South East England Development Agency (SEEDA)

HELD ON THURSDAY 21 NOVEMBER 2002 AT SEEDA HEADQUARTERS

Present

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

Apologies for absence

Cllr. Ken Thornber CBE

In Attendance

Anthony Dunnett (Chief Executive), Jeff Alexander (Agency Secretary and Director, Strategy and Corporate Services), Phil Bailey (SEEDA, Head of Secretariat), Marianne Neville-Rolfe (Director, Business and International), Paul Hudson (Director, Infrastructure and Regeneration)

The Board approved the minutes of the previous meeting (17 October 2002). The Board also reviewed and noted the Finance Report and various SEEDA programme investments.

Declaration of Interests

1. Jim Brathwaite declared an interest in the discussions on the Regional Venture Capital Fund because he had a shareholding in a company that had applied to the Fund.

2. Sarah Ward declared an interest in The Future Development of Air Transport item because she had a shareholding in BAA. The Board agreed that Sarah Ward could remain and participate in the discussions on this item.

3. Janis Kong declared an Interest on the Future Development of Air Transport item and made a statement when the Board discussed that item.

Regional Venture Capital Fund

4. The Board were reminded that Finance South East had been formed to help companies grow and that WME were the fund managers, drawing down DTI funding though the Small Business Service. The fund itself was now operational and applications were being handled by WME.

Chief Executive's Report

5. The Chief Executive updated Members on events subsequent to his written report.

Hastings

6. John Spellar (Minister for Transport) visited Hastings on 19 November and during the visit announced the various improvements to the A21 to Hastings.

Broadband Stakeholders Summit

7. SEEDA had taken a prominent role during this Summit (20/21 November) and the Chief Executive had hosted a Dinner for Stephen Timms (Minister for e:commerce).

Urban Summit

8. Members who had attended the Urban Summit commented on the event. It was felt that the Core Cities Group issue had overshadowed the event and therefore the South East, which does not have a Core City, lacked prominence. It was important, therefore, that SEEDA give some thought to the contribution that the region's urban areas can make to the South East.

9. The Chief Executive noted that a Head of Urban Renaissance had been appointed (Jan Anderson from the ODPM) to take forward this work.

ASW

10. The Chief Executive reported that ASW, the steelworks manufacturer, had been taken over by a Spanish company who had decided to reopen the Cardiff factory, but close the one in Sheerness which would result in the loss of about 200 jobs in Sheerness. SEEDA had been involved since July 2002 and has been working with the company on an on-going basis since that time. The local MP (Derek Wyatt) has been asking Parliamentary Questions on behalf of his constituents. The Chief Executive asked the Board to note that local partners were supportive of the actions taken by SEEDA and that the Department of Trade and Industry were in the lead on this matter.

Chairman's Report

11. The Chairman reported that he felt that the handover period with the Chairman-Designate continued to go well and that the appointment of Jim Brathwaite had been well received throughout the region. The Chairman and Jim Brathwaite had been to meetings and engagements together such as the visit to Kent County Council and the Dinner with the Economic Partnerships. The Chairman reported that he had given a keynote speech at the Regional Assembly Plenary and attended a Dinner, with John Monks and Barry Camfield, to launch the new Board Committee, 'Social Dialogue Forum' on 20 November.

The Future Development of Air Transport

12. Janis Kong invited the Board to discuss how she might best contribute to the discussions on this item. Her view was that it was advisable that she did not (and was seen not to) take part in any decisions the Board might reach on the proposed recommendations put forward in the paper. The Board considered that it would be appropriate for her to make BAA's position clear to the Board. This was because BAA had already published that position. Janis Kong noted that she would also be content to answer factual questions prior to leaving the discussions. She also noted that she had made no input to the Board paper other than making factual corrections.

13. Janis Kong said that whilst BAA's position was not yet absolutely finalized she had made a statement that was in the public domain. It was clear that BAA's submission would be factual and based on an operational approach. In particular the submission would not select an option or preferred location as set out in the Government's consultative paper. Her public statement made clear that if the Heathrow option was selected as currently presented by the Government then, on technical and operational grounds, additional aircraft and passenger handling facilities north of the A4 Bath Road would be required. This might be a satellite with no rail/road access rather than a terminal.

14. Members thanked Janis Kong for her statement. She said, in response to questions, that a further runway at Heathrow would need appropriate consideration of additional public transport measures and that it would be safe given the proper separation of aircraft. She confirmed that BAA's position on Gatwick was not yet finalized but that Southampton Airport should be developed to its maximum capacity.

15. Janis Kong explained that in her view BA were committed to developing Heathrow and were opposed to new airport at Cliffe.

16. Janis Kong then left the room for the rest of the discussions on this item and was not present when the Board reached a position on the recommendations.

17. Paul Hudson introduced discussions on this item. The South East study was part of a national approach, with separate reports for each region although the South East report was the most important part of the report. The Government's consultation sets out the forecast of future air traffic growth and it is clear that there will be a very substantial growth in air traffic in England and that the rate of growth will be higher in the South East than elsewhere. Key questions to consider are:-

• Role of the hub airport and should there be one or two;
• Where should the capacity be located;
• Future of Heathrow;
• Environmental controls to be imposed; and
• Gatwick.

18. The Government's consultation document sets out nine packages of airport expansion options ranging from what can be accommodated if current expansion plans are implemented to building more capacity incrementally.

19. RDAs will be responding jointly on the economic implications of the various scenarios and options for England. The response will be promoting a balanced approach stressing the need to secure London's position as the national gateway and hub.

20. The Regional Assembly had come to a view at their Plenary meeting held on 20 November. Their response opposed any new capacity at Heathrow and the construction of a new airport at Cliffe. With regard to Gatwick, the Assembly had noted that the Government, in this consultation, had ruled out a new runway at Gatwick. The Assembly had not therefore taken a position on new runway capacity at that airport. They had however supported making full use of the existing runway there, with a preference for Stansted expansion as the best of the options in the consultation.

21. Members thanked Paul Hudson for his presentation and discussed the proposed recommendations noting that their role was to agree the formal response to the Government's consultation report. The proposed recommendations are:-

• SEEDA welcomes the national view being taken to develop a sustainable airports policy. For this reason, SEEDA's views are informed by work undertaken by consultants on behalf of all 9 RDAs in order to set out a common approach.
• SEEDA accepts the wide range of variables inherent in forecasting demand for aviation over the next 30 years. But in the light of the sustained growth in the region over the past 30 years, the middle range forecasts are accepted as a reasonable basis for assessing how much runway and terminal capacity should be provided.
• An incremental approach is recommended to providing this capacity in the South East region. The maximum use of existing capacity and planned additions at Heathrow, Stansted, Gatwick and Luton should be the first choice, as is proposed in the SERAS document as the Government's own starting point.
• Even taking into account the substantial environmental impacts and pressures for further housing and employment growth in the western part of the region, a third short runway at Heathrow is recommended to reinforce its unique international hub role. This new runway should be secured by the Government directly using Parliamentary powers rather than relying on the promoter to bring forward a planning application.
• This third runway at Heathrow should be the maximum growth there. This expansion should be followed by a second runway at Stansted. According to the pace of future aviation growth in the South East, a future review of aviation policy should consider either a second runway at Gatwick or a third runway at Stansted, and these long term options kept open by safeguarding the necessary land.
• The option of a completely new airport at Cliffe is rejected, in view of the massive capital costs, doubts about feasibility (i.e. the project delivery risk is too high), the long lead time before new capacity could be provided, and the strong environmental constraints on major development on the North Kent Marshes.
• The role of the wider region's smaller airports, particularly Southampton, Bournemouth, London City, Manston and Southend should be exploited to the full, together with the other business aviation airfields in the region.
• Planned new runway and terminal capacity in the South East region will only be acceptable if substantial improvements to noise and pollution effects of aircraft are achieved, and a large programme of surface access improvements carried out. These will need to be designed to suit the precise development programme, but would include for example:
• Implementation of the Crossrail, Airtrack and Thameslink 2000 schemes.
• Extension of Heathrow Express from Paddington to St Pancras.
• Improvements to M25 as recommended by the ORBIT multi-modal study.
• Investigation into improved connectivity between Heathrow and the West Coast Mainline.
• To maximise the connectivity of Thames Gateway to both Stansted and Gatwick, a lower Thames crossing linking M11 in Essex with M2 in Kent, and a much better rail service from North Kent to Gatwick are recommended. Similarly, investigations should be carried out to improve the connectivity between Heathrow and the West Coast main line.

22. Members considered a number of options ranging from supporting the Cliffe option, opposing Heathrow expansion and meeting capacity through expanding Gatwick to its maximum capacity. Members discussed the reliability of the straight line extrapolations for increases in air traffic, questioning whether the possibility of increased air fares might mean less increase in traffic than forecast.

23. It was clear that there was a general consensus amongst Members to support the recommendations.

24. In discussing the Government's decision not to include Gatwick in the review because the legal agreement would not expire until 2019, Members concluded that the response should question the Government's decision on Gatwick.

25. The full Report by SEEDA on the Future of Air Transport in the South East is available on SEEDA's web site (www.seeda.co.uk)

Housing Policy

26. The Board discussed the proposed role for SEEDA in Housing Policy, recognising that SEEDA is not able to directly deliver housing. Members believed that SEEDA had an acknowledged record in promoting excellent design and that the Agency had responded to the Government's proposals on the reform of the Planning system. Members agreed that SEEDA should continue to use its resources to add value to the housing agenda, taking a lead role where necessary but more specifically acting to facilitate achievement of agreed priorities.

Social Inclusion

27. The Chairman noted that Charlotte Dixon had been seconded from the Government Office to take forward SEEDA's policy framework for Social Inclusion which proposed that SEEDA should focus its efforts on:-

• Enabling regional and sub-regional structures to develop best practice on the basis of subsidiarity - i.e. to facilitate as local a delivery as practically possible.
• 'Geographically' focus its regeneration activities in and around the 119 most deprived wards in the South East.
• Place the attention of 'regional' policy and best practice development on 'economic inclusion', including social enterprise and corporate social responsibility.
• Work closely and in co-operation with other key regional and sub-regional organizations within the framework of the South East's Social Inclusion Statement and the Regional Economic Strategy.

28. Members agreed with the proposal.

SEEDA's Corporate Plan 2003-06

29. Members welcomed the latest version of the Corporate Plan. They recognised that proposed activities were constrained by available financial headroom and now needed to be prioritised to reflect Board priorities. However they also appreciated that existing commitments, mainly from previous Single Regeneration Budget programmes, had to be met.

30. It was agreed that a revised version of the Plan should be circulated to members prior to submission to the DTI.

Workforce and Social Dialogue Accountability Plan

31. The Board noted that the new Social Dialogue Forum would be meeting in December and that a leaflet describing its work would be published. The Accountability Plan presented to the Board looked at work undertaken by the Workforce and Social Dialogue Committee.

32. Members noted the Plan.

Retiring Members

33. Members wished to record their thanks and appreciation of the work and efforts of the Members due to stand down on 13 December, namely:-

• Kit Oliver
• Caroline Williams
• Kevin Wilson
• Sarah Ward

34. The Board also placed on record their acknowledgement of the contribution made by the Chairman, Allan Willett, over the past fours years to the work of SEEDA.

35. The Board wished them all well.

Date of Next Meeting

36. The next meeting of the SEEDA Board will be on Thursday 19 December 2002, at SEEDA Headquarters.