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SUMMARY
MINUTES OF THE EIGHTH MEETING
HELD ON WEDNESDAY
8 SEPTEMBER 1999 AT SEEDA HEADQUARTERS
Members Present:
Allan Willett CMG (Chairman), Professor Clive Booth, Cllr. Kit
Oliver, Cllr. Kevin Wilson, Cllr. David Rogers, Bryan Davies,
Sarah Ward OBE, Jim Baker, Caroline Williams, Janis Kong.
Apologies for absence:
Russ Nathan CBE, Cllr. Ken Bodfish OBE, Barry Camfield
Others in Attendance: (for
all or part of meeting)
Anthony Dunnett (Chief Executive), Jeff Alexander (Agency Secretary),
Phil Bailey (SEEDA), Barrie Giles (Director Enterprise, SEEDA),
Cllr. Keith House (Chair, Regional Assembly), Paul Bevan (Regional
Director, Regional Assembly), Nick Wilson (Director, GO-SE).
Summary of Meeting:
The Board :-
- Received
an update on the progress of the consultation on the Regional
Economic Strategy (RES) and agreed the arrangements for analysing
the responses to the consultation.
- Reviewed
the work of SEEDA Board Committees.
- Reviewed
a number of Land and Property and Rural Regeneration projects.
- Agreed
recommendation to government on the boundaries of the proposed
Learning and Skills Council and a Small Business Service within
the South East.
- Reviewed
actual and forecast operational and programme spend for this
financial year.
- Agreed
to seek the consent of the Department of Environment, Transport
and the Regions and the Department of Trade and Industry to
the formal merger of SEEDA and SERIL
Regional
Economic Strategy
The Board agreed the arrangements for analysing the results of
the responses received during the consultation period on the draft
Regional Economic Strategy (RES). They noted that over 40 written
responses had been received to date but many more were expected
prior to the deadline. They noted that the programme of sub-regional
events had started, with events already held in Hampshire, Surrey
and the Thames Valley. The first region-wide event covering the
Voluntary sector had also been held.
SEEDA and
Regional Assembly Liaison
The Board was joined for its regular liaison session with the
South East England Regional Assembly (SEERA) by Cllr. Keith House
(Chair) and Paul Bevan (Regional Director). Issues discussed between
the Board and Regional Assembly representatives included feedback
from the Regional Assembly AGM and launch of the RES, progress
on setting up the South East office in Brussels, the Regional
Assembly's progress on developing its response to the RES and
its future work programme.
Learning
and Skills Council/Small Business Service Boundaries
The Board carefully considered all the responses SEEDA had received
during the consultation period. The Board decided to recommend
to government six Learning and Skills Councils (LSCs) and Small
Business Service (SBS) outlets for the South East based on the
following Local Authority Boundaries:
- Kent and Medway
- East Sussex/West
Sussex/Brighton and Hove
- Surrey
- Hampshire/Isle
of Wight/Portsmouth/Southampton
- Bracknell Forest/West
Berkshire/Reading/Slough/Windsor and Maidenhead/Wokingham
- Buckinghamshire/Milton
Keynes/Oxfordshire
Ministers are expected to announce their final decision on boundaries
for all regions at the end of October.
The Board believed that LSCs and SBS outlets based on these boundaries
will best meet the needs of their South East customers, whether
businesses or individual learners and will ensure that more funding
goes into front-line services rather than overhead costs The recommendation
was made within the constraints of the criteria set by government.
The Board's recommendations do not imply their endorsement of
these criteria.
SEEDA/SERIL
Merger
The Board approved a number of motions paving the way for the
conclusion of the formal SEEDA/SERIL merger.
Date of
Next Meeting
Thursday 14 October 1999. Summary Minutes of this meeting will
be placed on the SEEDA web site after the SEEDA Board have approved
the minutes at their subsequent meeting on 11 November 1999.
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