Agenda and minutes

Venue: Due to Covid-19, this meeting will be held remotely and will be livestreamed here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCazjNSGpqZZT41Vibn2ZK9A/live (copy and paste the link in your browser)

Items
No. Item

62.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies from Shirley Congdon, Helen Featherstone, Councillors James Lewis, Denise Jeffery and Shabir Pandor and guests Tom Riordan and Peter Mucklow.

63.

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.

64.

Exclusion of the Press and Public

Minutes:

There were no items on the agenda that required the exclusion of the press and public.

65.

Minutes of the meeting held on 30 November 2021 pdf icon PDF 333 KB

Minutes:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 30 November 2021 be approved.

66.

Committees Update Report pdf icon PDF 328 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, Enterprise and Industry Committee (BEIC) endorsed the West Yorkshire Business Accelerator Plan which had previously been discussed by the LEP. The committee also received a report on the three strands of the entrepreneurship initiatives. The first two strands offering one-to-many support about how to set up a business and support for new business are now running and are achieving the desired targets of involvement. The third strand of the initiative offering support for larger business start-ups had its tender closed on the 15 January, and further updates to the board can be provided once the outcomes are known.

 

Discussions were held regarding the amount of overlap between the BEIC and other committees such as the Employment and Skills Committee and the Climate, Energy and Environment Committee, and there is a desire to discuss and understand each committee’s work in more detail. The Manufacturing Taskforce has met for the first time, breaking down into five further sub-committees who will reconvene to discuss ideas.

 

The Climate, Energy and Environment Committee had discussions regarding the decarbonisation of transport, the carbon impact of Combined Authority schemes, and nature recovery. Committee members are keen to further some of the discussed work outside of meetings, and the establishment of sub-committees may be a means by which to achieve that aim. A report was received regarding the Social Housing Decarbonisation fund, and there was a presentation given by the Northern Power Grid.

 

Members noted that there is finance being made available by banks and other organisations to support decarbonisation schemes. In many cases the projects do not meet the criteria to be awarded funding, however if the Combined Authority was to ensure these criteria are met, the extra funding may become available. Members noted the suggestion and the potential opportunities to obtain funding for the Leeds City Region and offered to take it forward outside of the meeting.

 

The Place, Regenerations and Housing Committee has approved the West Yorkshire Mass Transit Statement of Intent. The Committee has a large interest in the Brownfield Housing Fund and will be able to provide strong input into the direction of new developments to further inclusive growth within the region.

 

The Culture, Arts and Creative Industries Committee is working to outline its aims over the coming years, with a focus on mass participation and those, especially from areas of deprivation, who are not typically engaged with the arts. The committee will make use of the Cultural Framework endorsed by the LEP Board to help with narrowing down the aims of the committee. Discussions are also being held regarding how to support cultural events within the West Yorkshire region to encourage engagement and investment, as well as create new opportunities for inclusion and employment.

 

The Creative Catalyst project is ongoing, and LEP members were encouraged to consider if they would be interested in becoming a mentor for the creative industries. Members noted that a partnership  ...  view the full minutes text for item 66.

67.

Mayor's Update

Minutes:

Board members were encouraged to contact the Mayor with positive economic updates as the end of the pandemic approaches.

 

The Mayor expressed thanks to Kate Hainsworth for her on-going work leading on the Fair Work Charter, which is gaining significant interest from businesses within West Yorkshire, and reflects similar charters in Manchester and Liverpool. A pan-northern approach is being considered and there is a proposal for a private sector anchor progression framework to encourage more partners to join the charter.

 

A pre-consultation engagement event was held in Bradford to hear wider views from faith and Black, Asian minority ethnic groups and another will be held with the Bradford Chamber Leadership Group. The Charter will be presented to the West Yorkshire Combined Authority directors with a proposed launch in July 2022.

 

The role of Inclusivity Champion has been agreed to be part-time with support from senior officers. West Yorkshire Healthcare Partnership have agreed to part-fund the Champion’s role, and the funding will help to conduct reviews into health and opportunity inequality across the region. The role’s responsibilities are still to be confirmed and a briefing has been arranged with the LEP Chair, the Healthcare Partnership, diversity champions, and the Combined Authority directors.

68.

Economic Update pdf icon PDF 133 KB

(Led by: Alan Reiss, Author: Thomas Purvis)

Minutes:

The Board considered a report of the Director of Strategy, Communications and Policing regarding the latest intelligence concerning the impact of COVID-19 and the EU Exit.

 

It was raised that, as with the response to the pandemic, LEP members should consider their response to the issues caused by the rising cost of living to lessen the impact on the people of West Yorkshire as much as possible. The Director assured the Board that many of the long-term initiatives of the Combined Authority intended to contribute to lessening the financial impact on the public. Improvements to public transport, investments in retrofitting inefficient properties, and improving the skills of adults contribute towards tackling inequality and creating better economic opportunities for those who are disadvantaged. The short-term issues are more difficult to address, however there are options to explore regarding providing funding to community organisations which will allow them to resolve specific community issues. The Chair agreed that the issue is important to tackle both in the short and long term and suggested it to be furthered by the mayoral and civic leaders in direct dialogue with the national government.

 

Resolved: That the LEP Board note the latest intelligence around the economic impacts of Covid-19 and Eu Exit and considered how it relates to their work and future work plans.

69.

West Yorkshire Trade Strategy pdf icon PDF 330 KB

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

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The International Trade Manager presented the West Yorkshire Trade Strategy to the Board.

 

The Chair reminded the Board of the previous discussion regarding the strategy, and the general agreement that there was more work to be done on the topic. Since the previous LEP meeting the Chair and the Mayor participated in the launch of the export strategy, and highlighted that the line, ‘Made in the UK, sold to the world’ misses the key offers of the service sector which is strong in the Leeds City Region. The Chair noted that private sector LEP board members have been consulted and the feedback has been positive, and that approval of the whole board is sought for their approval.

 

Officers outlined the purpose of the trade strategy and welcomed the previous discussions and feedback. One of the points raised about the strategy related to the perceived lack of targets for the strategy. Officers explained that though targets are an important means to track progress, and the intention was always for targets to be explored further, it was uncertain at the time of drafting the report which targets would be relevant or valid to include. A tender was put out for an organisation to provide support to identify, set, and track a suitable target for the strategy. Leeds University Business   has successfully won   the tender, and a meeting is scheduled for the beginning of February to further the discussions in more detail. Baseline metrics should be available by the end of March 2022, and a year one report will be ready at the end of March 2023 to assess progress. Possible target metrics include;

 

     The value of exports for manufacturing and service industries.

     The Leeds City Region vs the UK/other regions.

     Looking at specific industries for development.

     Analysing the market shares of industries/exports and comparisons with the Leeds City Region.

 

The Chair emphasised that the Leeds City Region can be a key player in the national ambition to raise UK exports from around £600bn to £1tn, and there are some key considerations in how the Leeds City Region can contribute to that target and explore trade opportunities with new and emerging economies.

 

Board members thanked officers for the engagement and conversations regarding the Trade Strategy and for the resulting revisions. It was noted that the Business Communications Group expressed many positive comments about the strategy and the amount of support available for businesses. Concerns were raised about the ease of access to the support, especially SMEs which perhaps don’t benefit from in-house expertise or links with larger international trade initiatives.

 

Members noted that an absence of guidance from central government on trade strategy had not impeded the development of a robust and beneficial strategy for West Yorkshire. The Board thanked officers for their revisions to the trade strategy and noted how it now answered many of the questions that they had previously raised.

 

Resolved: That the LEP Board endorsed the West Yorkshire Trade Strategy (2022-2025).

70.

Healthtech Strategy pdf icon PDF 373 KB

(Led by: Liz Hunter, Author: Stephanie Oliver-Beech)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

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

 

The Chair noted that the Healthtech Strategy had been previously approved by the LEP board and asked members for their approval of the amendments that had been requested and implemented since that meeting.

 

Officers thanked members for their input regarding the Healthtech Strategy both inside and outside of meetings. It was emphasised that the Strategy remains in development and consultation is ongoing with partners, such as the newly-formed Improvement and Innovation Hub under the Heath and Care Partnership. Officers provided an overview of the changes to the initial report, including streamlining the longer list of actions into a more focused list with three headline goals and seven action points, which is a reduction from the previous list of fourteen actions.

 

Resolved: That the LEP Board notes the developments made to the strategy action plan in response to previous feedback.

71.

Assurance Framework Review pdf icon PDF 253 KB

(Led by: Melanie Corcoran, Author: Jelena Covic)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Head of Portfolio Management and Appraisal presented the Assurance Framework to the Board.

Officers explained that reviews of the Assurance Framework are undertaken on an annual basis as a government requirement. Following larger scale changes in the previous review, as a result of becoming a Mayoral Combined Authority and changes to the committee structure, the 2022 update has substantially fewer changes. The Assurance Framework had been reviewed by the Corporate Scrutiny Committee and the Governance and Audit Committee before being presented to the Board.

Resolved: That the LEP Board:

(i)         Endorse the changes that have been made to the Local Assurance Framework as set out in the report.

(ii)        Delegate authority to the LEP Chair in consultation with the LEP’s Chief Executive (the Managing Director) and the Combined Authority Chair to approve the final Local Assurance Framework, in case that any further changes are needed to be made to the Local Assurance Framework prior to its publication.

 

72.

Corporate Performance pdf icon PDF 204 KB

(Led by: Angela Taylor, Author: Alice Rowland)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The LEP Board note the corporate performance information provided.

73.

Draft Minutes of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority Held 9 December 2021 pdf icon PDF 216 KB

Minutes:

The LEP Board not the draft minutes of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority held 9 December 2021.

74.

Date of Next Meeting

The next meeting will be held on 31 March 2022.

Minutes:

The next meeting will be held on Thursday 31 March 2022.