New Anglia Investment Appraisal Committee

Meeting Minutes (Unconfirmed)

25^th June 2019

Present:

Committee Members

Lindsey Rix (LR)

Aviva

Martin Williams (MW)

Santander

Alan Waters (AW)

Norwich City Council

Dominic Keen (DK)

High Growth Robotics

David Ellesmere (DE)

Ipswich Borough Council

In Attendance

Rosanne Wijnberg (RW)

New Anglia LEP

Chris Dashper (CD)

New Anglia LEP

Iain Dunnett (ID)

New Anglia LEP

ACTIONS

Update Large Company Capital grant programme before submission to LEP board for approval

Revisit Banham application to address questions from IAC

Continue to explore repayment options with MSF. Discuss further with DK

Welcome from the Chair

David Ellesmere as Vice Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting. Lindsey Rix joined the meeting later.

Apologies

Tim Whitley and Sandy Ruddock

Declarations of Interest

None

Minutes of previous meeting (5 June 2019)

The minutes of the previous meeting were approved by the committe.

Growing Places Fund Horizon Paper (Confidential)

Iain Dunnett (ID) reviewed the GPF Horizon Paper.

AP: Who should potential applicants to the VCSE call contact? All enquires can go to the Norfolk and

Suffolk Community Foundations

Growing Business Fund Programme Performance Report (Confidential)

6.1

Growing Business Fund RAG rating

6.2

Small Grants Scheme Approvals

The monthly GBF report and accompanying appendices were reviewed by the Committee. The report for

Page 1 of 2

the July meeting of the Committee would incorporate the revised budget as agreed in the LEP Capital

Budget.

Growing Places Fund Loan Criteria (Confidential)

The Committee were presented with a paper reviewing the primary purpose of the Growing Places Fund

in relation to loans to housing developments

DE and AW: Aggregated output totals are fine, but can quality outputs be identified on areas such as

affordable and social housing.

Large Company Grant Programme (Confidential)

CD reviewed the paper on a new programme to enable support for large companies that would not

normally be able to apply for grant funding.

The programme is primarily designed to support companies where there is a threat of relocation outside

of the region or where there is significant innovation or R&D planned that would create growth and jobs.

AP: Should the programme have an annual budget rather than a one-off allocation

DE: Could the fund apply to projects that were moving into the region?

The Committee agreed to recommend the Large Company Grant Programme to the LEP Board for

approval, with the addition of the following:

• Sufficient budget be made available to operate the fund in 20/21 as well as 19/20.

• That the criteria incorporate inward investment options for companies looking to locate to the

region

Growing Places Fund: Loan update (Confidential)

GPF Grant Request (Confidential)

Any Other Business

None

Page 2 of 2

Growing Business Fund Performance Report

Programme Overview - What is the Growing Business Fund?

Launched in April 2013, the Growing Business Fund provides grants for businesses to enable growth, an increase productivity and job creation

Capital grants between £25,000 and £500,000 are provided at up to 20% of project costs for SMEs, with an enhanced rate for small businesses located in an Assisted Area

Funding for the Growing Business Fund is provided on an annual basis by the LEP's Growth Deal

The fund is accessed through the New Anglia Growth Hub with Due Diligence undertaken by Finance East

What is the overall Programme Status?

Finance

Green

For 2018/19 the programme was over spent, with an additional £1m of funding put into the scheme, of which £363K has been rolled into 2019/20

Green

Outputs

Based on recent grant applications, spend and pipeline, the scheme will probably over perform against the targets for the year2019/20

Green

Delivery

A steady pipeline of high quality applications is still coming forward, ensuring that the scheme continues performs well

What are our key updates?

Membership of the Approval Panel was widened at the end of 2018, to ensure the panel has the knowledge required to operate effectively

Following a slight decline in the Autumn 2018, the pipeline of applications has now picked up, with a good number of high quality applications coming forward for support

In early 2019, the LEP worked with Suffolk County Council and the Growth Hub to tweak the programme guidance, which now has a greater focus on LEP priorities

What is our financial position?

Financials (£ million)

Year

2013 to 2016

2016/2017

2017/2018

2018/2019

2019/2020

2020/2021

2021/22

Total

Profile Spend (£m)

£12.000

£3.536

£3.050

£5.096

£4.121

£2.790

£0.000

£30.593

Actual Spend (£m)

£11.999

£3.001

£3.049

£4.764

£0.793

£23.606

Remaining Spend (£m)

£0.001

£0.535

£0.001

£0.331

£3.328

£2.790

£0.000

£6.986

2019/2020 Expenditure Profile

Q1-18/19

Q2-18/19

Q3-18/19

Q4-18/19

Quarterly Forecast

£1.030

Quarterly Spend

£0.793

£0.000

Variance

£0.237

£1.030

What is our contribution to the Economic Strategy?

Actual to end of

Monthly

Outputs April 2019 to March 2020

Target

Shortfall

Notes

May 2019

Change

Value of grants approved

£4,121,000

£376,766

£206,766

£3,744,234

Value of private sector match approved

£16,484,000

£1,517,912

£835,997

£14,966,088

Number of New Jobs to be Created

206

180

Value of grants claimed

£4,121,000

£792,974

£647,792

£3,328,026

Private sector match funding drawn down

£16,484,000

£2,559,225

£1,638,947

£13,924,775

Number of New Jobs Created

206

181

What is the project status?

The following table shows grants approved by sector since the start of the programme in 2013/14

Number of

Projects

Grants

Private

Total Project

Jobs to be

Sector

Approved

Match

Costs

Created

A - Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing

£180,000

£794,946

£974,946

B - Mining and Quarrying

£100,000

£1,654,600

£1,754,600

C - Manufacturing

118

£13,454,233

£88,535,307

£101,989,540

1480.5

E - Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities

£295,594

£1,260,379

£1,555,973

F - Construction

£1,086,486

£5,231,673

£6,318,159

142

G - Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles

£2,729,816

£51,630,071

£54,359,887

376

H - Transportation and Storage

£666,992

£3,275,957

£3,942,949

I - Accommodation and Food Service Activities

£262,000

£1,052,138

£1,314,138

34.5

J - Information and Communication

£685,700

£3,409,616

£4,095,316

K - Financial and Insurance Activities

£30,000

£79,425

£109,425

M - Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities

£1,737,372

£12,400,472

£14,137,844

195.6

N - Administrative and Support Service Activities

£1,848,771

£10,067,136

£11,915,907

224

P - Education

£20,000

£102,191

£122,191

Q - Human Health and Social Work Activities

£31,580

£126,320

£157,900

3.5

R - Arts, Entertainment and Recreation

£462,921

£3,033,716

£3,496,637

53.5

S - Other Service Activities

£320,000

£4,737,413

£5,057,413

Total

235

£23,911,465

£187,391,360

£211,302,825

2792.6

What are the next steps?

The LEP is working with delivery partners, to ensure that the scheme has a greater focus on business growth and productivity

The Growth Hub are now following up participants that have attended 'Scale-Up' Programme events to identify SMEs that may be eligible for grant support, including GBF

Small Grant Scheme Approvals (April 2019 - March 2020)

Total

Jobs to

Date

Grant

Private

Business Name

Project

Approved

Awarded

Match

Cost

Created

Apr-19 DXB Pumps & Power Ltd.

£16,845

£67,385

£84,230

1.0

Apr-19 Bradleys (Stowmarket) Ltd. (2)

£17,919

£71,679

£89,598

0.0

Apr-19 Praxis42 Ltd.

£6,362

£25,449

£31,811

4.0

Apr-19 Edmondson Hall

£25,000

£371,148

£396,148

0.0

Apr-19 The Penny Bun Bakehouse Ltd.

£7,203

£16,807

£24,010

0.0

Apr-19 Criterion Ices Ltd.

£19,515

£78,064

£97,579

2.0

Apr-19 Fruitful Media Ltd.

£8,805

£35,222

£44,027

7.0

Apr-19 Tosier Chocolate Ltd.

£2,724

£10,900

£13,624

1.0

May-19 Apex Print & Promotion Ltd.

£9,930

£39,720

£49,650

2.0

May-19 Pastonacre Ltd

£4,305

£17,224

£21,529

1.0

May-19 Donald Utting & Sons Ltd (2)

£24,973

£99,892

£124,865

0.0

May-19 Safety Devices International Ltd

£5,600

£22,400

£28,000

0.0

May-19 A J Laminated Beams Ltd

£5,500

£22,000

£27,500

0.0

May-19 P J Lee Hire & Sales Ltd

£6,600

£26,400

£33,000

2.0

May-19 Newton Automotive Ltd (2)

£16,160

£64,640

£80,800

1.0

£177,441

£968,930

£1,146,371

21.0

New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership Investment Appraisal Committee.

Tuesday 23^rd July 2019

Agenda Item 7

Innovative Projects Fund

Author: Tanya Nelson and Chris Dashper

Summary

This paper provides some initial context and background around a proposal for the delivery of a

2019/20 call of the Innovative Projects Revenue fund. This follows LEP Investment Appraisal

Committee approval for an annual allocation of £500k to the programme for 2019/20 and 2020/21

from LEP funds.

Following the outcome of the first call of the Innovative Projects Fund in 2018, both Suffolk and

Norfolk County Councils indicated interest in matching New Anglia LEP’s future allocations of the

Innovative Projects Fund through their respective pooled business rates. This would result in a

£1.5 million pot being made available to prospective projects under a 2019/20 call.

The paper outlines how delivery of the Innovative Projects Fund in partnership with Norfolk and

Suffolk County Councils might develop in terms of impact and governance, utilising match funding

from their respective pooled business rates.

The business rates funding generated by the District councils is also an important source of

revenue funding that can be used as an intervention programme for the region. Pooling the two

funds together would enable:

 Greater alignment with the Economic and Local Industrial Strategies;

 Better value for money and outcomes;

 Potential for investment synergies across the two counties.

The proposal to combine LEP, SCC and NCC has been circulated for consideration by Norfolk

and Suffolk leaders and is due to be considered by leaders groups in both counties later this

week.

Recommendation

The IAC is asked to approve in principle the establishment of the larger fund jointly with local

authorities from Norfolk and Suffolk - with final sign off at the September LEP board meeting.

Background

On 27^th March 2019, 8 projects from the 2018 Call of the Innovative Projects Fund were taken to

the NA LEP Investment Appraisal Committee. Three projects were approved and five were

subject to conditional approval. The total amount approved was £649,068. Four of the approved

projects required funding over 2 or more financial years.

At the same meeting, the IAC approved a recommendation that the Innovative Projects Fund

becomes an annual rolling programme, with a minimum annual allocation of £500k from Pot C

for calls in both 2019 and 2020.

The LEP Executive was invited to develop a specification for a 2019/20 call for innovative projects

from external partners which will help deliver the Economic Strategy and explore the possibility

of a joint partnership with Norfolk and Suffolk County Councils.

This paper builds on the approval above, defining the specification and process for the 2019/20

call for Innovative Projects Fund in partnership with Norfolk County Council and Suffolk County

Council.

Context of a 2019/20 Call of the Innovative Projects Fund.

The total amount available to allocate to projects through Pot C is expected to increase year on

year as businesses continue to relocate, expand and start up in the Space to Grow and Space

to Innovate Enterprise Zones across the New Anglia LEP area.

This will ensure sufficient headroom to accommodate multi-year projects (and allow for the over

commitment of funds from the 2018 call) and provide the budget for the approved project calls in

2019 and 2020.

In terms of regional spread, an equal number of projects were funded from each county, with an

additional number covering the New Anglia LEP area in its entirety.

Following the outcome of the first call of the Innovative Projects Fund, both Suffolk and Norfolk

County Councils have indicated interest in matching New Anglia LEP’s future allocation to the

Innovative Projects Fund through their respective pooled business rates. This would result in

£1.5 million being made available to prospective projects under a 2019/20 call.

There is great synergy between the current criteria for the allocation of funding to applicants

bidding to Norfolk County Council’s pooled business rate fund and that of the NA LEP’s Innovative

Projects Fund. The high-level objectives for Norfolk County Council’s Delivery Plan mirror the

LEP theme objectives outlined by the Economic Strategy for Norfolk and Suffolk.

At present, there is no formal programme criteria for assessing projects applying for funds from

Suffolk County Council’s Pooled Business Rates.

Additionally, it is agreed that the new Innovative Projects Fund call for 2019/20 should encourage

projects that support our competitive strengths and the high growth sectors (clean energy, agri-

food and ICT/digital) thereby supporting the Local Industrial Strategy.

The programme would again look favourably on cross-sector collaborations, where specialist

skills in one sector can drive innovation and growth in another. Furthermore, proposals for

revenue funding to accelerate the impact of LEP or county council led capital schemes will also

be considered.

The call will focus on Innovation across the LEP geography. A concerted effort will be made to

publicise the availability of the programme to the LEP area’s growth sectors via the respective

sector groups. Where required, the Programmes Case Worker will attend meetings of the sector

groups to outline the programme and answer any questions. Furthermore, the same offer will be

extended to the Growth Hub to ensure that the advisors meeting businesses that are

demonstrating innovative project ideas are alerted to the programme at the earliest opportunity

and are able to submit applications that meet the criteria.

The launch of the programme with be publicised via the normal LEP networks and media

pathways, likewise through the County Council’s.

Management and Administration.

A jointly funded Innovative Projects Fund Programme will continue to be led, managed and

monitored by the LEP. £500,000 from each partner would be held by Suffolk County Council as

the Accountable body for the LEP. A sum of £60,000 has been proposed to be top sliced from

the programme budget to pay for management costs, assessment of applications and delivery of

the programme. If necessary this cost could be met from LEP funds.

Process for the review and appraisal of projects.

Appraisals of all eligible applications to the fund will be undertaken by an independent body, this

is currently Hewdon Consulting.

The assessment process would rank proposals against the following criteria.

1 Demonstration of clear fit with the Economic and Local Industrial Strategy.

2 Additionality. How is this more than business as usual. The fund should not replace core

funding.

3 Value for money. Can the project demonstrate this is good use of public money.

4 Leverage. What additional funding, public or private or in-kind support does the project

generate.

5 Impact. What will the project actually deliver and how innovative is the proposal.

6 Sustainability. What will happen when the funding ends.

Each would be scored from one to five, with a total maximum score therefore of 30.

One being low. Three medium and five being good.

Governance and approval

A partnership arrangement between the LEP and the two local authorities will be put in place to

consider eligible applications for funding. This would comprise two private sector members of the

IAC and two local authority representatives from Norfolk and two from Suffolk, selected by their

respective leaders groups.

The partnership will meet to discuss the projects and define a shortlist of projects for approval,

based on the reports provided by the independent assessing body.

Recommendations for approval would only be made for projects which scored the highest across

the above categories.

A copy of all applicants’ appraisal and corresponding criteria score (projects will be scored and

ranked highest first based on their ability to meet the programme criteria) will be issued to

nominated officers within the partnership.

Monitoring and Reporting

SCC as the accountable body for the LEP will arrange for the Offer Letters for projects approved

by a 2019/20 Innovative Projects Fund call to be sent to the respective project lead organisations.

The NA LEP Programmes Caseworker will then liaise with the project managers to monitor the

progress of their projects against their agreed outputs and expenditure. The Programmes Case

Worker will also provide programme monitoring reports to the relevant meetings / boards as

required.