Agenda item

To receive comments from the Chair (or the Chair’s representative) of the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Board.

The Chair of the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Board, Richard Bonner, was invited to address the meeting.  He made the following comments in relation to the items to be considered:

Since we last met, I wanted to report on the recent attendance of the West of England at the UKREiiF in Leeds to promote the region, and pleasing that we collaborated with  a wide delegation of partners from across the Western Gateway. 

I particularly wanted to thank colleagues in IBB for their support and organisation, and I was pleased with the level of interest from a broad range of stakeholders, investors and potential partners.  I also wanted to celebrate the visible Temple Quarter partnership with a very well received event with representatives of WoE CA, BCC, Network Rail and Homes England. A great showcase.

Investment Programme:

§  We support the recommendation in the Investment Fund report to allocate £1.5m towards a Place Partnership bid to Arts Council England for a £3m programme to deliver the priorities set out in the West of England Cultural Plan which has been overseen by the Cultural Compact chaired by LEP Board member Sue Rigby. The funding will enable us to support our hugely important cultural and creative sector, including projects focussed on supporting creative freelancers to grow and thrive, and working with schools, college and other training providers to increase pathways into the sector.

§  The Western Harbour area of Bristol presents a great regeneration opportunity, which could see the delivery of up to 2,500 new homes, but also presents a set of challenges, not least life expired transport infrastructure. I am pleased to see the proposal for further funding to better understand how this area can come forward through a masterplan and technical studies.

Delivery Assurance:

§  We note there are a number of schemes in the funding programmes that report delay. I welcome the actions put in place over the last year to seek to address challenges with delivery, but it appears there is still more to do. In this regard I welcome the combination of the line-by-line budget review and the project health check process, both of which should support improvement.

Transport Schemes:

§  We welcome the additional funding that has been secured for the region which will enable further investment in our transport infrastructure and assist in encouraging a greater number of journeys being made by walking and cycling and for those trips that have to be made by car being able to transition to electric. All of which are vital in addressing our climate emergency.

§  Transport is an important issue for the LEP and business more broadly and updating the vision led Joint Local Transport Plan (JLTP) will be vital in ensuring that our transport infrastructure supports and encourages growth and that our region meets its full economic potential

§  The LEP board would like to be involved in the refresh of the JLTP and support the development where possible of other key projects for the region, such as Future4WEST

Transformation Programme & Regional Strategy:

§  I am pleased to see a lot of positive progress in the Transformation Programme and welcome conversations the help redefine the role of a Business Board to create a powerful voice of business and bring a strategic perspective to addressing the challenges our region faces. 

§  The LEP Board is keen to continue involvement in the Regional Strategy refresh and we look forward to further engagement. This refresh is key to the direction of the Combined Authority and future devolution deals to ensure we are a place where Government can invest.

West of England Employment & Skills Plan:

§  It is great to see a refreshed Regional Employment & Skills Plan that reflects the current labour market needs and sets out a collective regional skills ambition in the West of England over the next 3-5 years.

§  The business community is key to our ambitions and will drive what we need to plan for in terms of skills provision, so I’m pleased that this plan was overseen by the West of England Skills Advisory Panel – a sub-group of the LEP Board.

§  I welcome the review of progress to date; it shows we’ve made significant inroads into addressing our skills needs – while obviously acknowledging that the labour market is fast evolving

§  I particularly welcome the cross-cutting themes of green skills and digital skills, and the strong emphasis placed on simplification of the complex skills system. I think Skills Connect will make a huge impact in terms of drawing together the complex offers for business and individuals.

Combined Authority & Mayoral Budget Outturn 2022/23:

§  It is pleasing to see the ongoing and continued success during the year in terms of attracting additional funding into the region. The West of England Combined Authority has been successful in obtaining and utilising additional revenue funding to deliver services to the local community – rising from the original budget of £64.9m to an outturn of £90m during the year – a 39% increase.

§  The capital programme has evolved during 2022/23 as additional funding streams have been identified and project delivery plans refined and implemented. There continues to be a key focus on delivery moving forward.