Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Antony Lockley. 

The omission of Councillor Ivan Taylor and Nick Gerrard from the minutes was noted.

Resolved:  The minutes of the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Board meeting held on 8 December 2020 were approved as an accurate record.

Sarah Kemp, CEO, LEP provided members with an update on the recruitment process for the Chair of the LEP. The recruitment committee had now met on a couple of occasions and a draft person specification had been drawn up. It was hoped the role would be advertised before Easter. Recruitment consultants Penna had been appointed to manage the recruitment process. Ann Jordon, chair of the appointment committee informed board members that the position would be a paid position and members of the board were encouraged to make suggestions for a candidate from within Lancashire. The role of the deputy chair would also need to be considered in due course.

David Taylor, Chair, LEP advised board members that biweekly sessions had been ongoing for some time and had been well attended. It was noted however that at the last meeting the number of attendees had been low. The Chair asked members to think about the frequency of meetings and whether they should continue as they were or be alternated with board meetings. Following a discussion, the consensus was to move the biweekly meetings to monthly and alternate them with board meetings, they would be extended to 90 minutes to allow more time for a better agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

Presentation – Nick Gerrard

Paul Smith, Chair of Blackpool Town Deal Board was welcomed to the meeting and introduced himself to board members.

Nick Gerrard, Growth and Prosperity Programme Director, Blackpool Council provided a presentation to the Board to update members on Blackpool's £1bn plus Growth and Prosperity Programme. Information on each of the major recent investments in Blackpool were shared.

Details were provided on Blackpool's Town Deal timeline since 2017. A Town Deal Board needed to be established in line with the requirements, this was established in February 2020 and provided significant coherency and confidence to move forward with the bid. The initial bid was submitted in July 2020 for just over £49m for 9 projects. As the bid was over 25m, a national challenge session took place following which £39.5m was approved for 7 projects. A process was then undertaken to allocate the resources to the projects and to agree revised allocations to each project. There was now a 12-month period to prepare the businesses, appraise the projects and get them started. Details of each of the 7 projects were provided to Board Members.

Resolved:  The Lancashire Enterprise Partnership Board welcomed the update presentation and expressed its continued support for Town Fund Blackpool.

Presentation – Beckie Joyce and John Chesworth

Anne-Marie Parkinson, LEP Programme Manager, presented a report which provided the Board with a high level update for each of the LEP programmes including Boost, City Deal, Enterprise Zones, Getting Building Fund, Growing Places, Growth Deal, Lancashire Skills and Employment Hub and Social Value.

It was noted that a review of each of the programmes was currently being undertaken to baseline each programme and establish where it started at, where it was up to and where it hoped to end. Support was being provided from each programme lead and sub-committee chair. The findings would be reported at a future meeting of the LEP board.

The inward investment activity report at Appendix J was a new report to the board and feedback on the update was welcome.

Regarding Social Value, there was some useful updates on this, it was now possible to show how Social Value was being created, not just how it was being captured. 

Tony Attard raised concerns about the 19,000 homes that were being built across Lancashire is regard to local flooding issues and surface water. It was confirmed that SUDS (Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems) would be used and this ensured that the runoff would not be greater than before the development was in place. The county council was the lead flood authority and they would be dealing with this.

It was highlighted that the amount of money against the inward investment projects was a truly significant amount and it was questioned whether the figures were accurate. It was confirmed the figures were correct, however Anne-Marie Parkinson would check these again. Regarding marketing these success stories, over the next year there would be a greater focus on communication and marketing.

Resolved:  The Board noted the contents of the report. 

The Chair, David Taylor informed board members that since the report had been written, several issues had arisen which required further discussion between the LEP and Marketing Lancashire. A session to discuss this would take place next week, following this a summary update would be provided. For now, board members were asked to note the report.

Mark Rawstron requested that the language used for marketing reflected the fact that the LEP was providing support as part of a community that helped and collaborated, rather than being responsible for driving economic growth as the LEP only supported the process.

Resolved: The Lancashire Enterprise Partnership (LEP) noted the report. 

Andy Milroy, Senior Democratic Services Officer presented a report which contained LEP Governance updates and updates from all the LEP Committee meetings since the last LEP Board meeting. 

It was noted that the LEP Joint Scrutiny Committee would have its first meeting on 23 March 21, the Terms and Reference of the committee were attached for information at Appendix A. An update was requested on the independent chairman for the Scrutiny Committee. It was noted a chairman had not yet been appointed, members had been asked to submit any recommendations they had in mind. For the first meeting the committee had been asked to self-nominate a chair. It was hoped a chair would be appointed ahead of the next meeting in September.

Recommendation: The Lancashire Enterprise Partnership Board was asked to:

(i)  Note the updates provided in this report in relation to Governance, urgent decisions taken since the last LEP Board meeting and the Committees of the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership as set out.

(ii)  Note that the LEP Joint Scrutiny Committee has now been established and in accordance with the decision taken previously by the LEP Board, note the Terms of Reference attached at Appendix 'A' and that the LEP Performance Committee will now be disestablished with immediate effect.

(iii)Approve the appointment of Mike Gibson, Managing Director, Miralis Data Limited, Judson Smythe, Technical Director, MGS Plastics Limited and Melissa Conlon, Commercial Director, AMRC (NW) as members of the LEP Innovation Board; and

(iv)Approve the dormant company accounts for the period ending 30^th September 2020 as presented at Appendices 'B' and 'C' for filling at Companies House.

The Chair extended thanks to Sarah Kemp and the team for their hard work and effort, in particular due to recent changes. 

The next LEP Board meeting is scheduled to be held on 22^nd June 2021 at 4:30pm, venue to be confirmed.

In addition, the LEP Board are asked to formally note / approve the programme of meetings for 2021 / 22 as follows:

·  22^nd June 2021

·  7^th September 2021

·  8^th December 2021*

·  23^rd March 2022

All meetings are scheduled to commence at 4:30pm, venues to be confirmed.

*Please note the December 2021 date has been revised from the dates circulated via email.

The next LEP Board meeting was scheduled to be held on 22 June 2021 at 4.30pm, venue to be confirmed.

In addition, the LEP Board formally approved the programme of meetings for 2021/22:

-  22^nd June 2021

-  7 September 2021

-  8 December 2021

-  23 March 22

All meetings would start at 4.30pm, venues would be confirmed.

The Board is asked to consider whether, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, it considers that the public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items of business on the grounds that there would be a likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the appropriate paragraph of Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 as indicated against the heading to the item.

At this point the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership Board approved that the meeting move into Part II, Private and Confidential, to consider the remaining agenda items as they contained information defined as confidential or exempt in accordance with the relevant paragraph of Part I to schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 as set out in each report or presentation. It was considered that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

David Harland, Chief Executive, Eden Project and Joylon Brewis, leading architect from Grimshaw Global provided a private and confidential presentation regarding the Eden North Project.

Resolved: The Lancashire Enterprise Partnership Board welcomed the update presentation and expressed its continued support for the Eden North project.

Sarah Kemp, Chief Executive, LEP gave Board members a private and confidential update regarding the Annual Business Plan and Operating Budget (2021/22).

Recommendation: The Lancashire Enterprise Partnership Board agreed to:

  i.  Approve the Annual Operating Plan and Budget for 2021-2022, subject to confirmation of funds provided by Members and Government sponsors.

  ii.  Note the forecast end of year position (2020/21) on LEP reserves and the highlighted risks and challenges of the Operating Budget.

  iii.  Approve remuneration of the Chair's post at the point of appointment of a new Chair, of £24k per annum.

  iv.  Note that a Government review of LEPS in 2021/22, may have a material impact on the form and function of the LEP and may require a mid-year review of both organisational structure and the Operating Budget; and

  v.  Note the carry forward of financial provision made in 2020/21 for certain elements of the 20-21 budget which are delayed due to Covid or not yet complete.

The Board were asked by the Chief Executive to note that the Operating Plan and budget would be published on the LEP's website

Sue Roberts, Commercial and Business Support Manager, LEP provided

a private and confidential update report on Growing Places Fund,

Ormskirk Court Hotel.

Resolved: The Lancashire Enterprise Partnership Board agreed to:

(i)  Approve the Heads of Terms; and

(ii)  Delegate authority to the LEP CEO in consultation with the Section 151 Officer and LCC's Director of Corporate Services to negotiate, approve and enter into the legal documentation required to protect the LEP's interest in respect of this loan.