Agenda and minutes

There were no disclosable pecuniary interests.

(a)  To agree the Minutes of the meeting held on 5^th December 2018

(b)  Matters arising

The minutes of the meeting held on 5^th December 2018 were agreed and signed as a true record.

Further to minute 25/18 headed ‘Coventry City Council and West Midlands Manufacturing Group: Driving Growth in Partnership’, the Board were informed that an all Member Seminar had been arranged for 27th February 2019 on the future plans for development in the city.

Presentation and Briefing Note of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place)

The Business, Economy and Enterprise Scrutiny Board (3) received a briefing note and presentation from the Deputy Chief Executive (Place) on the support the Council gave to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the role of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce and Coventry & Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP). 

There were nearly 10,000 SMEs in Coventry and this business community played an integral role in the local economy for both wealth creation and employment and also its contribution to local business rates. It was vital that SMEs were given the best chance of success through the support available from the Council and Partner organisations. The Council had a proactive approach to partnership working, constantly redeveloping existing networks and finding new connections. Currently the Economic Development Service (EDS) was supporting the emerging Local Industrial Strategy for West Midlands which set strategic objectives and brought major new aspirational projects for Coventry which would ultimately open up supply chain opportunities for SMEs.

EDS was proficient at supporting Coventry’s SMEs through the provision of advice and support with access to finance and infrastructure. This was facilitated by building effective relationships with key representative bodies such as the CWLEP Growth Hub and the Chamber of Commerce, relationships to provide the delivery of a suite of business support programmes. The varied support included advice on access to grants/loans, new start-up support, skills support or lobbying government to develop policy or access funding. The Growth Hub’s initial diagnostic on a business helped to filter the appropriate business support to Partner organisations such as the Council, Universities, Chamber, Princes Trust etc.

EDS were currently managing three European Regional Development (ERDF) Business Support Programmes valued at £11.9 million, including £4.75 million in grants available for business within Coventry and Warwickshire up until December 2021. The previous ERDF Support Programme which ended 31st December 2018 awarded £4.5m in grant funding, generating £16.8 million of private sector investment and supported 264 start-up enterprises. With 867 SMEs receiving non-financial support. In addition, the Green Business Programme had saved over 11,600 tonnes of greenhouse gases by supporting businesses. This combined support had generated 775 new jobs in the local economy.

New start-up support was provided by the Chamber of Commerce through a dedicated project offering specialist on business planning, finance, marketing and 1-2-1 mentoring and coaching. It also offered dedicated support around exporting. To ensure SMEs possessed the necessary digital skills to benefit from opportunities generated by new technology, the Chamber also offered specialist ICT advice such as developing a digital marketing plan, implementing Superfast/Ultrafast broadband and moving to the Cloud. 

Through the EDS Skills 4 Growth programme, a total of 22 SMEs had been supported to train over 60 employees. The social value work around the planning process had been recognised nationally and this year 786 local people were now employed on sites with Skills and Employment plans. The work had facilitated investment in digital infrastructure, recently being awarded £5.7m through the Local Full Fibre Network Fund Wave 2 and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

Briefing Note of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place)

The Business, Economy and Enterprise Scrutiny Board (3) received a briefing note of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place) that provided a summary of the key challenges and changes the ‘high street’ was currently experiencing and how the Council was working to ensure that the flagship ‘City Centre South’ development scheme was embracing these challenges to deliver a scheme fit for the future.

Whilst ‘the high street’, and town and city centres had always faced challenges and dynamic change, the past ten years had seen a number of factors come together to create a period of unprecedented upheaval. Beginning with the major economic downturn in 2008, the upheaval resulted from the continued importance of out-of-town shopping centres and supermarkets, the rapid rise in online shopping (Internet retailing was more popular in the UK than any other country in the European Union) and wider shifts in consumer spending and behaviour, that had created a situation where what the customers of today and the future want wasn’t being delivered by traditional retail-led high street environments. The last three years had seen a string of well-known retailers entering into insolvency or administration resulting in hundreds of store closures in high streets across the country, affecting the high street rather than out of town stores.

This challenging context had been well researched and had been met with wide ranging reviews that influenced national policy responses. The Portas Review in 2011, reviews from the ex-CEO of Iceland and Wickes, Bill Grimsey, in 2013 and 2018, and a review by Sir John Timpson in December 2018 which were underpinned by a focus on the future success of the British high street requiring a ‘complete community hub solution’ where uses such as public realm, housing, health, education, the arts, workspace and leisure became as much a part of a town or city centre as retail traditionally had. This was reinforced by wider demographic changes and a subsequent reshaping of the housing market which was resulting in more housing types being brought forward in city and town centres, often with a focus on young people, professionals and, increasingly, older people all of who placed increasing value on the benefits of city centre living.

In January 2017, following an Office of the Journal of the European Union (OJEU) compliant procurement process, Cabinet and Council approved the appointment of Shearer Property Group (SPG) as the preferred bidder for the City Centre South (CCS) scheme and authorised that the Council enter into the necessary contractual arrangements with SPG to bring forward the delivery of the CCS scheme. CCS, the Council's key regeneration priority for the city centre, would transform some of the most tired and out dated areas of the city centre, including Bull Yard, Shelton Square, City Arcade and Hertford Street. The vision for the scheme approved by Cabinet in January 2017 was for a vibrant mixed use redevelopment, including new shops, car park, restaurants, leisure provision and homes, all set within a high quality environment for businesses, shoppers,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

There are no outstanding issues

There were no outstanding issues.

Report of the Scrutiny Co-ordinator

The Business, Economy and Enterprise Scrutiny Board (3) considered the Work Programme for 2018/2019 and discussed the scheduling of proposed issues for consideration at future meetings of the Board.

Members were informed that an additional meeting of the Board had been arranged for 20th March 2019.

The Board noted that the report back on attendance at the two Economic Engagement Visit to China, would now be submitted to the Board in the next Municipal Year.

RESOLVED that the Business, Economy and Enterprise Scrutiny Board (3) notes the Board’s Work Programme for 2018/2019, including the additional meeting arranged for 20^th March 2019 and the re-scheduling of the report back on the Economic Engagement Visits to China.

There were no other items of private business.