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MINUTES
OF THE THIRTY SEVENTH MEETING OF SOUTH EAST ENGLAND DEVELOPMENT
AGENCY
HELD ON THURSDAY 23 MAY 2002 AT SEEDA HEADQUARTERS,
GUILDFORD
Present
Allan Willett CMG (Chairman), Professor Clive
Booth (Deputy Chairman), Cllr. Ken Bodfish OBE (Deputy Chairman),
Cllr. Kit Oliver OBE DL, Caroline Williams, Cllr. Kevin Wilson,
Janis Kong OBE, James Brathwaite CBE, Barry Camfield, Mary McAnally,
Robert Douglas, Elizabeth Brighouse, Cllr. Ken Thornber CBE
Apologies for absence
Dr Peter Read CBE, Sarah Ward OBE DL
In Attendance
Anthony Dunnett (Chief Executive), Jeff Alexander
(Agency Secretary and Director, Strategy and Corporate Services),
Phil Bailey (SEEDA, Head of Secretariat), Paul Hudson (SEEDA,
Director, Regeneration and Infrastructure), John Parsonage (SEEDA,
Director, Learning and Skills),
Summary of Meeting
1. The Board :-
- Noted the Declaration of interests by Members;
- Noted the report by the Chairman;
- Agreed an initial investment in Dunsbury Hill Farm, Havant;
- Agreed to establish a South East Science and Technology Council
- Discussed and noted progress on the Wired Region project;
- Discussed Corporate Social Responsibility and the White Paper
on Revitalising the English Regions;
- Reviewed and approved the Learning and Workforce Accountability
Plan and the Communities and Urban Renaissance Accountability
Plan;
- Reviewed and noted the Finance and Contracts Reports and various
SEEDA programme investments.
Declarations of Interest
2. Ken Thornber declared an interest in item
6(3) - Dunsbury Hill Farm - because Hampshire County Council was
the strategic authority for the development. It was agreed that
Ken Thornber was not debarred from participating in the discussion
on this item.
3. Jim Brathwaite declared an interest in item
7 - Wired Region - because of his involvement with Wired Sussex
and Sussex Enterprise. It was agreed that Jim Brathwaite was not
debarred from participating in the discussion on this item.
Chairman's Report
Buckinghamshire Visit - 23 April 2002
4. The key point to emerge was that Buckinghamshire's
economy appeared to be healthy but there were underlying problems
concerning affordable housing, encouraging creation of businesses,
lack of development sites etc.
Meeting with Peter Wanless (DfEE) - 30 April
2002
5. The Chairman took the opportunity to press
home SEEDA's main message about the need for the South East to
benchmark itself, and compete, against clearly identified and
comparable global regions.
Meeting with Ed Balls - 2 May 2002
6. A very useful meeting with a key influential
person at HM Treasury.
Hampshire Visit - 8 May 2002
7. A constructive meeting discussing issues
such as affordable housing, transport, the planning Green Paper
and the rural economy.
Meeting with Alan Johnson (DTI Minister for
Employment Relations, Industry and the Regions) - 9 May 2002
8. SEEDA presented their Corporate Plan to the
Minister. Discussions focussed on how to tackle the problems of
success. The main message was that the South East was about wealth
creation.
RDA Chairs Dinner with Ken Livingstone - 13
May 2002
9. RDA Chairs agreed that there should be co-operation
with the Mayor on specific projects, as appropriate.
Dunsbury Hill Farm, Havant
10. Members welcomed this project which involves
preparatory work to kick-start the development of a new 20 ha
business park on the A3(M) between Havant and Waterlooville within
Warren Park ward, one of four wards in Havant which are part of
the 119 worst wards in the region. SEEDA will commission design
and related preparatory work needed to secure planning permission
and support the public bodies' aspirations for the land. An initial
expenditure was agreed to carry out the necessary studies and
work required to masterplan and obtain planning permission.
South East Science and Technology Advisory
Council
11. The Board discussed the proposal to support
the formation of the Advisory Council to maintain the buoyant
base and also for linking businesses, research institutions and
higher education to build on the current successes of the South
East. It was noted that SEEDA was the lead RDA on the science
agenda and therefore it was important that SEEDA had access to
such an Advisory Council.
12. The Board agreed to the formation of the
South East Science and Technology Advisory Council.
Wired Region
13. Members noted the recent developments on
this project:-
- The appointment of a new senior strategist - Dr Peter Radley;
- A new Wired Region Advisory Board is being set up;
- research to be undertaken this Summer by Harvard and MIT Professors,
identifying the US best practice on internet and broadband that
can be transferred quickly to the South East;
- £2.9m. has been secured from the DTI-UK Broadband Fund.;
- " Regional portal - A working test site is now available;
and
- Hastings - work is progressing on a number of initiatives
aimed at ensuring broadband services are available for any business
or individual wanting them.
14. Board Members felt that a clear way forward
had been established on broadband and the regional portal. The
Board agreed that the activities should be progressed and that
a key strategic role for SEEDA was to identify and stimulate broadband
demand.
White Paper - Revitalising the English Regions
15. The Board discussed the White Paper on revitalising
the English Regions. It was acknowledged that Members would hold
differing views on the White Paper and would express those views
when representing other organisations.
16. Members noted that the White Paper stated
that elected Regional Assemblies would be based on existing administrative
boundaries used by RDAs and the review of local government structure
(which will precede a referendum on establishing an elected assembly)
will not affect existing unitary authorities. Nevertheless Members
recognised that the proposals would create tensions for the County
Councils in the South East in regard to their current responsibilities
and those of an elected assembly. The size of the South East region
would also entail large constituencies if the elected assembly
were only 25-30 members strong. Some Members were concerned at
the implications for the South East region if the Northern regions
and West Midlands go forward and secure an elected assembly.
17. The Board agreed that SEEDA should continue
to stress that SEEDA's role was to secure sustainable economic
development with the region and that the constitutional settlement
was not a matter for SEEDA.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
18. The Board discussed SEEDA's potential involvement
in promoting, noting that CSR was not about corporate philanthropy
but about company economic competitiveness. The Board recognised
that British companies do not traditionally invest as much in
their neighbourhood as companies elsewhere and believed it was
necessary to identify how best to obtain the involvement of companies
in any initiative. It was thought that it was important that CSR
was placed in the context of sustainable business and noted that
the next SEEDA Sustainable Business Awards would have a CSR category.
It was agreed that the first step should be to define what SEEDA
means by CSR.
Workforce and Social Dialogue Committee
19. The Board discussed the proposal to strength
the Workforce Development Group by re-naming it as the SEEDA "Workforce
and Social Dialogue Committee" and establish it as a SEEDA
Board Committee. They noted that the main purpose of the Committee
would be to act as a forum to facilitate dialogue between the
social partners at a regional level on matters of joint economic
interest in respect of the region's workforce and disseminate
good practice on ways of enhancing employee participation and
inclusiveness.
20. The Board agreed to the creation of the
"Workforce and Social Dialogue Committee" and that it
should be a SEEDA Board Committee under the Chairmanship of Barry
Camfield.
Learning and Workforce Accountability
Communities and Urban Renaissance Accountability Plan
21. The Board noted that there had been some
areas of slippage against the Accountability Plan but that overall
progress against the objectives was on target. Updated plans are
available on SEEDA's website.
Date of Next Meeting
22. The next meeting of the SEEDA Board will
be an awayday to be held on Thursday 20 June at Thistle Horseguards,
London.
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