Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

(a)   To agree the Minutes of the meeting held on 13^th November 2013.

(b)  Matters Arising.

The minutes of the meeting held on 13^th November 2013 were agreed and signed as a true record. There were no matters arising.

As the Council is the accountable body for the funding that is managed and distributed by the Local Enterprise Partnership, the Board will look at how the funding is contributing to and supporting the CWLEP Strategic Plan and progress.

Presentation by the Executive Director, Place

The Board received a presentation from the Executive Director, Place, on the financial accountability of the Coventry & Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP).

The Executive Director, Place, reported that the LEP sought to ensure that all private and public sector parties in the region worked together to make a difference to the economy and increase prosperity. His presentation provided details of the funding that was managed by the LEP and the progress of the Partnership. He reported on:

·  The Council’s representation on the Board that included the Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member (Business, Enterprise and Employment).

·  The Executive Director’s role as LEP Chief Executive.

·  The Grants Investment Panel, comprising 4 Coventry City Council representatives (one of whom is the Executive Director, Place, who Chair’s the Panel) as the Accountable Body and 2 partner representatives.

·  Coventry City Council External Funding Board (Chaired by Assistant Director, Resources), that ensures that the Council’s risk is mitigated and/or managed, operates a check and balance role, and has an associated Internal Officer Board. 

·  An outline of the Coventry and Warwickshire LEP funds, totalling £71.1m, £42m of which is managed by Coventry City Council.

·  The management of funds through an experienced External Funding Team, an experienced Programme Management Team and through validated and commended processes and systems.

·  The working relationship between the public and private sector established through the LEP.

The Board discussed a number of matters arising from the presentation including:

·  Outline of the LEP – Private sector led, political accountable body, high level representatives from Private Sector.

·  Checks and balances of decision makers and the audit process.

·  Interests of LEP Board Members – conflicts of interest/vested interests.

·  Scrutinising the work of the LEP.

·  City Deal – summary of current position, the new ’clearing house’ arrangements and Public Sector barriers.

·  Partnership working between Public and Private Sector.

·  Funding allocation and the projects and schemes supported.

RESOLVED that the Business, Economy and Enterprise Board (3) notes the presentation and requests that a briefing note providing a breakdown of funding allocation and details of the projects/schemes funded by the LEP in Coventry, be circulated to all Elected Members.

To enable the Board to feed into the consultation process on the CWLEP Strategic Plan.

The draft Strategic Plan can be found at http://www.cwlep.com/strategic-economic-plan

Presentation by the Executive Director, Place

(Note: All Members of the Council have been invited to attend the meeting for consideration of this matter.)

The Board received a presentation from the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership Operations Director, that provided an overview of the  Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) Strategic Plan and the Consultation Process. The full draft document was available on the LEP Website at http://www.cwlep.com/strategic-economic-plan.

The Operations Director reported that the LEP was a public/private sector partnership working to deliver growth and had a £2bn pot of funding available nationally that the LEP areas could bid into for 2015/2016. It was estimated that Coventry and Warwickshire would receive a £50m allocation.

The presentation provided a summary of development of the Strategy covering:

·  A summary of the growth plan, local growth and growth priorities.

·  The refined vision – rationale, vision, strategic objectives.

·  Strategic Economic Plan Structure.

·  Strategic Economic Plan Investment – Transport, Digital, Innovation and Small/medium Enterprises, finance, skills, employment.

·  Political and Financial Accountability.

·  Coventry’s involvement in the draft Strategic Economic Plan – CWLEP Board of Directors, the Joint Committee, involvement of key Council Officers as scriptwriters, current bidding and value.

The Board discussed the Plan and commented on a number of matters arising from the presentation including:

·  City Deal – although centred around manufacturing and engineering should cover other Sectors.

·  Infrastructure: Sites and Planning – streamlining planning, Coventry’s planning service, pre-application advice.

·  Employment for Young People – apprenticeships and programmes of employment.

·  Skills gaps and barriers to growth– LEP support for skills development, education establishments linking with businesses to identify skill needs, businesses investing in skills training.

·  Encouraging links between LEP with health, education, social value and culture to maximise benefits.

RESOLVED that the Business, Economy and Enterprise Board (3) Board notes the presentation and requests that their comments are fed into the consultation process.

Overview of recent provision and presentation by Imagineer Productions Ltd

The Board received a briefing by the Council’s Service Manager: Sports and Arts, that provided an overview of recent Events provision. The Events budget totalled £645,000 per annum. The Events Team, based in the Council’s Place Directorate, managed the programme of activities across the City and co-ordinated work between the Local Authority’s sports, arts and cultural services. Positive outcomes of events were highlighted and included: economic benefits; community participation; skills development; and employment opportunities for the City of Coventry.

The Board also received a presentation by Imagineer Productions Limited on  the Godiva Carnival and Godiva Awakes events that they had co-ordinated.

The presentation provided a history of the Coventry Carnival and details of:  promotion of the event; the awards received; recognition of the work; records of success; and links to organisations. The Carnival was now a group of creative and cultural events held within the boundary of the Ring Road in City Centre open spaces.

The presentation also focussed on Godiva Awakes which was created as part of the 2012 Olympiad and now continues in on-going events: to re-engage participants and artists from the Olympic year and bring new artists into the City; to create positive media profile and for the City; to link to the message of peace and reconciliation; to promote Coventry’s status as a cycling City, to provide a platform for the launch of ‘Coventry on the Move’; and to engage local businesses.

A key feature of Godiva productions was its link with manufacturing and engineering promoted through the work of Imaginarium, a strand of Imagineer Productions Limited, who are piloting work with 3 local schools and engineering companies. The children will design and project-manage the production of models that would be used as a celebration of engineering in future Carnival events. 

Members acknowledged the positive outcomes of events in the City and the Board’s desire for a consultative role for future event planning and requested further information providing a breakdown of the Events budget and details of projects funded, including measured outcomes against expenditure. The Board also requested that the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership be encouraged to work with Imagineer Productions Limited whose work demonstrated the LEPs aim to promote manufacturing and engineering in schools.

RESOLVED that the Business, Economy and Enterprise Scrutiny Board (3) requested that:

(1)  The presentation is noted.

(2)  A breakdown of the events budget and details of the projects funded, including measured outcomes against expenditure, be submitted to the March 2014 meeting of the Board.

(3)  Representatives of the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership be requested to liaise with Imagineer Productions Limited to discuss the possible promotion of a cultural offer in the Strategic Economic Plan.

Outstanding Issues are included in the Work Programme.

The outstanding issues were included in the Work Programme.

Report of the Scrutiny Co-ordinator

The Board noted the Work programme items for the remainder of the Municipal year and requested that an item headed ‘City of Culture Bid’ be included in the list of matters to be carried over to the 2014/2015 Work Programme.

There were no other items of public business.

To evaluate the effectiveness of the meeting.

The Board commented that the presentations had been very informative and the discussions very useful. To enable Members to prepare for future meetings, the Board emphasised the need for written documentation to be prepared for each agenda item and circulated in advance of the meetings with the agenda.

The comments given by Members would be used to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of future meetings.