere (DE)
Ipswich Borough Council
Alan Waters (AW)
Norwich City Council
In Attendance
Chris Starkie (CS)
New Anglia LEP
Rosanne Wijnberg (RW)
New Anglia LEP
Chris Dashper (CD)
New Anglia LEP
Iain Dunnett (ID)
New Anglia LEP
1
Welcome from the Chair
Lindsey Rix (LR) welcomed everyone to the meeting.
2
Apologies
Apologies were received from John Griffiths and Sandy Ruddock
3
Declarations of Interest
Full declarations of interest can be found at http://www.newanglia.co.uk/about-us/the-board/.
Declarations relevant to this meeting: None
4
Minutes of previous meeting
The committee agreed the minutes of the previous meeting were a true account of the meeting held on 6
September 2018.
Matters arising from previous meeting: The IAC requested that a copy of the letter to NWES regarding
Rouen House be submitted as a paper to the October IAC.
5
Horizon Projects Table - Confidential
Iain Dunnett (ID) explained the contents of the paper and there were no questions from attendees.
Items for discussion
6
Capital Growth Programme Autumn Call
Chris Dashper (CD) provided an outline of the paper for the Investment Appraisal
Committee.
The paper describes the call for projects to be held in the autumn of 2018 to allocate the
remaining £19m of Growth Deal funds. Previous calls have generated a significant volume
of public realm infrastructure projects; therefore this call focuses on the themes of skills,
innovation and productivity, which to date cumulatively have made up only a quarter of the
projects approved through the Growth Deal. The paper outlines the timetable for the call and
the subsequent process for appraisal and approval of projects.
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DE: A focus on skills, innovation and productivity is a good proposal, however, would it be
better to use revenue funds to support such projects rather than capital? There is a revenue
pot as well- is that a better source of funds?
CS: The LEP review by government clearly focuses on productivity, but in the region
preference often remains to support pubic infrastructure projects. However, those projects
have had a significant amount of the available funding in the past.
AW: It is clear how infrastructure projects such as Bacton Flood Scheme achieve economic
outputs, but what examples are there where capital funding converts to skills outputs?
CS: The Aviation Academy is an example of how capital investment helps to address an
identified need, generating outputs through established providers but in a purpose built,
effective environment.
CD: The revenue pot is much smaller but could be used for follow-on funding for existing
projects like the aviation academy to support skills projects where additionality is identified
and value for money is clear. A worked through example such as the Aviation Academy will
be built into the paper before the board receive it.
LR: Is the network for the call broad enough, will it generate sufficient interest?
CD: The usual networks of website, partners and Growth Hub should be sufficient to
generate the right level of potential projects. If there were insufficient numbers or depth of
projects, there would be the opportunity to run a further call or to restructure budget
allocations to manage the funding position.
TW: Any successful projects should be expected to include Skills, Innovation and
Productivity.
The committee agreed to recommend to the LEP Board that the recommendations in
the paper should be supported and the call launched after the October LEP board
meeting.
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Revenue Budget Framework
Chris Dashper (CD) provided an outline of the paper for the Investment Appraisal
Committee.
The paper outlines the procedure for delivering revenue funding generated through the
Enterprise Zone pot C income.
This represents the first opportunity for the LEP to structure a revenue programme around a
sustainable source of revenue funding, most of the previous funding available to the LEP
being capital.
The call will operate in a similar way to the capital call previously discussed, opening after
the board has approved the process at the October board meeting. There will be no
requirement to spend all funds in certain years as with other funding streams.
CS: This is fundamentally different to previous funding and project calls and will give the
LEP an added dimension in supporting early stage and revenue based projects.
DE: Opportunities for multi-year projects should be considered.
CD: Yes, multi-year would be possible, on a reducing basis for a maximum of three years.
There is an outline table in the paper which gives some ideas of what could and couldn’t be
supported through the fund.
The committee agreed that the fund represents an exciting opportunity for the LEP and
should generate a range of different projects.
The committee agreed to recommend to the LEP Board that the recommendations in
the revenue paper should be supported and the call launched after the October LEP
board meeting.
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