Agenda and minutes

(5 minutes)

Terry Wilson, Principal Lawyer, Portsmouth City Council asked for nominations for a Chair.  Councillor Mark Hook was proposed by Seán Councillor Woodward and seconded by Councillor Guy Shepherd.

RESOLVED that Councillor Mark Hook be elected Chair for this meeting only.

(5 minutes).

Apologies had been received from:

Councillors

Jonathan Bacon - Isle of Wight Council

Michael Cheshire - Havant Borough Council

Donna Jones - Portsmouth City Council

Simon Letts - Southampton City Council

Ex-officio Members

Pal Ahluwalia - University of Portsmouth          

Kevin Bourner - HCA

Chris Elliott - New Forest District Council

Graham Galbraith - University of Portsmouth

John Henderson - Highways England

Deryn Martin - Skills Funding Agency

Ken Moon - Federation for Small Businesses

Robert Parkin - Portsmouth City Council (Accountable Body)

Chris Ward - Portsmouth City Council (Accountable Body)

(5 minutes).

RECOMMENDED that the attached minutes of the previous meeting held on 9 June 2015 be agreed.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 9 June be agreed.

(5 minutes).

There were no declarations of interest.

(15 minutes).

Purpose.

To receive a report updating the Solent Growth Forum on progress being made on the delivery of the Solent Growth Deal.

RECOMMENDED that the Forum:

·         Notes the Solent Growth Deal Update;

·         The Solent Growth Forum seek an update from the scheme promoters at the next meeting on project(s) that near to delivery completion. 

Marc Griffin, Head of Capital and Infrastructure presented the report.

RESOLVED that:

1.    The Solent Growth Deal Update be noted.

2.    An update be requested from the scheme promoters on projects that are near to delivery completion at a future meeting.

(20 minutes).

Purpose.

To receive a presentation from the Solent LEP updating the Solent Growth Forum on the LEP Strategy and Performance.

Anne-Marie Mountifield, Chief Executive, Solent LEP gave a presentation setting out the progress made on the delivery of the Solent Growth Deal programme and an update on strategy.  A copy of the presentation will be attached to the minutes.

In response to questions, Anne-Marie clarified the following points:

·         There is a link between GVA and capital investment.

·         A key focus of investment is skills, recognising that  businesses do not have access to the high level skilled workers that they require to growth their business. The Solent Further Education Area Review is underway and the Group steering this work has met twice.  The outcome of this process will influence any LEP funding decisions in relation to skills projects.

(20 minutes).

Purpose.

This report provides the Solent Growth Forum with an update on the work of the Local Enterprise Partnership to develop its project pipeline, and seeks strategic advice from the Forum in relation to the prioritisation of projects.

RECOMMENDED that the Forum:

Consider the high level summary of EoI's provided in annex A, and provide Advice in relation to:

·         the types of projects that have the potential to deliver transformational change, support economic growth and raise productivity in the Solent economy; and

·         the strategic direction that the LEP Board should take in relation to prioirtisation, to include strategic priority areas, project outputs, and leverage

Stuart Baker, Head of Local Growth Solent LEP introduced the report which gave an update on the work of the LEP to develop its project pipeline and sought advice from the forum on the type of projects that the LEP should prioritise.  In response to questions, he explained that he had anonymised the schemes in the report as far as possible because some details are commercially sensitive and as the detail of each scheme is being reviewed internally.  It should be noted that the EoI's provide only high level information and for those schemes that show the strongest potential to support growth, further detail will be requested through an outline business case.

The Chair noted that work on the Stubbington bypass should be high priority and that infrastructure was essential to support economic growth.

Seán Woodward noted that infrastructure to support housing delivery and economic growth should be prioritised.

Keith House agreed that infrastructure is required to unlock the housing that the area requires to support economic growth should be prioritised.

David Williams suggested that it would be helpful to have a presentation on the interfaces between skills, business and training at a future meeting.  This was agreed.

(5 minutes).

Stuart Baker, Head of Local Growth, Solent LEP will give a verbal update on the Forward Plan.

Stuart Baker, Head of Local Growth, Solent LEP informed members that the next meeting would be held in spring 2016 and would include updates on the following issues:

·         The Transport Investment Plan

·         The emerging strategic economic plan

·         The project pipeline.

The Chair thanked officers for their report and the presentation.