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Public
New Anglia Board Meeting Minutes (Confirmed)
22
nd
September 2021
Present:
Kathy Atkinson (KA)
Kettle Foods
Sam Chapman-Allen (SCA)
Breckland District Council
Claire Cullens (CC)
Norfolk Community Foundation
David Ellesmere (DE)
Ipswich Borough Council
C-J Green (CJG)
Brave Goose
Matthew Hicks (MH)
Suffolk County Council
Pete Joyner (PJ)
Shorthose Russell
Dominic Keen (DK)
Britbots
Corrienne Peasgood (CP)
Norwich City College
Andrew Proctor (AP)
Norfolk County Council
Johnathan Reynolds (JR)
Opergy
Alan Waters (AW)
Norwich City Council
Jeanette Wheeler (JW)
Birketts
Attendees
Simon Offield-Kerr (SOK)
Norwich University of the Arts
Tim Whitley (TW) – via MS Teams
BT
Chris Gribble (CG)
National Centre for Writing
Alison McFarlane (AM)
National Centre for Writing
Shan Lloyd (SL)
BEIS
Jai Raithatha (JRa)
Suffolk County Council
Vince Muspratt (VM)
Norfolk County Council
Jams Allen (JA)
New Anglia LEP – For Item 6
Chris Dashper (CD)
New Anglia LEP – For Item 7
Chris Starkie (CS)
New Anglia LEP
Rosanne Wijnberg (RW)
New Anglia LEP
Helen Wilton (HW)
New Anglia LEP
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Actions from the meeting: (22.9.21)
Government Review of LEPs
A paper to be brought to the November board meeting with options and timescales
CS
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CJ Green (CJG) welcomed everyone to the first in person meeting in 18 months including Chris
Gribble (CG) and Alison McFarlane (AM) from the National Centre and Simon Offield-Kerr (SOK) who
was deputing for Helen Langton.
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CG provided the meeting with an overview of the growth of the National Centre for Writing during the
past 15 years noting that it had relocated to the new site in 2015 and opened as the National Centre
for Writing in a project costing £2.0m including £150k in funding from the LEP.
Since that time the Centre has not only met but exceeded its targets in all areas.
CS explained how the Centre had managed during the pandemic given the impact on weddings and
conferences and provided the board with details of the how the Centre had moved its offering online
wherever possible.
In the future projects will focus on using both physical and virtual assets when working with the local
communities and projects such as the Matthew Project supporting those with mental health and
addiction issues and also the over 70s targeting loneliness and isolation.
AM provided an overview of the Collaboration Place: Change project which started in March 2020 and
was delivered online due to the pandemic. The project is a leadership programme designed to equip
the next generation of creative leaders with the skills to drive creative social and economic change
across Norfolk and Suffolk. The programme was set up following the identification of the need to
develop leadership in the cultural sector and the project received £65k funding from the New Anglia
Innovative Projects fund.
Chris Starkie (CS) highlighted the success of the LEP culture board and achievements of the
collaborations with the local authorities noting that the LEP was rated the best culturally by the Arts
Council. He stressed that the cultural sector had significant economic value in addition to the intrinsic
value of the work carried out in the sector.
CJG thanks CG and MA for their presentation and for hosting the board meeting.
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Apologies were received from Steve Oliver, Helen Langton and John Griffiths
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None
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The minutes were accepted as a true record of the meeting held on 21
st
July
CJG reviewed the action log and confirmed all items been updated.
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Corrienne Peasgood (CP) introduced the report and provided an update from the latest
council meeting held on 21
st
September.
The issue of ongoing labour shortages was highlighted and CP advised that the Industry
Council will be providing intelligence to Government around this problem and its impacts on
the sector.
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The Environment Agency's updated interpretation of the Farming Rules for Water is causing
challenges and the new approach makes it difficult for farmers to use more sustainable and
environmentally friendly soil management methods,
The CLA are lobbying on behalf of the sector and the Council has agreed to send cross
sector case studies to DEFRA.
Council members have reported delays in receiving purchases of large tech items such as
tractors with delays of up to 18 months therefore some businesses are having to take risks
and place larger pre-orders.
A successful session on the renewal plan has been held providing feedback and reflections
from the sector highlighting the need for more collaboration and challenge.
CP noted the huge challenges facing the sector but highlighted the continuing positivity in the
face of the current difficulties.
James Allen (JA) confirmed that Broadland Food Innovation Centre was moving forwards at
pace and the LEP is continuing to work closely with Suffolk Food Enterprise Zones.
The meeting discusses the issues around attracting young people into the industry in
particular housing difficulties and the distances required to travel to work which can be
prohibitive.
CP noted that the industry has highlighted skills required to address shortfalls but these are
not agri-food specific. There is a need for a post A level qualification which is recognised in
its own right.
Dominic Keen (DK) suggested that there could be crossover with the Innovation Board where
its members are provided with challenges facing the agri-food sector and asked to consider
solutions.
The Board agreed:
• To note the content of the report
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CS flagged that the programme promoting clean growth for businsses is progressing well and
partner events are being promoted.
Development of the renewal plan is continuing and the leaders session has been reschedued
for November when a more formal version of the plan can be presented following the
workshops currently being held. Sign off is still planned for January.
CS advised that the CNTC is presenting at the Conservative Party Conferance to showcase
the corridor.
A series of stories have been published to mark 10 years of the LEP and the press release
will be circulated to the board.
The Board agreed:
• To note the content of the report
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Rosanne Wijnberg (RW) presented the reports and highlighted key items.
Growth Deal – Efforts are focussing on delivering spend. RW noted that the report shows
outputs at the end of Q1 and pressure on spend is continuing. Red rated projects are being
closely monitored and the LEP is providing support to resolve outstanding issues.
EAN – RW highlighted the outputs achieved noting that the only one missed was that for work
experience but this was deemed to be acceptable by the CEC given the pandemic. This has
therefore been signed off as green.
RW viewed the Programme and Economic Dashboards.
The Board agreed:
• To note the content of the reports
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CJG reviewed the items on the plan for the October meeting.
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The Board agreed:
• To note the content of the plan
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