MINUTES OF THE 31ST BOARD MEETING 18 MARCH 2002 
Sterling House, Exeter 
 
 
 
Present:

• Sir Michael Lickiss Chairman
• Nick Buckland
• Peter Chalke
• Nigel Costley
• Helen Holland
• Brian Kemp
• Mike Leece
• Alf Morris
• Robin Nicoll
• Timothy Parker
• Jeremy Pope Deputy Chair
• Colin Skellett
• Geoff Wilkinson Chief Executive
• Suzanne Bond Director of Strategy and Communications
• Nick Lewis Director of Corporate Services
• Colin Molton Director of Development
• Melanie Farrant Chairman's Office

Also present for item 16 only:

• Dr Kim Howells MP Minister for Tourism, Film and Broadcasting, DCMS
• Simon Broadley Head of Tourism Division, DCMS
• Suzanne Bullock Assistant PS to Dr Howells, DCMS
• Malcolm Bell Chief Executive, South West Tourism
• Sue Piper Head of Marketing, SWRDA

Apologies: 
Doris Ansari 
Jonathon Porritt 
Caroline Bull Director of Enterprise and Innovation 
 
 
1 MINUTES  
 
Minutes of the 29th and 30th meetings were agreed as a correct record. 
 
 
2 CHAIRMAN'S REPORT 
 
Members noted the commitments of the Chairman since the last meeting. His work in respect of the tourism industry had been significant over the past six weeks. The outcome of Kim Howells's discussions with the Secretary of State and of the RDA chairs' meeting with the Prime Minister was as yet unknown.  
 
The Chairman also reported that the recent dinner meeting with Mark Gibson of the Dti, David Evans of the SBS and regional Business Link chairs and chief executives had been very positive. A concordat had recently been agreed and would now be put in action. 
 
A visit to Compact Power at Avonmouth had been particularly interesting. This company's plans to create energy from waste were very exciting and the Chairman had explored how the RDA could assist. Colin Skellett reported that Wessex Water was already working with Compact Power. Colin Molton agreed to provide contact details for Compact Power to Peter Chalke and Robin Nicoll.  
 
A meeting about renewables was being held after the Board meeting and would explore whether waste should be included under renewables. The Chairman said he was very keen for the RDA to take the lead in this area. 
 
The RDA chairmen had made three particular points during their recent meeting with the Prime Minister:

• that the government 'region-proofed' policies before they were issued;
• that 3rd leg HE funding through RDAs would allow research to complement regional strategies; and
• the importance of the tourism industry to the UK economy.

3 CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S PERFORMANCE REPORT Q3 2001/2 
 
Geoff Wilkinson introduced his report, explaining the Agency's performance against the four core activity indicators. 
 
The major rural business conference, Turning Point, had been very successful and attracted over 800 people. The Board thanked all staff who had been involved in the organisation of this conference, especially Rob Hatt and Viv Daly. Officials from the Dti were visiting the Agency on 19 March to review the Corporate Plan and look ahead to its implementation. Geoff Wilkinson reported that the Dti had now asked GOSW formally to monitor the RDA in additional to the scrutiny undertaken by the Assembly.  
 
4 DECEMBER 2001 ACOUNTS 
 
Nick Lewis introduced the report that had been circulated with the agenda. He confirmed that there would be a small underspend at the end of the year which would be well within the carry-forward limits. 
 
The Board noted the accounts. 
 
 
5 DRAFT BUDGET 2002/03 
 
The Agency had over-programmed in line with normal practice to compensate for inevitable slippage in many programmes and to ensure maximum funding is brought into the region. Nick Lewis explained that the Agency expected to exceed its receipts' targets but that Departmental agreement would be needed to keep receipts above 120% of target. Forecasting would become more accurate over the first half of 2002/03 as the Agency made the transition to single pot funding and the organisational reshaping was phased in. 
 
Board Decision 
The Board agreed the format for the budget for 2002/03, and noted that the Chairman's Urgent Action would be used to have a formal budget in place for April 2002 but that alterations could be agreed at the May board meeting once the end of year flexibility and other factors had been clarified. 
 
6 FINANCIAL DELEGATIONS 
 
The central investment approval process introduced by the Agency as a result of the single pot required revisions to delegations which the Board was asked to consider. 
 
Board Decision 
The Board approved the revisions to internal delegations, so that:

• Heads of Operations and Directors/CEO have a project financial approval delegation of £10,000 initially. This will be subject to a review in six months' time, with the intention that it increases to £100,000 subject to successful embedding of the new project appraisal procedures. This per project delegation will be subject to an annual aggregate limit of £500,000 for Heads of Operations and £1m for Directors/CEO;
• projects approved using Head of Operations'/Directors' delegations will be reported to the next Investment Group;
• any project where the RDA's investment is likely to be in excess of the Heads of Operations'/Directors' delegations will be subject to review by the Appraisal Group and then formal approval by the Investment Group up to £3m when the CEO is present, and £2m when the CEO is not present; and
• projects over £3m will continue to be subject to Board approval.

7 BOARD MEMBER REPRESENTATION AND RESPONSIBILITIES 
 
Geoff Wilkinson introduced this item, having compiled details of board members' representations and responsibilities on behalf of the RDA. A number of revisions had been discussed with individual members and a list showing proposed representations had been circulated.  
 
Board Decision 
As part of the changes to the structure of board advisory groups agreed by the Board in February, the Board agreed that the lead director for each advisory group should contact the chair to review the group's remit and membership. 
 
8 STANDING ITEMS 
 
a) Executive Reports 
The directorate reports were noted. 
 
Commercial in Confidence 
RAF Locking 
 
Regional Venture Capital Fund 
Jeremy Pope reported that he was hopeful of a first closing of the RVCF by the end of March. 
 
Royal William Yard 
Colin Molton reported that the deal with Urban Splash to develop the Brewhouse and Clarence buildings at Royal William Yard had been concluded and that documentation was being signed that week. 
 
b) Policy Consultation Responses 
Noted. 
 
c) Decisions taken using urgency procedures 
Noted. 
 
d) Documents sealed 
Noted. 
 
e) Loan write offs 
Noted. 
 
f) Remuneration Committee report of meeting held on 28 January 2002 
Noted. 
 
16 PRESENTATION - TOURISM 
 
The Chairman welcomed to the meeting Dr Kim Howells MP, Simon Broadley, Suzanne Bullock, Malcolm Bell, and Sue Piper. 
 
Sue Piper and Malcolm Bell gave a joint presentation on tourism in the region, outlining how the RDA and South West Tourism planned to make improvements. 
 
In responding, the Minister praised the exemplary co-operation between SWRDA and South West Tourism. The focus on skills and quality was crucial, particularly in light of the £40m public and private funding being spent on promoting the UK abroad. The Minister wanted to see meaningful and coherent grading of holiday accommodation to properly reflect the quality of establishments. He added that it was right to draw out the symbiotic relationship between tourism and inward investment and that the significance of the region's universities should also be drawn out. The Minister recognised and sympathised with the region's problems and limitations of its transport infrastructure. 
 
At a national level, the Minister said that responsibility for tourism was too fragmented with various government departments involved. This needed to be pulled together so that there was cohesive and coherent political leadership for the industry.  
 
Board members discussed a number of aspects of tourism:

• A tourism task force had been set up in each county in the region to identify skills requirements. This should be complete by the end of 2002. Although this was some months off, it was essential that the research was thorough.
• Service suppliers - which were often SMEs - benefited from the support of business associations and it was therefore important that the SBS and the Employment Service linked their services so that suppliers understood marketing and trends, and what business support was available.
• Jobs in tourism and leisure sectors were often perceived as second class. It was important to address this and to encourage an attitude that it is 'fun to serve people'. People working in the tourism sector needed to be assured of quality employment opportunities.
• Seasonality contributed to a lower regional GDP. It was hoped that marketing and market forces would address this. Marketing would be targeted to promote the region beyond the summer months and bring in additional visitors from autumn through to spring.
• Work to promote the tourism industry should be integrated with other projects such as food and drink to maximise impact. RDA strategic funding should be used to lever additional funds into the region.
• E-tourism was still in its early days and gave the South West an opportunity to set the standard.
• Management information about the tourism sector was very poor but essential for small tourism businesses to plan ahead. E-tourism and improved use of ICT would improve the availability and quality of this information.

The Chairman thanked Dr Howells, Simon Broadley and Malcolm Bell for joining the meeting. He spoke of his eagerness for the South West to take the lead role for tourism on behalf of the RDAs. He was looking forward to the Secretary of State's imminent announcements concerning the review of the tourism industry 
 
 
17 DATE OF NEXT MEETING 
 
Monday 13 May 2002, 10.30 am at Sterling House, Exeter. (Members were asked to note that the issues day scheduled for 22 April had been cancelled and were encouraged to attend the meeting on 13 May which may not finish until 3pm.)