Meeting documents

Councillor Bowles

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Economic Development

To consider the attached report.

Contact Officer:  Tracey Aldworth (01296) 585003

(a)          Decision(s)

(1)          That the Economy and Business Development Scrutiny Committee be thanked for their consideration and the feedback provided on the LEP review.

(2)          That a response be submitted to Government on behalf of this Council that it is AVDC’s preferred option to remain a member of SEMLEP and to remove itself from the BTVLEP.  This option represented the strongest strategic alignment and rationale regarding functional economic geographies for Aylesbury Vale.

(b)          Reason(s) for Decision(s)

To respond to  the Government review on the best way forward for LEP arrangements in Aylesbury Vale.

(c)        Alternative Options Considered

Not to respond to the LEP Review.  However, overlapping geographies emerged when LEPs were first formed on a voluntary basis in 2011 and AVDC is currently a member of two LEPs.  It is important that the national review is informed on the local view on what is the best way forward for LEP arrangements in Aylesbury Vale.

(d)       Relevant Scrutiny Committee

Economy and Business Development.  That Committee had already considered the report submitted to Cabinet and the Committee Chairman elaborated upon the Committee’s deliberations.  The Committee had seen value in the work carried out by both LEPs in Aylesbury Vale and the positive relationship the Council had with them.  Members had felt that a balance needed to be struck between being part of an LEP that was large enough to be relevant and exert influence, but not too large for AVDC to lose local influence and identity.  These comments were taken into account during Cabinet’s discussions.  Cabinet was convinced that remaining a member of SEMLEP and removing itself from the BTVLEP was in the Council’s best interests.

Comments on the Government’s consultation had to be submitted by the end of September, and having been considered fully by the Scrutiny Committee, this matter is not subject to call-in.

(e)        Conflicts of Interest / Dispensation(s)

Councillor Bowles declared a personal interest in this item as Vice-Chairman of BTVLEP.

The government publication Strengthened Local Partnerships had been published on 24 July 2018 and set out a range of leadership, governance, accountability and geography reforms for Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs).  The review asked LEP chairs and other local stakeholders to come forward with considered proposals by the end of September 2018 on geographies which best reflected real functional economic areas, removed overlaps and, where appropriate, proposed wider changes such as mergers.

Aylesbury Vale fell within both the South East Midlands LEP (SEMLEP) and Bucks Thames Valley LEP (BTVLEP).  As such, Cabinet received a report, that would also be considered by the Economy and Business Development Scrutiny Committee on 11 September, 2018, to allow Members to consider the possible options regarding future geography of the LEP arrangements in relation to the overlapping situation that currently existed for AVDC. 

The Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee, attended the Cabinet meeting and elaborated upon that Committee’s deliberations.  The Committee had recognised the value of the work that had been carried out by both LEPs and the positive relationship the Council had with them.  Members had appreciated that an overlap created a lack of accountability and that being a member of one LEP would resolve this.  It had been felt that a balance needed to be struck between being part of an LEP that was large enough to be relevant and exert influence, yet not too large for AVDC to lose local influence and identity.  The Committee could not support a "super LEP".

Members were reminded that LEPs had been set up as locally-derived business-led partnerships between the private and public sector to drive forward economic growth across the country.  Announced in 2010 and established in 2011 by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, LEPs had replaced the former Regional Development Agencies as part of Government’s ambition to shift power away from Central Government.  There were now 38 LEPs in existence (following the merger in 2017 of Northamptonshire LEP with South East Midlands LEP)

LEPs were responsible for around £12bn of public funding up to 2021 and were the mechanism for channelling the Local Growth Fund to localities delivering their investment priorities.  One of the great strengths of LEPs was their ability to bring together business and civic leaders across local administrative boundaries and provide strategic direction for a functional economic area.

The Government’s review was looking to ensure that LEPs were securely placed to develop the Local Industrial Strategies and to boost their performance, increase their diversity and ensure they were operating in an open and transparent way.  Amongst the various commitments was a call to LEP Chairs and other stakeholders across England to come forward with considered proposals by the end of September 2018:

·                    on revised geographies which best reflected "real" functional economic areas.

·                    on the most appropriate geographical levels to maximise the efficiency and effectiveness of decision-making and delivery going forward.

·                    to remove overlaps and where appropriate, proposing wider changes such as mergers.

Attached as Appendix 1 to the Cabinet report was a copy of the review and the further detailed guidance issued in August 2018 about the process for implementing the review.

Overlapping geographies had emerged when LEPs had been first formed on a voluntary basis and there were currently 33 local authorities in more than one LEP area.  Aylesbury Vale was one such authority; being a member of both SEMLEP and BTVLEP.

AVDC had been one of the founding members of SEMLEP in March 2011.  It covered a geography that represented a functional economic area for this part of England and as a natural evolution and extension of a designated growth area:  Milton Keynes South Midlands (MKSM) set up in 2003.  After the first wave of LEPs had been approved, there had been certain parts of the country that had not been  represented/covered by an LEP, including the "white space" of southern Buckinghamshire.

The BTVLEP had been the last LEP to be established at the end of 2012.  Aylesbury Vale had been asked by Central Government to volunteer to be a member of the BTVLEP, as the wider Thames Valley LEP did not want to cover the southern Buckinghamshire area.  This overlapping situation had therefore been created from a Government initiated proposal to ensure that there was no "white space" and that the rest of Bucks could be covered by an LEP that was viable at that time.  The only way this could be achieved was for Aylesbury Vale to also be a part of BTVLEP.

AVDC had agreed to be in this overlapping arrangement on the basis that a memorandum of understanding was in place between all of the parties to set out how the LEPs would operate and to protect the interests of Aylesbury Vale in this overlapping arrangement.  A copy of the MoU was included with the Cabinet report.

Government now considered that retaining overlaps diluted accountability and responsibility for setting strategies for places and allocating funding.  It was therefore seeking transparent and consistent arrangements to ensure that all businesses and communities were represented by one Local Enterprise Partnership and were able to see a single vision and a compelling plan for their area.  This would ensure that each LEP was in the best position to identify and align local interventions that maximised their economic impact and to meet the Government’s increased ambition for the activity and responsibility of the LEPs, which could include the allocation of money from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (post-Brexit pot comprising of previous EU structural funds).

A simple unwinding of the 2011/12 arrangement would place the AVDC singly in SEMLEP according to objective economic geography criteria.

The report detailed that there were therefore a number of possible arrangements for Aylesbury and for future LEP arrangements.  These included:-

·                    Just be a member of BTVLEP.

·                    Just be a member of SEMLEP.

·                    Merger of BTVLEP and SEMLEP.

·                    Merger of BTVLEP and Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (OXLEP).

·                    Creation of a "Super LEP" – a merger of BTVLEP, SEMLEP and OXLEP.

Section 4 of the Cabinet report, as well as Appendix 2 and the other appendices, set out the broad pros and cons to each of the above 5 options, as well as detailed information on the geographic, economic (including population and housing growth, house prices) and other factors (e.g. Cambridge – Milton Keynes – Oxford corridor, impacting on Buckinghamshire.  Members considered this information during their discussions, which helped to inform them on a view(s) to present to Government on the preferred option for the Aylesbury Vale area, as well as the views expressed by the Scrutiny Committee.

RESOLVED –

(1)          That the Scrutiny Committee be thanked for their consideration of, and comment on, the LEP Review.

(2)          That officers be authorised to respond to the Government’s consultation on behalf of AVDC that the preferred option for this Council with regards to future LEP arrangements would be  for AVDC to remain a member of SEMLEP and to relinquish its membership of BTVLEP.