Agenda item

To receive a presentation from the GFirst Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

72.1          The Chair introduced the Deputy Chief Executive of GFirst LEP and indicated that he would be giving a presentation which would cover LEP investments related to Tewkesbury Borough; the Growth Hub network; the inward investment team; and the Local Industrial Strategy.

72.2          Members were informed that the primary role of GFirst LEP was to drive economic growth and create jobs.  It was set-up in 2011 and there were 38 LEPs across the country; it was noted that the GFirst LEP consistently appeared in the top five or 10 within the various league tables.  In terms of the investments made, the GFirst LEP had been successful in securing £101m of growth deal funding which had been used to fund high profile projects within the county such as the roundabout at Elmbridge Court which had cost £10m and was an example of a development that had made a real difference.  Members were advised that £550,000 had been invested in the south camp at Gloucestershire Airport which had provided two new hangars and associated road infrastructure, and a further £1.8m on Anson Park which would open up infrastructure and create more employment land for hangar space which could be used for aircraft, innovation, training etc.  There had also been a £4.5m investment in Innsworth Gateway, which was key for traffic mitigation to release the strategic housing site.  Members were informed that £1.6m had been allocated to the B4063 Staverton Bridge but this work had actually been done by Highways England as an element of the junction connected to the Cyber Park.  It was noted that the LEP was funding the road infrastructure to open up the Cyber Park rather than anything actually on the Park itself.

72.3           A Member questioned whether the GFirst LEP funded any infrastructure that was not road-based, for example, trams or trains, and was advised that £6m had been invested in improving Cheltenham Spa Railway Station and funding was also being provided for the underpass at Gloucester Railway Station.  The GFirst LEP was supporting four main road projects – A417 missing link, Junction 9, Junction 10 and A46 – and the focus would then be on rail, cycling and public transport, for instance, the proposed mass transit station between Gloucester and Cheltenham.  It was noted that the GFirst LEP had asked for information on investment priorities arising from the Gloucestershire Rail Strategy in order to establish what would give the best return and that information would be available over the next month or so.  Another Member went on to question how much employment was generated from the significant investment in Gloucestershire Airport and was informed that this had resulted in approximately 200 jobs.  Assurance was provided that any project funded by the GFirst LEP had to go through scrutiny and it was noted that green credentials were becoming increasingly important.  A Member indicated that he would be very interested in additional detail about the mass transit centre and was advised that this was contained within the Local Industrial Strategy (LIS) but was just an idea at this stage with no costings etc.

72.4           In terms of the Growth Hub network, Members were advised that it was planned to roll out physical Growth Hubs across the county with one in each local authority area.   Gloucestershire was up to three – one in Cirencester in partnership with the Royal Agricultural University, one at the University of Gloucestershire in Gloucester and one at the Public Services Centre in Tewkesbury – with 31 mini Growth Hubs in libraries across the county.  In total, £9.5m had been spent on the Growth Hub network.  The mini Growth Hubs had been introduced as libraries were less intimidating than the larger Growth Hubs based on University campus’.  This also gave the libraries another function, increased footfall and raised the profile of the brand.  A Member questioned how Growth Hubs were marketed and was advised that word of mouth had proven to be best although they were advertised in Punchline Magazine and campaigns were also run in the Gloucestershire Echo and Citizen.  Members were advised that Gloucester Growth Hub had opened in July 2017 and had attracted 20,000 unique visitors to date; Cirencester Growth Hub had opened in July 2018 and had attracted 4,000 visitors; and Tewkesbury Growth Hub had opened in October 2018 and had attracted 1,700 visitors – further statistics were displayed at the meeting giving a breakdown of the reasons for people visiting the Growth Hubs and the amount of three and 12 hour interventions.  In response to a query regarding funding, Members were informed that the GFirst LEP was paid for by capital but the team was funded by the European Regional Development Fund.  Going forward, the GFirst LEP had managed to secure a further three years of funding to take them to 2023; it was expected that funding would be brought under a new single scheme which it was hoped would all come via the GFirst LEP making it easier to divide up. 

72.5           With regard to inward investment, it was noted that there had been no specific strategy in place for the last five to ten years but the purpose was two-fold: attracting new foreign owners into the county and looking after the existing foreign-owned businesses which were already located in the area e.g. Moog.  The GFirst LEP has secured £500,000 funding for an inward investment project which had involved match funding from all local authorities within Gloucestershire who had contributed via the business rates pool.  A key focus of the inward investment team was to encourage more European businesses in four sectors: cyber, agritech, advanced engineering and manufacturing and renewables.  The project had been running for a year and was a real opportunity to go out and fly the flag for the county at various national events such as the Paris Air Show and Agritechnica, the world’s leading trade fair for agricultural machinery.  The Deputy Chief Executive of GFirst LEP indicated that the GFirst LEP may be able to assist if there were any opportunities with Miesbach – which was twinned with Tewkesbury – for instance, by providing funding for delegates to visit Gloucestershire etc.  It was noted that the Chief Executive of the GFirst LEP had visited China in October for several meetings and, although nothing had come of it as yet, it was important to build bridges around the world. 

72.6           Members were advised that the Local Industrial Strategy (LIS) contained five foundations of productivity - ideas, people, infrastructure, business environment and place - and four grand challenges - ageing society, artificial intelligence (AI) and data; future mobility and clean growth.  The Deputy Chief Executive of GFirst LEP had brought copies of the GFirst LEP Annual Report 2019 which contained an executive summary of the LIS that Members may find of interest.  A number of meetings had been held with the Chief Executive and Deputy Chief Executive of Tewkesbury Borough Council in order to identify priorities for the borough and 200 responses had been received during the consultation on the draft LIS in September which had been very favourable on the whole; it was noted that only the GFirst LEP had conducted a dedicated survey asking the next generation for their opinion with 5,000 responses received across the county.  In response to a query regarding the level of detail, Members were informed that the LIS was around 120 pages which the government had indicated was too long and it was possible that it may be necessary to focus on one key area which was most important to the county.  A Member questioned why the priorities may need to be limited and the Deputy Chief Executive of GFirst LEP explained that the feedback was that the LIS needed to be ‘trimmed’ so, whilst all four priorities were very important, it was possible that they would need to be scaled back.  The initial brief for the LIS was that it was necessary to choose the most important sector which had been thought to be cyber, particularly given the location of GCHQ within the county; however, engagement and evidence had demonstrated that advanced engineering was also very important and the green agenda had come top in a youth survey.  After the draft had been published, it had been suggested that advanced engineering and manufacturing needed to be given greater focus so that was also amended.  It was now down to the government to explain what would happen next; unfortunately, the LIS had been pushed back due to Brexit and the UK Parliamentary election so it was highly unlikely that the launch would go ahead in March as originally planned.  A Member questioned whether the government had indicated that the green agenda would be the issue that was likely to be removed from the LIS and the Deputy Chief Executive of GFirst LEP stressed that nothing had been decided and it was unclear how many of the priorities would need to be cut back.

72.7           The Deputy Chief Executive of GFirst LEP went on to advise that the GFirst LEP also ran 10 business groups, which covered the key sectors in the county, and had an education team which went into schools and offered training on CV writing, interview techniques etc. - the GFirst LEP had worked with over 2,000 students aged 11-18 in the last year and had supported over 200 business volunteers.  In terms of key priorities for 2020, Members were advised that funding needed to be secured post April 2020 in order to continue to plan strategically for the next 10 to 20 years and the GFirst LEP would be looking to local MPs to lobby the government; the next trance of growth deal funding had been secured so it would be necessary to start investing in the projects he had talked about; the LIS launch would also be a priority once it had been signed-off by the government; the Western Gateway initiative – equivalent to the Northern Powerhouse and Midlands Engine – a strategic partnership promoting and maximising economic growth across South Wales and the west of England to create jobs, boost prosperity and support the universities and businesses of the regions; and finally, to recruit a new Chair and Vice-Chair to take over when the existing representatives stepped down in July – the Deputy Chief Executive of GFirst LEP encouraged Members to get in touch if they were aware of any business leaders they felt may be suitable candidates.  In response to a query, clarification was provided that the leader of Cheltenham Borough Council was the current Vice-Chair and represented the local authorities which had one seat on the board; the leader of Gloucestershire County Council had a specific seat on the board and the leader of Stroud District Council was an observer.  The board also comprised representatives from further/higher education but was predominately made up of people from the private sector which was a requirement.  A Member questioned where Tewkesbury Borough was represented and was advised that it was possible to lobby for a second local authority seat via the Joint Committee, if Members so wished.  Another Member indicated that he had attended a University of Gloucestershire apprenticeship meeting recently and had been struck by the fact there was no single point of contact in the same way that UCAS administered university placements, instead it was down to individuals to use their own initiative to trawl through websites etc.  The Deputy Chief Executive of GFirst LEP confirmed that, as far as he was aware, there was no such facility and a proposal to set-up an apprenticeship clearing house had not received funding in the past; notwithstanding this, he felt it may be sensible to have a single point of contact for further and higher education under one roof and he was happy to take this comment back.

72.8           The Chair thanked the Deputy Chief Executive of GFirst LEP for his presentation and it was

RESOLVED          That the GFirst LEP presentation be NOTED.