Agenda and minutes

Venue: Nexus, Discovery Way, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 3AA

Items
No. Item

42.

Chair's Comments

Minutes:

The Chair passed on congratulations from the LEP Board to Shirley Congdon for the University of Bradford being awarded a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education for its world-leading work in developing archaeological technology and techniques and its influence on practice, policy and society.

 

The Board also passed on condolences to Stephen Jones from the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

43.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Simon Pringle, Mandy Ridyard, Kully Thiarai, Councillors James Lewis and Denise Jeffery and guests Peter Mucklow, Andrew Cooper and Andrew Waller.

 

44.

Declarations of Interest

In accordance with the requirements of the LEP Board Members’ Code of Conduct, members have an obligation to review their register of interests before each meeting and to declare any interests.

 

If an interest has not been entered onto the LEP’s register, then members must disclose the interest at any meeting at which they are present and where they have a disclosable interest in any matter being considered and where the matter is not a sensitive interest.

Minutes:

In accordance with the requirements of the LEP Board Member’s Code of Conduct, Members were reminded of their obligations to review their individual register of interests before each LEP Board meeting and to declare any interests.

45.

Exclusion of the Press and Public

1.         To highlight Agenda Item 5, Appendix 1 which officers have identified as containing exempt information within the meaning of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, and where officers consider that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, for the reasons outlined in the report.

 

2.         To consider whether or not to accept the officers’ recommendation in respect of the above information as set out Agenda Item 5, Appendix 1.

 

3.         If the recommendation is accepted, to formally pass the following resolution:-

 

RESOLVED – That in accordance with paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of Agenda Item 5, Appendix 1 on the grounds that it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the press and public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information and for the reasons set out in the report that in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

 

Minutes:

Resolved: That in accordance with paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of Agenda Item 5, Appendix 1 on the grounds that it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the press and public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information and for the reasons set out in the report that in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in disclosing the information.

46.

Minutes of the meeting held on 15 September 2021

Minutes:

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 15 September 2021 be approved and signed by the Chair.

47.

West Yorkshire Business Accelerator Fund pdf icon PDF 240 KB

(Led by: Brian Archer, Author: Brian Archer)

Minutes:

The Board considered a report from the Director of Economic Services on the West Yorkshire Business Accelerator Fund.

 

The Board noted the anticipated return of £26m from the £35.5m of Growing Places capital funding. The Director noted that a failure rate of 15- 20% is typical for a fund of this type. It was also noted that the proposed West Yorkshire Business Accelerator Limited Partnership (WYBALP) will support the recovery strategy and Mayoral pledges. The WYBALP would increase equity investment in West Yorkshire and provide providing a good opportunity to compete with the South of England East or London had much higher levels of investment. Members were pleased to note support for BAME businesses had been highlighted.

 

Members asked if there would be support available for smaller business so that they can apply for the fund as they may not have the capacity and skill base to create bids. The Board were informed that an investment ready programme was being developed as part of the Growth Service to help smaller businesses with this issue.

 

It was highlighted that one of the key roles that the LEP Board can fulfil is guiding and providing support to entrepreneurs and businesses when they enter the funding ecosystem as it is complex and can be difficult to navigate. The Board were pleased that the WYBALP is due to launch in Quarter 1 2022.

 

The Board supported the procurement of a Fund Manager and looked forward to meeting the successful bidder once contract award has been made.

 

Resolved:

 

(i)         That the LEP Board support the establishment of the West Yorkshire Business Accelerator Limited Partnership.

(ii)        That the LEP Board supports £21,650,000 of the anticipated £36,000,000 of recovered Growing Places Funding (which represents 83.3% of the total anticipated returned funding) to be invested in the West Yorkshire Business Accelerator Limited Partnership.

48.

West Yorkshire Trade Strategy pdf icon PDF 351 KB

(Led by: Brian Archer/Liz Hunter, Author: Alex Clarke)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair of the Business, Economy and Innovation Committee (BEIC) presented the West Yorkshire Trade Strategy to the Board.

The Strategy was presented at the meeting of the BEIC held 18 October 2021. Unprecedented changes to the international trading environment faced by businesses over the last two years offers an opportunity to consider what West Yorkshire’s priorities should be to support businesses to maximise the benefits of trading internationally. This coincides with the end of the LEP’s current International Trade Plan (2016-21). Challenges such as the UK leaving the EU and the COVID-19 pandemic have also impacted the way in which businesses trade internationally.

The Director of Economic Services explained that the West Yorkshire Trade Strategy had three areas of collective action with partners that will support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on their journey to trading internationally; to influence, to inform & inspire and to impact. In addition to these key areas of action, the strategy outlines the distinct offer in West Yorkshire, identifying key sectoral strengths, strong academic ecosystem, the diversity and youth of the workforce and links to national institutions.

The Board welcomed the strategy’s focus on SMEs and understood this is a highly complex environment. Signposting for SMEs is key. The inclusion of existing services from West Yorkshire, such as cultural offerings like musicals and theatre shows, was noted as these can go unnoticed in relation to international exports.

Members highlighted the difficulty of conducting business in countries that do not have the bureaucratic structure established to be able to create acceptable proposals to engage in trade with UK businesses.

The Board asked the Chair and Director of Economic Services several questions to help refine the draft and place it in a suitable context:

·         Could an aspirational goal be used as a performance indicator? The ‘Race to a Trillion’ in the Department for International Trade’s new export strategy was used as an example.

·         Will the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) record international students and entrepreneurs?

·         Can any of the work that was conducted in the preparation for the Industrial Strategy, published in 2017, be used in conjunction with this strategy?

·         Can a success metric be used that will capture if businesses are working towards carbon neutrality?

·         Have any UK Trade Envoys been engaged with the strategy? Member’s highlighted that Dewsbury MP Mark Eastwood is the UK Trade Envoy for Pakistan.

Resolved: That the LEP Board will receive a revised West Yorkshire Trade Strategy (2022-2025) at a future meeting that will incorporate the Board’s comments.

49.

Healthtech Strategy pdf icon PDF 132 KB

(Lead by: Liz Hunter, Author: Sarah Bowes)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Regional Healthtech Lead presented the Healthtech Strategy to the Board.

The strategy noted that the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the need and desire to address entrenched health and economic inequalities throughout the UK. Health innovation supports both economic growth and health outcomes and Leeds City Region has the resources to be a centre of health ideas and innovation. The West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership (WYHCP) five-year plan has already identified this critical opportunity.

The COVID-19 vaccine was highlighted as an example of the impact that can be made through collective effort to harness research and deploy innovation, with the support of the whole system around it. The Healthtech strategy has the potential to help improve the health of citizens throughout the region. Collaboration between the WYHCP, academic partners and NHS partners will drive the strategy.

The Board noted that all regional universities are represented in the strategy and welcomed the depth of partnership working on this cross-cutting agenda. Members sought clarity on the KPIs and measures of success of the strategy. The strategy has fourteen priorities and needs clear focus to ensure that it is implemented successfully. It was noted that five NHS Trust Headquarters are located in the region highlighting how central the region can be for Healthtech nationally.

The Board acknowledged that the Healthtech landscape is changing quickly and this strategy will allow the region to engage with it effectively. Members stated that Healthtech is too important for us to set our ambition too low. The Healthtech Strategy is powerful statement of ambition, and the next step will be focusing down the fourteen priorities to ensure that it can be implemented effectively and setting clear performance metrics.

Resolved:

(i)         That the LEP Board were supportive in principle of the Healthtech Strategy and, subject to clarification of the 14 priorities to make the next steps, performance metrics and deliverables clearer; members of the Board will be involved in this work to finalise the articulation of the priorities and will report this back to a future meeting of the LEP.

(ii)        That, subject to these changes being made, the Healthtech Strategy will be presented to a future meeting of the Combined Authority for its consideration and adoption.

50.

Integrated Rail Plan

(Led by: Ben Still)

Minutes:

The Mayor updated the LEP Board on their response to the announcement of the Integrated Rail Plan by the Department for Transport. The Mayor expressed her profound disappointment with the proposed Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) and highlighted the cancellation of the planned high speed rail route to West Yorkshire (HS2) and Northern Powerhouse Rail as key failings. The Mayor pledged to continue working with elected members from all areas affected by the IRP and across the North of England to ask the Government to re-examine the plan.

 

The Managing Director of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority presented the Board with the details of the IRP. The Board noted that every review of transport and connectivity between West Yorkshire and the South of England has recommended HS2 being extended to the region to stimulate growth, apart from the IRP. The Board highlighted the disappointing outcomes for Northern Powerhouse Rail, especially for Bradford. The confirmations regarding TransPennine Route update were broadly welcomed, although concerns exist over the impact on local services and disruption during construction. Members also voiced concern that much economic planning in the public and private sectors throughout West Yorkshire since the announcement of HS2 in 2009 was predicated on it being completed and this will severely impact those plans.

 

The LEP Board thanked the Managing Director for their presentation and expressed their support for the Mayor in their efforts to successfully lobby the Government to rethink the IRP.

51.

COP 26 - Next Steps pdf icon PDF 327 KB

(Led by: Liz Hunter, Author: Daniel Barrett)

Minutes:

The Head of Economic Policy presented the COP 26 – Next Steps report to inform the Board of the outcomes, implications and next steps following the conclusion of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26), Glasgow.

 

The Board noted that with the Glasgow Climate Pact agreed, the target for limiting the rise in global temperatures to 1.5C is at risk and many are looking to the private sector to intervene. It is predicted that trillions of dollars are needed to combat the climate crisis and to support low-income nations. Developed nations failed to meet the $100bn finance target, which has now been renegotiated to be delivered through to 2025, and there is no guarantee that this target will not be missed again. Policymakers and negotiators are looking to the private sector to transform the net-zero movement.

 

The Mayor informed the Board that they had attended COP26 to speak at some events and found the event inspirational but found the final document disappointing and hoped that it had had more impactful pledges within.

 

Resolved:

 

(i)         That the LEP Board notes the contents of the report.

(ii)        That the LEP Board endorses the roles and actions that business will need to play and take forward to tackle the climate emergency.

52.

Business Productivity Programme pdf icon PDF 291 KB

(Led by: Brian Archer, Author: Brian Archer)

Minutes:

The Chair of the Business, Enterprise and Innovation Committee presented the Business Productivity Programme to the Board. This report highlighted the continued development of a new Business Productivity Programme following the endorsement of the BEIC at its inaugural meeting on 18 October 2021.

 

The report highlighted the importance of business productivity to the recovery and future strong economic performance of West Yorkshire and recognised there was an £8.5bn productivity gap between West Yorkshire and the UK average and this was calculated before the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Improving business productivity has therefore been highlighted as a key objective of the West Yorkshire Strategic Investment Framework.

 

The Board were informed that the criteria for eligible businesses will be further refined and the role of social enterprises and cooperatives will be explored, to ensure that future programmes were focused on addressing inequality and supporting companies would have not previously accessed support.

 

The Board thanked the Chair for their report and passed on their thanks to Andrew Wright for his previous work on this agenda as the Chair of the former Business, Innovation and Growth Panel.

 

Resolved: That the LEP Board’s input to the potential for a new Business Productivity Programme is noted.

53.

HGV and PSV Driver Shortages pdf icon PDF 131 KB

(Led by: Brian Archer, Author: Michelle Burton)

Minutes:

The Director of Economic Services presented a report on HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) and PSV (Passenger Carrying Vehicle) Driver Shortages to update the Board on activity to explore issues around driver shortages and actions being taken at a West Yorkshire level.

 

An acute shortage of active HGV drivers in the UK has attracted widespread attention with impacts on the wider economy becoming more evident. A combination of factors contributed to the situation but many are long standing issues that have been compounded by recent events.

 

The Chair of the LEP Board and the Mayor of West Yorkshire held a roundtable with the HGV and PSV sectors to better understand the impact on West Yorkshire, vacancy issues, barriers to recruitment and links to training and employment. The Board were informed that because of concerns raised at the roundtable a number of options will be explored by the Combined Authority:

 

1.      The Adult Education Budget Funding Rules will be amended to allow providers to claim the funding for PSV, HGV and Medical licenses. This will make training programmes much more viable.

2.      Bus Driver Apprenticeship Schemes.

3.      How can the Authority make best use of unspent levy funds for these sectors.

4.      Learning from and/or mirroring the training provision other Mayoral Combined Authorities have developed to address driver shortages.

 

Resolved: That the LEP Board notes the report.

54.

State of the Region pdf icon PDF 151 KB

(Led by: Alan Reiss, Author: Peter Glover)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Director of Strategy, Communications and Policing presented the State of the Region report to the Board to provide an update on State of the Region, including details of published outputs, key messages and future plans.

 

State of the Region 2021 is the first annual review of the performance of West Yorkshire against key socio-economic and environmental indicators. The report is intended to provide a stocktake of where West Yorkshire currently stands, using a basket of 40 headline indicators developed as part of the Combined Authority’s Strategic Economic Framework. Regular updates will be presented to committees at the Combined Authority. The Authority’s continued progress on equality, diversity and inclusion will be reflected in future updates as the headline indicators are refreshed regularly.

 

Key messages from the report include:

 

·         Productivity is increasing in West Yorkshire.

·         Life expectancy in West Yorkshire remains lower than the England average.

·         The proportion of people with no/low qualifications in West Yorkshire is falling and the deficit with the national average narrowed in 2020.

·         Per capita emissions of carbon dioxide in West Yorkshire are below the national average and are on a downward trend.

·         Before the COVID-19 pandemic West Yorkshire saw a decline in trips made by car and an increase in walking but West Yorkshire is still more reliant on the car than nationally.

·         Prior to the pandemic West Yorkshire was the only northern Combined Authority area to achieve a positive net fiscal balance.

 

Members asked if geo-spatial data could be included in future report so areas of deprivation could be easily identified. The LEP Board thanked the Economic Evidence Manager and his team for producing this report.

 

Resolved: That the LEP Board notes the publication of the State of the Region report.

55.

Committees Update Report pdf icon PDF 272 KB

(Led by: Angela Taylor, Author: James Young)

Minutes:

The Board received updates from the six Thematic Committees at the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

 

The Business, Economy and Innovation Committee has undertaken cross-committee working with other committees and has received key reports such as the West Yorkshire Business Accelerator Fund and the West Yorkshire Trade Strategy.

 

The Climate, Energy and Environment Committee approved the West Yorkshire Climate and Environment Plan at its inaugural meeting and is the Mayor and Combined Authority’s response to tackling the climate emergency, protecting the environment and achieving a net zero West Yorkshire. The Committee also approved the White Rose Forest Action Plan which aims to plant seven million trees by 2025 in the White Rose Forest community forest.

 

The Culture, Arts and Creative Industries Committee’s inaugural meeting was not quorate due to an administrative error. Although the Committee was inquorate, the meeting took place as an informal meeting to enable those in attendance to provide input into the future workstream of the Committee. In considering its role in delivery of the mayoral pledges and, in particular the Creative New Deal, members asked to focus on effecting long term change, developing leadership with the sector and sustainable approaches to improving the socio-economic, disability and diversity of both practitioners and participants.

 

The Employment and Skills Committee received an update and endorsed the approach to the development of the mayoral pledges of ‘1000 skilled green jobs for young people’ and ‘prioritise skills and training so that everyone has access to good work’. The Committee reviewed and agreed the forward plan and prioritised skills brokerage and support for businesses for further exploration.

 

The Place, Regeneration and Housing Committee received an update on the delivery of the Brownfield Housing Fund and a report seeking approval of the revised Strategic Planning Review recommendations. The Committee learnt of the oppurtunities and challenges of the Mayor’s pledge to support the delivery of 5000 affordable homes in West Yorkshire over the next three years.

 

The Transport Committee noted that the Combined Authority was awarded £830m as its City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement in the Government’s spending review. Details are being developed with Department for Transport officials to utilise this funding to enable the Combined Authority to start developing its plans for a mass transit system and progress plans to improve the bus network with bus priority with more zero-emission electric buses and to support sustainable and active travel.

 

Resolved: That the LEP Board notes the updates from the Thematic Committees.

56.

Governance Arrangements pdf icon PDF 221 KB

(Led by: Angela Taylor, Author: Julie Haigh)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Head of Legal and Governance Services presented the Governance Arrangments report to the LEP Board.

 

The Board noted that the Business Communications Group (BCG) was having its role and membership reviewed and supported the recommendation that member of the Board Mark Roberts become Chair of the BCG going forward. The Board were informed a number of existing private sector Committee member’s terms of office on Combined Authority committees were due to come to an end imminently. Members agreed with the proposal that their terms are extended as a reflection of the valuable contribution they make to the work of the Committees and the LEP. This will ensure continuity whilst work is ongoing to refresh membership of all the Committees over the coming months.

 

Members noted the error in Appendix 1 to the report in relation to Colin Glass’ current term of office and the entry should read “26 September 2022”.

 

Resolved:

 

(i)         That the LEP Board note the contents of the report.

(ii)        That the LEP Board agree the recommendations in relation to private sector members of the Combined Authority Committees and propose these to the Combined Authority at their next meeting.

57.

Corporate Performance pdf icon PDF 129 KB

(Led by: Angela Taylor, Author: Louise Porter)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Director, Corporate and Commercial Services presented the latest Corporate Performance update report to the Board.

 

The Board noted external audit work on the 2020/21 final accounts were concluded, published and reported/approved by the Governance and Audit Committee and the wider Corporate Plan for 2022/23 is currently being developed.

 

Resolved: That the LEP Board note the corporate performance information provided.

 

58.

Any Other Business

59.

Economic Update pdf icon PDF 142 KB

(Led by: Alan Reiss, Author: Peter Glover)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The LEP Board note the latest intelligence around the economic impacts of COVID-19 and EU Exit and consider how this relates to their work and future plans.

60.

Draft Minutes of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority Held 22 October 2021 pdf icon PDF 199 KB

Minutes:

The LEP Board note the draft minutes of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority held 22 October 2021.

61.

Date of Next Meeting

The next meeting will be held on 26 January 2022.

Minutes:

The next meeting will be held on Wednesday 26 January 2022.