South East England Development Agency (SEEDA)

HELD ON WEDNESDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 2002 AT SEEDA HEADQUARTERS, GUILDFORD

Present

Allan Willett CMG (Chairman), Cllr. Ken Bodfish OBE (Deputy Chairman), Cllr. Kit Oliver OBE DL, Caroline Williams, Janis Kong OBE, James Brathwaite CBE, Barry Camfield, Robert Douglas, Elizabeth Brighouse, Dr Peter Read CBE, Sarah Ward OBE DL, Cllr. Ken Thornber CBE, Mary McAnally

Apologies for absence

Professor Clive Booth (Deputy Chairman), Kevin Wilson

In Attendance

Anthony Dunnett (Chief Executive), Paul Martin (Regional Director, Government Office for the South East), Jeff Alexander (Agency Secretary and Director, Strategy and Corporate Services), Phil Bailey (SEEDA, Head of Secretariat), Marianne Neville-Rolfe (Director, Business and International Division), Paul Hudson (Director, Infrastructure and Regeneration), John Parsonage (Director, Learning and Skills), Paul Lovejoy (Head of Strategy)

Summary of Meeting

1. The Board:-

• Approved the minutes of the previous meeting.
• Noted the Declaration of interests by Members;
• Congratulated Jim Brathwaite on his appointment as the new Chairman of SEEDA;
• Endorsed the RDA Model Publication Scheme;
• Noted progress against the Agency's Core Output Targets;
• Noted the report by the Chairman;
• Discussed the SERAS report;
• Considered possible definitions of Corporate Social Responsibility;
• Were introduced to the new Regional Director of the Government Office for the South East;
• Reviewed the latest draft of the Regional Economic Strategy and agreed that the version to be submitted for consideration by the Regional Assembly at their meeting on 4 October;
• Reviewed the Framework for Employment and Skills Action;
• Noted and agreed SEEDA's Wired Region Accountability Plans;
• Agreed that the proposed new partnership arrangements should be taken forward with the Regional Assembly and appropriate sub-regional and local partners;
• Reviewed and noted the Finance and Contracts Report and various SEEDA programme investments.

Declaration of Interests

2. Janis Kong declared an interest in item 6(3) - South East Regional Airports Study - because of her position as Executive Chairman of BAA Ltd.

3. Sarah Ward noted that she was a personal acquaintance of Mr J Scott of Ash Place Farm who had received a Redundant Buildings Grant.

4. It was agreed that these declarations did not debar Janis Kong or Sarah Ward did not debar from participating in the discussion on these items.

Appointment of Jim Brathwaite

5. The Chairman and Members congratulated Jim Brathwaite on his appointment and believed that his record in both the private and public sector brought him substantial credibility.

6. Jim Brathwaite thanked the Chairman and Members for their messages of best wishes and support. He recognised that Allan Willett would be a difficult act to follow and acknowledged that he would be inheriting an organisation that was performing well. He set out his initial thoughts on potential priorities-

• Reducing the number of wards facing severe deprivation in the region and enhancing productivity from these areas;
• Focus on delivery, both for SEEDA and SEEDA's partners, for instance that the LLSCs deliver the skills needed in the region;
• Ensuring that additional housing is accompanied by the necessary infrastructure package;
• Transport, currently to include the South East Regional Airport Study and the Multi-Modal studies;
• Engagement with business, particularly continuing the Chairman's work of engaging the larger companies;
• Continue the excellent relationships established with GO-SE and the Regional Assembly.

Freedom of Information Act

7. The Board recognized that a key element of the Freedom of Information Act is a requirement for public authorities to agree with the Information Commissioner a "Publications Scheme" setting out the classes of information that a public authority will publish proactively. The Scheme needs to be in force by the end of November and to be submitted to the Information Commissioner by 30 September for her approval. RDAs had worked together to develop an appropriate scheme.

8. Members endorsed the RDA Model Publication Scheme.

Quarter 1 2002/03 - Outputs

9. Members received details of the Tier 3 Quarterly Output outcome which had been reported to GOSE and now form part of the GO-SE report to Government. It compares Q1 outputs achieved with the Full Year (Corporate Plan) forecast. Members welcomed the report and noted that SEEDA was on schedule to meet its forecast targets.

Chairman's Report

10. The Chairman reported to the Board on a number of issues and noted that he had held various meetings.

Meeting with Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) - 8 October

11. The Chairman had met the Deputy Prime Minister to discuss a number of issues in regard to recent announcements on the South East, including the need for additional housing.

RDA Chairs Forum - 12 September

12. The Chairman reported that the key issues to arise at these increasingly important meetings were:-

• Reminding Government that RDAs were different;
• Ensuring that the Business Support roll-out would be ready by April 2003; SEEDA was to be one of two RDAs to pilot the new streamlined arrangements for DTI programme support;
• Agreement on the RDAs to be pilots for the BL Management/LSC Adult Learning pilots; SEEDA would likely be an LSC pilot.

South East Regional Airports Study

13. Members were reminded of the to SERAS. The Department for Transport published 7 consultation documents covering the whole of the UK, to seek views about the future development of air transport. The document for the South East covers the South East, Eastern and London regions. The Government has committed itself to publish a comprehensive Aviation White Paper and the consultation documents prepared the ground for the public and for Ministerial decision making.

14. The purpose of the consultation is to see whether further growth in air transport should be accommodated, and if so, where and how. The South East airports have a national role. Over half the UK's air travellers originate from the SE, London and Eastern regions.

15. The Board recognised the decision Government had taken not to put forward any options for the further growth of Gatwick beyond the 40 mppa which can be provided for in the legal agreement signed in 1979 between West Sussex County Council and BAA.

16. The Board agreed that SEEDA's main role is to develop a view on the sustainable regional development impacts, assessing the long term effects on regional investment. SEEDA needs to review the various growth scenarios within the UK and the region alongside the individual airport expansion options. Members agreed that the SEEDA response would take an economic focus but also want to take into account environmental and community related considerations as part of the assessment of overall sustainability.

Corporate Social Responsibility

17. The Board had already held initial discussions on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and believed that the next step was to agree upon a definition for CSR. They welcomed the paper that had been prepared, acknowledging that it moved the debate forward. They recognised that there are a number of definitions of CSR although at the present time no one definition has become universally accepted. A common theme is to acknowledge that companies' responsibilities go beyond both short-term and long-term maximisation of shareholder value. A 'company' will have to know and understand how its operations, activities and policies react with and affect its environment, employees, potential employees, suppliers, potential suppliers and local communities. It was important however that whilst SEEDA should promulgate a definition, the Agency should not be didatic in its approach.

18. Members were unwilling to adopt the definition provided by the World Council for Sustainable Development and asked that the Executive consider a shorter definition that captures the essence of CSR i.e. the continuing commitment to contribute to the economic, social and environment investment in the community.

Government Office for the South East Liaison

19. Paul Martin noted that this was his first meeting with the SEEDA Board since he had become Regional Director of the Government Office for the South East a fortnight ago. He gave the Board a brief resume of his career background.

20. Paul Martin remarked that he know SEEDA had made a positive contribution to the region and he looked forward to working with the Agency. He felt it was important that GO-SE communicated effectively to Government the key messages that SEEDA wished to make, particularly in regard to the region being a net exporter of wealth. The Chairman responded to Paul Martin's remarks. He welcomed the role that GO-SE could play as champion for SEEDA and the region within Government and that SEEDA viewed economic growth in the region as beneficial as long as it was accompanied by the right amount of investment in infrastructure and social cohesion.

Review of Regional Economic Strategy (RES)

21. The Board heard that the draft Strategy now sets a clear vision for the Region. It starts with the vision set in the Regional Sustainable Development Framework (prepared jointly by the Regional Assembly, GOSE and SEEDA) and is developed to set a clear economic goal relating to the performance of the region in comparison with top performing regions worldwide. The vision is then further developed for each of the 5 high-level goals set down in the Strategy for Businesses, People, Communities, Infrastructure and Natural Resources.

22. Jeff Alexander stressed that SEEDA has worked closely with partners to address key policy strands which were identified but not fully developed in the Consultation Document. This is now evident in the strengthened treatment of, for example, social inclusion, health and housing issues.

23. The actions within the core RES are set as high level actions for the Region rather than SEEDA or other individual bodies (though key partners are identified under each objective). This approach emphasises that the RES is a strategy for the Region.

24. Next steps would are:-

• consideration of full RES by the Regional Assembly on 4 October.
• " submission of the RES to the SEEDA Board for final sign-off at the meeting on 17 October.
• formal endorsement of the RES by the Regional Assembly at its Executive Committee meeting on 25 October.
• publication of RES, with executive summary and supporting documents, and submission to Government as early as possible in November

25. Members welcomed the draft RES commenting that it was close to being finalised. They approved the structure and layout of the document and took the opportunity of examining each chapter of the draft RES, making some proposed editorial amendments.

26. The Board agreed, subject to some minor revisions, the draft RES and supporting documents should be submitted to the Regional Assembly for consideration at their special meeting on 4 October.

Framework for Employment and Skills Action

27. Members were provided with the background to the FRESA process and the key issues. The Department for Workforce and Pensions (DWP), Department for Trade and Industry (DTI) and Department for Employment and Skills (DfES) had invited Regional Development Agencies to lead on the development of the FRESA and for each region to produce their first Framework by October 2002. In response, SEEDA brought together key partners involved in employment and skill to form a Regional Employment and Skills Forum to take forward the development of the first FRESA for the South East under the chairmanship of SEEDA.

28. The first FRESA takes a fresh look at the region's labour markets and explores how well they operate to provide employers with the skills they require and individuals with the jobs, development opportunities and guidance they deserve. It sets out a collaborative approach to gear the regional labour market to the achievement of the sustainable economic and social objectives as identified in the RES.

29. Members commented that they thought the FRESA was an excellent document.

Wired Region Accountability Plan

30. The proposed Accountability Plan covered three main areas of Wired Region activity:-

• Broadband;
• Web Content; and
• Hastings.

31. Members thought the plan was a good starting point and agreed it should be placed on the SEEDA web site.

Partnership Working - New Arrangements

32. The Board discussed the proposed arrangements for partnership delivery. They noted that the objective was to establish effective ongoing capability, particularly in the priority regeneration areas (Thames Gateway Kent, coastal North East and South Kent, coastal Sussex and the Solent area) and to provide a comprehensive network of partners across the region to deliver locally led, community regeneration and social inclusion schemes. The aim is to establish a delivery capability, which has 'critical mass', delivers projects within a local strategic framework and one, which networks to draw on the best practice available across the region.

33. The Board gave authority to the Executive to discuss the proposed arrangements with the Regional Assembly and then enter into detailed discussions with appropriate sub-regional and local partners.

Date of Next Meeting

34. The next meeting of the SEEDA Board will be held on Thursday 17 October, at the Portsmouth Marriot Hotel.