Summary of SW Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), Local Transport Boards (LTBs), and Local Nature Partnerships (LNPs).
1. Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs)
LEP – contact and web site / Status and Governance / Business plan priorities / FundingCornwall and Isles of Scilly
01872 224214
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly LEP / Chris Pomfret is Chair, with background in business and industry, including senior executive roles at Unilever and a current position on the board of the Food Standards Agency. Chris also tutors at CambridgeUniversity on Sustainable development leadership
Board currently has 9 private sector members and 5 public sector members. Comprising three Cornwall Council representatives, one representative from the Isles of Scilly Council and one representative from the
Combined Universities in Cornwall.LEP board membership
Membership of the business consultative group :
Business consultative group / Key areas of work: employment and skills; next generation broadband; creative industries growth; tourism; farming and food; business support; European funding and appropriate infrastructure development.
LEP Strategy: They have published a slim line economic growth strategy (16pages) which has at the heart of the document one guiding principle “The culture, communities and environment of Cornwall and Isles of Scilly will remain special and unique.”
The document states 4 objective one of which is “To use the natural environment responsible as a key economic asset.” A whole page is dedicated to this objective. On page 16 a commitment is given to working closely with LNP on delivery.
They have published a response to LTBs.LEP response
Opportunities for influencing:
The LEP iscurrently undertaking consultation (from 17th May -30th June) on the development of their EU investment plan (SIF strategy), which will complement the LEPs strategic plan. Suggested influencing strategy provided by email on 20.05.13.
In order to develop the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly SIF Strategy, the LEP agreed to establish five working groups led by Board Directors tasked with developing proposals to respond to the requests in the Government's guidance covering the following areas:
LEP Priority 1. Business Competitiveness and Growth
LEP Priority 2. Employment and Labour mobility
LEP Priority 3. Knowledge, Research and Innovation –Lead board director Anne Carlisle. Topics: innovation and business creativity, research and development.
LEP Priority 4. Natural Environment–Lead board directors Andrew Williamsand Richard Reed. Topics: renewables, energyefficiency, land and sea. / £13 million from 2nd round of Regional Growth Fund.
Growing places fund £4.2 million for infrastructure development
The Heart of the SW
East Devon, Exeter, Mendip, Mid Devon, North Devon, Plymouth, Sedgemoor, South Hams, South Somerset, Taunton Deane, Teignbridge, Torbay, Torridge, West Devon, West Somerset
01752 847135
/ Tim Jones is Chairman of the LEP Board. Leadership by the private sector is supported by the local authorities from Devon, Plymouth, Somerset and Torbay and district councils from throughout the area. See board members.
The LEP board is supported by 2 staff, who are also the point of contact for partners.
The Executive Group provides the LEP “with the resource and capacity to progress our priority initiatives”. It is resourced by partner organisations and its composition will evolve as the agenda shifts and further resources become available. The Executive Group will develop the detail of the LEP's priority initiatives and provide much of the resource needed to initiate new activities and implement opportunities presented to the LEP.
The LEPs Business Forumprovides advice to the LEP on performance.First and foremost, the Business Forum is a critical friend.In addition to this, it provides the Board, Executive Group and HotSW team with insights into current and future challenges and opportunities facing the areas' economy. Over time, the Business Forum will become advocates for and participants in priority initiatives.Diagram of governance structure
The Local Transport Board has been set up as a specialist group under the LEP. LEP response to Governments LTB consultation / A Business plan has been completed2012-2015: Heart of theSW Business plan.
Vision
Create more sustainable jobs by supporting and promoting our
enterprises and capitalising upon the unique opportunities existing in
The Heart of the South West.
Focus: Innovation, Manufacturing, Green Economy, Rural Productivity, Tourism,Nuclear and Marine
The Business Plan states that “when faced with competing priorities, we will support those that will achieve the most in terms of delivering our vision.” It is notable that there little mention of the value of the natural environment, ecosystem services or liaison with relevant LNPs.
In Jan 2013 the LEP undertook consultation with the business and social enterprise sector working towards the first iteration of their European Funding Prospectus 2014-2020. During early 2013, the LEP will make a formal, technical case to the Government for EU funding. This will be competitive bidding against other areas.
Opportunitiesfor influencing:The LEP Business plan should ideally have some reference within the Vision and Strategic Objectives to the benefits of the natural environment and wider SD context within which it sits. At the moment the objectives are completely business led. This will have to be remediedwhen drafting their EU structural fund strategy, which will sit against the LEP business plan.The LEP Business Plan operational milestones and measures of success of particular interest to our objectives:
Early/Mid 2013: Pilot of LEP involvement in planning system complete. Action: Track and flag to NO if problematic. Consider if wider lobbying and publicity required.
Mid/End 2013:LEP guidance on planning for growth in HOSW published. Action: Track and flag to NO if problematic. Consider if wider lobbying and publicity required.
Early /Mid 2014: Formal review of business plan objectives and LEP structures. Monitor process, support a widening of sectoral interests addressed within the plan, e.g. better join up with LNP objectives. European funding requirements require this process to be more open with wider sectoral inclusion addressed within the business plan.
The LEP has recently sett up Technical and Specialist groups to look at specific issues and provide the LEP with broader sectoral advice.
Technical groups:
- Water and Environment- Terms of Reference / minutes of first meeting Jan 2013
- Skills
- Funding
- Social enterprise
- Low carbon
- Transport
- Planning
- Water and Environment
- Skills Funding.
There is scope for influencing the LEP through tracking the work of these groups and engaging with members of these groups. The Water and Environment group work is relevant to our objectives. Current members of this group have been requested to recommend new members to widen this group.
Consideration should be given as to whether it would be beneficial for CPRE Devon/Somerset to obtain a seat on this group. The group meets quarterly, 2 weeks ahead of the LEP board meetings. Representatives from the 2 LNPs (Plymouth, Devon and Somerset) covered by this LEP area also to attend this group. / LEP has secured £25m of funding more expected through the Rural Growth Fund. It is also responsible for distributing the £21.5 million Growing Places Fund, a new funding initiative to unlock infrastructure throughout the area to create jobs.
Highways pinch point fund 10 million- made a bid for this not clear if they were successful.
£1m has been secured from DEFRA / RDPE to provide capital grants to micro-businesses in rural Devon and Somerset, under the Rural Enterprise Grant Programme (REG).
Dorset LEP
Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole
Tel: 01305 224254
Newsletter / The LEP was launched formerly May 2012. Dorset County council host this LEP.
The Board consists often business people (including at least one from a social/community enterprise), four local authority representatives, and one each from the Higher and Further Education sectors. Board Members
The Board has the scope to co-opt additional members in exceptional circumstances. A diagram of the LEPs governance structure can be viewed in the LEP Framework. / The Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership was submitted its Dorset LEP Prospectus June 2011. The prospectus set the scene and explains the LEP’s vision, objectives and delivery priorities and how it will be operate, how the board was established and how it will engage with the different business community across the county.
Although a detailedbusiness plan is notyet in place,the LEP framework 2012-2015setsout their priorities overthe first year.
Projects
The Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership can be summarised under the following four themes:
- Talented Dorset – Enhancing the skills of our current and future work force
- Connected Dorset – Improving the electronic and physical connectivity, particularly through high speed broadband
- Responsive Dorset – Creating the conditions for enterprise to flourish including a responsive planning and development framework and a dynamic housing market
- Competitive Dorset – Improving the performance of existing businesses and to encourage the creation and growth of new ones.
Opportunities for influence: This LEP is not as transparent as Devon and Cornwall. Minutes of meetings, details of technical advisory groups, or detailed work objectives are not available. As such, it is difficult to make initial recommendations for influencing.
There is apparently a business led sectoral group on natural environmental goods and services. As a first step minutes from meetings should be made publicly available. Then we can assess the relevance of this group and whether CPREs attendance would be beneficial. Dorset council host this LEP, pressure could be placed on relevant Cllrs represented on the Board to make this LEP more transparent. / The Dorset LEP has already secured more than £45 million for different projects, including £38 million for the roll out of Superfast Broadband across the county – a top priority, £6.5 million to boost jobs and housing, plus a further allocation of £2 million from the last Budget. And as further investment follows.
West of England LEP
Bath and North East Somerset, BristolCity, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire
Email:
Tel: 0117 903 6868 / Colin Skellet OBE is the current Chairman of the Board. He served on the Board of the South West Regional Development Agency and is also currently Executive Chairman of Wessex Water.
There are 10 members of the LEP Board,representation from 4 Local Authorities, one academic institution and the private sector.
TheLEP structure was updated in April 2013 and contains contact details of key members throughout the LEP, shown here, consists of:
- The LEP Board
- The sector groups, which provide a way for businesses to work together and to feed into the LEP Board
- The cross-cutting groups, which bring together the relevant organisations (from private, public, education/training and social enterprise sectors) to tackle particular themes which are key to delivering the LEP Vision
- The Business Advisory Group, which advises the business members on the LEP Board
- The Stakeholder Group, which consists of 3 members from each of the local authorities and 7 seats for representatives from social, economic and environmental organisations (the voluntary community sector, Business West, the university sector, the NHS, the TUC, environmental organisations and the Chair of the Skills Group), and advises the localauthority members on the LEP Board
• the economic context within which it is working
• its agenda for the short to medium term
• how it sees its priorities being delivered
• the resources which it will deploy – directly and through its partners and stakeholders
• the relationship between the LEP plan and plans and strategies of its partners.
Immediate actions required for each of the priorities of the LEP are set out in a series of action plan tables, including actions for 6 identified ‘Enterprise Areas’, which form the body and focus of this document.
The LEP’s key actions were to:
• Improve transport infrastructure
• Tackle skills mismatches
• Boost inward investment, both locally and nationally
• Grow the green economy
• Create successful Enterprise Zone/Areas
• Successfully implement the Bristol and West of England City Deal.
The LEP’s primary focus is on jobs growth in five core sectors: creative and media, advanced engineering, aerospace and defence, micro-electronics and silicone design, environmental technologies and marine renewables, and tourism.
Opportunities for influence
The LEP business plan identifies a number of areas for immediate action which are of interest to our objectives, in particular please note:
- Immediate action to tackle barriers to business and growth in particular: Inadequate transport systems(including support for DfT Major Transport Schemes) (p4)
- Immediate action is required to grow the green economy
- Environmental technologies
- Low carbon jobs growth.
- Exploiting our academic andgeographic strengths.
- Support businesses in movingto more resource‐efficient operations in order to helpincrease their resilience torising oil (p5)
- Immediate action is also identified on on/ offshore renewables (p13).
A light touch approach dependant on available resources is recommended, tracking group activities, building relations with group chair providing timely relevant briefing and guidance to the groups.
Joint Scrutiny Committee
The Joint Scrutiny Committeehas been recently re-established toscrutinise thepublically fundedaspects of the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership. The next meeting will be held on 7th June 2013, 10-12.30. Agendas and meeting papers will be available for download below 5 days before each meeting.Papers for meetings prior toSeptember 2012 can be downloaded on our archive site. For enquiries please contact the West of England Office on 0117 9036868 or emailJohn Malyckyj.
Most recent meeting papers
08 February 2013Agenda and papers05 September 2012Agenda and papers / Figures on the LEP website with regard to Government funding are contradictory.
In the West of England LEP, the allocation of Growing Placesfunding (listed as £11.5m, the web site also states different figure of £16.9m) has been pooled with the Regional Growth Fund (£39.8m) award to form their Revolving Infrastructure Fund Total of £56.7m.
West of England Growth Fund £25m
Gloucester LEP
Cheltenham, Cotswold, Forest of Dean, Gloucester, Stroud, Tewkesbury
LEP newsletter
00 44 (0)1452 563300 / GFirst Gloucestershire’s Economic Development Company, runs projects in its own right, as well as being the economic development arm of Gloucestershire County Council and the executive force behind the Local Economic Partnership.
Although there are 2 distinct linked web sites for Gfirst and GLEP the differentiation between the two is not clear.
Gfirst and GLEP are both chaired byDiane Savory (Supergroup) and David Owen is the Chief Executive of GFirst/LEP. Board Members
The LEP Board draws on a series of sector groups which are made up entirely of business leaders from those sectors. The sector groups are: Banking, Business and Professional Services, Construction, Creative Industries, Manufacturing, Environmental Technologies, ICT, Land Based, Logistics, Retail and Tourism & Leisure
In addition, there is aBusiness Membership Group and a Business Advisory Group which brings together the chairs of each sector group and the Business Management Group to inform the Board and look for opportunities across sectors.Structure of LEP / The Gloucestershire LEP’s key aim is to support growth and the creation of private sector jobs in the area. Their programme is based on four core priorities:
- Investment – growing and developing businesses through the implementation of locally-based business support networks across the county – improving business and encouraging innovation
- connection –working with partners to develop the right planning environment and infrastructure – encouraging investment and sustainable growth
- skills - connecting education and skills with the needs of business and the local economy – ensuring the ready supply of talent, and attracting and retaining young people
- promotion – of Gloucestershire as a great place to invest, work, live, and visit – attracting inward investment and tourists,
GFirst Action Plan
Economic activity plan
Opportunities for influencing
This LEP covers a much smaller patch than some of the other LEPs; it has garnered less Government funds,and is primarily focussed on business growth and support. As a result this LEP may require less input in terms of tracking and influencing how its activities impact on CPREs objectives. The links to the following Sector groups provide a useful starting point for tracking partnership activities: Land Based Construction Group and Environmental Technologies / £8.4 million from the Department for Communities and Local Government’s Growing Places Fund, to set up this revolving infrastructure fund.