Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Mr G J Vickery.

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting. 

A member of the public wished to speak during Public Participation in relation to Item 6: Superfast Broadband.  As no others wished to speak on any other item, the Chairman advised that Public Participation would be moved to before Item 6.

None.

(previously circulated)

The Minutes of the meetings held on 20 May and 24 June 2015 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Mark Stansfeld, the Chairman of the Worcestershire Local Economic Partnership, Cassie Bray from the Chamber of Commerce, Ken Wigfiled from the Federation of Small Business, the Cabinet Member for Economy, Skills and Infrastructure, and the Head of Strategy and Infrastructure,  had been invited to discuss economic progress in Worcestershire.

Economic progress in Worcestershire was an issue on the Panel's work programme and as part of this, the Panel had asked for information on:

·      economic conditions in Worcestershire and what the Council might do to help increase "Gross Value Added (GVA)" (i.e. the contribution to the economy of each individual producer, industry or sector)

·      progress on the Strategic Economic Plan (SEP) projects

·      the Local Economic Multiplier – how Council spending might benefit the local economy

·      development of 'Worcestershire Business Central' as the county's growth hub

·      the role of the Federation of Small Businesses and Chamber of Commerce in supporting small/medium sized businesses

Relevant officers had attended to discuss these issues. The information requested was attached to the agenda report as appendices.

The Panel Chairman introduced the Chairman of the Worcestershire Local Economic Partnership (WLEP), outlining his wide ranging employment history with many of the UKs top companies and services. 

The Cabinet Member began with a brief overview of the current situation in relation to economic conditions in Worcestershire which included the following main points.

·       ‘Open for Business’ had become a key priority in the Council's Corporate Plan following the downturn in the economy.  Increases in growth and employment now showed a period of recovery.  Worcestershire was the 3^rd fastest growing economy although it needed to catch up with neighbouring authorities such as Gloucestershire, Warwickshire and Oxfordshire which had higher Gross Value Added (GVA)

·      The Strategic Economic Plan had moved into the delivery phase.  It was essential to invest in infrastructure and get the right quality of businesses on sites being developed.  There were links to the devolution debate on whether it was better for the County to have greater powers rather than central control.

The Chairman of WLEP explained that he had taken on the role for a number of reasons including: he had strong family ties in the County; he believed the Strategic Economic Plan was a good plan to which all partners had signed up and funding had been secured; the next phase was about delivering the plan which he was keen to do; all of the plan needed to be delivered for it to work and he was keen to make it happen for the benefit of Worcestershire.  This was a huge opportunity.

Last year the WLEP was awarded £54m for plans over the next 3 years.  Combined with other partner contributions the total investment package was £154m. A good start had been made with the delivery of projects to the value of £13.6m.  The right people needed to be in place to deliver the plans.  The WLEP Business Board aimed to encourage an army of backers to both help deliver the plan and act as advocates  ...  view the full minutes text for item 222.

Members of the public wishing to take part should notify the Head of Legal and Democratic Services in writing or by email indicating the nature and content of their proposed participation no later than 9.00am on the working day before the meeting (in this case 29 September 2015).  Enquiries can be made through the telephone number/email address below.

Louis Gibbs (General Manager, Porter Press International) spoke on behalf Philp Porter and made the following main points.

Porter Press International was a publishing company with 6 employees, based near Tenbury Wells, which printed sports car magazines and publications.  Their offices had access to superfast broadband although the supply was intermittent and unreliable.  Broadband was likened to the supply of water and electricity in that it was essential for the company to operate effectively.  They felt that reliable broadband had been promised by the County Council and BT and that these promises had been broken.  Superfast broadband was urgently needed now.

Steve Henderson, BT Regional Director, Next Generation Access, and Rob Shakespeare, BT Contract Manager, were invited to provide an update on the delivery of Superfast Broadband in Worcestershire.  Pauline Harris (Programme Manager) and Stephen Ashton (Senior Project Manager) Worcestershire County Council, were also invited.  This update covered progress of the Superfast Worcestershire Partnership including the Extension Programme.

As outlined in the agenda, Worcestershire County Council signed a £20 million contract with BT in August 2013 (Contract 1) to ensure Superfast Broadband was available to over 90% of the County's residential and 90% of business premises by June 2016.

Since the last scrutiny update in May 2015, a second contract (Contract 2) was signed for £5.9m [WCC £4.78m BT £1.12m] to provide fibre coverage to a further 9154 premises. Superfast Worcestershire partnership programme would now benefit 65,500 (94%) of Worcestershire rural homes and businesses with access to fibre broadband infrastructure.

The BT Regional Director gave a presentation highlighting the following:

·      BT shared the ambition to use fibre networks to support economic social and public benefit for all

·      The speed of broadband required depended on need in each home. New technology such as Super hi-Vision TV needed 110 Mbps.  Fortunately, it was expected that Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) would be able to deliver speeds of  1Gbps in future.

·      Fibre was transforming small businesses by: improving web presence and customer experience; enabling expansion and rural businesses to compete.  Productivity was improved by: faster speeds enabling large files to be sent and received; improved home working capability; and carrying out bandwidth hungry tasks simultaneously.  Cost savings made by: site based and hosted VoIP (internet based phone systems); improved video conferencing reducing need for travel; utilising more cloud computing resources.

·      The main technology for supplying broadband was:

Ø  ADSL – copper from exchange to the premises (enabling speeds of 20Mbps)

Ø  Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) - the fibre goes to a powered cabinet in the street. The final connection to the premises is on copper.  Previous speeds of 40Mbps could now be increased to 80Mbps and were expected to exceed this in future

Ø  Fibre to the Premise (FTTP) – The fibre connection to the cabinet goes all the way to the premises.  This method brings disruption as drives need to be dug up  although it can be the most efficient way to supply in remote areas where there are no existing cabinets

Ø  'Fibre on Demand' - was launched last year and suspended before being re-piloted based on feedback.  This allowed customers with FTTC to pay for the supply of FTTP from the cabinet so they could choose higher quality speed and price from any of the 145 internet service providers.

Ø  Another business based option was to have ethernet pipes fitted to ensure speed and reliability.

Rollout Update

BT appreciated the help and support received from Worcestershire County Council staff in delivering the roll-out, including advice on planning matters and road closures. Nearly 700km of new fibre would be laid involving  ...  view the full minutes text for item 224.

The members had before them:

A.     The Agenda papers (previously circulated);

B.     Presentation slides in relation to Superfast Broadband; and

C.     The Minutes of the meetings held on 20 May and 24 June 2015 (previously circulated).     

Copies of documents A and B will be attached to the signed Minutes.