Agenda item

The Chairman and Chief Executive of the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership (WLEP), the Leader of the Council (and Vice Chairman, Local Authority Representative of the WLEP), the Chairman of the WLEP Finance, Audit and Risk (FAR) Committee and the Section 151 Officer were invited to the Meeting to discuss the role of the WLEP and its governance and accountability arrangements.

In addition, all District Councils were invited to nominate a Councillor Representative to attend the Meeting.

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and introductions were made.

The Panel received a presentation which covered:

·       The history of LEP's and the national picture

·       WLEP Vision and Objectives

·       WLEP Structure

·       WLEP Business Priorities 2018/19

·       Governance and Scrutiny

During the discussion, the following main points were made:

·       The letter from Stephen Jones, Director, Cities and Local Growth Unit, Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) (included in the Agenda) provided feedback on the WLEP's Performance Review (known as the Annual Conversation) which had taken place on 9 January 2018. The letter detailed the next steps and immediate actions required and concluded that overall the, WLEP's performance was good and its delivery was exceptional when compared to other LEP's

·       In October 2017, the results of the Review of Local Enterprise Partnership Governance and Transparency by Mary Ney, Non-Executive Director, Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) was published and recommendations were made in respect of WLEP's Governance

·       The Annual Conversation rated the WLEP's overall governance as good and since this review the WLEP had implemented some of the S151 Officer suggestions eg Declaration of Interests, adoption of WLEP Assurance Framework, publication of agendas and minutes for Board meetings.  All governance and transparency recommendations from the Action Plan had been implemented except for the recruitment of Board Members, which would be reviewed in July 2018 after the results of the National LEP Review had been published

·       It was important going forward for all partners to ensure that their respective Strategies were aligned and complimentary to ensure a combined benefit

·       It was confirmed that the Strategic Economic Plan (SEP) would be refreshed when the outcome of the National LEP Review was known;  Government had also asked the WLEP for a local Industrial Strategy by Autumn which would need to be taken into account when refreshing the SEP

·       The WLEP's Vision was to build a connected creative dynamic economy that delivered increased prosperity for all those who chose to live, work, visit and invest in Worcestershire. Physical and digital connectivity was required to drive economic growth and WLEP was focused on making this happen.  People now wanted to work in different ways and although they wanted high level jobs, they didn't necessarily wish to commute to their place of work.  

·       The three key sectors of industry which WLEP were concentrating on were cyber, agri-tech and advanced manufacturing. At some time in the future there may also be a focus on health care.

·       The WLEP were cognisant that looking to the future, today's school children could be doing some jobs which didn’t currently exist

·       It was acknowledged that although some areas of Worcestershire had good connectivity, this wasn't standard across the County and there were still areas without internet connection. The WLEP confirmed that they were working with operators to improve the situation to ensure wider connectivity for all areas and encouraging mobile phone operators to share mobile telephone masts.  A Member suggested that during these discussions, it may be an opportunity to mention that churches could be asked to consider sharing telephone masts on church spires which would have the advantage of generating some income for them too

·       In response to the suggestion that it was important to not only invest in high value jobs, but lower paid jobs too, it was confirmed that the WLEP was supportive of all areas of the economy, as well as the main sectors of focus.  It was important to increase the variety of opportunities in Worcestershire and a couple of examples were: helping businesses scale up where there was an appetite to do so and helping to  increase the number of apprenticeships available

·       The County Council, District Councils and key local partners were represented on the WLEP Board, this ensured that the WLEP's Vision was a joint vision and partners' Visions were compatible. Partnership working was proving to be a strength of the WLEP and advantageous when bidding for funding

·       Although not directly responsible for housing, the WLEP were conscious of the gap between the lower paid salaries in Worcestershire and the affordability of housing. It was likely that 21,500 target for new homes by 2025 would be exceeded.  Encouraging people to live in Worcestershire and the dynamic of where people choose to live and work was also becoming more sophisticated

·       The Leader of the County Council confirmed that the Worcestershire County Council's (WCC) Corporate Plan would adopt the SEP as WCC's Vision  when it was refreshed to drive the open for business section of the Corporate Plan

·       It was confirmed that the WLEP worked collaboratively with other LEP's, where it could be seen that value could be added for Worcestershire

·       In response to the question about how the WLEP engaged with small businesses, the Board was advised that in addition to the WLEP's plans to grow its Business Board to allow local businesses to give their views online, there was also support for 147 identified scale-up businesses as well as skills, training and funding opportunities for other businesses

·       Reference was made to paragraph 30 of the Agenda and the suggested '…..lack of an entrepreneurial culture in the county…' A Member queried what this statement was referring to, particularly as Bromsgrove for instance had the highest number of business start-ups outside of London.  In response, the Board was advised that, overall Worcestershire wasn’t where it should be

·       The key successes of the WLEP to date were:

Ø  Government funding of £4.8m to test and explore 5G connectivity

Ø  North Worcestershire Engineering Centre of Excellence in Redditch (set to train up to 200 young apprentices over the next 4 years)

Ø  Worcester Six Business Park, a key ‘game-changer’ employment site

Ø  Malvern Hills Science Park (Phase 5)

Ø  Hoobrook Link Road (Kidderminster)

Ø  Approval by the Department for Transport for Worcestershire Parkway Station

Ø  The main road bridge (Carrington Bridge) en route from West Worcester to the M5 will be turned into a dual carriageway

Ø  The development of an increased national and international profile and reputation.  For example, leading the current Midlands Cyber initiative and establishing the Memorandum of Understanding between Worcestershire and the State of Maryland, USA

·       The schemes that were receiving WLEP Local Growth Fund (LGF) investment in 2018/19 were:

ØKidderminster Rail Station

ØA38 (Bromsgrove)

ØPershore Northern Link improvements

ØChurchfields (Kidderminster)

ØCapital Skills Programme (county-wide)

ØThe Kiln (Worcester)

·       It was suggested that when any new rail station schemes were approved, it was important to consider the associated car parking facilities and perhaps the WLEP had a co-ordinating role in this area

·       A  member asked how the WLEP decided which initiatives to bid for and whether the WLEP had considered submitting an application for a Channel 4 Creative Hub in Worcestershire.  The WLEP, whilst acknowledging that it would have been good to have been in the running for a Channel 4 Hub, confirmed that it wasn’t considered at the time but there were other initiatives that they had been successful in securing.  For instance, they were very proud to have been selected to test and explore 5G connectivity. Given that the WLEP was one of the smallest LEP's, deciding which projects to pursue was very important in terms of resources to support them. Councillors were however encouraged to sign-post the WLEP to any initiatives they became aware of and thought worthy of applying for

·       The WLEP's role in respect of the Redditch Eastern Gateway was that of  co-ordination and support. It was a game changer site but had complexities due to the number of partners involved. It was important to agree what type of businesses the site was trying to attract and have a clear plan and strategy.

It was agreed that:

·       the WLEP would attend the OSPB on an annual basis, to update the Board on the operations of the WLEP over the last 12 months and the programme of activity for the following year

·       District Councils should be invited to nominate a Councillor preferably from Scrutiny to attend this meeting

·       OSPB would be sent an email link to the WLEP Board Agenda's and Minutes

·       consideration would be given to allowing observers at the WLEP Board meetings

·       OSPB would be given the opportunity to input into the Internal Audit terms of reference for the WLEP audit process, prior to being agreed by the FAR Committee.

The Chairman thanked everyone for attending the meeting.

The Board adjourned from 11.45-12.00noon.