 SOUTH WEST OF ENGLAND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY
MINUTES OF THE 45TH BOARD MEETING 28 JULY 2003
Sterling House, Exeter
Present
- Juliet Williams - Chairman
- Doris Ansari - Board Member
- Nick Buckland - Board Member
- Peter Chalke - Board Member (until item 14)
- Nigel Costley - Board Member (until item 9)
- Brian Kemp - Board Member
- Helen Holland - Board Member
- Mike Leece - Board Member
- Robin Nicoll - Board Member
- Jeremy Pope - Deputy Chairman
- Judith Reynolds - Board Member
- Colin Skellett - Board Member (until item 12)
- Harry Studholme - Board Member
- Geoffrey Wilkinson - Chief Executive
- Suzanne Bond - Director of Strategy and Communications
- Caroline Bull - Director of Enterprise and Innovation
- Ian Piper - Head of Regeneration
- Anne Bulleid - Executive Office
Apologies
- Jonathon Porritt - Board Member
- Eric Thomas - Board Member
- Nick Lewis - Director of Corporate Services
- Colin Molton - Director of Development and Operations
1. MINUTES FROM 43RD AND 44TH MEETINGS
The minutes of the 43rd meeting were agreed as a correct record, subject to the deletion of the full stop and addition of "and" at the end of the second sentence in the last paragraph of the minute on the Chairman's Report. The minutes of the 44th meeting were agreed as a correct record. 2. CHAIRMAN'S REPORT
Juliet Williams outlined the key points in her report. She had received disparate views on the ways the Board meetings were chaired. She asked board members to put in writing their views on the general approach to the way that business should be conducted and how reports should be presented and orchestrated. These would be distilled and brought back to the Board as a modus operandi.
Juliet Williams had attended the EU Regional Cohesion and Constitution Conference with Suzanne Bond. Although SWRDA had contributed to the joint RDA response to the Government's proposals for EU structural funds, it was also important to continue to represent the specific interests of the South West. 3. CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S REPORT
Geoffrey Wilkinson highlighted the main points from his report. These included:
a. End-of-Year Performance Report - the Agency had met its tier 3 targets and spent its allocation.
b. Royal William Yard - Urban Splash had successfully launched the first phase of the flats at Royal William Yard. Colin Molton (with Nick Lewis) and Mike Leece declared an interest as they had reserved flats at the prevailing market price.
c. DCMS lead role - Sport England had confirmed funding for the Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy, which featured in the London Olympic Bid.
d. Millennium Commission - the Commission had indicated that it will allocate £10m for the Eden project dependent on RDA support, but had not confirmed the bid for @Bristol.
e. Lister-Petter Ltd, Dursley - the company had appointed administrators and, as the RDA was an unsecured creditor for rent relating to the company's property, the appropriate provision for the liability would be made in the statutory accounts 2002/03 and 2003/04.
f. Air Transport in the South West - flights to the region would be enhanced by additional services from Exeter to a number of UK and European destinations and an additional daily flight between Newquay and Stanstead.
g. Gifts and Hospitality - the current policies had been reviewed and it was proposed to raise the limit at which the receipt of hospitality should be registered. It was not proposed to alter the limit on gifts, which remained at £10.00.
Board decision
The Board agreed that staff policy and information in the Board members handbook should be altered to state that lunches valued above £15.00 and dinners valued above £35.00 needed to be recorded in the Gifts and Hospitality Register. 4. March Accounts
Geoffrey Wilkinson said that the accounts had been approved by National Audit Office and put before Parliament. They would form the basis of SWRDA's annual review documents. He confirmed that future project reports would include original and any subsequent approvals. 5. DISPOSAL OF INVESTMENT ASSETS
The programme of sales by auction or private treaty would raise £5m for the Agency. Ian Piper explained that the Agency was disposing of a number of its investment assets in line with its asset management strategy. Some Board members asked that future reports include more information on the reasons and options for disposal.
Board Decision
The Board approved the disposal of investment assets by auction and private treaty to raise in the order of £5m. 6. EXETER INNOVATION CENTRE
7. SUPPORT FOR AEROSPACE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT
The aerospace industry is a major employer in the South West and supply chain businesses need to be innovative and increasingly productive if they are to remain competitive. Caroline Bull explained why the Agency should support the three year sector development programme for aerospace through the West of England Aerospace Forum (WEAF), which covered both the promotion and development of the sector, and provision for its longer-term skills base through the skills development programme.
The £3.8m requested by WEAF would be matched by some £11m from the sector itself, although most of this would be 'in kind'. Caroline Bull reassured Board members that the nature of the events planned had been carefully researched and were aimed at both developing skills in the sector and enhancing the general engineering base in the region.
Board Decision
The Board approved the funding of £3,840,135 to WEAF for the period 29 August 2003 to 31 March 2006 to support the development of the aerospace sector in the South West. 8. MORI POLL & STAKEHOLDER SURVEY RESULTS
A briefing paper on the results of the DTi/MORI Stakeholder survey and the Agency's own stakeholder survey had been circulated to Board members. Suzanne Bond outlined the key messages from both surveys and the actions being proposed to address the main points of concern.. These included improving SWRDA's channels of communication, ensuring that messages were clear and consistent and continuing to overhaul internal decision-making processes. There were issues surrounding the conducting of the DTI/MORI Survey and the Agency would seek to work with DTI to maximise the usefulness of any future national stakeholder survey the latter undertook.
James Harper, Head of Press and Communications, gave the Board the headline results in a brief presentation. Board members expressed concern about the outcomes of the DTI/MORI survey, took account of the views of absent members made in writing and the following points were noted:
- Partners and others have high levels of expectation and low levels of knowledge about the Agency, its budget and priorities
- Board members could act as regional ambassadors, hosting events at which the work of the Agency is explained
- SWRDA should see what lessons it could learn from the better performing RDAs
- The Agency should ensure that its role in partnerships was given a higher profile
- There are issues about the Agency's role in community development which need to be clarified
- Representative bodies in the South West are very disparate compared to smaller, more coherent regions, which makes engagement more difficult
- Requests from partners and others should be handled rapidly and show clear decision-making.
9. SUSTAINABLE FARMING AND FOOD STRATEGY
Jeremy Pope updated the Board on the progress made in preparing the Regional Delivery Plan, the consultation draft of which would be ready by the beginning of September. The plan would include a matrix which identified funding needs and possible sources, and its objectives would be scored under the three pillars of sustainability. A large number of organisations had been involved in developing the plan, and it was important that delivery was focused through some key drivers, and commitment obtained from potential funding sources. A major factor was getting farming businesses involved and CAP reform would assist this. Harry Studholme said that SW Connect was also an important concept, bringing farmers together to find their own solutions.
Board Decision
The Board endorsed the following actions: - That addressing the direct and indirect economic objectives of the strategy for Sustainable Farming and Food becomes a specific focus for our work on the rural economy theme, with the RDA providing leadership to facilitate change in the sector:
- That we continue to press Defra for the provision of additional resources to assist with the implementation of the Regional Delivery Plan.
10. URBAN SELECT COMMITTEE FEEDBACK
Ian Piper reported that Helen Holland (as chair of the Urban Advisory Group), Geoffrey Wilkinson, Colin Molton and he himself had represented SWRDA at the Regional Assembly Select Committee. The draft findings were similar to those of previous select committees, identifying issues related to the Agency's role, its relationship with its partners and how it communicates these to others. More generally a review of the select committee process was underway, including how the Agency's partners could be included in the process.
Board Decision
The Board noted the draft findings of the Regional Assembly's Select committee hearing on the "Urban Renaissance".
11. STANDING ITEMS
a. Projects Approved
Noted.
b. Executive Reports
Noted.
c. Policy Consultation Reponses
Noted.
d. Summary of Board Advisory Group minutes
Noted.
e. Chairman's Urgent Actions
Noted.
f. Documents Sealed
Noted.
g. Loan Write Offs
None.
h. Audit Committee Minutes
Noted. 12. THE EDEN PROJECT PHASE 4
Geoffrey Wilkinson said that the Eden Project Team would be giving a presentation to the Board on the future development of the Eden project. He reminded the Board that the Millennium Commission had approved a grant of £10m for the Education Resource Centre, which was subject to confirmation of SWRDA's contribution of £2.89m.
The Eden Project Team had made their business plan available to the Agency who had employed consultants to review it. This study was still in progress. During the discussion, Board members noted that further information was needed on the impact of the Education Resource Centre on visitor numbers; the likely visitor numbers if Phase 4 were not to be completed, or was delayed; the infrastructure proposals to resolve traffic problems around the site; the impact of the proposals on fixed costs; and the potential for the future self-funding of development programmes.
The Eden Project Team then joined the meeting and Gaynor Coley, Chief Executive, explained that the purpose of the Education Resource Centre was to link science and the arts to create a better understanding of environmental issues. She explained how the Eden Foundation worked with local companies and communities, and that decisions were made in the light of social and environmental, as well as financial, considerations.
Peter Cox, Finance Director, said that independent consultants had assessed the economic impact of Eden on the region to £160m per annum. 73% of expenditure was sourced in the region.
Tim Smit explained that Eden was owned by a charitable trust; any operating surpluses were used according to the objectives of the trust. This meant there were insufficient resources to finance capital expenditure.
The Chairman thanked the Eden Project Team on behalf of the Board for their presentation and the team left the meeting. During the subsequent discussion Board members affirmed their support for the Education Resource Centre in line with SWRDA's objectives but asked that they be kept informed of future development proposals. Requests for future support from the Agency would need to address the harnessing of private sector finance, infrastructure and the manner in which further value is added to the region generally. Geoffrey Wilkinson undertook to inform the Project Team of this request, and to share the outcomes of the study of the business plan with Harry Studholme as Chair of the Audit Committee.
Board Decision
The Board noted the latest position regarding the development of the Eden project and the proposed staging of the approach to delivering Stage 4.
The Board endorsed a contribution of £2.89m from the Agency for the delivery of the Education Resource Centre, being the first element of Phase 4, but this was subject to formal confirmation of the funding from the Millennium Commission. 13. INTERNATIONAL TRADE
Caroline Bull introduced Neil Blakeman and Paul Williams of Trade Partners UK. Neil Blakeman said that international trade continued to help the Agency deliver against its key targets. Trade Partners UK was the RDAs' international trade arm and worked closely with a number of South West organisations to promote export. The macro-economic position was deteriorating with the South West's position particularly so. The International Trade strategy was being reviewed and would be brought to the Board in April 2004.
Brian Kemp, as Chair of the International Trade Forum, said that the region had fewer resources than others. The South West had the worst trade balance in the UK. Geoffrey Wilkinson hoped that Trade Partners UK would be able to assist middle sized companies as well as SMEs. Harry Studholme reminded the Board that the issues were not just about import substitution, they were to do with sustainability generally.
Board decision
The Board noted the report. | 
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