Agenda and minutes

Sarah Kemp, LEP Chief Executive Officer to introduce.

It was noted that the appointment of an Independent Private Sector Representative was still ongoing

Sarah Kemp, LEP Chief Executive Officer sought nominations for the Chairman for this meeting. Councillor CC Towneley was proposed and it was Agreed that she be appointed to the Chair for this meeting only.

Resolved – That Councillor CC Towneley was appointed Chairman for this meeting

(Councillor CC Towneley in the Chair)

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and gave a round table opportunity for both members and officers to introduce themselves.

Apologies for the meeting were received from Councillors Stuart Hirst, Ribble Valley and Glen Harrison, Hyndburn Borough Council and from the representative of Preston City Council.

There were no Declarations of Interest submitted at this meeting.

Report attached

The Joint Scrutiny Committee considered a report of the LEP Chief Executive, Sarah Kemp detailing the Terms of Reference for the Joint Scrutiny Committee. The Terms of Reference had been approved by the LEP Board at its meeting held on 23 March 2021, and in accordance with guidelines the approach has been endorsed by the Lancashire Leaders, and the Accountable Body (Lancashire County Council).

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It was noted that District Council Leaders and Executive Members had been nominated to serve on the Committee

Resolved – That the Terms of Reference be received and noted and brought back to the next meeting of the Committee following a further examination/review of the membership.

Report and presentation attached.

The Joint Scrutiny Committee considered a report and PowerPoint presentation of the LEP Chief Executive, Sarah Kemp which provided a brief overview of the LEP, and which set out broader context for the benefit of the Joint Scrutiny Committee.

The PowerPoint presentation covered the following key points:

• Local Enterprise Partnerships
• LEP Structure
• LEP Board Committees
• Overview on Governance
• Role of Local Authority Scrutiny
• Overview on Delivery
• LEP Joint Scrutiny Committee
• The Strategic Economic Framework
• Development of the Framework – strategy elements in development
• Pillars of Growth
• Response to Covid
• Sector Groups
• Looking ahead, Responding to the big challenges
• Forward Plan – suggestions:

Ø  Local Industrial Strategy

Ø  Implementation of the Innovation Strategy

Ø  Sector Plans – Energy and Low Carbon

Ø  Food and Agriculture

Ø  Digital

Ø  Health

Ø  Manufacturing

Ø  Tourism, Culture and Place

Ø  Growing Places loan Fund

Ø  Growth Deal

It was noted that a new Sector Report would be available approximately every three months and that the outcome of the LEP review would be reported to the next meeting of the Joint Scrutiny Committee.

The Chairman sought clarification on the inclusion of fisheries and rural business and the LEP Chief Executive, Sarah Kemp responded highlighting the relevant sector groups. In doing so, she identified 'coastal and rural strategy' as a potential future piece of work to which scrutiny members could add value and contribute to.

Councillor G Dunn sought clarification in relation to regional coordination and cooperation, highlighting a specific issue in relation to Chorley and its relationship with Greater Manchester. The LEP Chief Executive, Sarah Kemp replied indicating that this question presented a possible opportunity to 'deep dive' into the Independent Economic Review of the Greater Lancashire Plan and the Lancashire Infrastructure Plan developed by the Economic Development Officers of the Local Authorities are making consideration of these issues. Regional Co-operation is good through the North West LEP Network and NP11.

Resolved – That, subject to the above points raised by members and the responses of the LEP Chief Executive and potential inclusion into the work programme of the Committee, the Joint Scrutiny Committee noted the presentation.

Presentation attached.

The Joint Scrutiny Committee received a presentation from Anne-Marie Parkinson

Investments Programme Manager which covered the following key points:

·  Background

·  Invitation

·  Funding Criteria

·  Process

·  Prioritisation

·  Approval

·  Project Status

·  Expected Outputs

·  Risk

·  Getting Building Fund Projects

Resolved – That the Joint Scrutiny Committee note the presentation and raise any questions of clarification or additional information required

Report and presentation attached.

The Joint Committee received a report and PowerPoint presentation from Dr Michele Lawty-Jones which -

• detailed the background to the development of the first evidence-based Lancashire Skills and Employment Strategic Framework 2016-20, which was published in February 2016 and developed in consultation with employers, providers, local authorities and stakeholders;
• outlined a number of achievements to-date against the original framework, and the process undertaken to refresh the framework as it came to the end of its lifetime;
• Identified that, it was agreed to refresh the framework for a one-year period, taking into account the evolving impact of the pandemic on employment and skills, and the evolving LEP Sector Groups, Lancashire Industrial Strategy and Greater Lancashire Plan; and
• set out the process undertaken, including the review of Labour Market Intelligence (LMI) and consultation with stakeholders, approval by the LEP Board and publication of the refreshed Lancashire Skills and Employment Strategic Framework in January 2021.

The Chairman again sought clarification on the inclusion of rural business and Councillor Zainab Rawat thanked the officer for including the challenges associated with youth unemployment in the presentation as this was a specific priority issue in Blackburn with Darwen.

Resolved – That the LEP Joint Scrutiny Committee received and noted the report and PowerPoint presentation and reflect on the presentation at the meeting and process undertaken to refresh the Lancashire Skills and Employment Strategic Framework for 2021.

Report attached.

The Joint Scrutiny Committee received and considered a report of Andy Walker which provided some detail on the operation of Boost and in particular, how Boost had responded to support businesses impacted by the COVID 19 pandemic. The report detailed that:

• Boost was Lancashire's Business Growth Hub and sits at the heart of the business support landscape within the Lancashire LEP area
• Boost delivers around £2.5m worth of business support activity each year, supported by European Regional Development Fund grant (60%), Lancashire County Council funding (30%) and variable grants from the Department for Business Energy and Industrial strategy (10%).
• The Growth Hub delivers the largest volume of publicly funded business support activity in the area working with around 1,000 each year.

Members of the Joint Scrutiny Committee also received a PowerPoint presentation from Pritam Patel providing further detailed information.

Resolved – That the report and presentation was noted.

TBC

It was noted that the next meeting would take place on a date and time to be agreed in September 2021.