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MINUTES OF THE 72nd MEETING OF THE
SOUTH EAST ENGLAND DEVELOPMENT AGENCY
HELD ON 29 SEPTEMBER 2005 SEEDA GUILDFORD
Present:
James Brathwaite (Chairman), Rob Anderson, Liz Brighouse, Poul Christensen, Peter Jones, Keith House, Terry Mills, John Peel, Peter Read, Sarah Hohler, Phil Wood
In attendance:
Pam Alexander, Paul Hudson, Paul Lovejoy, Duncan Straughen, Colin Byrne (GOSE), Simon Walker, Donal Galligan, Greg Ward (for item 6), Ed Metcalfe (for item 8)
Item 1 Welcome and apologies for absence
- Apologies had been received from Rob Douglas, Imtiaz Farookhi, Terry Mills, Mary McAnally, Bill Wakeham and John Parsonage
Item 2 Minutes of the last meeting (23 June 2005)
- The minutes of the last meeting were agreed as a correct record of proceedings.
Actions from previous meetings
- Paul Hudson informed the Board that it had not been necessary to lodge a petition against the Crossrail Bill (this would have been done to ensure that SEEDA could argue for the extension of Crossrail to Abbeywood in the west and Ebbsfleet in the east). This was due to the Department for Transport issuing a safeguarding order that keeps the option open of the Abbeywood-Ebbsfleet extension.
Item 3 Declarations of interest
- None
Item 4 Regional Funding Allocations (RFAs)
- Paul Lovejoy summarised the nature and status of the Regional Funding Allocation that is currently being drawn together by GOSE. RFAs are part of the Government's regional devolution agenda and allow Whitehall to benefit from regional advice on the deployment of central funds. There are three categories under the RFA: economic development, which represents RDA single pot funding; housing, which falls to the Regional Housing Board; transport, which falls to the Regional Transport Board. The regions are being asked to advise Government on how best to allocate funds within and across these categories (although RDAs retain discretion on spending their single pot funds).
- Draft priorities are due to be submitted to Government by December. SEEDA's draft of the economic development priorities will be brought to the October Board for approval, they will then go out for consultation before returning to the Board in final form in January.
- Paul Lovejoy also briefly outlined the Local Area Agreements that are being prepared by Local Authorities across the region. All SE County Councils and three Unitary Authorities will have LAAs in place by April 2006. LAAs set out an agreed framework of priorities which allows for local flexibility and focuses on service delivery and improvement. They cover four areas, or ‘blocks': health, safety, children and economic development and enterprise (the recently added ‘fourth block'). SEEDA has agreed GOSE's request to provide leadership and guidance in the development of the fourth block.
- The Board observed that it will be vital for synergies between the LAA ‘blocks' to be identified and exploited, for example through the work of the Public Service Boards. It also noted that the South East Economic Partnerships (SEEPs) will need to play an effective role in development of the ‘fourth block'.
- The Board NOTED the update on the RFA and LAAs.
Item 5 Policy Update: Europe, Lisbon and the SE
- Paul Lovejoy outlined progress on implementing the Lisbon agenda in the South East. Lisbon remains central to the EU and UK push for improved productivity performance. It links strongly to the emerging themes of the RES review and SEEDA will continue to work closely with the Government and European partners to ensure that the Lisbon agenda is linked in a practical way to what is happening in the South East economy.
- The Board welcomed the focus on driving up productivity that Lisbon brings and observed that there would be benefits from closer SEEDA involvement with the new Accession States.
- The Board NOTED the policy update on Europe, Lisbon and the SE.
Item 6 Sector Consortia
- Greg Ward summarised work on setting up the six Sector Consortia in the SE which work to identify market opportunities and bring about collaborations to exploit these opportunities (to the benefit of the SE economy). Five Sector Consortia have been established (Aerospace, Marine Technologies, Construction, Environmental Technologies, Digital Content) and recruitment is underway to the Healthcare Technologies consortium. SEEDA provides funding of £250,000 per consortia. The six sectors in which the consortia operate are currently worth £25 billion per annum to the SE. 10,000 businesses are active within the consortia
- Work is now focussing on where to concentrate the future efforts of the Sector Consortia. For example it is clear that there are opportunities for growth between and across sectors, such as in autonomous systems which draws together aerospace, built environment and composites. Consequently new cluster mapping is being done to identify and scope these opportunities. There are also chances for the consortia to facilitate knowledge transfer between the science base and business. Work is also underway to rationalise the support provided to businesses within the consortia, for example by promoting cooperation between the Enterprise Hubs and Sector Consortia. The relationship between sector clustering and infrastructure is also being explored, for example the significance of airports has been highlighted in facilitating cluster activity and helping to build supply chains. Finally the Sector Consortia are being encouraged increasingly to focus on opportunities and collaborations in international markets.
- The Board acknowledged the potential for the Sector Consortia to help businesses to collaborate to exploit market opportunities. Nevertheless it stressed the need to ensure that the Consortia work within existing business support structures, duplication, competition and confusion must be avoided. The Chairman suggested the streaming of business support products into three areas: new markets, business development and innovation.
- The Board NOTED the update on the Sector Consortia programme.
Item 7 Heathrow Airport interim masterplan consultation: SEEDA position for approval
- Paul Hudson presented SEEDA's position on the Heathrow Airport interim masterplan consultation for the Board's approval. Heathrow, along with all major airports, is required to produce a masterplan under the Aviation White Paper. It sets out how Heathrow will develop within existing permissions e.g. Terminal 5 and terminal modifications to accommodate the new Airbus A380. It summarises work to date on the the Environmental Impact Assessment required for the proposed third runway, and deals with surface access issues such as Terminal 5's link to the Picadilly Line and A308/M25 and the Airtrack Express (from south west of the region to Terminal 5).
- In line with SEEDA's support for the Government's Aviation White Paper SEEDA supports the interim masterplan.
- The Board observed that it will be vital for Heathrow to deal with surface access issues in order to cope with increasing passenger numbers with Terminal 5 and potentially a third runway in the future.
- The Board AGREED SEEDA's position on the Heathrow interim masterplan consultation.
Item 8 Major Projects & Progammes
- The two projects under consideration are the first to come through in response to the Lambert report on business collaboration with the knowledge base. SEEDA's Science, Engineering and Techonology Advisory Council has developed a the three year Innovation Action Plan, approved by the Board in June 2005, through which £20 million (of single pot funds) will be made available for projects that promote new business collaborations with the science and knowledge base (i.e. Universities, FE Colleges, public sector research bodies). Under the Innovation Action Plan the following themes and activities have been identified:
Theme |
Activity |
Area of focus |
Emerging Technologies
(£10m) |
Collaborative R&D support
(£9m – 4 x £2m) |
Nanotechnology |
Knowledge Networks
(£1m) |
Technologies for complex systems and extreme environments |
Healthcare technologies |
Energy & environmental technologies |
Innovation
(£7m) |
Innovation Advisory Service (IAS)
(£3m) |
SMEs |
Innovation Toolkit
(£1m) |
Flexible, demand-led, managed by the IAS |
Technology Users – business fellows
(£1m) |
Universities |
Skills
(£3m) |
Regional SET forum
(£3m) |
Engage partners in critical impact initiatives. |
- These two projects have therefore been brought to the Board for information and, through the MPC, for the Board to inform the Chief Executive's decision to approve both projects.
Collaborative R&D Support (Nanotechnology) & Innovation Advisory Service
- Nanotechnology is the first area in which SEEDA plans to fund activities under the Innovation Action Plan. It is intended to make £2 million available over three years to the consortium of SE Universities and businesses who can best demonstrate their capability to bring new nano-material based products rapidly to the market place and in doing so generate regional economic benefits. It is planned to make the call for tenders during October and for contracts to be in place three months later.
- The Innovation Advisory Service project aims to deliver a demand and problem led service at a sub-regional level using an ‘Innovation Toolkit' developed from best practice in international knowledge transfer practice, and from experience of success with Enterprise Hubs, Regional Technology Brokers and MAS. It will be delivered by a team of 7 Innovation Advisors based in the region, who will be industry experts from differing sectors. Broadly their work will focus on: organising awareness raising events; organising technology brokering events; and working with individual companies to broker the support they need. A tender will be made shortly for a delivery partner to employ the Innovation Advisors.
- The Chairman of the MPC reiterated the MPC's support for the Innovation Action Plan but noted that both projects would need to ensure that they work within existing business support structures and avoid duplication, competition and confusion. He also observed that these projects would provide an important test for the Lambert model contracts.
- The Board welcomed the projects and requested that every effort be made to get the funding delivered swiftly to allow work to start.
- The Board NOTED progress in implementing the Innovation Action Plan.
Southmoor Park , Havant & Harts Farm Way, Havant
- Peter Cusdin updated the Board on progress in two major projects in Havant that are progressing well but whose costs have increased by £3.75 million. Two thirds of this increase is due to a change in accounting practice required by the NAO, the remaining increase is due to the enforcement of a Grampian condition in the planning consent requiring SEEDA to bear the cost of providing road access to the two sites.
- The Chairman of the MPC noted that the MPC had recommended approval of the cost increase but was concerned at the increase in consultants fees due to the enforcement of the Grampian condition.
- The Board APPROVED the increase in expenditure for the Southmoor Park project from £4,858,5000 to £6,786,000, and the increase in expenditure for the Harts Farm Way project from £3,836,086 to £5,655,000.
Creative Media Centre 2 (CMC2)
- Paul Hudson explained that this project was being brought to the Board for approval as the additional expenditure by the HBRL Board would take the total project spend to more than £3 million. He stressed that the Board was not being asked to approve new funds for the project, instead it was being asked to approve expenditure at this level of the project by the HBRL Board which would be delivered through re-prioritisation of its existing expenditure plans. The increase in project costs was due to the need to re-design and re-engineer the CMC2 following the collapse of its original Georgian façade. The increase is contingent on the cost recovery proceedings that are underway against the consultants and contractors involved. Ultimately CMC2 has been a great success and has been substantially pre-let in advance of its opening.
- The Chairman of the MPC welcomed the success of CMC2 but observed that there was a need to learn project management lessons from the façade collapse and subsequent experiences with consultants. MPC supported the additional expenditure by the HBRL Board.
- The Board NOTED that it was for the HBRL Board and Hastings & Bexhill Task Force Steering Group to re-prioritise expenditure within their budgets. They APPROVED the project, which now exceeded the Chief Executive's £3m delegation.
Item 9 Financial & Operational Review
- Duncan Straughen presented the September Financial & Operational Review. He noted that Divisions are currently focussing on the need to avoid underspend and are developing plans to bring projects forward to deal with any projected underspends. The Quarter 1 outputs are the first to be produced under the new Tasking Framework. Inconsistencies in translating from the previous regime to the new framework are still being ironed out but staff have welcomed the new performance measures.
- The Board recommended continued concerted effort to avoid underspend, and welcomed SEEDA's plans to undergo a Lean Office/Design Immersion process as part of its Efficiency Plan.
- The Board NOTED the Financial & Operational Review.
Item 10 Committee Report: Sustainable Development
- Paul Lovejoy commented that the first joint meeting of the Sustainable Development and Social Inclusion Committees had been very productive. He also welcomed the contribution made by the Sustainable Development Committee to the RES review process, in particular Professor Tim Jackson's contribution on achieving sustainable prosperity.
- The Board NOTED the report of the Sustainable Development Committee.
Item 11 Projects
- The Board NOTED the summary of SEEDA's projects.
Item 12 Chairman's Report
- The Chairman offered Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart the Board's best wishes and thanks for his hard work on his retirement as leader of Kent County Council.
- The Chairman informed the Board that he had raised the outcome of the Hastings post-16 review with Ruth Kelly at an RDA Chairs dinner. He was concerned that the Government's recent decision appeared to be going against a local decision that had been informed by a significant body of evidence. Work continues to find a workable solution for post-16 education in Hastings and Bexhill.
- The Chairman had attended his first Environment Agency Board meeting as a non-executive Director. His intention is to focus his contributions on business waste and regulation. He also informed the Board that SEEDA would be pursuing ISO1400 (environmental management systems) accreditation.
Item 13 Agency Report
- Pam Alexander informed the Board that ODPM had appointed a new Permanent Secretary, Peter Housden from DfES. The LSC has launched a consultation on an efficiency review which would see an increased regional presence with core corporate services centralised. SEEDA, EEDA and the LDA had publicised Greater South East collaboration at the Party Conferences.
- Paul Lovejoy briefly summarised the themes emerging from the ongoing RES review consultation process.
Item 14 AOB
- None
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