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Board meeting

Friday 28th June 2013, 3.00pm
Humber Bridge Board offices

Attendance

Board members
Private sector
Lord Haskins of Skidby (Chair)
Tim Rix, J R Rix & Sons Ltd (Vice Chair)
Mike Parker, Grimsby Institute (Vice Chair)
Peter M Stephenson, Able UK
Paul Sewell, Sewell Group
John Fitzgerald, ABP
Tony Ogden, BOC
David Kilburn, MKM
Lindsay West, Garthwest
Peter Aarosin, RMS.
Nina Stobart, Phillips 66.
Local authorities
Councillor Brady, Hull City Council
Councillor Redfern, North Lincolnshire Council
Councillor Parnaby OBE, East Riding of Yorkshire Council
Councillor Shaw, North East Lincolnshire Council.
University of Hull
Professor Calie Pistorius
Skills Network
Gary Warke, Hull College (Chair) / Observers
Marcus Walker, North Lincolnshire Council
Alan Menzies, East Riding of Yorkshire Council
Patsy Kays, Hull City Council
Marc Cole, North East Lincolnshire Council
Peter Campey, BIS
Secretariat
Kishor Tailor, LEP Chief Executive
Richard Kendall, LEP Manager
Caroline Sansam (minutes)

Minutes

At the start of the meeting Lord Haskins confirmed that the LEP Board was meeting in shadow and Mark Jones was the sole director of Humber LEP Ltd. / Actions
1 / Apologies
Richard Adams, Chamber of Commerce.
2 / Declarations of interest
There were no declarations of interest.
3 / Minutes of the meeting held 24th May 2013 and matters arising
Councillor Redfern enquired when Sean Royce would contact North Lincolnshire Council and North East Lincolnshire Council regarding the Digital Economy Plan. Richard Kendall agreed to remind Sean Royce to do this.
The minutes were agreed. / Richard Kendall
4 / Chairman’s Report (Paper B & Appendices 1 & 2)
Lord Haskins referred the Board to his report and said there were a number of items in addition that he wanted to discuss with the Board.
He thought the Spending Review announcement on 26th June had changed the perspective slightly. The strike rate for renewable energy appeared acceptable and big companies were now looking at it seriously. However, there still appeared to be confusion over biomass. He thought the announcements on infrastructure were pleasing. The announcement on the Single Local Growth Fund was not as high as expected but the door was now open for further negotiation, the questions was whether the LEPs’ were competent to deal with it. The issue of LEP boundaries had been raised and this was something that needed to be considered in the future along with the issue of local authorities being members of two LEPs.
He had met with Rt Hon Nick Clegg and other LEPs on 27th June and they had discussed the City Deal, the most interesting aspect was the work on regulation. There were two clear messages coming from Government, capacity to manage skills needs and governance.
He was meeting with Hull Trains on Monday 3/7/13 to discuss electrification.
He discussed the trade mission led by Peter Aarosin to Rotterdam and said Rotterdam was a very impressive City and it would be important to keep in contact with them.
He reminded the Board that Rt Hon Vince Cable MP would be visiting the region on the 8th July and there would be an opportunity for the Board to meet with him and to raise any issues they felt were important.
He confirmed that there would be a draft budget brought before the Board at the next meeting.
Kishor Tailor outlined the proposed register of interest and talked through the guidance notes. It was agreed that all Board Members would complete and return the form as soon as possible.
The Board noted the report.
5 / Chief Executive’s Report
Councillor Redfern formally welcomed Kishor Tailor to the meeting.
Kishor Tailor outlined the new LEP sub structure and confirmed that he had restructured the Board agenda to provide the Chairs of each sub–board time on the agenda to report on their work. He was pleased with the level of support shown by both the local authorities and the private sector in his first few weeks in post.
He confirmed he had reviewed the current staffing structure and felt it was adequate but would keep it under review, he confirmed two new appointments had been made; the Communications Officer and Business Development Manager would begin in post in July.
Kishor referred the Board to Paper C Appendix 2, the draft budget for 2013/14 and confirmed that he would present a more detailed budget to the Board at July’s meeting. Lord Haskins said the local authorities needed to consider how they would pool resources in the future. Councillor Shaw said a discussion about LEP funding was needed in light of Government cuts, he suggested this was revisited in the Autumn.
Gary Warke enquired how the Skills Network would feed into the work of the Employment and Skills Board and he suggested that a task and finish group could be a good way forward. Mike Parker confirmed that the terms of reference for the Board had been agreed and links with the Skills Network were discussed at the first meeting. It was agreed that the Skills Network would be a resource that the Board would utilise for specific tasks.
Kishor discussed the requirements to develop a European Union Structural and Investment Fund Strategy and he outlined the timetable. He asked the Board to endorse his decision to commission work to develop the European Union Structural and Investment Fund strategy for the Humber. This was agreed by the Board.
6 / Hull and Humber City Deal
Richard Kendall said this was a rough working draft and he asked the Board to provide feedback and comments as soon as possible. He confirmed that the next draft was needed by the end of July.
Kishor Tailor said work on implementation was starting. Lord Haskins said it would be important to convince Government and Civil Servants with the final document and governance still needed to be agreed.
Richard Kendall confirmed that the draft would also go before the Employment and Skills Board, the SME Support Committee and the JSU for further input. Councillor Parnaby said it would be important to get Rt Hon Vince Cable on side when he visited on the 8th July.
The Board noted the report and the direction of travel.
7 / Sub Board Reports
7.1 Employment and Skills Board (ESB)
Mike Parker reported on the first meeting of the ESB. He talked about ESF Skills Support for Workforce which was due to start in July. This was a £3.5mil fund for unemployed adults. Anne Tyrell chaired the group which was led by a consortium of colleges. They would be targeting small businesses and this would dovetail into the work of the SME Support Committee.
He felt it would be useful to have representation from the local authorities on the ESB Board but there was a question mark about the effectiveness of such a large Board.
At the first meeting the ESB Board had considered the Skills Commission recommendations and he had asked the Board to report back at the meeting scheduled on the 2nd July. He felt that most if not all would be accepted by the Board.
The Board discussed the appointment of a LEP Director of Skills.
The Board noted progress to date.
7.2 Investment Board
David Kilburn provided an update on the work of the Investment Board. He confirmed that the Investment Board had become very efficient in processing applications. Kishor Tailor said he was impressed by the commitment of the Board and the first meeting he attended was very positive.
Lord Haskins said Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield had some innovative ways of raising money that the LEP should consider. Patsy Kays confirmed that Hull City Council was working on this and particularly on the pooling of resources; they would report the findings to the Unitary Leaders Group and the LEP.
It was agreed that Mark Jones and Kishor Tailor should explore new ways of funding and report back. The Board noted progress to date.
7.3 Marketing Board
Peter Aarosin reported on progress, he confirmed that the USP was correct and a uniform and sustainable strategy was currently being worked on. He felt it would be important to have a single and precise story to tell. He indicated the first step would be to get all the different organisations working together in order to prevent duplication. Councillor Redfern said it was important to ensure we had one single message and how we controlled that message would be key.
Peter Aarosin confirmed that the Board would be working on a presence at a number of exhibitions and events in the coming months and he welcome input from the Board. He confirmed this would be funded by local authorities, the private sector and the LEP and would come under the Humber brand.
He said he would be looking to co-opt members onto the Board on a regular project basis.
He discussed the proposal to consider whether or not the LEP should develop a closer working relationship with the Bondholders Scheme. The Board approved the Secretariat to work through the proposal under the supervision of the Marketing Board.
The Board noted progress to date.
7.4 SME Support Committee
Lindsay West reported on the progress of the SME Support Committee. He confirmed that the first meeting had taken place and he had received good interaction from the Members and had allocated tasks to each Member at the end of the meeting.
The Committee would be focusing on three areas: mapping business support groups, top ten funding streams and quality of training. Lord Haskins suggested that exporting should also be included. Lindsay West said he would speak to UKTI about co-opting a member on to the Committee. Councillor Redfern wanted to see more focus on supporting the supply chain, specifically on renewable energy. Lindsay West thought the LEP could learn a lot from other European countries where SMEs appeared to be highly valued.
The Board noted progress to date.
8 / Humber LEP Ltd – Company Update
Kishor Tailor updated the Board on the position of the Company (Humber LEP Ltd) and various governance issues. He confirmed the need for all Board members to become Directors of the company. Delegated authority was still to be worked out and there was a need to consider this further especially in relation to the sub-boards.
The Board agreed that the new shadow Board members together with any existing remaining Board members become formal Directors of the Company Humber LEP Ltd.
9 / Any Other Urgent Business
Richard Kendall referred the Board to Addendum Paper B. He outlined the allocation of EU Structural and Investment Funds for 2014-2020 and explained that as the allocation was split between overlapping LEPs the Humber allocation was less than previously forecast. He sought the endorsement of the Board to approach overlapping LEPs to work together to address the problems this would cause. This was agreed.
Tim Rix enquired if the Board would receive a presentation on Hull City Council City Plan and City of Culture Bid at the next meeting. This was agreed.
Lord Haskins reported that the Board induction session had gone well. He had a meeting scheduled with the University of Hull to discuss the competitiveness analysis and he would report back to the Board on this. The Humber Bridge Board had reported a significant increase in traffic since the tolls were reduced which was pleasing. He wanted to see the economic benefit quantified and put before government, he thought it would make a compelling case to write off the remaining debt. It was agreed that the Secretariat would follow up on this.
Lord Haskins asked Board member for their views on moving regular Board meetings to another day. The general view was that Fridays worked well but it was agreed to explore the possibility of holding meetings earlier. / LEP Secretariat
LEP Secretariat

Signed:

Date: 28. 06. 2013

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