Meeting documents

For Members to consider the attached report.

Contact officer: Claire Britton 01296 585471

In July 2018, the government published a policy document entitled Strengthened Local Enterprise Partnerships. The document set out the role and responsibilities of Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) in driving local growth. It set out how government and LEPs would work together to strengthen leadership and capability, improve accountability and manage risk, and provide clarity on geography. The document set out a single mission: to promote productivity by delivering Local Industrial Strategies (LISs). Buckinghamshire Thames Valley Local Enterprise Partnership (BTVLEP) and South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP) had been developing their LISs over recent months and these were informing the development of an overarching LIS for the Oxford - Milton Keynes - Cambridge corridor. The LEPs had agreed to develop their own response to the Industrial Strategy to a certain level by December 2018 which would be used to develop the wider corridor strategy by March 2019.

Ian Barham, Partnership Manager at BTVLEP and Hilary Chipping, Chief Executive at SEMLEP were both in attendance and provided Members with an overview of the content and progress of their respective LISs and how these were informing the development of the wider corridor LIS. Both presentations had levels of overlapping detail which was expected given that Aylesbury Vale was in both LEPs.

SEMLEP

Evidence gathered was being analysed for the LIS and a number of policy themes and propositions had emerged. The first one discussed was the SEMLEP area as the Connected Core of the Oxford-Cambridge Arc as the area had a number of world-class engineering assets, notably Racelogic’s VBOX and the Uniti One; the first electric-vehicle to be produced in the UK. Silverstone Park had the potential to become a digital manufacturing innovation centre. Land within SEMLEP was relatively affordable which meant that the area could become a key commercial part in the arc. To aid this, work was underway in developing the East-West transport links and facilitating talks between businesses and government. Future potential action included specific promotional marketing of the engineering and aerospace sectors, as well as the wider ‘cluster of clusters’, and supporting infrastructural enhancements in transport and broadband. Constraints on business growth in the area were also outlined; out of 2,353 businesses, 33% felt that a lack of skilled labour constrained their business. To address this, SEMLEP were working on their skills plan to improve the labour marketing and increase employer engagement with educators as part of the proposition of employer-led skills development. Potential action included closer working with MK University and the Bletchley Institute of Technology. A proposed Silverstone Sports Innovation Campus was estimated to create 455 new jobs and 250 apprenticeships within the engineering sector. Another theme was the need for improvements to core infrastructure: Energy, Transport and Digital. Along the arc, Aylesbury Vale, Daventry and South Northamptonshire had an above average lack of superfast broadband as well as lack of electricity capacity in the wider area.  Actions already underway included support for east-west links and first mile-last mile connectivity with potential actions identified as supporting linkages to the south of the expressway and the area as an EV exemplar.

A further proposition was identified as ‘piloting a settlement of the future’ as the SEMLEP area was a major contributor to housing growth and had relatively few planning restrictions making it a natural fit for trialling new approaches to placemaking.  A number of pilots in technologies and smarter greener systems and construction methods were potential actions.  The presentation concluded by referencing the proposed actions against the grand challenges in the national industrial strategy and identified next steps of drawing out the conclusions into the wider Arc vision.

BTVLEP

The county had a growing economy with a dynamic and resilient workforce supported by a strong SME business community. Iconic business brands and locations were already in Buckinghamshire: Pinewood, National Film and TV School, Silverstone, Westcott and Stoke Mandeville. BTVLEP had adopted an assets-led approach to developing the Local Industrial Strategy. Through evidence based review and stakeholder conversations, BTVLEP had identified the five economic assets in Buckinghamshire that had and would have the potential to be nationally significant, raise productivity and enable economic growth locally:-

Upstream Space (Westcott)

·         Productivity within this sector was 60% above the national average. The sector, currently valued at £13.7bn, was expected to be valued at £40bn by 2030. Collaboration with the 5G Catapult centre and Innovation / Incubation Centre at Westcott was important for future investment and research collaboration.

Creative & Digital (Pinewood)

·         The core UK film industry contributed £1.6billion to national GDP and Bucks had Pinewood Studios at the heart of the creative cluster which was supported by the National Film and TV School in Beaconsfield.

·         Digital employment was important in Buckinghamshire, having increased 59% in the county since 2011 and the LEP being 3^rd of 38 LEPs in the sector.

Super High Technology (Silverstone)

·         16,000 jobs in Knowledge Intensive Manufacturing in Buckinghamshire which was up 12% since 2015.

·         300,000² ft of Enterprise Zone development planned at Silverstone Park which is at the heart of the Silverstone Technology Cluster.

Growing MedTech and advanced AI

• Assets included the national spinal centre at Stoke Mandeville and there were two planned MedTech innovation hubs.

·         BTVLEP were keen to build on the heritage of Aylesbury Vale being the birthplace of the Paralympic Movement

Intelligent mobility

·         There was a  natural opportunity to connect with National Infrastructure Projects of East West Rail, Heathrow Expansion, HS2 and Expressway

·         5G Test- bed expansion

·         With the proximity of Bucks to Milton Keynes, BTVLEP felt there was a potential centre for ‘Smart, Shared, Sustainable Mobility’ in the county. Proposed developments included linking assets together e.g. high-performance technology at Silverstone with Space at Westcott.

The supporting programmes of activity to the five main propositions are:-

• The Inspiration Revolution
• Digital Everywhere
• The Living Lab
• Commercialising Innovation and Increasing Business Competitiveness

Similarly to SEMLEP, BTVLEP acknowledged the need for full fibre optic broadband coverage to be developed as coverage was poor across large parts of Buckinghamshire and this would hamper growth of county assets. Further work was also needed in educating and training the workforce to meet the needs of businesses.

The presentation concluded with some broad information on how the work would feed into the economic vision for the Arc.  Delivery of the vision will be framed by six essential elements of global innovation systems: iconic brand; liveable & productive place; dynamic business culture; keystone assets; talent attraction & retention and strong financing.

Following the two presentations, Members had further questions and were advised that:-

      i.        The number of apprenticeship applications had remained steady in Buckinghamshire. The LEPs were working with businesses to facilitate apprenticeships as there was uncertainty from businesses on how to apply for the government levy.

     ii.        Although East-West rail and the Expressway were government funded, there was uncertainty on funding to local connections to these routes and innovative ways for funding would need to be developed.

    iii.        There had been an enhanced government focus on LISs in the past few weeks. The LEPs would be working with government for the overall vision in the first quarter of 2019. A ministerial champion would be appointed for the arc and a business would lead would be in place.

   iv.        The LIS would have a review plan to measure KPIs. Potential measures for success included productivity levels and job numbers. Town centres would have a link to the LIS as town centres offered employment opportunities. The LEPs noted that town centres were not just about retail but also about customer experiences.

RESOLVED –

That the overview presentations be noted and the LEP representatives be thanked for their time and attendance.