Public

New Anglia Board Meeting Minutes (Unconfirmed)

25th May 2022

Present:

Kathy Atkinson (KA)

Valeo Snack Foods

Claire Cullens (CC)

Norfolk Community Foundation

Stuart Dark (SD)

King’s Lynn & West Norfolk Council

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

Helen Langton (HL)

University of Suffolk

Corrienne Peasgood (CP)

Norwich City College

Andrew Proctor (AP)

Norfolk County Council

Sandy Ruddock (SR)

Scarlett & Mustard

Alan Waters (AW)

Norwich City Council

Jeanette Wheeler (JW)

Birketts

Attendees

Helen Wilson (HWi)

Chair, New Anglia Cultural Board

Peter Brady (PB)

Chair, Council for Digital Tech

Shan Lloyd (SL)

BEIS

Rob Hancock (RH)

Suffolk County Council

Chris Dashper (CD)

New Anglia LEP

Julian Munson (JM)

New Anglia LEP

Chris Starkie (CS)

New Anglia LEP

Rosanne Wijnberg (RW)

New Anglia LEP

Helen Wilton (HW)

New Anglia LEP

Actions from the meeting: (25.5.22)

None

Welcome from the Chair

C-J Green (CJG) welcomed all board members to the meeting.

Apologies

Apologies were received from John Griffiths & Johnathan Reynolds.

Declarations of Interest

None

Actions/Minutes from the last Meeting

The minutes of the meeting held on 30th March were agreed as accurate.

CS reviewed the action log and confirmed all items have been completed.

New Anglia Cultural Board Update

CJG introduced Helen Wilson (HWi), chair of the New Anglia Cultural Board, who provided

the board with a presentation on the work of the board and the launch of the new cultural

manifesto.

HWi highlighted the success of the board in collaborating and working in partnership with the

LEP which has attracted match funding and significant inward investment into the region

making culture one of the fastest growing sectors.

HWi noted the unprecedented change in the landscape requiring a fresh approach therefore

the manifesto has been developed to address new challenges and direct the work of the

board over the next 18 months.

Future work will be targeted around the benefits that culture can bring to health & wellbeing,

inclusive growth and the region’s unique cultural offering both in attracting investment and for

visitors.

Corrienne Peasgood (CP) asked what could be done to link culture and skills development.

HWi advised the Collaboration; Place; Change initiative had been very successful in

developing managers within the cultural sector and another such skills development scheme

is planned.

Helen Langton (HL) advised that the University of Suffolk was working with Snape Maltings

and offered to link the Cultural Board with the Integrated Care Academy to develop the health

and wellbeing work further.

Chris Starkie (CS) thanked HWi for her leadership and the time she dedicates to the board.

He stressed the success of the board in attracting match funding noting that he recently

spoke at Sutton Hoo where National Heritage advised they had only invested following the

LEP’s involvement.

He noted that the LEP was considering a bid to the Create Growth Programme which would

build on the Start East programme.

Alan Waters (AW) provided an overview of the work being carried out in Norwich to support

creative businesses recover from the impacts of the pandemic.

CGJ thanked HWi for her hard work and for the presentation. HWi left the meeting.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

Industry Council for Digital Tech Update

Julian Munson (JM) welcomed Peter Brady (PB) to the board as the new chair of the council

for Digital Tech and noted the work which Neil Miles had done in progressing the role of the

council.

JM highlighted the key successes since the last board update noting in particular:

Connected Innovation – the project now includes 16 hubs and 5 research/academic

institutions and a programme of events is planned to showcase their capabilities and

strengths. There are also wider events being considered or progressed through the LEP’s

innovation team around FinTech, Space / Satellite Applications and Marine Science.

Policy influencing and advocacy - the Council and its members have actively influenced UK

Government in developing new policies and strategies that respond to the needs of the

ICT/digital sector in the region as well as providing a showcase for major new programmes

that attract the interest of decision makers.

Enabling Digital Skills - Work in ongoing with the Digital Skills Taskforce chaired by Chris

Sargisson identifying gaps in resourcing and areas where businesses are experiencing

difficulties in attracting skilled staff.

PB presented his view of the role of the council noting his background in the sector and also

his knowledge of the support required by SMEs.

PB stressed the importance of skills retention given the important role of digital tech in the

region as well as generating new talent. He also highlighted the importance of reskilling

existing staff to ensure their skills stay relevant.

PB noted the support provided by Anglia Capital Group and the guidance they have provided

in completing the funding round and suggested setting up links with companies who can

provide advice on financial and legal advice to those in the sector.

He advised of a reluctance of businesses to invest in innovation and R&D given the economic

climate and felt the Council should promote this and support companies investing in this area.

PB noted that some companies had started up and taken risks during the pandemic and

identified new opportunities and these needed to be supported.

The meeting discussed the work required to ensure the tech community and the education

providers work together to identify gaps in training and how they can be addressed.

PB noted that recruitment should be more creative and that linking with the colleges and

universities can support this providing feedback on requirements and taking on suggestions

from businesses.

HL felt that links to businesses should not be left until after graduation but established at the

earliest stage. HL also highlighted the importance of technology in the growth of the health

sector and requested that this sector is included in further discussions.

CS thanked PB for his role as chair and mentioned the ongoing conversions with George

Freeman MP as Minister for Innovation and noted the LEP was pushing for our region to be

part of the development of 30 Innovation clusters which will support innovation in smaller

companies rather than just those with past significant innovation.

CJ thanked PB who left the meeting.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

LEP Operating Budget 2022/23 – Confidential

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

• To approve the operating budget for 2022/23

LEP Capital Budget 2022/23 – Confidential

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

• To approve the capital budget for the 2022/23 financial year

Business Net Zero Efficiency Scheme and Growing Places Fund

Chris Dashper (CD) presented the two proposed funds to the board – a new capital grant

programme aimed at SME support for growth and efficiency and the continuation of the LEP’s

existing Growing Places Fund as a loan provision scheme. Both programmes will be supported

financially through the Growing Places Fund repaid loans budget.

The Business Net Zero Efficiency Scheme will provide support to businesses in the form of grants

to improve business efficiency and will help to deliver progress towards achieving the LEP Net

Zero strategic ambitions. Outputs will be agreed with each project but will be centred around

clean growth, increased efficiency and producvity and reducing emissions.

The Business Net Zero Efficiency Scheme will have an initial budget of £2.47m.

The loan fund is a continuation of the successful Growing Places Fund and will focus

exclusively on offering repayable loan funding, running a project call to stimulate demand and

generate a range of new project proposals with a likely funding requirement of £500-£700k.

Budget for the fund for GPF for 2022/23 will be set initially at £2.536m.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

• To approve a new SME grant intervention for 2022/23, the Business Net Zero Efficiency

Scheme, with an initial budget of £2.47m

• To approve the continuation of the Growing Places Fund for 2022/23 with a budget of

£2.536m.

County Deals – Confidential

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

Chief Executive’s Report including a confidential item

CS highlighted the inclusion of Growth Hub statistics in the report and noted that currently

funding for Growth Hubs runs out in 2023-24.

CS updated the board on the successful visit from the delegation from Dubai to the Norwich

Research Park and confirm that work would continue to strengthen these links.

£1m funding for skills bootcamps has been received which will support 240 learners over the

next year however target dates for completion have not changed. These will be challenged

given the delays in processing the bid.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

New Anglia Capital Report – Confidential

CD presented the report bi-annual New Anglia Capital Report.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

May Programme Performance Reports

RW presented the reports and highlighted key items to the board:

Growth Deal and Getting Building Fund – RW advised that this ended in March and noting the

efforts of the team to maximise spend and ensure funds were transferred to projects where

possible. In order to meet the deadline a number of capital swaps were carried out and

monitoring of these projects will continue.

Growth Programme - a reduction in applications has been seen at the start of the year and

work is ongoing to address outputs.

C-Care – A new report has been included on this programme which runs to June 2023 and is

being delivered in collaboration with partners.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

Quarterly Management Accounts – Confidential

RW also advised that the annual audit has begun and is ongoing.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

Board Forward Plan

CJG reviewed the items on the agenda for the June meeting.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the plan

Any Other Business

None