Agenda item

(i)          Report of the Director of Transformation and Partnerships.

(ii)         Presentation by a member of the North East Local Enterprise Partnership Executive Team.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Transformation and Partnerships, which provided Members of the Economy and Enterprise Overview and Scrutiny Committee with some background detail on the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (N ELEP).  Members also received a presentation from the Chief Executive of NELEP (for copies see file of minutes) which set out the 4 key growth areas which had been identified by the LEP of Digital, Advanced Manufacturing, Health and Life Sciences and Energy. Reference was made to the key funding streams managed by the LEP and examples reported of the various key capital projects delivered through these funding streams.

Councillor Crute emphasised the importance of skills development and transport connectivity and infrastructure to the economic viability of the region and County Durham and asked how the LEP ensured these were part of the project delivery. He also asked how the region and County would fare from the development of the proposed shared prosperity fund. In response the Chief Executive of North East LEP stated that there was a focus on skills development and careers advice delivered through schools and FE establishments. She indicated that regionally 155 of 170 secondary schools were signed up to the careers advice service. She also indicated that the LEP was in dialogue with Government about the shared prosperity fund although progress on this was being delayed due to current Brexit negotiations.

Councillor Atkinson queried the financial forecast as it was based on income from sites which had not yet been developed.  The Chief Executive of North East LEP confirmed that there was a detailed financial model used which involved working with the respective local authorities, looking at what was proposed for Enterprise Zone sites, resulting in the generation of a   future business rate income from the various Enterprise Zones sites.  Calculations on future business rates were made on the size of the site and the value of the site on completion.  There was a risk, but the maximum spend was £150m and it was confirmed that local authorities had entered into legal agreements with regard to the management of funding and contingencies were in place to ensure that money was pooled to cross fund if necessary.

In response to comments from Mrs Morris with regards to a lack of jobs and productivity, the Chief Executive of NELEP advised that there was a list of key performance indicators which confirmed that the figures were improving, but not as quickly as desired and that the relevant KPIs could be circulated to the Committee.  The reason for the lag was debatable, but she advised that Brexit was a concern for businesses as it was predicted that the North East would suffer the worst impact.  With regards to selling and advertising the North East, it was critical to exploit the unique assets of the North East and sell the region to investors.  The Local Industry Strategy and the Strategic Economic Plan (SEP) were both key documents. The Chief Executive agreed to circulate the link to the SEP.

Resolved:

     i)        That the report and presentation be noted.

    ii)        That the North East LEP be invited to a future meeting of the Committee to share a further update on the work of the North East LEP.