Midlands Engine Senior Steering Group

24 March2016

Midlands Engine Governance

This note responds to the Midlands Engine Governance paper being considered by SSG at its meeting on 24 March. The paper is written on behalf of Nottingham City and Leicestershire County Councils, but the principles within it are supported by the 9 East Midlands top tier authorities.

Issue

  1. The Governance proposals discussed at the last SSG agreed principles of balance and transparency. It is now time to put these into practice.
  2. In recent days we have seen examples where this has not been done. The launch of the Midlands Engine Pitchbook at MIPIM was LEP-focused and presents a skewed picture of the Midlands and the opportunities available within it. To the extent that the recent Budget focused on the Midlands Engine (as opposed to the ‘Northern Powerhouse’) it focused mainly on projects in Birmingham. Recent Midlands Engine communications – e.g. calls by UKTI for investment proposals, or for Budget proposals have been disseminated via LEPs without engaging the Midlands Engine governance structures.
  3. To address this issue, the Senior Steering Group and HMG need to underpin Governance principles with ways of working and protocols that ensure balance and subsequent buy-in.
  4. We therefore propose:
  • An explicit recognition from Government that the Midlands Engine is led by a coalition of local authorities, LEPs and other stakeholders
  • That speakers at and locations of Midlands Engine events should reflect both local authority and LEP participation as well as East and West Midlands geographies
  • Documents and materials produced on behalf of the Midlands Engine should explicitly recognise this spread of stakeholders
  • Propositions put to government should reflect both LEP and local authority priorities
  • Communications from Government to Midlands Engine members should respect Midlands Engine Governance
  • The inclusion of SEMLEP within a Midlands Engine geography needs to be revisited when its local authorities are not engaged
  • There should be explicit agreement and sign-off via the Governance structures for any promotional materials, events and meetings with Government Ministers
  1. In order to ensure that these protocols are being put into practice effectively we would ask for a detailed report at the next meeting of the Senior Steering Group. Representatives of local authorities should be fully involved in the preparation of the report and not just consulted.

Leicestershire County Council

Nottingham City Council

24 March 2016