Agenda item

The Board received three presentations on the national, regional and more local perspective regarding innovation.

Presentation 1 – Jen Rae, NP11 Innovation Director.

Jen reported that NP11 is a network of the 11 Local Enterprise Partnerships in the North and was working with the NHSA, Universities and other stakeholders to influence the delivery of innovation policy. From a national perspective innovation was emerging as a key priority. The Government had announced the 'Levelling Up' white paper with the national innovation policy was to be published at the end of June 2021, followed by the research and development place strategy in July 2021. 

Over the next 6 weeks Jen would work with LEPs to finalise their position in order that they are able to present a unified case regarding the requirements to make the best of the opportunity to deliver the Government's strategy on innovation.

Presentation 2 - Rick Holland, NW Regional Head of InnovationUK

Rick focussed on the strategic role of Innovation UK which is to identify what assets exist in the north West and how can they be made ready so that they can align with the national policy.

In the past the definition of clusters/sectors had become confused and it was important to address this as Government in the future will engage with innovation clusters in geographies that may operate within a sector or cut across multiple sectors Innovation often cuts across sectors so that groups of businesses in different sectors may have synergy in certain areas such as skills, knowledge or finance. The latter being particularly relevant it is an area where the UK performs well. However, the provision of funding for innovation is unbalanced across the country and the UK is ranked 4^th in the world for technical finance, London alone is accountable for 50% of inward investment. More locally the North West only received 5% which is mainly targeted at Manchester. Lancashire needs to challenge that position.

Rick highlighted that the Morecambe Bay cluster had the advantage of being located close to a university which could provide valuable support and act as a coordinator. In the past administrative boundaries had presented an obstacle to working collaboratively. Innovation should not stop at the Lancashire boundary and with this in mind discussions are underway with the North West business leadership team and various organisations in North Manchester with regard to future collaboration.

Presentation 3 – Richard Lydon, Materials Consultant.

Richard focussed on the importance of clusters, especially in areas that would cut across different sectors/segments, such as chemicals, paints and pigments.

As with previous speakers he referred to the significant investment and development around innovation in Manchester, the lack of coordination between projects elsewhere and the need for Lancashire to increase its visibility if it was to be able to compete in the future. He suggested that the aim should be to raise the profile of Lancashire and create a materials powerhouse which would act as a focal point and platform for the future and make science clusters in the North West more influential in areas such as electronics and health.

Funding was vital in order to create impactful research and development and the current situation across Lancashire should be surveyed in order to establish who key stakeholders were. He also referred to a previous unsuccessful application regarding materials innovation and suggested that the subject be revisited with a view to aligning it with the Governments 'Levelling Up' agenda. Coordination was also considered vital, and the Local Innovation Strategy and SIA would be key components to achieving that and enabling Lancashire to make the most of future opportunities.

Sarah Kemp, Lancashire LEP Chief Executive, reported that discussions were currently underway regarding 6 sector groups with a view to developing plans for the short term whilst being mindful of the future. It was noted that the Food Innovation Cluster would work to support one such sector group looking at connecting farming/food.

Board members discussed the importance of maximising the opportunity presented by the Governments 'Levelling Up' policy and it was suggested that the Innovation KPIs within the Innovation Plan should include a KPI around people recognising that the range of opportunities available to them had increased as a result of the Innovation Plan. The Board also recognised the importance of materials in relation to Nuclear and the need for other clusters in Lancaster around clean energy and telecoms to also raise their profile

Resolved: That Jen Rae, Rick Holland and Richard Lydon be thanked for their presentations and that the comments from the innovation Board be taken into account regarding the opportunities presented by the Innovation Plan.