GREATER BIRMINGHAM AND SOLIHULL LOCAL ENTERPRISE PARTNERSHIP
BOARD MEETING
Thursday 25th April
LEP Board meeting – 13.30pm-16.00pm
Location: Mills and Reeve, 78-84 Colmore Row, Birmingham B3 2AB
AGENDA
Item Time Owner Subject Pre Read Presenter Purpose of the Report
1 13:30 Chair
Welcome and Apologies N/A Tim Pile
To note attendance and apologies
2 13:32 LEP Executive Notes / Matters Arising: 27th March
Attached Tim Pile To agree notes of the last meetings and any matters arising
3 13:35 LEP Board Review of Agreed Actions Attached Tim Pile To note progress against agreed actions
4 13:40 LEP Executive Forward Plan Attached Tim Pile To agree Forward Plan
5 13:45 LEP Executive Director’s Report Attached Katie Trout To note key strategy and delivery developments
6 13:50 LEP Board ESIF Update Attached Darren Cope, Deputy Chair, ESIF Committee
To note the progress of ESIF funding in Greater Birmingham and Solihull (GBS) LEP area, and to note the priorities for ESIF sub-committee.
7 14:00 Pillar Boards SEP Delivery Plan – Skills Attached John Callaghan/Paul Edwards To comment on and endorse the recommendations of the Employment and Skills Board (ESB) as to the priorities for the Skills Delivery Plan for 2019/20.
To note the initial work of the LEP Executive, supported by the ESB, in development of a “Plan 10,000 Plus” to increase the cohort of learners commencing NVQ 3+ qualifications in the LEP area.
8 14:15 LEP Board 1001 Trades Project Attached (with
Sophie Drake/Tony Bhajam, To note the 1001 Trades report and consider how the findings can be disseminated and
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Item Time Owner Subject Pre Read Presenter Purpose of the Report
presentation) General Manager, Doink implemented.
To hear the proposed next steps of the young persons’ agenda in response and offer any comments or suggestions.
9 14:30 LEP Executive 5G Infrastructure Project update
Attached (with presentation)
Henry Kippin, Director of Public Service Reform, WMCA
To note an update on the anticipated economic impact of the 5G infrastructure project
10 14:50 West Midlands Growth Company
A) FDI update
B) West Midlands Inward Investment Strategy
Attached (with presentation)
Nicola Hewitt, Commercial Director, WMGC
A) To note the interim FDI results for 18/19 and the current macro-economic challenges which are impacting the attraction of businesses to the GBS LEP area.
To note the impact of reduced funding for the West Midlands Growth Company (WMGC) to focus on the GBS LEP area, in relation to business attraction.
B) To note the regional investment strategy, approved by the West Midlands Growth Company (WMGC) Board, which will frame the business attraction work by WMGC for the next three years.
15:10 Break
11 15:15 Programme Delivery Board
Smithfield Project Presentation
Verbal (with presentation)
Jonathan Emery, Managing Director – Property, Lendlease Europe Bek Seeley, Chief Operating Officer – Development UK, Lendlease
To update the Board on the Smithfield Project
3
Item Time Owner Subject Pre Read Presenter Purpose of the Report
12 15:35 LEP Board Delivery Plan Attached Katie Trout To note new requirement from government to publish annual Delivery Plan for LEP activities by 31 May 2019, including informal guidance developed by LEP Network
To receive and comment on draft proposed Delivery Plan for GBSLEP, which incorporates key LEP activities for the year 2019/2020
To delegate final sign-off and publication of designed Delivery Plan to the LEP Chair and LEP Director
13 15:50 LEP Board Budget 2019/2020 Attached Katie Trout To review and approve the Operational Budget proposals for the 2019/20 financial year.
To agree to allocate a maximum of £300,139 of funding from the Business Rates Pool (BRP) to support budgeted expenditure (see para 6).
14 15:58 LEP Board AOB N/A
Reports for noting
15 LEP Executive Communications update Attached N/A To note: media coverage highlights for March; progress in delivering the Stakeholder Engagement Plan; and the “Meet the Board” proposal
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GREATER BIRMINGHAM AND SOLIHULL LOCAL ENTERPRISE PARTNERSHIP BOARD MEETING
Wednesday, 27th March
First Choice Group, Blakeney Way, Kingswood Lakeside, Cannock WS11 8LD
DECISIONS & ACTIONS
Present In Attendance Apologies Tim Pile Chair Katie Trout LEP Executive Cllr Ian Ward Birmingham CC Chris Loughran Deputy Chair Paul Edwards LEP Executive Cllr Brigid Jones Birmingham CC Cllr Patricia Ackroyd East Staffordshire BC Russell Eacott LEP Executive Cllr Bob Sleigh Solihull MBC Cllr Mike Wilcox Lichfield DC Peter Mawson LEP Executive Cllr George
Adamson Anita Bhalla
Cannock DC Performance Birmingham
Cllr Chris Rogers Wyre Forest DC Debbie Simpson LEP Executive Pat Hanlon Clive Heaphy
Birmingham CC
Cllr Gordon Alcott Cannock Chase DC Olaitan Alabi LEP Executive Cllr Ian Courts Solihull MBC Peter Jenion LEP Executive Matthew Rhodes Energy Capital Eric Henderson Staffordshire CC Saqib Bhatti Younis Bhatti & Co Ltd Alec Cameron Aston University Sophie Drake Story Comms Dean Piper Cannock DC John Callaghan Solihull College Perry Wardle Solihull MBC David Eastwood University of Birmingham Alison Jarrett Birmingham CC Mike Lyons HS2 Ltd. Ostap Paparega North Worcs Simon Marks Arcadis
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1 Welcome and Apologies
John Whitehouse, Managing Director of First Choice Group, welcomed the Board to the venue and gave an introduction to the First Choice Group company and their new site at Kingswood Lakeside, Cannock. The Board noted the following apologies: Cllr Ian Ward, Cllr Brigid Jones, Cllr Bob Sleigh (with Cllr Ian Courts attending as alternate), Pat Hanlon, Anita Bhalla and Clive Heaphy (Alison Jarret attended as Deputy S151 Officer), The Board noted that it was not possible to have political representation at the meeting from Birmingham City Council due to a meeting with the Improvement Panel. Disappointment at this clash was noted. It was noted that as part of the Future Operating Model, attendance at Board meetings would be collated and published.
The Board received the extremely sad news that Cllr Steve Claymore of Tamworth BC passed away in February after a short illness. The Board recognised the significant contribution that he made both to the economy of Tamworth and also to Greater Birmingham. Cllr Claymore was one of the founding members of GBSLEP and a committed Board Director. The Board marked its respect for everything that Steve had achieved.
Board attendance to be published
Ongoing
LEP Executive
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2 Kingswood Lakeside Access Project Update
The Board noted an update on the progress of the Kingswood Lakeside Access project from Eric Henderson, Staffordshire County Council Capital Projects Manager; Anthony Hodge, Staffordshire County Council Commissioner for Business & Enterprise; and Richard Smith, Managing Director for Opus Land Ltd.
Programme Delivery Board/ Eric Henderson/Anthony Hodge/Richard Smith
3 Notes / Matters Arising from the last meeting – 24th January
The Decisions and Actions Note from the last meeting on 24th January was endorsed as an accurate record.
4 Review of Agreed Actions
The Board noted progress updates for items on the Actions Log. The Board noted the successful launch of the GBSLEP Towns and Local Centres Framework on the 21st March at Lichfield Cathedral and agreed that this was a positive platform from which to build this important agenda.
LEP Executive to produce summary of GBSLEP’s approach to towns and local centres following the Towns and Local Centres Framework launch event.
April
Shanaaz Carroll/Katie Fulcher
5 Board Forward Plan
The Board noted the Forward Plan which outlines items scheduled for future Board meetings. The Board noted that there have been delays to sending out some of the Board papers for the March Board and that the LEP Executive will be reviewing the process for future meetings.
LEP Executive to review process for sending out Board papers for future meetings.
April
LEP Executive
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6 Director’s Report The Board noted the Director’s update on the strategy and activity of the LEP, including:
a) the need for an additional Board meeting in April, which will focus on strategic issues;
b) the intention to have a Board Away Day in May focusing on draft Delivery Plans;
c) the preparations that businesses, the GBSLEP and its partners are making for the various Brexit scenarios;
d) Key items on the agenda, including the Future Operating Model and the Growth Hub.
e) Progress with regard to programme delivery, including Kingswood Lakeside Access and the Paradise project.
Away Day to be arranged
End May 2019
LEP Executive
7 KPI Update The Board received the most recent KPI report outlining economic performance across the GBSLEP area. The Board noted the publication of labour productivity data since the last Board meeting in January 2019. Sub-regional labour productivity data for 2017 were released in February 2019 by the Office for National Statistics. The Board agreed that given the limited granularity of data at a local level, more work needs to be done to understand the specific economic impacts of LEP-funded projects.
. LEP Executive to continue exploring the economic impact of LEP interventions, drawing on research and expertise
September
LEP Executive
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from organisations such as City-Redi and What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth.
8 Growth Programme Update
The Board noted an update on the progress being made on the Local Growth Fund (LGF) Programme The Board received a verbal update on the discussions at the Programme Delivery Board on 20th March 2019. The Board noted that the Programme Delivery Board, at its next meeting, will review the LGF programme pipeline projects with a view to developing a prioritised list of projects that will enable the LEP to meet the end of programme target of £186m and the agreed outputs. It was noted that this exercise will also assist in the event of a need for a post-Brexit stimulus programme. The main assessment criteria for the programme will be project deliverability. All projects on the current list will be assessed, including those with significant provisional funding allocations like the Commonwealth Games. The outcome of this work will be reported to the LEP Board at its June meeting.
. Programme pipeline to be reviewed
June
Programme Delivery Board
9 Paradise Development project
The Board noted progress made, with particular reference to meeting the conditions which are attached to the LEP investment approval, as reviewed by the Programme Delivery Board on 20th March. The Board were updated as to discussions as
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late as that morning and were advised that matters were not complete but the target was to conclude conditions ‘a to f’ in the following 5 to 10 days. The Board agreed the explanatory commentary on the revised overage provisions, which were negotiated by Birmingham City Council (BCC) with Britel prior to the LEP Board decision on 20th December 2018, and which underpin the advice that the public sector investment at the level now approved will be State Aid compliant. The Board noted that the Full Business Case appended to the LEP Investment Report dated 02/10/18, had been superseded by a later version (dated 18/10/2018) that will be appended to, and form a key part of, the Service Level Agreement (SLA) (ie “Funding Agreement”) between the LEP and BCC. The Board noted the proposed variations to the contractual framework between Paradise Circus Limited Partnership (PCLP) to BCC. The Board agreed to delegate to the Chair, in consultation with the LEP Director and the Chair of the Programme Delivery Board, authorisation to monitor and agree the completion of all key documentation (including the MOU) required to meet the conditions so long as this was concluded by the 5th April 2019. The Board agreed that if this timeline is not met then it would receive a further report to the
Chair, Deputy Chair and Director to review progress and agree completion of key documentation if appropriate
5 April 2019
Chair
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April LEP Board.
10 Local Industrial Strategy Update
The Board noted progress and proposed next steps for the West Midlands Local Industrial Strategy. The Board noted that while the launch of the Local Industrial Strategy has been delayed due to Parliamentary business, work on developing the implementation plan is underway. The Board noted concerns about a lack of resources available to implement the strategy and agreed that the LEP Executive should outline recommendations for how to deliver the strategy if there are limited funds available. The Board agreed that the LEP should be proactive in developing substantive intervention(s) and seeking funding for them from Government
Paul Edwards to produce recommendations for how to implement parts of the Local Industrial Strategy in the scenario that future local growth funds are limited. Projects / packages of substantive interventions to be developed to support the LIS and LEP Delivery Plans and funding sought
June Ongoing
Paul Edwards LEP Board/ Executive
11 Pilot Innovation Programme
The Board approved £173,500 SEP Enabling Funds for a one-year pilot innovation programme to stimulate and support higher levels of business innovation in key growth industries. The Board requested that there be an update on
January 2020
Matthew
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progress of the Pilot Innovation Programme at a future meeting, including measures of success.
Rhodes/Paul Edwards
12 Growth Hub Next Phase
Cllr Ian Courts declared a conflict of interest on this item due to his role as Chair of the ESIF Sub-Committee. The Board approved:
a) the Growth Hub Next Phase Business Plan 2019-22;
b) progression of the LEP’s bid for £2.14m
ERDF to full application stage with the LEP as applicant and accountable body for the funding with an additional allocation of £400,000 SEP Enabling Funds as part-match; and
c) that delegated authority to approve the
full ERDF application be granted to the Chair in consultation with the LEP Director.
Full application to be signed off by the Chair
May 2019
Chair
13 Future Operating
Model The Board approved GBSLEP becoming a fully independent, operating company and, in doing so, agreed to the following recommendations:
a) ask BCC Cabinet to agree to undertake formal consultation on the TUPE transfer of staff, with an effective date of transfer
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of 1st July 2019;
b) delegate authority to the Remunerations Committee (if it is established – see recommendation xii below) to consider and agree T&Cs for new staff;
c) endorse the immediate commencement of recruitment for two positions (COO or equivalent and Head of Governance), on terms and conditions that mirror those of Birmingham City Council (BCC);
d) agree that GBSLEP applies for admitted body status to the West Midlands Pension Fund and continues to discuss the matter of guarantor with BCC;
e) delegate authority to the Remunerations Committee (if established) to develop options around pensions schemes for new starters;
f) agree that GBSLEP will hold its own revenue funding to be drawn down from BCC on a quarterly basis, save for a small sum of working capital (to be agreed by the LEP Director and BCC) to be drawn down as soon as possible to facilitate the acquisition of IT and systems;
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14 Governance The Board agreed to extend the terms of office of the following Non-Executive Directors until 30 November 2019:
a) Saqib Bhatti b) Pat Hanlon c) Simon Marks d) Matthew Rhodes
The Board noted that Sir David Eastwood will be stepping down as the GBSLEP Non-Executive Director representing higher education on 31 March 2019, and that Alec Cameron, Vice-Chancellor of Aston University will assume the role on 1 April 2019. The Board noted that Non-Executive Directors need to update their Registers of Interest for publication on the GBSLEP website. The Board noted the Gifts & Hospitality Policy, and the requirement for Non-Executive Directors to update the Executive of the receipt of gifts & hospitality.
Board Directors to send Register of Interest forms to LEP Executive LEP Executive to send regular reminders to Directors asking them to declare any gifts & hospitality they have received
April Quarterly
Board Directors/ LEP Executive LEP Executive/Board Directors
15 Assurance Framework
The Board noted the publication of the National Local Growth Assurance Framework. The Board agreed to the proposed revisions to the GBSLEP Assurance Framework, which will ensure GBSLEP is compliant, including:
a) The approach to managing contracts within
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the Financial Controls Policy; b) The approach to managing risk in the Risk
Management Strategy; c) The approach to publishing financial
information; d) The term limits on the Chair and Deputy
Chair, and the approach to recruitment and succession planning;
e) The Induction & Training Policy for Non-Executive Directors and Executive staff;
f) The Record and Document Retentions Policy; g) The process for making decisions by written
procedure; and h) A statement on regional roles and
responsibilities. The Board agreed to the revisions to the Assurance Framework and approved delegated authority for any final changes, specifically to the statement on roles and responsibilities to the Chair, in consultation with the GBSLEP Director. The Board noted that the Supervisory Board will consider the revised Assurance Framework on 11th April 2019.
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16 Audited Accounts The Board noted that Companies House agreed to an extension until 31st March 2019 for submitting GBSLEP Ltd’s annual accounts for 2017/18. The Board approved the Company’s audited accounts for 2017/18 for signature by the Chair for submission to the Company’s members and filing at Companies House by 31st March 2019, subject to some amendments to the Directors Strategic Report. The Board approved the Company’s audited accounts for 2013/14 to 2016/17 for signature by the Chair (2016/17) and another Director (tbc) and agreed that these should be submitted to the Company’s members and filed at Companies House in order to provide a clear line of sight as to how monies have flowed in previous years between GBSLEP and Birmingham City Council (BCC) as the Accountable Body for the funds, as well as the internal expenses incurred by the LEP in discharging its duties. The Board approved the Audit Clearance Memorandum for signature by the Chair. The Board noted that work to identify any Corporation Tax (CT) and Value Added Tax (VAT) liabilities is ongoing and that provision will be made for any liabilities in this year’s accounts. The Board agreed the need to refresh understanding of the roles and responsibilities of Directors and their
KPI table to be removed as it has been published in the Annual Report Accounts to be signed and submitted to Companies House Accounts to be signed and submitted to Companies House Note on responsibilities and roles of Board
27 March 2019 Before 31 March 2019 ASAP May 2019
LEP Executive Chair/LEP Executive Chair/agreed Director/LEP Executive LEP Executive/ Board Directors
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alternates, particularly given the FOM. Directors and alternates to be developed and shared Training to be provided as appropriate
June 2019
LEP Executive/Board Directors
17 Finance Update The Board noted an update to finances in Quarter 3 including forecast income and forecast expenditure.
18 AOB The Board noted the successful UK-India Healthcare conference, at which the Deputy Chair presented, which took place on the 22nd March at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham. The conference showcased opportunities for collaboration between British and Indian healthcare sectors and involved participation from experts, dignitaries and businesses in the health and life science sectors. The Board thanked Professor Sir David Eastwood for his contribution to the LEP over the past two years, including his leadership of the sectors agenda and the Business and Innovation Pillar Board. In particular, the Board applauded his role in developing the life science sector.
N/A N/A N/A
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FUTURE LEP BOARD MEETING DATES:
Thursday 25th April, Mills and Reeve, 78-84 Colmore Row, Birmingham, B3 2AB Thursday 6th June, Midland Group Training Services, The Brook Building, Arrow Rd N, Redditch B98 8NN Thursday 18th July, Safari Academy, West Midlands Safari Park, Spring Grove Rd, Bewdley DY12 1LF
Item 3
ACTIONS LOG
The Actions Log is a record of actions agreed upon to support Board decisions. It provides an indication of the progress made against each action.
Board Date Agenda Item Number
Action Agreed Owner(s) Date due for completion
Status Progress update
01/02/2018 12 LEP Director, Head of Strategy and Head of Delivery to complete the “Appointment of Bankers” form
LEP Director /Heads of Strategy & Delivery
21st February On hold Action being taken forward as part of the implementation of the Future Operating Model.
13/09/2018 16 Chair to present proposals for a Board Director for the remit of Health and Wellbeing at a future date
Chair No date Ongoing This action is held pending a full review of LEP governance
13/09/2018 18 The Board agreed to form an Alumnus group for past and present Directors of the LEP Board
Chair Early 2019 Ongoing This action will be revisited later this year
24/01/2019 8 Board Task and Finish Group to be formed to consider options relating to
LEP Board/LEP
February 2019
Ongoing Draft impact assessment has been prepared and is being consulted upon.
Item 3
Board Date Agenda Item Number
Action Agreed Owner(s) Date due for completion
Status Progress update
the LEP Review and prepare impact assessment for the Board
Executive
27/03/2019 1 Attendance at Board meetings to be collated and published.
LEP Executive
Ongoing In progress
Information is being collated and a way of presenting it on the website is being developed.
27/03/2019 4 LEP Executive to produce summary of GBSLEP’s approach to towns and local centres following the Towns and Local Centres Framework launch event.
Shanaaz Carroll/Katie Fulcher
April Complete LEP Executive has sent a letter updating stakeholders about the LEP’s approach to towns and local centres Summary of the key points from the launch event disseminated to the Board.
27/03/2019 5 LEP Executive to review process for managing and distributing Board papers for future meetings.
LEP Executive
April In Progress
LEP Executive has reviewed the process for Board paper publication and is exploring options for managing the process via cloud software
27/03/2019 6 Board Away Day in May focusing on draft Delivery Plans to be arranged
LEP Executive
End of May Proposed dates will be sent to Directors shortly.
Item 3
Board Date Agenda Item Number
Action Agreed Owner(s) Date due for completion
Status Progress update
27/03/2019 7 LEP Executive to continue exploring the economic impact of LEP interventions, drawing on research and expertise from organisations such as City‐Redi and What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth.
LEP Executive
September In progress
LEP Executive has compiled a spreadsheet mapping economic data sources at a more granular level. Programme team reviewing project outcome indicators following recent update of government guidance on Growth Programme indicators.
27/03/2019 8 Programme pipeline to be reviewed with a view to developing a prioritised list of projects that will enable the LEP to meet the end of programme target of £186m and the agreed outputs
Programme Delivery Board
June In Progress
Due to be considered by the Programme Delivery Board at its 22nd May meeting
27/03/2019 Chair, Deputy Chair and Director to review progress and agree completion of key Paradise Development project documentation if
Chair 5 April 2019 Complete Progress was reviewed on 5th April and the Chair agreed that the relevant conditions of grant funding had been met. The Service Level Agreement was signed on 12th April
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Board Date Agenda Item Number
Action Agreed Owner(s) Date due for completion
Status Progress update
appropriate
27/03/2019 Paul Edwards to produce recommendations for how to implement parts of the Local Industrial Strategy in the scenario that future local growth funds are limited.
Paul Edwards
June Ongoing Discussions around implementation of Local Industrial Strategy in early stages with Black Country LEP, Coventry and Warwickshire LEP and the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA). These will be discussed in full at the WMCA Strategic Economic Development (SED) Board in May with recommended approaches from a GBSLEP perspective to come to June Board.
27/03/2019 12 Full ERDF application for Growth Hub Next Phase to be signed off by the Chair
Chair May Ongoing Bid in development and on target for May submission.
27/03/2019 14 Board Directors to send Register of Interest forms to LEP Executive
Board Directors/LEP Executive
April Ongoing Most forms have been received. LEP Executive requesting remainder of the forms by the end of April.
27/03/2019 16 KPI table to be removed as it has been published in the Annual Report
LEP Executive
27th March 2019
Complete Directors Statement amended as agreed
Item 3
Board Date Agenda Item Number
Action Agreed Owner(s) Date due for completion
Status Progress update
27/03/2019 16 Audited Accounts for 2017/18 to be signed and submitted to Companies House
Chair/LEP Executive
Before 31st March
Complete Accounts signed and submitted before the end of March.
27/03/2019 16 Audited Accounts for 2013/2014 to 2016/2017 to be signed and submitted to Companies House
Chair/agreed Director/LEP Executive
ASAP In progress
A clarification note to further explain the treatment of grant funding is being developed for inclusion in the accounts before they are signed.
27/03/2019 16 Note on responsibilities and roles of Board Directors and alternates to be developed and shared
LEP Executive/Board Directors
May 2019 In progress
A note is being drafted.
27/03/2019 16 Training for Board Directors to be provided as appropriate
LEP Executive/Board Directors
June/July 2019
In progress
Content for the training is being developed and potential providers approached. Possible dates will be shared with Directors shortly.
GBSLEP Board Forward Plan
Item 4
Item Purpose Owner Lead officer Standing item/Regular item/ Ad hoc item
Supervisory Board
Thursday 6 June 2019
Director’s Report To raise and discuss headline business on the agenda, and to note performance against KPIs
LEP Director Katie Trout Standing item
Growth Programme To update on Growth Programme progress ‐ Prioritisation
Programme Delivery Board
Russell Eacott Standing item Yes
Enterprise Zone Programme
To update on the Enterprise Zone.
Approval of the EZ Investment Plan 2019 - 20(BCC/GBSLEP)
Programme Delivery Board
Russell Eacott Standing Item Yes
HS2 Urban Realm EZ Project
To seek Board approval for investment in HS2 Urban Realm EZ Project
Programme Delivery Board
Wendy Edwards Ad Hoc
Local Industrial Strategy To discuss proposed next steps for implementation of Local Industrial Strategy and its implications for GBSLEP activity
WMCA SED Board Paul Edwards Standing item
SEP Delivery Plans To review and endorse the Delivery Plan for Business Support and Access to Finance
Pillar Boards Paul Edwards Standing item
GBSLEP Board Forward Plan
Item 4
Item Purpose Owner Lead officer Standing item/Regular item/ Ad hoc item
Supervisory Board
SEP Delivery Plan – Skills Plan 10,000
To review proposals from the Employment and Skills Board and Executive to increase the cohort of learners starting at NVQ Level 3+
Employment and Skills Board
Paul Edwards Ah Hoc Yes
GBSLEP Operating Budget 2018+
To approve the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) for the 3 years after the budget period (2020‐2023)
LEP Board Katie Trout Regular item (annual)
Yes
Board Composition To consider draft proposals for the composition of the Board
LEP Board Katie Trout Ad hoc No
FOM Implementation To update the Board on the implementation of the Future Operating Model
LEP Board Katie Trout Ad hoc No
Communications update To update on the LEP’s communications activities
LEP Executive Katie Fulcher Standing Item
Thursday 18 July 2019
Director’s Report To raise and discuss headline business on the agenda, and to note performance against KPIs
LEP Director Katie Trout Standing item
GBSLEP Board Forward Plan
Item 4
Item Purpose Owner Lead officer Standing item/Regular item/ Ad hoc item
Supervisory Board
Growth Programme To update on Growth Programme progress ‐ Q4 2018/19 Highlight Report
Programme Delivery Board
Russell Eacott Standing item Yes
Enterprise Zone Update To update on the Enterprise Zone Q4 2018/19 Highlight Report
Programme Delivery Board
Russell Eacott Standing Item Yes
Local Industrial Strategy To discuss proposed next steps for implementation of Local Industrial Strategy and its implications for GBSLEP activity
WMCA SED Board Paul Edwards Standing item
SEP Delivery Plans To review and endorse the Delivery Plan for Place‐making
Pillar Boards Paul Edwards Standing item
Statutory Accounts To approve 2018/19 statutory accounts LEP Board Katie Trout Ad Hoc
Finance update To update on the high‐level financial position, the capital programme, the revenue spend to date and the forecast outturn for the year.
LEP Board Katie Trout Standing Item
Communications Update ‘Below the line’ report to update on the LEP’s communications activities
LEP Executive Katie Fulcher Standing Item
GBSLEP Board Forward Plan
Item 4
Item Purpose Owner Lead officer Standing item/Regular item/ Ad hoc item
Supervisory Board
Precision Technology Accelerator – Life Science Park
To consider investment in the Precision Technology Accelerator at the Life Sciences Park, Edgbaston
Programme Delivery Board
Wendy Edwards Ad Hoc
Commonwealth Games To consider investment in the Commonwealth Games
Programme Delivery Board
Wendy Edwards Ad hoc
Joint Scrutiny Committee Report
To receive the Annual Report of the GBS Joint Scrutiny Committee
GBS Joint Scrutiny Committee
Paul Edwards Annual
Thursday 19 September 2019
Director’s Report To raise and discuss headline business on the agenda, and to note performance against KPIs
LEP Director Katie Trout Standing item
Growth Programme To update on Growth Programme progress
Programme Delivery Board
TBC Standing item Yes
Enterprise Zone Update To update on the Enterprise Zone Programme Delivery Board
TBC Standing Item Yes
Local Industrial Strategy To discuss proposed next steps for implementation of Local Industrial Strategy and its implications for GBSLEP
WMCA SED Board Paul Edwards Standing item
GBSLEP Board Forward Plan
Item 4
Item Purpose Owner Lead officer Standing item/Regular item/ Ad hoc item
Supervisory Board
activity
SEP Delivery Plans To review and endorse the Delivery Plan for Creative Industries
Pillar Boards Paul Edwards Standing item
Finance update To update on the high‐level financial position, the capital programme, the revenue spend to date and the forecast outturn for the year.
LEP Board Katie Trout Standing Item
Communications Update ‘Below the line’ report to update on the LEP’s communications activities
LEP Executive Katie Fulcher Standing Item
Thursday 21st November 2019
Director’s Report To raise and discuss headline business on the agenda, and to note performance against KPIs
LEP Director Katie Trout Standing item
Growth Programme To update on Growth Programme progress
Programme Delivery Board
TBC Standing item Yes
Enterprise Zone Update To update on the Enterprise Zone Programme Delivery Board
TBC Standing Item Yes
GBSLEP Board Forward Plan
Item 4
Item Purpose Owner Lead officer Standing item/Regular item/ Ad hoc item
Supervisory Board
Local Industrial Strategy To discuss proposed next steps for implementation of Local Industrial Strategy and its implications for GBSLEP activity.
WMCA SED Board Paul Edwards Standing item
SEP Delivery Plans To review and endorse the Delivery Plans
Pillar Boards Paul Edwards Standing item
Finance update To update on the high‐level financial position, the capital programme, the revenue spend to date and the forecast outturn for the year.
LEP Board Katie Trout Standing Item
Communications Update ‘Below the line’ report To update on the LEP’s communications activities.
LEP Executive Katie Fulcher Standing Item
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15/04/2019 1 of 2
GREATER BIRMINGHAM AND SOLIHULL LEP
BOARD MEETING
25 April 2019
Director’s Report Recommendations Board Directors are asked to:
1. Note the Director’s update on the strategy and activity of the LEP.
Key issues
2. On today’s agenda, Directors are being asked to consider a draft annual Delivery Plan. This sets out proposed activity over the coming year which will support the implementation of the LEP’s Strategic Economic Plan (SEP) and contribute to the West Midlands Local Industrial Strategy (LIS). The draft Operational Budget has been developed to support the delivery of this Plan. A significant increase in revenue funded activity from the Business Rates Pool is proposed to support further economic growth across the whole of the GBSLEP area.
3. Whilst the annual Delivery Plan summarises activity across the breadth of the LEP’s agenda, the Board’s focus on specific elements of it continues with the refreshed Skills Delivery Plan being a key item at this meeting. The proposed Plan has been revised to focus future activity on those interventions with greatest potential to make a difference to the skills challenges faced by the local economy. It highlights the areas where GBSLEP needs to focus its attention, which will be complemented by activity of other partners, such as the West Midlands Combined Authority. Collectively the aim is to make a significant difference to the skills agenda across the region.
4. It is important that our work on skills is informed by robust evidence and research. The 1001 Trades project looked at the reasons why the Tech sector does not attract young people, resulting in skills shortages for tech-based roles in the region. In order to become a leading global city region, Greater Birmingham will need to attract a higher percentage of young people to develop the technical skills we require to maximise the impact of new and developing technologies. Key findings of this Doink (part of the Beatfreeks Collective) project in partnership with GBSLEP and Nesta will be presented to the Board.
5. Directors may have also heard the recent announcement that the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Institute of Technology (IOT) consortium has been successful in its bid for an IOT, one of 12 in the country. This is excellent news for the region. The IOT is for Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering with a focus on emerging technologies and will include a state of the art Cyber-Physical Manufacturing Rig and other Industry 4.0 level equipment. The IOT is due to launch in time for the new academic year. The consortium is led by Solihull College &
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University Centre, Aston University and Birmingham City University, working alongside South and City College Birmingham as a Core partner and supported by BMET College, University College Birmingham and the University of Birmingham. An Employer Advisory Board will ensure curricula are industry relevant, that there is strong industry engagement and access to workplace based learning opportunities. The GBSLEP Executive has supported the work of the consortium since the outset and will continue to be part of the Steering Board along with other key partners.
6. The Board will also receive an update on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) that has been attracted to Greater Birmingham and Solihull over the past year. Increasing levels of FDI into the area is an important element of our SEP, made even more critical given the challenges in bringing in new investment since the Brexit referendum. Directors will want to consider how this activity is resourced in light of the new West Midlands Inward Investment Strategy.
7. Presentations will also be given to the Board on two exciting opportunities for the
area 5G and Smithfield, both of which have the potential to realise significant economic growth. The LEP’s role will be discussed as part of both of these items.
Report by: Katie Trout
LEP Director Contact: [email protected] Date Created: 15th April 2019
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GREATER BIRMINGHAM AND SOLIHULL LEP BOARD MEETING
25 April 2019
European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) Update
Recommendations
1. Board Directors are asked to:
Note the progress of ESIF funding in Greater Birmingham and Solihull (GBS) LEP area
Note the priorities for ESIF sub-committee
Background
2. In 2011 the European Commission (EC) published proposals for delivering EU funds in 2014 to 2020 using a Common Strategic Framework through three funding streams under the ESIF (European Structural and Investment Funds) umbrella:
European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) with a focus on innovation and research and development, SME support and low carbon managed by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG);
European Social Fund (ESF) focusing on skills, employment and social inclusion managed by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP);
The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) focussed on tourism development and business support activity, managed by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA).
3. The Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP) has nominally been allocated €255.8 million of ERDF and ESF funds to be match funded 50% with other funding to cover the period 2014-20. €1.1 million of Rural Funding has also been allocated to the area.
4, The European Commission has also launched a specific initiative to tackle youth unemployment across the EU called the Youth Employment Initiative. Certain areas where youth unemployment is particularly high have been selected by the Commission for additional resource. It has selected the GBSLEP area as eligible to receive this extra resource to an additional £19m.
5. The role of the GBSLEP ESIF Committee is to advise the managing government agencies (“Managing Authorities”) on local strategic aims alongside national strategic and operational objectives and to ensure that maximum impact is achieved through the Funds, thereby contributing to delivery of the overall national programmes.
6. ESIF must be spent in line with strict financial targets and deliverables as set by
the European Commission. The Commission require a fixed amount of the funding allocated to each Operational Programme to have been spent within
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three years of money being formally committed by the EU to the programme, known as the N+3 target.
7. For the England ERDF and ESF Programme, the first target is in 2018 and the
final target (100% of the budget) falls in 2023. If these targets are not met the amount of funding allocated to the Operational Programme will be reduced.
Key Issues
8. As part of Brexit negotiations, Her Majesty’s Government issued a Joint report on progress during phase 1 of negotiations under Article 50 TEU on the United Kingdom’s orderly withdrawal from the European Union. This joint report states that the UK will continue to participate in EU programmes financed by the Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2020 and was agreed at the EU Council meeting on 15th December 2017. This means that funds defrayed through ESIF will be done so through EU budgets until the end of December 2022.
9. If there is a Brexit deal then the Programme will be fully funded on this basis. If there is no deal, there will be an extended Government guarantee of funding until 2020 with existing projects being under-written by the UK government. MHCLG will write to LEPs and Local ESIF sub-committees in more detail as the funding is expected to be through Her Majesty’s Treasury rather than the European Union.
10. To ensure maximum expenditure of funds, the Government intends to reallocate all LEPs’ unspent allocations into a national pot of funds. Locally based projects will still be able to apply to these national funds and we anticipate that this will be a good opportunity to bring forwards projects that complement, and allow early stage implementation of the Local Industrial Strategy for the West Midlands. Appendices A and B set out current projects allocated and funded through ESIF.
11. At the ESIF sub-committee on 2 April 2019, MHCLG position is that the last GBSLEP call for ERDF will take place in summer 2019 with all unallocated funds then transferred to a national call to ensure that all funding is spent nationally.
12. The timetable for ESF is slightly different with the last local calls taking place in autumn 2019, with any surplus funds transferring to a national pot following these final calls.
13. The table included as Appendix C sets out the GBSLEP’s ESIF current funding position and deliverables. Commitment against ERDF sits at 86%, which is a strong position at this stage of the programme. Deliverables are well above target.
14. Allocations against ESF sit at c.65% with strong performance from contracted projects. A series of calls are planned over the next few months, working closely with the LEP Executive and partners, to increase levels of allocation.
15. The length of time being taken to appraise applications remains a key issue, particularly with ESF applications. To mitigate against this, DWP are moving to a single stage application process with a higher minimum value per application of £150k ESF (total value £300K) and a biweekly meeting is held with Catherine Blair, Head of European Social Fund and the Head of Appraisals with the purpose of reviewing applications and their status. The ESIF sub-committee will keep this progress under review.
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16. It should be noted that GBSLEP originally took the position not to opt in to national provision for ESF instead finding the 50% match funding from local resources. Subsequently, in 2018, the ESIF sub-committee opted in to a national scheme operated by the Education and Skills Funding Agency in order to increase spend and delivery against the programme.
17. The devolution of the Adult Education budget (AEB) to the West Midlands Combined Authority could be used as a future source of match for ESF projects as it aims to engage adults and provide the skills and learning they need to equip them for work, apprenticeship or other learning.
18. The ESIF sub-committee will continue to monitor the ongoing position with regards to match funding for ESF.
Conclusion 19. As the ESIF programme nears conclusion, the overall programme is in a strong
position with plans in place by ESIF sub-committee and the Managing Authorities to address areas of potential under-allocation of funds and, where applicable, programme under-performance.
Report by: Paul Edwards Head of Strategy
Contact: [email protected] Date Created: 3 April 2019
Appendices a. Live and allocated European Regional
Development Fund projects as March 2019 b. Live European Social Fund projects as
March 2019 c. Unallocated funds and output performance
for Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP area
d. European Social Fund output performance for Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP area
European Structural and Investment Funds 2014 - 2020
Growth Programme for England
Table 5: Project ERDF
Project Name and ApplicantGreater Birmingham and Solihull
Priority Axis Category of Region
Project Name Applicant Status ERDF£
Total£
Value of Projects
1 MD Advanced Services Growth ( ASG Dec17 ) Full £701,924.0 £1,403,847.0Aston University
1 MD Aerospace Unlocking Potential (UP) (GBS BC CAW SAS) Full £1,731,644.0 £3,463,288.0University of Nottingham
1 MD BSEEN DEC 17 Full £878,225.0 £1,756,451.0Aston University
1 MD Focus Digital ( Mar 18 ) Full £314,651.0 £629,300.0Coventry University Enterprises Ltd
1 MD Innovation Networks (1922) Full £983,596.9 £1,967,194.2Coventry University Enterprises Ltd
1 T Innovation Networks (1922) Full £53,167.4 £106,334.8Coventry University Enterprises Ltd
1 MD Innovation Vouchers Phase 3 Full £803,273.0 £1,606,542.0Aston University
1 MD Proof of Concept (1922) Full £378,216.3 £756,433.4Coventry University Enterprises Ltd
Date produced: 25/03/2019
Exchange rate used: 0.0933
All Values are for ERDF only
Includes Financial Instruments
1 MD Science in Industry Research Centre (SIRC) Full £346,901.0 £693,802.0University of Wolverhampton
1 MD STEAMhouse – Digital Technologies Enabling Innovation Full £1,660,954.0 £3,321,908.0Birmingham City University
1 MD Advanced Materials Characterisation and Simulation Hub (AMCASH)
LIVE £2,398,108.0 £4,796,216.0University of Birmingham
1 T Advanced Materials Characterisation and Simulation Hub (AMCASH)
LIVE £79,659.0 £159,317.0University of Birmingham
1 T Big Data Corridor: A New Business Economy LIVE £120,164.0 £240,329.0Birmingham City Council – Digital Birmingham
1 MD Big Data Corridor: A New Business Economy LIVE £1,081,526.0 £2,163,051.0Birmingham City Council – Digital Birmingham
1 MD BSEEN LIVE £729,885.0 £1,459,770.0Aston University
1 T CALMERIC Composite and Additive Layer Materials Engineering Research and Innovation Centre
LIVE £166,861.8 £278,103.0University of Wolverhampton
1 MD Centre for Medical Devices Testing and Evaluation (MD-TEC) LIVE £3,473,344.0 £6,946,689.0University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
1 MD CIAMM LIVE £1,118,241.0 £2,236,482.0University of Birmingham
1 T CIAMM LIVE £46,593.0 £93,187.0University of Birmingham
1 MD DIGI-RAIL LIVE £909,904.5 £1,819,809.0University of Birmingham
1 T DIGI-RAIL LIVE £47,890.5 £95,781.0University of Birmingham
1 T Digital Innovation for Manufacturing (DI4M) LIVE £446,630.0 £850,885.0University of Warwick
1 MD Digital Innovation for Manufacturing (DI4M) LIVE £446,630.0 £850,885.0University of Warwick
1 MD EBRI LIVE £379,831.0 £759,662.0Aston University
1 T EBRI LIVE £113,456.0 £226,912.0Aston University
1 T Enabling Technologies and Innovation Competences Challenge LIVE £85,139.0 £170,278.0Aston University
Date produced: 25/03/2019
Exchange rate used: 0.0933
All Values are for ERDF only
Includes Financial Instruments
1 MD Enabling Technologies and Innovation Competences Challenge LIVE £794,628.0 £1,589,256.0Aston University
1 MD Focus Digital LIVE £246,867.0 £493,746.0Coventry University Enterprises Ltd
1 T Focus Digital LIVE £45,311.0 £75,545.0Coventry University Enterprises Ltd
1 T GBSLEP - Alternative Raw Materials with Low Impact (ARLI) LIVE £34,592.0 £69,183.0University of Birmingham
1 MD GBSLEP - Alternative Raw Materials with Low Impact (ARLI) LIVE £830,201.0 £1,660,403.0University of Birmingham
1 MD Innovation Engine LIVE £1,532,115.0 £3,064,231.0Birmingham Science Park Aston
1 T Innovation Engine LIVE £97,795.0 £195,589.0Birmingham Science Park Aston
1 MD Innovation Networks 1518 LIVE £379,259.7 £758,519.4Coventry University Enterprises Ltd
1 T Innovation Networks 1518 LIVE £50,568.0 £101,135.9Coventry University Enterprises Ltd
1 MD Innovation Vouchers LIVE £534,310.0 £1,068,620.0Aston University
1 T Innovation Vouchers LIVE £58,257.0 £116,514.0Aston University
1 MD Innovative Product Support Services LIVE £187,369.0 £348,055.0University of Wolverhampton
1 T Innovative Product Support Services LIVE £280,880.0 £521,909.0University of Wolverhampton
1 MD Knowledge Exchange and Enterprise Network LIVE £260,031.2 £520,062.4University of Wolverhampton
1 T Knowledge Exchange and Enterprise Network LIVE £40,004.8 £80,009.6University of Wolverhampton
1 T Promoting Functional Materials in SMEs LIVE £35,028.0 £70,056.0Aston University
1 MD Promoting Functional Materials in SMEs LIVE £315,259.0 £630,518.0Aston University
1 T Smart Factory Hub (SmartFub) LIVE £69,929.0 £139,858.0University of Birmingham
Date produced: 25/03/2019
Exchange rate used: 0.0933
All Values are for ERDF only
Includes Financial Instruments
1 MD Smart Factory Hub (SmartFub) LIVE £1,678,292.0 £3,356,591.0University of Birmingham
1 MD STEAMHOUSE LIVE £1,659,160.0 £3,318,320.0Birmingham City University
1 T STEAMHOUSE LIVE £104,840.0 £209,680.0Birmingham City University
1 T System Analytics for Innovation LIVE £34,120.0 £68,240.0Aston University
1 MD System Analytics for Innovation LIVE £375,320.0 £750,640.0Aston University
1 MD Promoting Innovation in SMEs Outline £565,776.0 £1,131,553.0Aston University
PA1 Total £29,706,328.1 £59,190,690.7
3 T Aston Prog for Small Business Growth DEC 17 Full £48,079.0 £80,133.0Aston University
3 MD Aston Prog for Small Business Growth DEC 17 Full £470,786.0 £941,568.0Aston University
3 T Business Growth Programme 2 (BGP2) Full £375,000.0 £795,600.0Birmingham City Council
3 MD Business Growth Programme 2 (BGP2) Full £3,374,996.0 £7,160,373.0Birmingham City Council
3 MD Diverse Supply Chains Full £492,497.0 £984,994.0Aston University
3 T Diverse Supply Chains Full £54,722.0 £109,443.0Aston University
3 MD Enterprise Development & Growth – Greater Birmingham & Solihull (Extension)
Full £1,227,389.0 £2,454,776.0Solihull MBC
3 T Enterprise Development & Growth – Greater Birmingham & Solihull (Extension)
Full £531,918.0 £886,529.0Solihull MBC
3 MD Manufacturing Growth Programme II Full £375,000.0 £750,000.0Oxford Innovation Services Ltd
3 T Manufacturing Growth Programme II Full £125,000.0 £208,333.0Oxford Innovation Services Ltd
3 MD Midlands Engine Export Grant Scheme Full £800,000.0 £1,600,000.0Department for International Trade (DIT)
Date produced: 25/03/2019
Exchange rate used: 0.0933
All Values are for ERDF only
Includes Financial Instruments
3 T Midlands Engine Export Grant Scheme Full £200,000.0 £400,000.0Department for International Trade (DIT)
3 T Aston Programme for Small Business Growth LIVE £59,087.0 £118,174.0Aston University
3 MD Aston Programme for Small Business Growth LIVE £398,837.0 £797,674.0Aston University
3 MD Birmingham Knowledge Economy Business Incubation Partnership
LIVE £1,025,489.0 £2,050,978.0Innovation Birmingham (Aston Science Park)
3 MD Business Growth Programme (BGP) LIVE £8,933,708.0 £17,867,417.0Birmingham City Council
3 T Business Growth Programme (BGP) LIVE £992,634.0 £1,985,268.0Birmingham City Council
3 T Enterprise Development & Growth – Greater Birmingham & Solihull
LIVE £180,617.0 £301,027.0Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
3 MD Enterprise Development & Growth – Greater Birmingham & Solihull
LIVE £1,038,812.0 £2,077,628.0Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
3 MD Greater Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP) Growth Hub
LIVE £670,950.0 £1,341,900.0Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI)
3 T Greater Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP) Growth Hub
LIVE £287,550.0 £575,100.0Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI)
3 MD Investing in Greater Birmingham LIVE £1,617,795.0 £3,235,590.0West Midlands Growth Company
3 T Investing in Greater Birmingham LIVE £220,608.0 £441,216.0West Midlands Growth Company
3 T Manufacturing Growth Programme (MGP) LIVE £68,027.0 £113,378.3WMMBF Ltd
3 MD Manufacturing Growth Programme (MGP) LIVE £428,520.0 £857,040.0WMMBF Ltd
3 T Midlands Engine Investment Fund (PA3) LIVE £1,830,000.0 £6,200,567.0Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (“BEIS”)
3 MD Midlands Engine Investment Fund (PA3) LIVE £11,670,000.0 £39,541,317.0Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (“BEIS”)
3 T Property Investment Programme LIVE £205,200.0 £410,400.0Birmingham City Council
3 MD Property Investment Programme LIVE £2,074,800.0 £4,149,600.0Birmingham City Council
Date produced: 25/03/2019
Exchange rate used: 0.0933
All Values are for ERDF only
Includes Financial Instruments
3 MD SME International Growth Project LIVE £358,340.0 £716,678.0West Midlands International Trade LLP
3 T SME International Growth Project LIVE £88,296.0 £163,694.0West Midlands International Trade LLP
3 MD Transforming SMEs to improve their revenues through the adoption of advanced services. (TRAN-SIP)
LIVE £584,046.0 £1,168,092.0Aston University
3 MD GBSLEP Growth Hub Outline £2,149,672.0 £4,215,045.0Greater Birmingham & Solihull LEP
PA3 Total £42,958,375.0 £104,699,532.3
4 MD Birmingham Home & Hub PA4 Full £1,125,176.0 £3,867,915.0Birmingham City Council
4 MD EBRI ( Sept 17 ) : Business Investment in Research - Successor Project
Full £273,499.0 £546,998.0Aston University
4 T EBRI ( Sept 17 ) : Business Investment in Research - Successor Project
Full £72,397.0 £144,794.0Aston University
4 T Inno Carbon - Eco-innovation support to SMEs Full £162,104.0 £270,173.0Birmingham City University
4 MD Inno Carbon - Eco-innovation support to SMEs Full £1,215,789.0 £2,431,578.0Birmingham City University
4 MD Multi-modal Sprint stops Full £952,001.0 £2,000,000.0West Midlands Combined Authority
4 MD Ward End Park Lakeside Renewal Project PA4 Full £671,477.0 £1,342,954.0Birmingham City Council
4 MD Accelerating Thermal Energy Technology Adoption (ATETA) LIVE £2,034,791.0 £4,069,583.0University of Birmingham
4 MD Low Carbon Growth Support LIVE £208,380.0 £416,760.0Groundwork West Midlands
4 T Low Carbon Growth Support LIVE £28,257.0 £47,363.0Groundwork West Midlands
4 MD Low Carbon SMEs (GBSLEP) LIVE £545,206.0 £1,090,410.0Aston University
4 T Low Carbon SMEs (GBSLEP) LIVE £60,580.0 £121,159.0Aston University
4 T Accelerating Thermal Energy Technology Adoption (ATETA) GBS
Outline £49,063.6 £98,127.2University of Birmingham
Date produced: 25/03/2019
Exchange rate used: 0.0933
All Values are for ERDF only
Includes Financial Instruments
4 MD Accelerating Thermal Energy Technology Adoption (ATETA) GBS
Outline £564,231.4 £1,128,462.8University of Birmingham
4 MD Low Carbon SMEs 2 Outline £609,565.0 £1,219,130.0Aston University
4 MD SUD Outline £5,445,331.0 £10,083,946.0SUD ringfenced
PA4 Total £14,017,848.0 £28,879,353.0
6 MD Birmingham Home & Hub PA6 Full £112,000.0 £312,000.0Birmingham City Council
6 MD Ward End Park Lakeside Renewal Project PA6 Full £447,651.0 £895,302.0Birmingham City Council
6 T BASIS - Birmingham and Solihull Industrial Symbiosis LIVE £69,633.0 £139,266.0Birmingham City Council
6 MD BASIS - Birmingham and Solihull Industrial Symbiosis LIVE £626,694.0 £1,253,389.0Birmingham City Council
6 T Greening the Grey LIVE £213,090.0 £426,180.0Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
6 MD Greening the Grey LIVE £6,889,904.0 £13,779,809.0Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
6 MD Natural Rivers and Green Corridors LIVE £789,156.0 £1,578,321.0Birmingham City Council
6 MD Solihull Habitat and Nature Improvements LIVE £992,205.0 £1,984,410.0Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
6 MD SUD Outline £2,772,533.0 £3,522,870.0SUD ringfenced
PA6 Total £12,912,866.0 £23,891,547.0
Grand Total £99,595,417.1 £216,661,123.0
£198,756,352.1£91,662,669.0More Developed Total
£17,904,770.9£7,932,748.1Transition Total
£0.0£0.0Less Developed Total
Date produced: 25/03/2019
Exchange rate used: 0.0933
All Values are for ERDF only
Includes Financial Instruments
European Structural and Investment Funds 2014 - 2020
Project Organisation ESF Value M-D ESF Value Trans I.P Call Reference
Call Closure
Date Status Other Information
Youth Promise Plus
Birmingham City
Council £33,600,000.00 1.3 OC12S15P 0033 Live
Business Elevator
Solihull College and
University Centre £1,259,299 2.2 OC12S16P 0298 Live
Higher Level Skills Match
Birmingham City
University £1,442,239.00 £213,904.00 2.2 OC12S16P 0298 Live
Positive Futures
Ashiana Community
Project £710,027.00 1.1 OC12S16P0382 Live
AEGIS in Communities The Muath Trust £2,000,000.00 2.1 OC12S16P0392 20/12/2016 Live
Employed for Success
Solihull Metropolitan
Borough Council £829,910.00 1.4
OCS12S16P039
1 20/12/2016 Live
Bridges to Success
Enterkey Training
Limited £1,431,951.00 1.4 OC12S16P 0391 20/12/2016 Live
PURE
Birmingham City
Council £6,500,000.00 1.4 OC12S16P 0391 20/12/2016 Live
Stepping Up The Muath Trust £1,600,000.00 1.4 OC12S16P 0391 20/12/2016 Live
Employment Plus previously known
as Access to Employment
The Salvation Army
Trustee Company £928,420.00 1.1 OC12S17P0739 30/06/2017 Live
Working2Succeed: Building
Community Pathways to Greater
Employment
Enterkey Training
Limited £1,431,951.00 1.1 OC12S17P0739 30/06/2017 Live
Progression Pathways
Birmingham City
Council £1,634,704.00 1.1 OC12S17P0739 30/06/2017 Live
Digital and Skills Birmingham -
Young People into the Labour Tin Smart Social Ltd £3,900,120.00 1.2 OC12S17C0804 05/10/2017 Live
Skills Support for the Workforce
and Redundancy ESFA 2.1 CFO Application n/a Live
Skills Support for the Workforce
and Redundancy ESFA 2.1 CFO Application n/a Live
Project Overview
Appendix A
ESIF Funding
ProgrammePriority CoR Unallocated to date Date Value
Likelihood of full
allocationIntervention Target Actual
MD £20.7m
Current live
call. Future
calls planned
£20.7m Low
T 0 N/A N/A N/A
MD £14.7m
Current live
call. Future
calls planned
£14.7m Low
T £3.2m
Current live
call. Future
calls planned
£3.2m Low
MD £2.55m May/June £2.55m High107 Enterprises Receiving
Support
807 Enterprises Receiving
Support
T £0.294k May/June £294k Medium
Likely that circa £180k would be left unallocated based on
previous requests.
Need for a transitional weighted project to be brought forward
to take up the allocation.
8 Enterprises Receiving
Support
57 Enterprises receiving
Support
MD £5.3m May/June £5.3m High330 Enterprises Receiving
Support
806 Enterprises Receiving
Support
T £2.7m May/June £2.7m Low
Likely that circa £2.265m would be left unallocated based on
previous requests.
Need for a transitional focussed project to be brought forward
to take up the allocation.
76 Enterprises Receiving
Support
141 Enterprises Receiving
Support
0 Enterprises Receiving
Support
67 Enterprises Receiving
Support
0 (Tonnes of CO2) Estimated
GHG Reductions
67 (Tonnes of CO2)
Estimated GHG Reductions
0 Enterprises Receiving
Support
15 Enterprises Receiving
Support
0 (Tonnes of CO2)Estimated
GHG Reductions
15 (Tonnes of CO2)
Estimated GHG Reductions
MD £2.84m May/June £2.84m Low
Some of the funding coud be allocated to existing projects, but
there is a need for new project activity to be brought forward to
take up the remaining allocation
33 (Has) Surface of habitats
supported in order to attain a
better conservation status
65 (Has) Surface of habitats
supported in order to attain
a better conservation
status
T £0.748k May/June 748k Low
Some of the funding coud be allocated to existing projects, but
there is a need for new project activity to be brought forward to
take up the remaining allocation
N/A N/A
ERDF SUD Priority 4 MD £2.67m April - Live call £2.67m Medium
ERDF SUD Priority 6 MD £2.02m April - Live call £2.02m Medium
EAFRD Growth
Programme - Business
Development
Rural 0 N/A 0 High
EAFRD Growth
Programme - Food
Processing
Rural 0 N/A 0 N/A
EAFRD Growth
Programme - TourismRural 0 N/A 0 N/A
£2m
GBSLEP's ESIF unallocated funds and Output Performance
2018 Performance Targets - Outputs
Part of Priority 4
Part of Priority 6
Need for new project activity to be brought forward to take up
the remaining allocation.
The ERDF Teachnical Assistance team and the P4 and P6 leads
are proactivily working with partners on bringing forward large
applications.
Need for new project activity to be brought forward to take up
the remaining allocation
Priority 4
T £0.44k May/June £44k LowNeed for new project activity to be brought forward to take up
the remaining allocation
ERDF Priority 6
MD £2m
N/A
Calls planned
ERDF
EAFRD
ESF Priority 1
ESF Priority 2
ERDF Priority 1
ESF
ERDF Priority 3
Shown as Appendix B
Shown as Appendix B
Need for new project activity to be brought forward to take up
the remaining allocation.
The minium call value has been raised from £50k to £150k to
encourge larger partner applications.
There is now a single stage application process rather than a
two stage process.
The ESF TA team have in place a robust call for application plan
with workshops and single applicant advice sessions in place to
cover the next 6-12 months.
The ESIF sub Committee have sought adavice from Dr Cathere
Blair, Head of Deputy Director, Head of European Social Fund
Division, Department for Work & Pensions on the use of Adult
Education Budget as match funding which wil be devolved to
the WMCA on 1.8.19
High
N/A
N/A
May/June
Appendix B
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GREATER BIRMINGHAM AND SOLIHULL LEP
BOARD MEETING
25 April 2019
Skills Delivery Plan 19/20
Recommendations
Board Directors are asked to:
1. Comment on and, if felt appropriate, endorse the recommendations of the Employment and Skills Board (ESB) as to the priorities for the Skills Delivery Plan for 2019/20.
2. Note the initial work of the LEP Executive, supported by the ESB, in development of a “Plan 10,000 Plus” to increase the cohort of learners commencing NVQ 3+ qualifications in the LEP area. It is intended that this proposal will be brought to the June Board for consideration.
Background
3. At the February 2018 Board meeting, the Board agreed to a focus on proactive activity from the LEP Executive on development of clear delivery plans for driving growth across the LEP geography.
4. These delivery plans were to consist of five plans for high growth sectors: life sciences; creative industries; business, professional and financial services; energy technologies and services; and advanced manufacturing and engineering.
5. These were to be complemented by five “cross-cutting” plans in digital technologies; emerging and disruptive technologies; skills; place; and business support.
6. At the November 2018 Board meeting, the Board requested that the next iterations of the Delivery Plans reflect an increased level of ambition, focusing on a smaller number of high quality interventions.
7. Working with the ESB, the LEP Executive have developed the next iteration of the Skills Delivery Plan to focus future activity on those interventions with greatest potential to make a difference to the skills challenges faced by the local economy.
Key Issues
Skills Delivery Plan
8. The ESB considered the revised GBSLEP Skills Delivery Plan at their January 2019 meeting with a further iteration provided for endorsement at their meeting on 12 April 2019.
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9. The ESB recommends that LEP skills-based activity focus on identifying and driving the productivity and growth of the GBSLEP economy through a focus on GBS key sectors, by addressing the local business skills needs now, and in the future, through co-investment and collaborative working.
10. The revised Skills Delivery Plan (summary Plan provided in Appendix A) aims to strengthen local employer and industrial focus of LEP interventions compared with the previous iteration. In this way, it complements the work of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) as the primary strategic skills lead in the West Midlands but one which has both a wider geographic and social agenda than the LEP.
11. The Skills Delivery Plan links to the wider Regional Skills Plan and the Local Industrial Strategy action plans being produced for the key sectors. It does not duplicate, but focusses on the real need to promote and encourage employers to invest in training for now and future needs.
12. As such, the overarching aims of the refocused Skills Delivery Plan are to:
Use partnership and collaboration to tackle skills shortages and gaps that are barriers to long-term business growth and productivity
Motivate and inspire people to develop skills for key sectors and technologies for growth
Develop employer led programmes to increase workforce diversity, to combat skills shortages and drive economic growth
Prime the adoption of disruptive and emergent technologies to enable skills development that matches today and tomorrow’s skills needs
13. The Plan responds to the GBSLEP Strategic Economic Plan headline KPI of increasing the % of Working Age Population with NVQ3+ to the National Average by 2025. However, the leading indicators as to the success of this plan will be measured by how many employers we encourage to engage, invest and participate in training.
“Plan 10,000 Plus”
14. As part of the development of the Skills Delivery Plan, the ESB noted that the proposed interventions, although important in addressing the skills gaps in Greater Birmingham will not, alone, meet the Board’s long-standing headline ambition to close the gap between the qualification levels at NVQ3+ levels to those of the national averages.
15. ONS data shows that the working age16-64 population of Greater Birmingham and Solihull is 1,253,900 and of those 652,800 are qualified at Level 3 and above (52.1%). This compares with the national average of 57.2%. To close the gap over the next five years, the GBS area needs an estimated 24,500 more people of working age each year to progress to level 3 and above.
16. The long term trend shows that around 14,500 each year on average are added. During the period 2007 to 2017, 167,900 more people were qualified to level 3. 2017 was exceptionally good performance at level 3 (27,700) but it is unclear if this is sustainable.
17. The ESB recommends that, to meet the headline KPI, GBS should take additional action by seeking to add new and additional provision of approximately 10,000 more
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level 3 and above qualifications year-on-year to have confidence in closing the gap with the national levels.
18. To achieve this substantial change, it is likely that combined strategic leadership across a range of agencies is necessary to enable the step change required to deliver and close this gap. This requires a significant change from employers, providers and public agencies collaborating to open the opportunities for those who are wanting to progress and up skill to higher levels.
19. From a GBSLEP perspective this is likely to require increased partnership working, leadership in specific areas and increased resource from the LEP to drive forward this agenda.
20. If the Board agrees in principle with this ambition, the Executive will undertake further work to understand all the implications, including the resources required, and will work with the ESB to develop a programme of work. This would then be brought to the June Board for further consideration.
Conclusion
21. GBSLEP Board is asked to note the next iteration of the Skills Delivery Plan and endorse its areas of focus.
22. Board Directors are also asked to note the ambition of the ESB and the Executive to work towards increasing the cohort of students at NVQ Level 3+ by 10,000 year-on-year with a view to receiving a report outlining how this could be achieved at the June Board meeting.
Report by: Paul Edwards Head of Strategy
Contact: [email protected] 07712 436969
Date Created: 12 April 2019
Appendices a. Skills Delivery Plan 19/20
1
Appendix A GBSLEP SKILLS DELIVERY PLAN – April 2019
The GBSLEP Strategic Economic Plan 2016‐2030 mission is to create jobs and grow the economy, particularly by raising skills levels and stimulating demand led innovation to increase business and workforce productivity. This Skills Delivery Plan directly responds to this and builds on the first GBSLEP skills delivery plan, approved by the LEP Board in February 2018, which identified market failures in the skills system and launched a range of interventions to address those needs during 2018. Since then the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) has launched the Regional Skill Plan and signed a Skills Deal with Central Government. Nationally, skills policy and funding continues to change alongside the business environment it supports. This revised plan updates our current delivery plan and sets out the direction for the next steps of GBSLEP support.
Business needs are at the heart of this plan. All GBSLEP skill interventions are focussed on evidenced skills barriers to GBS economic growth. The aim of the interventions is to provide more opportunities for people to participate in growing the local economy and prosperity across the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP area, enabling businesses to access the skilled labour they require for growth.
The long‐term ambition is to accelerate an increase in our skilled workforce ensuring that the gap between our skills levels at least matches the national levels and meets the increasing local employer demands for higher skilled labour. Skills shortages and gaps that continue to increase as the local economy grows can act as a brake on the productivity and future growth of our economy. As of 2017 data, this means that we need to upskill appropriately over 63,000 more people at NVQ Level 3 (A Level, Advanced Apprenticeships) and above to meet national levels: To reach this level we will require an approximate 10% increase in the current working age population qualified to NVQ Level 3+. In a context of economic uncertainty and reducing public expenditure on the skills system, combined with employer forecasts for increasing need for higher skilled labour to enable their growth and competitiveness; we must work in partnership with stakeholders, providers, and employers to avoid duplication and maximise all the resources we have to deliver the biggest economic impact possible.
Attracting new talent into the area and retaining skilled labour and graduates also forms part of the solution. We can do much to support this by ensuring that Greater Birmingham and Solihull is regarded as the most desirable place to study, work and live, thereby encouraging both an increased flow of appropriately skilled individuals into the region to fuel our economy and retain our existing skilled workers. A skilled workforce is a critical enabler for sustainable economic growth that delivers increased higher level employment opportunities for GBS residents; taps the rich diversity and creative skills of the area; and primes the development of new skills for the future to maximise the benefits new technologies will bring to our economy and provides a head start on identifying new trends by having a workforce which is representative of our communities.
2
This is a living delivery plan. It will continue to develop and change as it is informed by shared knowledge, changing business needs and our skills growth ambitions. The plan aligns closely with the GBSLEP Growth Hub, where a number of support services are offered to help businesses to understand and grow their businesses. The plan aligns with the work undertaken at a wider West Midlands regional level by the West Midlands Growth Company, Midlands Engine and the WMCA. GBSLEP contributes to the emerging Regional Sector Employer Task Forces, development of the Local Industrial Strategies, as well as delivery of the Regional Skills Plan. GBSLEP is also a key member of the WMCA Regional Skills Advisory Board. This Skills Delivery Plan complements this delivery through the development of local projects and programmes tailored to meet local employer skill demands.
Five main strategic drivers that underpin this plan are as follows:
1. Skills Shortages and Gaps that limit business growth and productivity
2. A young and richly diverse demographic
3. National and Local Funding Policies e.g. Apprenticeships, devolution, Skills Deal, European Social Funds, Local Growth Funds and future UK Shared Prosperity Funds
4. Fast Digital and Technological Change
5. Collaboration and unified aims with strategic partners to enable effective delivery
An area of strategic concern is the potential impact of Brexit. Withdrawal from the EU could potentially impact on the five strategic drivers listed above. The possible impact on business growth and especially on levels of EU skilled labour employed in our key sectors is yet to be determined, but only accelerates the need to address the domestic skills agenda. GBSLEP’s focus is therefore based on addressing skills needs, gaps and barriers that businesses have as a whole.
GBSLEP Skills Purpose
In line with the GBSLEP Strategic Economic Plan our core purpose of this delivery plan is as follows:
To identify and drive the productivity and sustainable growth of the GBSLEP economy with focus on GBS key sectors for growth by addressing the local business skill needs now and in the future, through co‐investment and collaborative working.
Headline KPI
GBSLEP KPI 5 – Increase the % of Working Age Population with NVQ3+ to the National Average by 2025
3
Supporting Skills Performance Indicators
Employers Investing in Training, Employer Skill shortages and gaps, Apprenticeship Starts by level, geographic area, sector, gender, age and BAME, All Qualification Levels, Higher Education Enrolments by discipline and available training provision matched to GBS key sector demands. West Midlands Skills Advisory Panel Toolkit and specific commissioned research will also inform and monitor the progress being made to continue to improve our workforce skill levels contributing to wider quality of life indicators.
Outcomes
Decrease local businesses skills shortages and gaps in both provision and skilled labour
Increase the proportion of the Greater Birmingham and Solihull population with higher skills levels
A ‘well‐known’ choice of quality training provision is in place to enable residents to upskill and meet the skills needs of local businesses and demands created by rapid technological change
A diverse, inclusive and productive local workforce that can compete on a global scale.
More local businesses investing in people to improve productivity.
Priority Sectors
The GBSLEP area of focus is our key sectors for growth and technologies. They are:
Advanced Manufacturing & Engineering Life Sciences Business, Professional and Financial Services Energy Technologies and Services Creative Industries
4
Digital Technologies Disruptive and Emerging Technologies
This skills delivery plan integrates with the detailed stakeholder engagement, and sector delivery plans led by GBSLEP, and takes a cross sector approach to digital and emerging & disruptive technologies.
An emphasis for GBSLEP actions will be placed on residents 19+ after statutory education completed and national education funding ends. WMCA and Career Services will lead on interventions and support for those young people in education working closely with the leadership of local authorities for the pre‐16 agenda. Joint working will facilitate the transition period for 16‐18 year olds facilitating a smooth progression pipeline into employment
This data driven delivery plan aims to:
1. Use partnership and collaboration to tackle skills shortages and gaps that are barriers to long‐term business growth and productivity
2. Motivate and inspire people to develop skills for key sectors and technologies for growth
3. Develop employer led programmes to increase workforce diversity, to combat skills shortages and drive economic growth.
4. Prime the adoption of disruptive and emergent technologies to enable skills development that matches today and tomorrow’s skills needs.
In addition to this targeted work, the GBSLEP skills team provides strategic advice in terms of skill development and economic priorities to a range of educators, providers, new and existing investors and stakeholders. Working in a close relationship with all local authorities across the LEP area we seek to influence and inform policy formation.
Project delivery is commissioned or co‐funded through our broad range of partners in the public, private and third sector. GBSLEP holds two funds, one for capital funding (Local Growth Fund), one for revenue funding (Strategic Economic Plan Enabling Fund). Expressions of interest that respond to this plan are welcome at any time.
The marketing of the Skills Delivery Plan and associated interventions will be assisted by the new GBSLEP Stakeholder Engagement Team and GBSLEP Growth Hub.
The summary table below provides the headlines for specific interventions.
5
SKILLS Delivery Plan – Summary Table
Skills Delivery Plan Aim GBSLEP intervention
Market Failure Skills ‐ Barrier to Growth
GBSLEP Deliverables/ Milestones
Success Measures Outcomes & Outputs
Actions Lead and partners
Allocated LEP Resources
SEP Enabling Fund Budget
1. Use partnership and collaboration to tackle skills shortages and gaps that are barriers to long‐term business growth and productivity
Clarify the level and quantum of employer skills training needs and commitments for our key sectors to maximise the impact and influence on local training provision.
Lack of clear and evidenced understanding of the employer skills demand for each key sector to provide market confidence and direct new training provision driving employment levels and economic growth
GBSLEP Skills Champions engaged for all key sectors. GBSLEP to have a leading role in the Digital, Life Sciences and Creative Sector Regional Task Forces Recognised major contributor to the Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering and BPFS skills agenda Skills for Growth Hub
More appropriately skilled people available to growing companies. Increased confidence in the skill system that employer demand is evidenced to invest/grow new training provision. Greater influence of GBS to advocate for employer skills needs and stimulate training provision to meet that demand with focus on 5 GBS key sectors at any one point in time Number of new courses introduced to meet employers needs
Engage and widen sector engagement groups Identify & facilitate new training provision matched with employer demands Pilot approach to capture skill demands from employers/sectors – Life Sciences, AME‐Aerospace
GBSLEP ESB WMCA Lead Employers Sector Intermediaries Local Networks ESB
Skills Team Sector Specialists Data Specialist Growth Hub (Employer feedback) European Social Funds
£40,000
Facilitate new employer led approaches to ensure training provision that better meets and keeps pace with demands
Fragmented and low employer awareness and engagement with the local provision and pathways for new and existing staff to progress
Build on and actively promote good practice through LEP and partner channels Engage, promote and develop the network of existing sector based work academies to meet employer’s needs. 6 in place
Increase of employers participating & shaping skills Increase on current Apprenticeship programmes especially in ICT, Science and Creative/Arts Graduate progression into regional SMEs
Promote & Increase work academies – 6 now, add at least 3 more Secure Dedicated Employer Skill Brokers for Growth Hub
GBSLEP FE HE Employer Clusters/ Networks Councils, Professional Intermediaries Independent Training Providers UTC’s
Skills Team Sector Specialists Capital Growth Programme Team European Social Funds
£20,000
6
Skills Delivery Plan Aim GBSLEP intervention
Market Failure Skills ‐ Barrier to Growth
GBSLEP Deliverables/ Milestones
Success Measures Outcomes & Outputs
Actions Lead and partners
Allocated LEP Resources
SEP Enabling Fund Budget
3 to develop to launch in 2019/20. Formalise a skills capital fund pipeline.
2. Motivate and inspire people to develop skills for key sectors and technologies for growth
.
Highlight employment opportunities across our key sectors to ensure business growth and productivity is not inhibited through the lack of appropriately skilled staff.
Incoherent information sources sharing and inspiring people to choose to develop their skills that employers are seeking now and in the future
1000 Apprentices using Ladder by September 2019 Number of people and businesses engaged in supported projects LMI data in easily understood formats highlighting skills areas of demand both current and predicted.
Reduced employer recruitment difficulties More Apprentices studying in skill needs area Less employers reporting difficulties in recruiting skilled labour
Seek to boost Ladder for GBS Pop‐up events to promote work opportunities to all ages in wider community Social Media Campaign More Pathway Development for demand areas Support CEC for GBS sector & employer priorities
Education GBSLEP Prospects CEC GBS wide Network of Enterprise Advisers ESB Career Leaders
Skills team Growth Hub (shortages & Needs) Sector Specialists Comms/Social Media CEC Apprenticeship Specialism project CEC Careers Hub CEC Primary Funds
£40,000
3. Develop employer led programmes to increase workforce diversity, to combat skills shortages and drive economic
Support and promote new approaches to connect growing businesses to reach and encourage the entry of young
Employers unable to reach the diversity of workforce they seek to grow Wasted talent latent in our
Complete 5 Cities Diversity Project 1001 Trades Report Identify and scope work for an intermediary to work
Increase the pool of diverse talent available to growing businesses Evidence of impact stronger diverse workforce on business success. Increase of economic activity rates
Women into Digital Industries Share what works well with employers e.g. role models, marketing
GBSLEP ESFA 5 Cities staff Employers Community
Skills team Growth Hub – employer leads Communication/Social Media European Social
£100,000
7
Skills Delivery Plan Aim GBSLEP intervention
Market Failure Skills ‐ Barrier to Growth
GBSLEP Deliverables/ Milestones
Success Measures Outcomes & Outputs
Actions Lead and partners
Allocated LEP Resources
SEP Enabling Fund Budget
growth.
and diverse talent into our key sectors for growth to drive economic growth.
communities with 3 pilot employers implementing by March 2020
Commission specialist intermediary to support at least 3 growing businesses 1001 Trades Report BAME Graduate Employment Support
Leaders Intermediaries Professional Bodies WMCA NCS/CEC/ Prospects
Funds
4. Prime the adoption of disruptive and emergent technologies to enable skills development that matches today and tomorrow’s skills needs.
Encourage employer supported experimentation and early adoption in the use of new technologies for training in future skills needs.
Reduced public funding results in risk aversion to try and develop new approaches to skill training New technologies need new learning approaches/environments to skill development to exploit the full potential of an increasingly accessible and complex work environment.
IoT Proposal National Award decision expected by March 2019 Digital Skills Partnership Solihull AR/VR Centre Employer Led ‘Boot Camps’
More ‘early adopters’ of new technologies that ensures GBS reaches a tipping point as an area of strength attracting investment delivering growth. No. of facilities and spaces adopting new approaches to future skill needs Minimum of 2 new capital projects supported annually Number of learners equipped with new skills sets in application of emergent technologies
Support IoT Delivery Promote & enrich e‐learning experiences – e.g. MIT Micro Masters expand and support in GBS Consider GBSLEP Challenge Competition Support at least 2 capital projects priming new delivery
GBSLEP HE/FE Employers‐ early adopters R&D
Skills Team Sector Specialists Innovation Birmingham Capital Growth Programme Team
£20,000
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GREATER BIRMINGHAM AND SOLIHULL LEP
BOARD MEETING
25 April 2019
1001 Trades Report
Recommendations
Board Directors are asked to:
1. Note the 1001 Trades report and consider how the findings can be disseminated and implemented.
2. Hear the proposed next steps of the young persons’ agenda in response and offer any comments or suggestions.
Background
3. 1001 Trades is a Doink (part of the Beatfreeks Collective) project in partnership with GBSLEP, Nesta, and the young people of Birmingham exploring the question ‘why doesn’t the tech sector attract young people in the city?’
4. The research project sits in the context of skills shortages for tech-based roles in the region and the potential impacts of automation and the fourth industrial revolution. To ensure Birmingham becomes a leading global city by 2030, the City of 1001 Trades will have to attract a higher percentage of our young residents to develop the technical skills we require to maximise the impact of new and developing technologies.
Key Issues
Methodology
5. The research was split into four stages: ‘Download’, ‘Upload’, ‘Investigate’ and ‘Innovate’.
6. ‘Download’ created separate spaces for young people and employers to share their thoughts and feelings on the tech sector and what Birmingham’s tech sector looks like. This session also explored what ‘tech’ means and encouraged participants to comment on barriers to access they have experienced or are aware of.
7. ‘Upload’ brought together the young people in the development team, local and national employers and GBSLEP to explore the narratives and ideas that began to emerge during the Download sessions so that they could begin to identify common ground and points of departure between young people and employers. Once the group had established what they felt were important factors in deterring young people from applying for tech jobs in Birmingham, questions were built around those factors in a public consultation during phase three – ‘Investigate’.
8. ‘Investigate’ focused on engaging the public in conversations about tech and barriers to access which were highlighted during phase two – ‘Upload’. During this phase, the research team toured the ‘Root Of The Problem’, an artistic data capture installation
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around colleges and public spaces, engaging 125 young people to bring as many young voices into the debate as possible. The installation posed five key research questions which were then expanded on through qualitative discussions and data capture.
9. ‘Innovate’ reconvened the young people in the development team, employers, and GBSLEP for a final session which brought together all of the project learnings and data sets collated in order to begin building observations and recommendations.
Key Findings
10. Better representation means deeper connections with role models: 50% of young
people want to work alongside/hear from people who look like them.
11. Young people want greater autonomy over how they learn: 35% want more hands-on tech projects in schools.
12. Tech can be made more exciting through real life experience: 66% want real-life tech examples to work on to make learning environments more exciting.
13. There was an emphasis from young people on the importance of role models over mere representation.
14. Young people see themselves as being as the most effective communicators around the benefits of a tech-based career. They feel if they were better informed they would be best placed to reduce barriers from parents, peers and support networks.
15. Employers and young people believed that tech learning environments are too often uninspiring and will require more employer involvement to become both inspiring and ensure industry relevant skills are developed.
16. Young people want to spend more time with employers, especially role models, experiencing technologies and tasks they would not otherwise experience.
Conclusion
17. The 1001 Trades report highlights the importance of role models who are reflective of our region’s demographics working in tech and tech-related roles and empowering young residents with an increased knowledge of tech based roles and skills pipelines. The Board is asked to reflect on how the LEP can work with partners to address some of the findings.
18. The 1001 Trades report has fed into the Skills Delivery Plan (item. 7b) especially around the action point of Develop employer led programmes to increase workforce diversity, to combat skills shortages and drive economic growth.
19. The Board is asked to consider how GBSLEP can use the 1001 Trades young person’s steering group to feed into GBSLEP policy making and the Future Economies project.
Report by: Sophie Drake Non-Executive Director for Young People
Contact: [email protected] 07432 460 201
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Date Created: 09/April 2019
Appendices a. 1001 Trades Report
1
2
CONTENTS _
3 _ 1001 Trades - A Summary8 _ Foreword from GBSLEP
9 _ Who are GBLSEP?9 _ Skills agenda and delivery plan10 _ Who is Doink and Nesta?
12 _ 1001 trades - 5 key observations15 _ What’s Next?
16 _ Team - Young people?18 _ Meet the employers
21 _ Exploring the four phases of 1001 Trades
22 _ Looking at Phase 1 - Download26 _ Looking at Phase 2 - Upload29 _ Looking at Phase 3 - Investigate42 _ Looking at Phase 4 - Innovate
3
SUMMARY
1001 Trades - Background to the project
Jobs are changing. The city is changing. Automation is coming.
What impact will this change have on young people developing
the skills of the future? How will employers adapt? Birmingham
is ‘the city of 1000 trades’, how will we stay ahead?
1001 Trades was a Doink project in partnership with GBSLEP,
Nesta, and the young people of Birmingham exploring the
question ‘why doesn’t the tech sector attract young people in
the city?’.
The research question and the outcomes have been informed
by findings from GBSLEP’s research and the development of the
recent skills agenda which highlights a gap in young people
from the city developing the skills sets needed for a growing
tech sector in the city.
Birmingham is home to more startups than any other city
outside of London. HS2 is headquartered here, we have
Innovation Birmingham, Silicon Canal, and a growing creative
industry. We can see that the economy of the city is changing,
and it is imperative to the future success of the local economy
and the young people who live here that young people are
enfranchised in this change.
The findings of this research project will directly influence the
shaping of GBSLEP’s skills delivery plan over the next two years.
Sophie Drake, Director of Young People at GBSLEP will lead on
4
developing innovative ways for youth voices to shape policy,
with projects like this one modelling possible future formats.
1001 Trades was not another fruitless consultation process, the
project presents a real opportunity to engage young people
and employers in dialogue to create real and tangible change
in the city.
The project worked with a project team of six young people
aged 16 - 25 year olds, GBSLEP Directors, and stakeholders from
industry and education and followed four stages:
_ Download _
Understanding the thought and feelings of the project team,
GBSLEP, employers and training providers.
_ Upload _
Understanding what other people are thinking and the ‘wider
state of play’
_ Investigate _
Talking to young people in the city using our Root of the Problem
installation.
_ Innovate _
Bringing together all of our thinking and co-creating solutions
with all stakeholders.
Delivered by _
In Partnership with _
5
“The answer to all of these questions is to put power into the hands of young people”
6
The project team uncovered barriers to access by sharing
their own experiences and exploring the views and opinions
of employers and other stakeholders. The overlaps and gaps
in that data formed the basis of several questions put to the
public through Root of the Problem, a beautiful data capture
installation built by Doink in collaboration with Lilly Wales, a
mixed media artist based in Birmingham.
Questions asked centred around the importance of
‘representation’ and what that means, how ‘classrooms could
be made more exciting’, how young people could ‘better inform
their parents about their career choices’, and the best way to
get information to young people.
The answer to all of these questions is to put power into the
hands of young people, power here comes in several forms,
whether that be the ‘tools’ they need to communicate
information about tech to their families, who are influential
channels for careers advice, especially amongst young people
of minoritised backgrounds. It also means more control over
how they learn about tech, with young people demanding
‘more hands-on projects’ in schools, or suggestions for ‘modular
learning’ so that people can upskill themselves in particular
areas of their own choosing.
If young people want more autonomy over their career and
training choices, then it is employers who are best placed to
resource that autonomy, with ‘industry professionals’ being seen
as central to everything from making classrooms more exciting
to providing better role models for young people.
The need for role-models; good, proper role-models, was clear.
The project team reflected on how ‘not being able to see yourself
in tech organisations’ had a profound effect on whether or not
they might apply for jobs there, or even before that, to train
in that field. The need for role-models and not representation
through marketing or communications is the discerning factor
between what makes young people feel that an organisation
is ‘for’ them.
Photo: At the Innovate Session: Paige (left), Peter (right). Photography by Paul Stringer
7
At the outset of this project, the central question was posed as
‘why aren’t young people attracted to tech jobs in the city’ this
was changed to “why doesn’t the tech sector attract young
people in the city?’ moving the onus from young people to
the sector, challenging them to move their goalposts to meet
the needs of young people in Birmingham. This discussion of
‘providing good role models’ feeds into a wider idea that young
people want to see more tech companies invest more in them,
firstly with cash to invest in hardware, software and training, but
on a deeper level to demonstrate that the sector is committed
to enfranchising them in the growth of the tech economy in the
city.
Photo: Faciltator Tarik with a college student at a college during Ivestiagte session. Photography by Paul Stringer
Photo: Millenium Point during Investiagte session. Photography by Paul Stringer
8
Foreword from GBSLEP
Birmingham was once the workshop of the world, the City of
1000 Trades driving the industrial revolution and the world
economy. From x-ray to the steam engine, many of the most
important inventions originated in our city. Here at Greater
Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP)
we believe Greater Birmingham is on its way to regaining its
global standing.
The region continues to grow. We have the greatest increase in
economic output of any major city region outside of London, the
largest number of start-up companies and a higher quality of
life than Los Angeles and Rome. We have one of the largest tech
and digital sectors outside of London and digital technologies
are driving growth across all our key economic sectors. Standing
on the cusp of a new industrial revolution, driven by automation
and technologies like Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality,
we are well placed to accelerate this economic growth for the
benefit of all our residents.
To do so, we need to ensure our young citizens are able to
get the skills and support they need to turn their dreams and
aspirations into reality in Greater Birmingham. Birmingham is the
youngest city in Europe. We have people from over 180 different
nationalities calling our wonderful city home. Time and time
again I hear from employers moving into the region that our
diversity is our strength. And yet we are not seeing our young
residents, the people who will be at the forefront of the fourth
industrial revolution, entering into tech and digital roles at the
scale needed. GBSLEP is the first LEP in the country to appoint
a Board Director for young people and this groundbreaking
research project by Beatfreeks realises the start of our increased
engagement with our young residents.
This is the first step in giving our young residents a voice in
shaping the decisions which will drive economic growth for
all. I will ensure that the data and findings of this research will
directly influence the development of the new GBSLEP Skills
Delivery Plan as well as providing important data and findings
for policymakers right across the region.
By Sophie Drake,
Non-executive Director of Young People Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership
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Who is GBLSEP?
Our mission is to drive the economic growth of the Greater
Birmingham and Solihull area, creating jobs and increasing the
quality of life for all our residents.
The Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership
(GBSLEP) was established in 2010 as a partnership of business,
public sector and further and higher education leaders. Our
geography spans nine local authority boundaries:
Birmingham, Solihull, East Staffordshire, Cannock Chase,
Lichfield, Tamworth, Redditch, Bromsgrove and Wyre Forest.
We have a population of just over 2 million people and an
estimated 1,038,00 jobs, and an economy worth £46.8bn.
Greater Birmingham and Solihull is home to one of the largest
professional and financial centres outside of London, with a
world-leading advanced manufacturing base, burgeoning
creative and cultural industries and emerging strengths in
life sciences. We are the location of choice for international
companies such as Mondelez International, Deutsche Bank,
HSBC and Jaguar Land Rover.
What is GBSLEP’s Skills Agenda and Delivery Plan?
The GBSLEP Skills Delivery Plan is the constantly evolving
document which sets out the strategy and interventions for the
GBSLEP skills team. The stated aim of the plan is ‘To identify
and drive the productivity and growth of the GBSLEP economy
with focus on our key sectors by addressing the local business
skill needs now and in the future through co-investment and
collaborative working.’
The delivery plan aims to:
1. Tackle skills shortages and gaps that are barriers to long-
term business growth
2. Motivate and inspire people to develop skills in key growth
sectors and technologies
3. Unlock the potential of the young and diverse Greater
Birmingham population to meet business skills needs
4. Prime the adoption of disruptive and emergent
technologies to enable skills development that matches
today and tomorrow’s skills needs.
If you’d like to find out more about GBSLEP head to the Chamber of Commerce website
www.greaterbirminghamchambers.com
10
Who are Doink?
Doink is a ‘do and think tank’, humanising data to tell better
stories and make better decisions.
‘Data’ is our lived experiences, thoughts and opinions, it is is the
building blocks that push forwards our narratives. To ‘humanise’
data is to make it tangible, something you can pick up, put
down, twist, thread, shake or poke; transforming data from an
ethereal number on a page into something physical, relatable,
and importantly something easily understandable. If we can
understand data better we can use it to make better decisions
about products, services, and policy. This is to ‘do’ to the ‘think
of Doink, don’t just have data and think about it, DO something
with it.
Doink creates fun and engaging installations and experiences
with partner organisations to carry out creative research and
evaluation. We harness the power of art and creativity to make
spaces and platforms for people to share their experiences,
thoughts and opinions, or to learn more about others.
Doink is based in Birmingham and is a part of the Beatfreeks
Collective; a group of people and companies using creativity
to do the incredible. Our sister organisations are Young Giant,
a youth engagement organisation which brings the young
people and decision-makers closer together, and Free Radical,
an arts-activism platform helping young people understand
how they connect to the world (or don’t).
Who are Nesta?Nesta is a global innovation foundation who “back new ideas
to tackle the big challenges of our time, from the pressures
of an ageing population to stretched public services and a
fast-changing jobs market.”. They believe that “innovation
- the creation and adoption of new ideas - is the key to
human progress, prosperity and happiness. But that too often
innovation doesn’t back the things that really matter to people.
[They] want to make innovation work for everyone - growing
new ideas that tackle the challenges our society faces and
change the world for the better.
In February 2018, Nesta launched a fund called ‘Everybody
Makes Innovation Policy’ EMIP. This fund aimed to answer
questions like “what are the best ways to get the public to
tell you their views on innovation research and policy” and
“what materials and methods are best able to capture the
public imagination’ Crucially, the fund aimed to uncover “what
methods can best influence the thinking of policymakers and
other professionals”. This project is partly funded by Nesta
through EMIP, and through the course of this project aims to
answer some of those questions.
if you’d like to find out more about Nesta and the ‘Everybody makes innovation policy’ fund head to
www.nesta.org.uk/project/every-one-makes-innovation-policy
If you’d like to find out more about Doink
and the wider collective, head to
beatfreeks.com/Doink
11
“the more I think about how tech could be in the future the more I want to shape it”
12
1001TRADES _ KEY OBSERVATIONS
Early on in the project, a lack of opportunities to see yourself
or people like you’ working in the tech sector was identified as
a huge barrier to access, especially for young women and for
people of colour. Only 17% of people employed in tech industries
in the West Midlands are female, and there was a lack of data
available on racial diversity in the workforce (which can be
telling in itself).
Conversations between young people and employers
uncovered a difference in opinion as to what ‘seeing yourself’
looks like. This difference was played out when young people
began talking about a need for role models and employers
were talking about a need for better representation. The
distinction between these two phrases is important, and can
be understood by looking at the finding that when asked ‘what
better representation looks like’, young people were almost
twice as likely to say that it was important to ‘work alongside
people like them’ who work in tech than they were to say better
representation involves marketing materials with people who
look like them.
This isn’t about guest speakers in classrooms either, with
that idea being ranked 4th out of four possible responses to
questions about what could make classrooms more exciting.
This is about deeper, longer-term engagement between young
people and people working in tech industries.
“We need role-models... not just representation”
13
During phase four, some of the ideas generated centred on
tech ‘ambassadors’ working with schools to create long-term
relationships with young people. This also provides opportunities
for ‘alternative recruitment methods’. With tech-industry role
models taking an active part in helping young people see that
their skills sets, although not directly related to tech, being
useful in tech sector jobs.
The need for better-informed families was highlighted early on
as a barrier to young people pursuing tech at college level and
beyond. The obvious solution to this is to connect employers and
parents so that they might learn more about what tech careers
can look like, and dispel myths regarding the lack of security
they provide. Helping parents to understand that is definitely
important, but this research has shown that what young people
want is to be given the tools they need to communicate these
ideas themselves; they want autonomy.
This can only come through empowering them with tools and
information. Almost 35% of respondents to the question ‘what
could help your parents to better understand tech careers’ said
that better tools would help them, making it the most popular
response to that question. 28% said that ‘more information
for parents’ would help, but in conversation those same
respondents talked about needing to understand tech better
so that they could share that information with their parents, one
young person referred to not creating spaces akin to parents
evenings where the ‘grownups’ talk and young people are
sidelined.
The 35% of young people who talked about more hands-on
projects reflect a need to redesign learning environments and is
talked about in another observation for this project, but it also
reflects a desire to literally take learning into their own hands.
The idea for ‘modular learning’ developed during phase 3 also
suggests that young people want to be more active in forging
their own career paths and making active decisions about their
own learning.
The extent to which young people view tech sector employers
as being key to creating change became apparent when young
people were generating ideas for the delivery plan during the
Innovate phase.
One of the first ‘areas of common ground’ that young people
and employers identified was a belief that teaching learning
environments are boring at best, and inadequate at worst. Both
sets of stakeholders reflected on personal experiences of dull or
unuseful classes, or teachers who lacked the proper knowledge
or ability to inspire our future workforce in the city.
Employers and tech professionals are key to bringing these
lessons to life. Be that through hands-on projects, or real-life
We want empowerment through autonomy
We need the tech industry to step up and make tech learning more exciting
14
experiences, a combined 60% of young people agreed that this
could make classrooms more exciting.
The third most popular answer involved using tech outside of IT
classes, and was developed into a ‘solution’ during the Innovate
session, whereby the project team suggested companies using
‘tech challenges’ in schools to incentivise young people to
pursue tech, whilst demonstrating the transferability of skills
across tech industries, and that ‘tech doesn’t just mean IT’
When asked ‘what would improve the advice you get’, families
were important (11%), but the opportunity to hear more from
people working in tech was three times as important (37%).
Elsewhere, young people highlighted a need for access to
tech hardware, software, and training opportunities, and have
suggested that employers should ‘step up’ and fill this gap. There
is cross-over here between a need for employers to fill the gap
in making classrooms more exciting, but it is important to make
this distinction. Young people are talking about technologists
in their classrooms, but a need for ‘investment’ (both cash and
resource) points to a need for deeper engagement, the need
for ‘role models’ highlighted elsewhere in this report.
Young people want to spend time with employers. That involves
‘the opportunity to work alongside people like them’ or ‘the
opportunity to hear from people who look like them’, or simply
‘more time spent with people working in tech’
This is a rallying call for GBSLEP to take these requests to
employers. Employers like those who told us that ‘young people
aren’t applying for tech jobs’ at the outset of this project so
that they might see that young people are calling out for them
too. GBSLEP is well placed to facilitate this future growing
relationship and should consult further with young people and
employers to establish what that relationship might look like.
We need the tech industry to step up and invest in young people
15
What next?
This report is the culmination of a series of conversations
addressing the barriers to access that exist in Birmingham and
cause the existence of a gap in young people applying for tech
jobs in the city.
The next phase entails GBSLEP reviewing the observations this
report makes, as well as understanding the data collected
through the public consultation during phase three.
All of this should be understood in light of the views, thoughts,
and experiences shared during ‘Download’ by the project
team and employers. Finally, GBSLEP should take into account
suggestions and thoughts raised during the Innovate session
and use those findings to inform the creation of the delivery
plan during 2019.
GBSLEP have committed to engaging young people in this
process too, with the fantastic project team who came together
for 1001 trades being invited to consult further with the LEP to
formulate the plan.
Doink will commit to facilitating this process as needed.
16
TeamFor this project to successfully address the question of ‘why
young people (and particularly young people of colour and
young women) aren’t applying for tech jobs in Birmingham’,
1001 Trades had to be grounded in the experiences of young
Brummies who might be applying for those jobs (or not,
depending on their experiences).
For this reason, Doink brought together a ‘project team’ of five
young people of colour, all aged between 16-25, four of whom
were young women. All of the group had some experience of
tech, were working in tech industries, or wanted to expand
their understanding of the tech sector.
Paige, 26, Freelance Creative Producer _
“I was curious to learn more about tech jobs and opportunities
in Birmingham and to also understand why I knew so little about
this sector. It was a fantastic opportunity to speak with other
young people and leaders in tech and to learn that actually,
most people work with tech within some capacity. I am excited
to see how education opportunities will increase in the future
and also to see how marketing can become more accessible
to encourage young people from a plethora of backgrounds
to engage with tech in the future.”
Carolyn Sudgier, 26, Student _
“I had a keen interest to get involved with the 1001 trades
project to be able to engage with young people in a unique
creative way. As technology jobs are growing, it is vital for
young people to be aware, acknowledge and understand
that there are a variety of opportunities within the technology
industry. Also, having a technology job is a career!”.
17
Sipho Eric Ndlovu, 24, Performance Artist & Writer _
“For a while now I have been interested in the integration of
the arts, research and academia, and 1001 Trades seemed
to me to be a great project which would utilize multiple
disciplines to try to uncover some truths about a widely
concerning issue for our generation. As more insight is being
unveiled about the Tech Sector, I think it’s high time young
people are given access to information about tech roles
and be able to ask questions which are important to them;
especially regarding tech jobs and how exclusive they can
seem at times. “
Huawa Ottun, 22 _
“I was really interested in finding out the role tech economy
is going to play in the future city’s and what they are doing
or plan on doing to make sure young people are not left
behind”
Layla Chishti, 17 _
Layla is a 6th form student currently studying in Birmingham.
She joined this project to explore her interest in the growing
tech economy of the city.
Sophia Mohammed, age _
Sophia joined 1001 Trades as she was interested to learn
more about how she can shape policy in the city and was
particularly interested in removing obstacles for young
women in tech.
18
Meet the employerstrainers and GBSLEP representatives
Engaging young people in identifying opportunities and
barriers was crucial, but so was engaging the gate-keepers in
the tech sector, for this reason the research team reached out
to employers and training providers across the West Midlands
to hear about their experience as tech sector employers, and
to work with them to understand how they might be able to
resource the changes that ‘1001 Trades’ proposes need to be
made to engage more young people in tech jobs in Birmingham:
Sophie Drake, Non-exec director of young people - GBSLEP _
Sophie is currently the UK’s first Director for Young People on
the GBSLEP board – tasked with galvanising the skills and
engagement of the city’s young people. She also acts as
the marketing lead for Birmingham Future’s Infrastructure
Committee. A first-class graduate of Birmingham City
University, she was part of the founding team of PR agency
Story Comms in her final year of study and now serves as an
account manager for clients across the corporate and business
sectors across the UK. Her former experience spans marketing
and communications roles at Birmingham City University and
national employee benefits firm Busy Bees Benefits.
Peter Cripps, Software Architect, IBM UK Limited _
Peter works with IBM’s clients in helping them adopt technology
to solve their business challenges. He currently focuses on
blockchain and is involved in helping companies of all sizes
understand this exciting technology as well as finding new and
innovative ways of using it. Peter is also very active in the tech
ecosystem in Birmingham where he advises new and growing
companies on technology and also works with universities
and colleges in the area where he speaks to students about
technology as well as IBM.
1001 Trades has been a real eye-opener to me in highlighting
not just those areas that are lacking in matching the skills of our
young people with employers perceptions of what is needed
but also in just how intelligent, committed and passionate the
young people of the West Midlands actually are. I have come
away feeling far more positive about our future.
19
Nicole Chalmers, Head of Research at Thalamus _
For Birmingham to thrive as a city in the coming decades it
must be at the forefront of the technical revolution, just as it
was during the industrial revolution. We must equip our young
people with skills and knowledge, and spark their passion
for technology and how it can change the world, in order to
safeguard their futures and our future as a city.
Research projects like 1001 Trades are essential in building
a bright future for the young people of Birmingham. The
team have done an excellent job of analysing this issue from
different angles, considering varying viewpoints, and using
several data gathering methods without an agenda, which
has allowed them to build a deep understanding of this
complex issue.
Cec Richards - CEO - Slenky
“1001 trades feels likely a valuable project with the potential
to help business and young people better understand what
how to bridge the gap between tech employment and the
young audience needed to make the society of tomorrow.
As a platform focused on connecting young people with the
world of business, Slenky is happy to support the aims and
objectives of 1001 trades”
Davina Pancholi - CEO/Founder - Rightgig
Davina is the founder of Rightgig, a digital recruitment
platform which connects people to jobs based on skills and
passions instead of job histories.
Kath Preston - Consultant - Bseen Enterprise Support - Aston
University
Kath is a consultant for ‘the Birmingham Skills for Enterprise and
Employability Network. They provide workshops, networking
opportunities, tailored mentoring, grants, and workspace at
their partner universities for graduate entrepreneurs who are
trying to grow their ideas into businesses.
20
21
Exploring the four phases of 1001 Trades
What were the four phases - a quick look‘1001 Trades’ was carried out in four phases; ‘Download’,
“Upload’, “Innovate” and ‘Investigate”. These four phases moved
through conversations with young people and employers, then
to a wider consultation with college students, ending in a
session bringing together all of the project learnings to build
the observations at the start of this report.
“Download” created separate spaces for young people,
employers, and GBSLEP to share their thoughts and feelings on
the ‘tech sector’ and what Birmingham’s tech sector looks like.
This session also explored what ‘tech’ means and encouraged
participants to comment on barriers to access they have
experienced or are aware of.
“Upload” brought together the young people in the
development team, local and national employers and GBSLEP
to explore the narratives and ideas that began to emerge
during the download sessions so that they could begin to
identify common ground and points of departure between
young people and employers. Once the group had established
what they felt were ‘important’ factors in the young people
not applying for tech jobs in Birmingham, questions were built
around those factors public consultation during phase three;
Investigate.
“Investigate” focused on engaging the public in conversations
about tech and barriers to access which were highlighted
during Phase Two: ‘Upload’. During this phase, the research
team toured the ‘Root Of The Problem’ installation around
colleges and public spaces to bring as many young voices into
the debate as possible. The installation posed five key research
questions which are expanded on during the next section of
this report.
“Innovate” reconvened the young people in the development
team, employers, and GBSLEP for a final session which brought
together all of the project learnings and data sets collated in
order to begin building observations and recommendations for
GBSLEP and the development of the delivery plan for the skills
agenda for Greater Birmingham and Solihull.
Phase 1 _ Download
Phase 2 _ Upload
Phase 3 _ Investigate
Phase 4 _ Innovate
22
Exploring the four phases more deeply
Looking at Phase 1 _ Download
1. All jobs will include tech in the future
2. Young people don’t feel ready for those jobs, and that is
linked to perceived lack of training opportunities
3. Employers say young people don’t always need tech skills
for tech sector jobs
4. Young women and people of colour need better role models
and/or representation in the tech sector if other young
women and people of colour are to explore jobs in the sector.
5. Poor tech learning environments affect young people’s
future choices
6. A lack of understanding about what ‘tech’ amongst parents
is a significant barrier to overcome.
‘Download’ sessions are all about understanding people’s
viewpoints through conversations. Doink hosted a session for
young people and spoke to several employers and training
providers via phone and posed several key questions to them:
Key ideas emerging from phase 1 _
What did we ask?
23
Young People’s Project Team:
1. What jobs will you be doing in the future?
2. What do tech sector jobs look like now?
3. What will tech sector jobs look like in the future?
4. How ready are young people in the city for now tech jobs?
Employers and Training Providers:
1. What barriers and obstacles do young people face when
trying to develop skills in tech or launch careers in tech?
2. What are practical ways of overcoming barriers and
obstacles?
3. What does support look like, and who does it come from?
4. What research and other work has already been done in
this area?
5. Why are young people (especially young women and
people of colour) not represented in emerging and
established tech industries?
The project team agreed that “all jobs will be tech jobs in the
future”. One of the group reflected on how “you’ll still need
lawyers in the future, but the role will change”.
Similarly, the team seemed confident that they understood
what the ‘tech sector’ was, and commented that ‘people are
confused. They miss out creative and graphic design jobs”.
Young people know that ‘tech’ is not just ICT based roles. In
light of this, it was interesting to see the conversation after that
focusing on “access to hardware” as a major obstacle to young
people learning more about tech and conversations revolving
around the ability to code and to create programmes. There’s
a gap here, young people understanding that tech permeates
all fields of work and study, but practically still seeing the sector
and jobs within it as centring on traditional ICT based roles.
This confidence in knowing what the tech sector is was tempered
further by a general consensus in the room that young people
were “not very” ready for new tech jobs in the city. This was
attributed to a lack of understanding of what is available by
way of training opportunities, or of progression routes in tech
sector roles. One young person commented that “I don’t know
where all of these supposed opportunities are”, why aren’t we
being told about them?”. This was coupled with a perceived
lack of access to opportunities depending on geography,
one young woman spoke of her experience that “you get big
courses in some places like Erdington, but not in Handsworth”.
This uneven spread of opportunities extended to affluence
and race too, with comments shining a light on the availability
of ‘community ‘ focused opportunities and who they were
available too, and questioned raised about people from some
minoritised communities not. Interestingly, this focus on training
What did we hear in “Download”?
24
and skills development was not shared by all employers, with
some of them commenting that “life experience can be more
important than sitting at a desk” and that transferable skills are
equally important but that ‘young people don’t know they’ve
got them” or that you don’t have to be technical to work in tech,
it takes a whole team!”.
Conversations about training opportunities quickly turned into
conversations about learning environments and the sense
that “ICT [teaching and learning in schools] is really outdated”.
This became a major theme of the conversation, five of the
six young people in the session made explicit mention of
inadequate or “boring” learning environments being a reason
that young people are not applying for tech jobs in the city.
The group talked about ICT classrooms needing “more hands-
on experiences” and that tech classrooms “only cover the
basics” and don’t employ ‘enough critical thinking’. This focus
on classrooms is important, two members of the group made
reference to not having pursued tech beyond secondary school
on account of bad classroom experiences.
If a young person does overcome uninspiring environments and
wants to pursue IT based qualifications, then they face another
obstacle; family or parental confidence. One young woman
commented that “when I speak to my family, they don’t know
tech, they tell me not to do it, but that’s because they don’t
know it” and that “my parents didn’t get it when my brother
did computer science, they asked him ‘why would you want to
fix lights’, it’s a generational thing, they just don’t get it”. The
group (who were all from minoritised communities) agreed that
they felt this was a particular issue for young people from their
backgrounds. This barrier has interesting implications for the
findings of this project; the removal of barriers has to engage
more stakeholders than just the young people themselves.
Conversations about race turned into conversations about
wider representation and accessibility along the lines of gender.
The group were quick to agree that ‘education is gendered,
it starts so early’, and this continues throughout school, one
young woman shared her experiences that the school she went
to ‘had a tech pathway programme, but only 3 out of 10 people
on it were female.” This was within a context of girls being made
to feel that ‘all girls wear skirts and can’t do any sports’, and
lead her to the question “what can girls do?!”. Tech companies
were seen as largely white spaces, and this “affects whether or
not a person is comfortable in a space and liable to apply for
a job in that space”. One young woman explained how when
“[she] goes for a job or into a new place, [she] seeks out the one
black person, because it’s always only one, and will gravitate
towards them”.
Better role models and representation are the obvious fix, “but
it is not as simple as ‘having a black person in your advertising’.
One of the employers shared a story about actively seeking to
25
recruit women of colour to improve diversity within their team.
They produced a marketing campaign with good racial and
gender representation, took special care over the language
and selection process to attempt to remove biases, and still did
not receive any applicants from the desired group. To view this
through a different lens, one young person told us that
‘’putting a black person on a poster does not make for better representation”.
Employers were particularly attuned to a need for better
representation, knowing that ‘if you do a google image search
for the tech entrepreneurs, it shows you pictures of white young
men’, and that ‘it’s hard to be what you can’t see, in schools
we need to make ourselves more visible”. They also understood
that gender plays a role, one (female) tech CEO told us that
[her] brother was encouraged to play with computers, I was
encouraged to sew”.
However, there was a divergence between young people and
employers as to what better representation looked like. The
project team expressed a need for deeper and more meaningful
engagement between companies, training providers, and
young people. Young people are savvy to tick box attempts at
inclusivity that are centred on ‘diverse’ marketing campaigns
and called out for ‘real role models’. The difference between
good role models and better representation was explored more
fully as a question during the ‘investigate’ phase of this project.
The employers we spoke to were keen to tackle these issues, as
they understand the intrinsic value of having diverse workforces
and how young people, in particular, can bring exciting ideas
and experiences to the table to build better solutions to
problem-solving.
26
Key ideas emerging from phase 2
Looking at Phase Two _ Upload
The key ideas from phase one were codified into four distinct
themes which formed the basis of the questions to be asked in
the next phase:
1. A need for better representation and what that means
2. A need to engage families in conversations about tech
careers and what that could look like
3. A need to make tech learning environments more exciting
and explore what that entails
4. A need to improve communication particularly careers
advice, and explore what that encompasses
‘Upload’ brought the project team, GBSLEP, and some
employers together to review some of the ideas emerging
from the conversations during phase one and encouraged
participants to explore common themes and overlaps in ideas
between those conversations as well as with some statistics to
understand the wider context of the tech sector in Birmingham.
These conversations helped to identify key stats, thoughts,
ideas, or findings that were The group then worked together to
answer these two key questions:
1. What are the most pressing issues facing young people
when accessing tech sector jobs in Birmingham?
2. What questions can we build around these ideas to help
understand those issues better?
What did we hear in “Upload”?
This phase provided a much-needed space for all stakeholders
to learn from each other’s points of view in order to understand
the wider picture of what is going on here. The project team
were interested to learn about the scale of the wider West
Midlands tech sector, encompassing nearly 14,000 tech and
digital business in 2016. This makes it the fifth largest sector in
the West Midlands Combined Authority.
What did we ask in “Upload”?
27
This sense of surprise about ‘what the tech sector is’ and their
assumptions about it, was highlighted again when members of
the team were surprised to learn that 2018 Tech Nation report
states that jobs involving digital tech skills command on average
£42,578, which is comparable to £32,477 for those which do not.
This gap in understanding played into conversations during
phase 1, whereby young people talked about not feeling that
they could acquire all of the skills sets needed to apply for tech
jobs, and employers telling us that having hard ‘tech skills’ are
not the most important thing about working in tech.
For this reason, ideas and thoughts centred on ‘communication’
or ‘industry involvement’ ranked highly among issues considered
High Impact and High Priority amongst the group. In this
context ‘industry involvement’ serves as a vehicle for better
communication around things like career pathways and training
opportunities.
Having information on careers and training is vital to young
people and this was identified by both the project team
and employers during ‘Download’ conversations, and it was
highlighted as a central theme for investigation during the public
consultation during phase 3.
Having more industry involvement was also important because
of the sector’s role in providing better “representation and
relatability”, which was the (along with ‘industry involvement’)
the issue seen as being of the highest importance, and having
the highest impact when trying to improve stats around female
workers make up only 17% if the digital workforce in Birmingham
(lower than the national average; 19% female tech workforce).
Industry involvement was also discussed as a way of combating
the ‘boring’ learning environment that all stakeholders talked
about passionately during phase 1. The project team commented
that “professionals visiting schools’ and ‘reaching out to young
people, maybe even in primary schools’ was an important idea
to take forwards, and made it a high priority issue for that.
Some of the proposed public consultation questions which
emerged from this phase shine a further light on what the group
felt was important. A fuller list of the questions proposed during
the session is available in the appendix document accompanying
this report
28
Do you think tech is accessible to you?
To what extent do you feel that tech sector careers are accessible to you?
How would you want industry experts to approach you with opportunities?
How would you want more exposure to tech?
Do you have opportunities to interact with the tech industry?
How do you get involved in the tech sector as a student?
Who do you speak to to find out more about roles available and what they are?
These questions are all designed to build a case for the idea that
‘the industry’ needs to be brought closer to young people, and
also provides space for young people to say how they want that
relationship to work. Questions about accessibility speak to that
apprehension about whether or not spaces are really ‘for young
people’, particularly those already minoritised by other things.
Ideas the group decided were of the highest priority and the
questioned they outlined to accompany them were used to build
the research questions for phase 3; ‘Investigate’.
29
Looking at Phase 3 _ Investigate
Better representation means deeper connections with people
who work in tech.
• 50% of young people want to work alongside/hear from
people who look like them
• Young people are not interested in just ‘seeing’ themselves
in marketing, it was the 3rd most popular response out of 4
questions)
Young people want and need autonomy and control over
what they learn, how they learn it, and how they talk about
that learning journey.
• 35% want more hands-on tech projects in schools
• 33% want to spend more time with those working in tech
• 34% want more tools to talk about their career choices with
their families
Tech can be made more exciting through more real life,
tangible experience.
• 66% think more hands-on or real-life examples of tech to
work on would make learning environments more exciting.
Phase 3 centred on a public consultation. Our research team
toured a data capture installation called “Root of the Problem”
around colleges in Birmingham to ask young people questions
their thoughts on the tech sector in the city. The questions
asked here were built in collaboration with the project team
and employers during phase two.
Early on in the design process, the Doink team formed a
partnership with Birmingham based artist Lilly Wales. Lilly is a
mixed medium artist who has recently expanded her practice
to include tech, having recently trained herself to code with
the school of code.
“From various conversations, it appears that schools seem to
Key Learnings _
Building ‘Root Of the Problem’
30
Lilly’s approach:
“When Doink approached me to create a data tree, I wanted to give the build an industrial aesthetic to suit the history of Birmingham, as well as retain the complexities of a system of branches in a tree.”
Lily Wales, Mixed Media Artist
31
be adding code to the curriculum without giving teachers the
necessary training and awareness of the industry. This limited
information makes it difficult for students to see the value of IT
as a subject and for those that do, it gives them little inspiration
to carry on, unaware of the vast variety of careers out there
waiting for them.”
Early conversations amongst the project team, Lilly, and the
research team established a couple of key ‘things to avoid’
when building a motif for the installation.
This project seeks to understand what barriers exist that stop
young people engaging with tech, therefore the motif for the
installation should not centre on ‘tech’, but be something else
completely.
This project was particularly interested to understand the
experiences of young women and people of colour, meaning
special consideration had to be given to ensure any motif
created was accessible to those groups in an authentic way
The tech sector in Birmingham is ‘growing’, that means the
availability of opportunities is ‘growing’ too, how could a motif
show this growth?
There is a network of stakeholders, interests, and external
factors shaping the choices young people make, how could a
motif demonstrate this network of cause and effect?
The project team highlighted gaps in knowledge and
communication as being reasons young people aren’t
represented in tech industries. How might that affect the motif?
This need for a motif that was explicitly ‘not tech’ coupled
with a desire to demonstrate growth and explore gaps in
communication lead the team to an idea centred around
a ‘tree of knowledge’ or a ‘tree of life’ with different branches
representing different factors and decision makers involved
in supporting the young people of the city. The growth of
branches eloquently the growth of the sector, with the ‘1001
Trades’ of the West Midlands bearing ‘fruits of our labours’.
However, something was not quite right, if this project aims to
support the growth of industry in Birmingham, as a seat of the
4th industrial revolution. Then we are still nurturing our tree, not
harvesting its fruits. It became clear this project does not seek
to produce fruits but in fact seeks to address “the root of the
problem’, whether that be a lack of representation, or a need to
empower young people through better information.
First thoughts:
Thoughts on language:
Identifying a motif:
32
The motif, ‘Root of the Problem’:
The ‘Root of the Problem’ is an invitation for young people to engage with difficult questions around the barriers to access they face when beginning their careers. Engaging with these questions nourishes the roots of the tree, helping to grow the branches, pushing them through the steel form encompassing Birmingham’s industrial past, and forcing them out, shining a light on their thoughts, feelings and experiences, and helping to prepare it to bear fruits for generations to come.
33
Participants were invited to answer the four questions posed
throughout the installation by placing illuminated ‘seeds’ into
transparent tree branches corresponding to various available
responses to those questions.
A member of the Doink team accompanied them as they walked
through the installation, this provided space for participants to
talk through their responses, and to provide context to their
thoughts. The team member was able to record all of their
responses and they are available in a separate appendix
document to this report.
The questions for this public engagement were built during
phase three, and responses to these closed questions were
built by reviewing the overlaps and points of departure during
conversations between the project team, and between the
project team and GBSLEP/Employers.
What does better representation look like?
What could help families to better understand tech?
What could make tech learning environments more exciting?
What could improve the advice you get?
We were able to engage 125 young people in conversations
about barriers to access and discussions about how we can
remove those barriers. Early on during the development of this
project, we identified that young women, and young women
of colour in particular, were underrepresented in the tech
workforce of the city. With this in mind, it was decided that Root
of the Problem would be toured around colleges, engaging
young people in education and training, who were thinking
about their futures and what career paths they might choose;
these are the young people who could potentially fill the gaps
in the skills agenda highlighted by GBSLEP in ten years time.
The geography of the city meant that the colleges chosen also
had high numbers of students from minoritised communities,
which ensured that we were engaging those identified under-
represented groups in conversations about obstacles they face.
How did it work?
What did we ask?
Who did we speak to?
34
Venues for Root of the Problem _
1 _ South and City College, Birmingham
2 _ Millennium Point, Birmingham
3 _ Birmingham Metropolitan College, Birmingham
4 _ Bournville College, Birmingham
city centre 1
2
3
4
35
Ma
le
(incl
udin
g W
TM t
rans
)
Wo
ma
n (in
clud
ing
MTF
tra
ns)
Pref
er n
ot
to s
ay
66.4%
32.8%
0.8%
Gender:
Ethnicity:
Sout
h A
sia
n (In
dia
n Pa
kist
ani
Ba
ngla
des
hi O
ther
So
uth
Asi
an
Asi
an
Brit
ish)
Whi
te B
ritis
h (E
nglis
h Iri
sh S
cott
ish
Wel
sh O
ther
Brit
ish)
Bla
ck A
fric
an
(incl
udin
g B
lack
Brit
ish)
Oth
er W
hite
Ba
ckg
roun
d (in
clud
ing
Eur
op
ean)
Rath
er n
ot s
ay
Oth
er M
ixed
Bla
ck C
arib
bea
n (in
clud
ing
Bla
ck B
ritis
h)
Oth
er A
sia
n (in
clud
ing
Chi
nese
Asi
an
Brit
ish)
Ara
b
Whi
te a
nd B
lack
Afr
ica
n/ W
hite
and
Bla
ck C
arib
bea
n
Whi
te a
nd S
outh
Asi
an/
Whi
te a
nd O
ther
Asi
an
37.6%
18.4%
14.4%
3.2%0.8%
4%
9.6%8%
2.4%0.8% 0.8%
36
Age:
Does your course involve learning tech:
16-1
8
Ove
r 25
Und
er 16
19-2
5
19.2%
68%
10.4%
2.4%
32.8%
YES
NO
67.2%
37
Q2 _ What could help families to better understand tech?
Q1 _ What does better representation look like?
Wo
rkin
g a
long
sid
e p
eop
le
like
me
who
wo
rk in
tec
h
Seei
ng p
eop
le li
ke m
e in
m
ark
etin
g a
nd c
om
ms
Seei
ng m
ore
da
ta o
n d
iver
sity
in
tec
h co
mp
ani
es
Hea
ring
fro
m p
eop
le li
ke m
e w
ho w
ork
in t
ech
Ha
ving
mo
re o
f a s
ay
in
dec
isio
n m
aki
ng
12%
30.4%
16.8%19.2% 21.6%
Mo
re t
oo
ls fo
r yo
ung
peo
ple
to
exp
lain
the
ir ca
reer
cho
ices
to
fam
ilies
Mo
re in
fo a
vaila
ble
for p
are
nts
Mo
re o
pp
ort
uniti
es fo
r pa
rent
s to
co
nnec
t w
ith t
each
ers
Mo
re o
pp
ort
uniti
es fo
r pa
rent
s to
co
nnec
t w
ith t
ech
emp
loye
rs
16%
34.4%
28%
21.6%
38
Q3 _ What could improve the advice you get?
Q4 _ What could make a tech learning environment more exciting?
Mo
re h
and
s-o
n p
roje
cts
Mo
re g
uest
s in
the
cla
ssro
om
Bet
ter i
nfo
rmed
cla
ssro
om
tea
cher
s
Mo
re re
al-
life
exa
mp
les
of t
ech
Mo
re c
hanc
es t
o u
se t
ech
out
sid
e of
IT
less
ons
35.2%
12%10.4%
24.8%
15.2%
Tea
cher
s un
der
sta
ndin
g t
ech
care
ers
bet
ter
Bet
ter i
nfo
rma
tion
pla
tfo
rms
Bet
ter i
nfo
rmed
fam
ily
Mo
re s
ignp
ost
ing
Mo
re t
ime
with
peo
ple
who
wo
rk in
tec
h
Tea
cher
s sp
ott
ing
ta
lent
s
14.4%11.2%
7.2%
33.6%
15.2%18.4%
39
We were able to engage young people from all over the city
with ‘Root of the Problem’. participants coming from 46 of
the 78 existent Birmingham or ‘B’ postcodes, this represents
59% of postcodes in the city, In addition to this, we had
respondents from Coventry, Dudley, and Walsall. A more
detailed table of postcodes can be found in the appendix
document accompanying this report.
This was asked as an open question, and are reflected on
in the next section. A longer list of responses and quotes
for this question are available in the appendix document
accompanying this report.
This phase of the project is a brilliant opportunity to test
ideas and assumptions that arise earlier during earlier
phases of the project.
Young people in the project team employers we spoke to
talked about a need for real and ‘authentic’ engagement
between young people and tech sector employers in order
to help young people, especially those from ethnically
minoritised backgrounds, to feel welcomed and valued in
tech sector spaces.
This rings true, with about half of respondents telling us that
better representation means ‘working alongside someone
who looks like me’ (30%), and ‘hearing from someone who
looks like me” (21%). This is in contrast to only 16% of young
people saying that seeing people who look like them in
marketing and comms is important. Young people are savvy
to those empty gestures of inclusivity and are calling for real
engagement, as someone put it in the download session “it’s
not as simple as putting a black woman on the cover”. The
need to connect with employers was also reflected in the
33% of respondents who told us that ‘more time spent with
people who work in tech’ could improve the advice they get
about tech careers.
Only 12% of those questioned said they’d like to have more
of a say in decision-making processes, however the 34%
who told us they wanted more tools to explain their career
choices at home, or the 35% who wanted to see more hands-
on projects in the classroom, are indicative of the fact that
Postcodes:
Q5 _ Why aren’t young people attracted to tech jobs in Birmingham?
What did we hear in “Investigate”?
40
young people want and need autonomy and control over
what they learn, how they learn it, and how they talk about
that learning journey.
The issue of ‘being able to explain career choices at home’ was
a large one, especially for those from South Asian communities.
Comments here reflected the comments from the project team
during the Download and Upload sessions, with young people
telling us that “[their] families don’t value it like other things..
being a doctor or something like that”.
It was surprising that only 12% of respondents thought ‘hearing
from more guests in the classroom’ could make them more
exciting places; as we’ve explored elsewhere in this report,
maybe just ‘hearing’ from them isn’t enough? The desire for
more hands-on projects (35%) can be crossed with the desire
for more ‘real-life examples’ (24%) to show how young people
feel that training environments could be made more exciting
by bringing more tangible, useful, projects into the classroom.
Could employers help to resource this whilst at the same time
forging deeper, more meaningful relationships with young
people in the city?
In doing so they could also play a part in dispelling the myths
that tech is ‘boring’? 67% of the young people we spoke to
were already on courses utilizing tech in some way, even
though they were doing tech courses a significant amount of
them suggested that tech was seen as ‘boring’ or ‘nerdy’ or
‘geeky’. Some of those respondents were keen to communicate
that ‘tech is misunderstood!” and that ‘the media portrays it as
boring’. They went on to tell us about how ‘people don’t know
that you get to play with robots” or that people “don’t think
about graphic design and all that other cool stuff”.
Some respondents talked about not understanding what the
‘end goals’ of tech employment were, with many of them able
to talk enthusiastically about the possibility of working for big
firms like Google or Apple, but not able to talk through what a
job role in these settings might look like. This fact is reflected in
the 18% of respondents who wanted ‘better informed teachers’
to help them to understand the scope of what is available to
them. It was interesting to note that if our facilitation team
suggested a working for a smaller tech firm who might be
Birmingham based, enthusiasm quickly waned. The ‘prestige’
factor of companies evidently plays a factor in this decision-
making process also.
The gap between those ‘prestige’ organisations and ‘other’
organisations also played into young people’s understanding
of what their earning expectations could be in the sector. One
young man told us that “[tech sector employees] don’t get
good money’ and others talked about how ‘you won’t make
money like Mark Zuckerberg’. Zuckerberg is the 5th richest
man in the world, so may well be true, but the point the young
man, and others, made related to a perceived lack of return
41
on investment of time and skill, that outside of huge multi-
nationals, people working for tech companies don’t stand to
earn very much.
The investment of time in skills development also presented
an additional barrier unto itself. The idea that tech ‘takes too
long to learn to a good standard’ was prevalent and is at
odds with discussions with employers during the Download
sessions whereby employers told us that technical skill was
not as important as problem-solving, or creative thinking.
There is an opportunity here for GBSLEP to help facilitate
discussion between young people and employers to bridge this
communication gap.
In addition to tech training being perceived as “long,
complicated, and difficult” , students for whom English was not
their first language spoke about concerns that the language
used in the tech industry was too complicated and constituted
having to learn a whole new language, in addition to English,
which was off-putting and affected their choices.
42
Looking at Phase 4 _Innovate
1. Engaging with employers is key to addressing several
issues highlighted by young people:
• Bridging gaps in young people’s understanding of the
tech sector
• Helping classrooms become more exciting spaces to
learn about tech
• Demonstrating the value of cross-discipline working
• Incentivising young people to train in tech
• Providing relatable role models
2. It is crucial to empower young people through better
access to information
3. Informing parents is important, but spaces created for that
need to be mediated by young people; they need to be
involved in all conversations involving their own futures.
This final phase brought together the project group, GBSLEP,
and some employers to review all of the data collected through
conversation and consultation and use that data to begin
innovating new ideas and solutions to the issues identified by
GBSLEP and by the project team.
First of all, participants were encouraged to review quotes from
the download sessions, some data exploring the wider tech
sector, and the data collected through ‘Root of the Problem’
and ask themselves:
What trends have you spotted?
What challenges do you see?
What opportunities are there?
Are there anomalies or surprises?
Using the responses to these questions, participants built
‘challenges’ for GBSLEP and the wider sector using ‘how might
we…’ statements. The group then worked together to suggest
responses to these challenges, these responses offered some
practical solutions and ideas for strands of work, but also shone
a light on themes for consideration when building GBSLEP’s
delivery plan.
Key Learnings from this phase
What did we ask?
43
The final questions in this phase explored two key points:
What resources do we need to
activate these ideas?
Who is best placed to resource
these ideas?
The innovate session provided a final opportunity for the project
team, GBSLEP, and employers to review the data from our early
conversations and the wider research. This session introduced
the data from the public consultation during ‘Investigate”.
The group took a lot of positives from the data, quickly
seeing that the “opportunity for employers to engage more”
was an exciting one. The importance of employer or industry
engagement to the success of this is reflected in the fact that all
but three of the possible ‘solutions’ the project team developed.
The ‘employers’ or “sector experts’ were key to resourcing ideas
around several themes:
Improving communication and there for bridging gaps in
understanding, which was a major point of departure between
young people and employers identified early on in this project.
Engagement here was seen to entail establishing networking
events, or the presence of ‘tech ambassadors’ in schools. This
feeds into the desire that young people have to be better
informed through better relationships, a factor which is reflected
in the 33% of respondents to Root of the Problem who felt that
‘more time spent working with people in tech’ would improve
careers advice.
The other key theme was around the capacity for employers
or industry experts to help make classrooms more exciting.
The group felt that bringing technologists into the classroom
would respond to the needs of the almost 60% of respondents
who felt that there need for ‘more hands-on’ and ‘real life’
examples of tech to work on in the classroom. The idea of tech
companies providing ‘incentivised challenges’ was suggested
by more than one group, with some groups suggesting that
initial incentives could be none-tech related (vouchers, tickets
to events etc) to entice young people to get involved even if
they aren’t necessarily interested in the tech itself to begin with.
In response to this suggestion, one employer reflected on a
programme run by BMW whereby young people were given
time to develop an idea for a tech project and present it
back to [BMW] - the winner then would receive funding to
bring the idea to life with the help of BMWs expertise. This was
well received, but questions were raised about who connects
What did we hear in “Innovate”?
44
with these opportunities, and a wariness that this doesn’t just
engage ‘’the usual suspects’.
The presence of industry professionals in the classroom could
also provide real role models for young people who are looking
to see people ‘who look like them’ and not just in marketing
and communications, but in tangible roles that they could see
themselves working in. This has to go further than ‘guests in
the classroom’ which only 12% of respondents felt would make
classrooms more exciting or accessible, instead, this is about
sustained partnerships, with the tech sector being challenged
to “invest” in young people by several groups during discussions.
Many responses here made reference to investments by way
of cash or physical resource (laptops etc). This was in response
to obstacles the group identified early on regarding access to
tech, however, it is important to temper that with employers
being adamant that ‘having loads of top of the range tech is
not important’. If it’s not important, but young people still think
it is, then this must come back to a question of communication
and strengthens the case for employers to connect with young
people to help dispel their misconceptions.
Inviting industry professionals into classrooms other than ICT
classrooms was suggested as a way of helping to demonstrate
the idea that tech doesn’t exist in a silo, and that “if a young
person is really excited for geography, then get them excited for
geotech, whatever that is!”. Showing tech in other contexts like
this would be an invaluable ‘way to bring projects to life’. Ideas
here also reflected on young people’s concerns about ways to
‘upskill’ themselves, especially in light of young people feeling
that learning tech was time-consuming, expensive or both.
A possible response to those perceived barriers was ‘modular
learning’. One young person described it as the fact that
“you might not be interested in tech as a whole but might be
interested to see how tech can enhance your current subject
e.g art, mechanic course etc. This would help to challenge the
perception that tech is for a specific type of person and open it
up to sectors that wouldn’t necessarily by seen as a tech path”
This flexible approach to tech is an exciting opportunity for
GBSLEP to work with training providers to help people improve
their skills within contexts
A need for spaces to young people to connect with employers
better also manifested itself in suggestions for events. “The Big
Real’ was a suggestion centred around producing a youth-
lead which brought together employers and young people
around things other than tech, such as arts events (poetry
or music events were mentioned here). This opportunity to
connect around something other than discussions about work
is an interesting idea and should be explored further by GBSLEP
when planning their delivery plan.
These events were also seen as possible solutions to the
need to find ‘alternative routes to recruitment’. This need was
45
highlighted off of the back of young people and employers
lamenting that “recruitment processes don’t work”. In earlier
sessions an employer shared a story about not having anyone
from the targeted demographic applying for a given job, and
young people talked about ‘feeling like you send out 1 million
CVs and never hear back” Could GBSLEP facilitate informal
spaces, in schools or in youth centres whereby young people
and employers could informally ‘interview’ each other with
an aim to secure internships, work experiences or ideally
employment opportunities?
Outside of resourcing new ideas but in a similar thread, the
group gave consideration to language, specifically the use
of the word ‘tech’ and how it creates a binary between ‘tech’
and ‘non-tech’ jobs and people. The very first point in the first
session established that ‘tech’ will encompass all jobs in the
near future, and language needs to reflect that. Peter Cripps
of IBM posited that they bring specialists in from other fields to
help solve tech problems, such as those with business acumen,
or lawyers for example. Could this demonstration of cross-
discipline teams work in a classroom setting, and could it help
to convey the value and importance of collaborative problem
solving that employers were so passionate about during
Download conversations?
As discussed previously, the group suggested ideas and
solutions focused on increasing young people’s access to
information. This desire to be empowered to make choices
through knowledge played out in the desire for ‘more tools to
speak to their parents’ identifying during phase 3, and it plays
out again here. Several ideas generated here touched on
bringing employers and parents together, but crucially young
people have to be a part of this process, and they should be
empowered to mediate these spaces. These spaces ‘cannot
have the feel of parents’ evenings where young people are
talked over, even in their own best interest’
Item 9
15/04/2019 1 of 1
GREATER BIRMINGHAM AND SOLIHULL LEP
BOARD MEETING
25 April 2019
5G Infrastructure Project – Public Report
Purpose
1. This Board report provides the LEP Board with an update against progress by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) in delivery of the 5G Infrastructure project.
Reasons for Exemption 2. In accordance with GBSLEP’s scheme of publication, this paper is exempted from
publication as though the LEP were subject to the provisions set out in Section 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, paragraph 3, as the paper contains
Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)
3. The information relates to ongoing development work by the WMCA as part of the 5G infrastructure project.
4. An accompanying private paper has therefore been prepared and has been circulated to the LEP Board.
Report by: Paul Edwards Head of Strategy
Contact: [email protected] 07712 436969
Date Created: 15 April 2019
Item 10 A
15/04/2019 1 of 2
GREATER BIRMINGHAM AND SOLIHULL LEP
BOARD MEETING
25 April 2019
Foreign Direct Investment Update
Recommendations 1. The Board is asked to note:
the interim FDI results for 18/19 and the current macro-economic
challenges which are impacting the attraction of businesses to the GBS LEP area;
the impact of reduced funding for the West Midlands Growth Company (WMGC) to focus on the GBS LEP area, in relation to business attraction.
Background 2018/19 Context 2. The Brexit referendum continued to have a significant impact on FDI across
the UK including the GBSLEP area. Final DIT figures will be available in the summer but it is anticipated that across the Midlands Engine area and nationally, numbers of projects and jobs will be substantially down.
3. WMGC is in the final year of an ERDF funded programme, Investing in Greater Birmingham, aimed at attracting SMEs to the GBS LEP area. This programme has been severely impacted by the uncertainty created by the Brexit referendum, with many SMEs putting expansion plans on hold until clarity has been achieved nationally. For those projects that did land, these had far smaller job numbers as expected from an SME.
4. The automotive sector continued to slow last year which will impact strongly on regional figures. There was a strong landing in Solihull, IAC, due in part to funding received via Finance Birmingham. It is anticipated that regional investment in connected and autonomous vehicles and battery technologies, will help create the right environment for future projects and supply chain opportunities linked to these new technologies.
5. Despite the challenging macro-economic conditions, the GBS LEP area does
have key developments which are aiding the continued attraction of investment into the region:
The rail sector has benefitted strongly from HS2 and its associated
contracts, as well as the announcements around UKRRIN, and the research and development strengths of the University of Birmingham
The announcement of the three city 5G testbed has stimulated interest amongst technology companies and has helped support the continued growth of the Fintech sector within the area.
Item 10 A
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The continued growth of the BPFS sector has created a cluster density and depth which is supporting the attraction of further companies into the region.
6. In the past three years, the funding and hence capacity for Birmingham focussed business attraction has decreased and will cease from April 2019. Furthermore, the majority of the available funding has been targeted towards the attraction of SMEs
2018/19 – Interim Results, based on WMGC activity only 7. The 2018/19 results are interim results and are considered private until they
have been audited. Once the figures have been confirmed they will be published. It is expected that they will be available in the public domain by summer 2019.
Future pipeline 8. For f.y. 19/20 onwards, the majority of business attraction focus for WMGC
will cover the wider WMCA region. There has been agreement from the Regeneration Directors of the WMCA area that WMGC can continue to handle DIT GBS LEP enquiries for Birmingham.
9. There will continue to be tailored GBS LEP activity from the Solihull team, as well as a small sector sales team funded by the GBS LEP Enterprise Zone, focusing on BPFS and Tech sectors.
10. It should be noted that of the 682 prospects for WMGC, 495 are aligned to the
GBS LEP geography, as are 247 out of 251 of the projects being qualified. 11. The top five sectors for GBS LEP prospects going forward are automotive
(95), tech and creative (76), advanced engineering (63), life sciences (48) and BPFS (44).
Conclusion 12. This report outlines the interim end of year performance for f.y. 18/19, which
was affected by the challenging macro-economic conditions. End of year results are expected to be lower than last year.
13. Reduced levels of funding and capacity dedicated to the GBS LEP area are
impacting on the volume of jobs and projects delivered by WMGC. 14. However, ongoing opportunities from HS2, 5G and other UK market-specific
opportunities where the GBS LEP area has a compelling proposition should put the region in a competitive position for the foreseeable future.
Prepared by: Nicola Hewitt, Commercial Director, West Midlands Growth Company 0121 020205051 / [email protected]
Date Created: 08/04/19
Item 10.B.
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GREATER BIRMINGHAM AND SOLIHULL LEP
BOARD MEETING
25 April 2019
West Midlands Growth Company Investment Strategy
Recommendations 1. The Board is asked to note the regional investment strategy, approved by the
West Midlands Growth Company (WMGC) Board, which will frame the business attraction work by WMGC for the next three years.
Context 2. The strategy has been developed over the past 4-8 months based on third party
research carried out by IBM PLI in 2017, Nigel Driffield from University of Warwick and market insight from a range of other partners as well as the WMGC Business Attraction team. A range of different stakeholders were consulted during the strategy development including the LIS LEP working group, the Black Country Regeneration Directors, Birmingham City Council, Wolverhampton City Council, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council and Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council.
3. It outlines a regional approach to business attraction that will be led by WMGC,
in collaboration with local partners, central government and other third party intermediaries.
4. It outlines which sectors will be promoted in the short, medium and longer term
and how these sectors tie in to the four strategic market opportunities outlined by the LIS.
5. The document contains a draft international activity plan and proposed WMCA
SLA outputs to be agreed by stakeholders and university partners. 6. The document acknowledges that WMGC will need to transition away from a
Birmingham centric investment pipeline to generation of a WMCA wide investment pipeline.
Conclusion 7. The business attraction strategy outlines how WMGC will build a regional
investment pipeline and narrative aimed at increasing both the volume and value of foreign and UK owned companies’ investment in the region. The attraction and expansion of end occupiers will be a key element to the successful delivery of the aims of the LIS; delivery of inclusive growth, raising productivity, developing an innovation led economy with globally competitive industry.
Item 10.B.
15/04/2019 2 of 2
Report by: Nicola Hewitt Commercial Director, West Midlands Growth Company Contact: [email protected] Date Created: 05/04/2019
Appendices a. West Midlands Inward Investment Strategy
Please note that Appendix a. refers to other appendices; these are not included along with the GBSLEP Board papers, but are available upon request.
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West Midlands Inward Investment Strategy
Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................... 3
SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................. 4
CONTEXT ........................................................................................................................................... 5
REGIONAL FDI PERFORMANCE....................................................................................................................... 5
TABLE1: JOBS CREATED BY FDI INTO THE UK, BY DESTINATION (2007-2017) ........................................ 5
TABLE 2: AVERAGE JOB VALUE OF FDI INTO THE UK BY DESTINATION REGION (2012-17) ................. 6
FUTURE PERSPECTIVES .................................................................................................................................... 7
WMCA’S VALUE PROPOSITION ................................................................................................... 8
WHY THE UK? .................................................................................................................................................... 8
WHY THE WEST MIDLANDS?........................................................................................................................... 8
INCREASING INWARD INVESTMENT ....................................................................................... 10
SECTOR CLASSIFICATION ............................................................................................................................... 10
TABLE 3: SECTOR PRIORITISATION FOR INVESTMENT PROMOTION ACTIVITIES ...................................... 10
TABLE 4: ALIGNMENT OF BUSINESS ATTRACTION SECTORS WITH LIS MARKET OPPORTUNITIES .. 11
SUPPORTING BUSINESS EXPANSIONS ......................................................................................................... 12
BUILDING AN INVESTMENT PIPELINE FOR THE REGION ............................................................................ 12
TABLE 5: SECTOR PRIORITISATION BY LEP ......................................................................................................... 12
OVERALL AMBITION ......................................................................................................................................... 14
INVESTMENT PROCESS, WORKING COLLABORATIVELY ACROSS THE REGION .................................... 15
GLOBAL TARGET MARKETS ........................................................................................................................... 15
TABLE 7: JOBS CREATED BY FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN THE WEST MIDLANDS, BY ORIGIN COUNTRY
(2007-2017) ..................................................................................................................................................................... 15
TABLE 8: TARGET COUNTRY PROFILE..................................................................................................................... 16
DELIVERING REGIONAL BUSINESS ATTRACTION ...................................................... 17
ROLE OF THE WMGC ..................................................................................................................................... 17
COLLABORATION AND PARTNERSHIPS ....................................................................................................... 17
TACTICS TO DELIVER REGIONAL BUSINESS ATTRACTION ....................................................................... 18
OUTPUTS ............................................................................................................................................................ 19
FORECASTS FOR 2019-2020 AND THE 2019-2022 PERIOD FOR WMCA CONTRACT .............................. 20
BREAKDOWN BETWEEN NEW INVESTMENTS AND EXPANSIONS ..................................................................... 22
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Executive Summary
This strategy sets out how a regional approach to business attraction, focused on Local Industrial Strategy (LIS) priorities, can add value to local initiatives. It provides a roadmap for interventions led by the West Midlands Growth Company as well as setting out the actions required by other partners and stakeholders. It will form part of wider, regional work focused on Place Marketing, Capital Attraction and regional Tourism Promotion.
The objective of this business attraction strategy is to recommend ways in which the region can increase investment from both foreign and UK owned companies. It will deliver increased levels of investment across the whole region, targeting a balance of sectors that will deliver both job volume and job value, thereby supporting the ambition to deliver inclusive growth across the WMCA. The plan recommends a programme of pro-active promotion, re-active marketing and internationalisation for a range of key sectors, targeting core international markets. There will be a digital subsector running through the majority of these areas of activity, as digital disruption is likely to affect most industries. For each sector, an agreed value proposition will be developed, based on the regional branding narrative and the LIS evidence pack. The sectors to be promoted pro-actively are:
- Transport equipment and advanced manufacturing – automotive, rail, aerospace
- Business and professional services – multifunctional, high value, serving private and public sector
- Food technology – machinery and equipment, manufacturing and testing - Gaming – to include serious games, AR/VR applications linked to advanced
manufacturing and engineering industry - Energy storage – R&D and manufacturing - FinTech - Med tech – high tech medical devices R&D and manufacture, including
diagnostics and testing
The sectors to be re-actively marketed in the short term are: - Industrial Internet of Things – linked predominantly to manufacturing/big data - Materials – R&D and production
The WMGC will work in partnership with private sector companies, the region’s leading Universities, the Department of International Trade, the Midlands Engine and other local, national and international intermediaries. A draft international activity plan has been attached as appendix 4 to illustrate the types of work which can be delivered under this strategy.
Attracting end occupiers will bring businesses, jobs and investment to the West Midlands. These will be key measures of our success. A draft outcomes document linked to the WMGC contract with the WMCA has been included to illustrate proposed outcomes for this strategy.
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Scope and Methodology
The objective of this Business Attraction Strategy (BAS) is to recommend ways in which the WMGC can build a regional investment pipeline and narrative aimed at increasing both the volume and value of foreign and UK owned companies’ investment in the region. The attraction and expansion of end occupiers will be a key element to the successful delivery of the aims of the LIS; delivery of inclusive growth, raising productivity, developing an innovation led economy with globally competitive industry.
The end recommendations draw from an independent piece of research conducted for
WMGC by IBM Plant Location International. This looked at the strongest future
sectors for foreign direct investment, from an investor’s point of view. This work fed
into the regional sector working groups of the LIS and formed part of the work to
identify four strategic market opportunities for the region. A further piece of research
is currently being undertaken to examine the highest potential UK sectors and regions
for expansions into the WMCA area. This work will be completed by Summer 2019
and will augment the international action plan indicated in appendix 4.
The IBM research examined global historical foreign direct investment trends into the
region, as well an analysis of local investment data, local regional plans and
audits. This desk-based research was then augmented by sector and regional
workshops and analysis of current literature on trends shaping the future of corporate
investment behaviours. By combining this horizon scanning and historical analysis, a
recommendation was made on specific cluster strengths and opportunities which can
be used to stimulate inward investment into the region going forward. These
recommendations fed into the LIS work to produce four key strategic market
opportunities which encompass existing cluster strengths as well as the FDI sectors
of the future. (Appendix 1). The internationalisation and business attraction success
of these future market opportunities will be driven in some measure by the speed at
which LEPs and Local Authorities implement the cluster development plans for each
of the market opportunities. Attracting future businesses to the region will need a
collaborative effort between WMGC, LA investment teams, LEPs, WMCA and other
regional stakeholders.
This document will be circulated in draft form in spring 2019. It will drive and inform
the action plan of the WMGC. The company business attraction action plan will then
be agreed in consultation with each of the WMCA Local Authorities and the WMCA
itself. The effectiveness of the internationalisation programme to attract new FDI
sectors in the future will depend on the local cluster development of each regional
market opportunity.
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Context
Regional FDI performance The region has had a successful recent track record in attracting investment. In the
past decade the West Midlands attracted 14% of the FDI related jobs into the UK, and
has been the second highest performing region in the country.1 (Table 1)
Table1: Jobs created by FDI into the UK, by destination (2007-2017)
This strong regional performance was delivered against key sectors, reflecting the
advanced manufacturing heritage of the region.
1 Source IBM-PLI GLT database, 2017
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Based on the above sector breakdown, the strong volume-based performance for FDI
is not mirrored by job value of investment received. By this measure, the West
Midlands has performed below the national average with regard to the job value of the
investment received.2 (Table 2)
Table 2: Average job value of FDI into the UK by destination region (2012-17)
2 Source IBM-PLI GLT database, 2017
5.55 UK average
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It has been evidenced academically that whilst inward investment is associated with
technology transfer from the home country, leading to innovation and productivity
growth, and also with employment creation, with few exceptions an individual sector
will generate one or the other3. This premise was recently verified in relation to the
West Midlands region and it was concluded that as a region, inward investment has
been successful at generating employment in low value-added activities or a small
number of jobs in high value add sectors4. A future Business Attraction Plan therefore
needs to balance the need to create an increased volume of jobs as well as a higher
proportion of higher value jobs to help support the aims of the LIS in raising
productivity. The BAS will outline how to achieve increased levels of investment such
that it achieves:
I. Results across all three areas of the WMCA supported by the Growth Company; Birmingham and Solihull, Coventry and Warwickshire and Black Country Local Enterprise Partnerships
II. A balanced approach to cover both job creating sectors as well as high value/high productivity sectors
III. A strategy to internationalise the four future market opportunities for the region, thereby helping to support the growth of future regional cluster which should create the appropriate conditions for financial investment and future FDI sectors
Future perspectives It is anticipated that industry is facing some fundamental changes over the next 5 to
15 years. World manufacturing footprints are changing with the creation of more
complex global value chains and the Internet of Things will have long-lasting,
substantive effects on the way manufacturing operates and supply chains are
developed. Globally, new technologies are dramatically re-shaping IT services with
new start-ups and SMEs creating IP solutions that are able to challenge established
ICT players. With regard to science and R&D systems, companies are increasingly
looking to more open innovation systems. Politically, the growth in economic power
of China and India, as well as the uncertainty over US/China relations and the slowing
down of the Chinese economy will undoubtedly effect industrial behaviours globally.
The LIS outlines how the region can grow and develop during this changing
technological and political environment and has identified four key market
opportunities for the region; both to grow our existing cluster strengths and to develop
new industrial strengths for the future. A synopsis of this strategy is included as
Appendix 1.
Our future BAS will therefore need to be cognisant of this changing industrial
environment and seek to maximise new market opportunities which may be delivered
3 Source Nigel Driffield paper 4 Source Nigel Driffield paper
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by this change and the regional development of 5G testbeds. We will promote sectors
that leverage both an existing capability and track record and internationalise those
that have the potential to evolve and adapt to the future industrial landscape so that
we are able to attract investment over the short, medium and long-term.
At the time of writing, the outcomes of the Brexit referendum are very unclear. The
effectiveness of all inward investment activity will be affected by the results of the
UK/EU negotiations. The weighting of the work outlined towards the end of the
strategy may alter in light of the events in the build up to March. The fundamental
principles of the business attraction strategy will not alter, as they are based on
detailed regional and independent research and reflect the true market opportunities
for our local economy. The weighting of the tactics may differ depending on outcomes
at the end of March.
WMCA’s Value Proposition
Why the UK? As Britain navigates a global, post-Brexit environment, the UK Government will
continue to promote the nascent strengths of the UK economy. The Department for
International Trade has an extensive programme for trade and investment promotion
which the region will leverage to encourage investment into the country and city region.
The UK’s value proposition is based on:
I. The size and dynamism of the national economy II. Innovation and strength of R&D
III. Strength of the business community and the levels of entrepreneurism nationally
IV. Strength of legal framework and ease of doing business V. Richness of culture and heritage
VI. Language
Why the West Midlands? In order to attract investment to the WMCA, the region will build on these national
strengths and refine them, producing a holistic, integrated proposition; building a
regional ‘voice’ and offer which is appealing and attractive to all levels of investment.
The regional narrative will build on the branding work around Make Your Mark and the
core regional brand pillars below.
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The strong economic offer of the region is consistent across all sectors and centres
on:
I. Regional population and talent – young, diverse, digital and multi-national II. 5G – 3 city test bed provides digital connectivity and an environment for the
development of future industrial sectors. III. Connectivity – investment in infrastructure (HS2 and wider programme) and
accessibility to both national and global markets IV. Innovation – strength and breadth of University sector with globally leading
specialisms, augmented by R&D carried out by local businesses V. Strong political leadership – collaboration across local government, the Mayor
and the WMCA to deliver growth, backed by central government VI. Quality of life – affordable, rich local, cultural landscape backed up by high
quality education, with UK City of Culture in Coventry 2021 and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham 2022, providing landmark opportunities to drive regional profile and awareness even further
VII. Clusters of cutting-edge businesses in core, key sectors.
The WMGC will promote sector value propositions based on this core narrative to key
target markets in order to stimulate inward investment. The sector capabilities will be
developed from the LIS evidence pack and added to this core regional narrative.
These propositions will be developed, agreed and shared with all of the investment
teams across the region by the end of Summer 2019 to provide consistency of
messaging and positioning. They will also be agreed collectively with our university
partners to ensure the value propositions are as compelling as possible.
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Increasing Inward Investment
Sector classification Based on the IBM PLI research and its international competitive benchmarking
exercise, the following sectors have been identified for promotion. This prioritisation
(Table 3) was based on benchmarking each sector internationally, assessing its ability
for job creation, job value, levels of international competitiveness and matching current
strengths with those that have potential for the future. It also took into account the
need for a balance of manufacturing and service based sectors. Those rated as
medium to high have been classified as Tier 1 - sectors most likely to generate
investment and jobs in the short-term. Those rated as medium to low have been
classified as Tier 2 - sectors most likely to generate lower investment levels and fewer
numbers of jobs due to the immaturity of the sector.
Table 3: Sector prioritisation for investment promotion activities
To deliver inclusive growth, the ranking ensures there is a balance between those
sectors that can deliver job volume and those sectors that can deliver job value.
Tier 1 sectors to be promoted pro-actively are:
- Transport technologies – automotive, rail, aerospace - Advanced manufacturing – precision component manufacturing - Business and professional services – multifunctional, high value, serving
private and public sector - Food technology – machinery and equipment, manufacturing and testing
Segment Investment
Volume
Job Value Contest-
ability
WMCA's
Qualitative
Offer
WMCA's
Cost Offer
WMCA's
Qualitative
Offer (UK)
WMCA's
Cost Offer
(UK)
Overall
Priority
Back & middle office/RHQ
(multifunctional, high value, serving
private & public sector)
High Medium High Medium MediumHigh-
MediumHigh
High
Hi tech medical devices R&D and
manufactureMedium High High
Medium-
LowMedium Medium Medium
Medium
Games development (Serious plus
other)Medium High High Medium High
High-
MediumHigh
High-
Medium
Food technology (Machinery &
equipment manuf. & testing)Medium Medium Medium High High High Medium
High-
Medium
FintechMedium High Medium Low Medium Medium
High-
Medium Medium
Industrial IoT, (mobility & Manufact)Low High Medium
Medium-
LowMedium Medium High
Medium-
Low
Materials R&D and productionHigh Medium High Medium
Medium-
LowHigh Medium
Medium-
Low
Transport Equipment plus components
manufactureHigh High High High High High Medium
High
Energy stroage R&D and manufactureLow High Medium High High High Medium
Medium
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- Gaming – to include serious games, AR/VR applications linked to advanced manufacturing and engineering industry
- Energy storage – R&D and manufacturing - FinTech - Med tech – high tech medical devices R&D and manufacture, including
diagnostics and testing
Tier 2 sectors have the potential to grow into strong investment attractors in the future,
but in the short term are recommended for re-active marketing. These are:
- Industrial Internet of Things – linked predominantly to manufacturing/big data - Materials – R&D and production
All of the above strengths are aligned with the LIS and fit into the regional market
opportunities. Tier 2 sectors are flagged in orange in Table 4
The IBM research noted further capabilities that had the potential to act as attractors
for international investment, but at the time of the exercise, these sectors were still too
immature to be internationally competitive. These Tier 3 sectors were cyber security,
clinical trials, Government Tech and construction technologies. These capabilities
also align with the four market opportunities identified by the LIS and are indicated in
brown in Table 4. Work is being coordinated by each of the LEPs to develop these
transformative sectors identified by the LIS, to support indigenous companies to
expand and to use local innovation strengths to stimulate sector growth.
Table 4: Alignment of business attraction sectors with LIS Market Opportunities
Smart Mobility
•Transport technologies
•Advanced manufacturing to include food technologies
•Energy storage
•Internet of Things and cyber security
•Materials - R&D and production
•Construction technologies
Data Driven Healthcare and Life Sciences
•Medical technologies
•Clinical trials
•Cyber security
Modern Services
•Business and professional services
•Legal
•Insurance
•Banking/Finance
•Property Services
•Shared Services
•Government Bodies
•Fintech
•Cyber security
Creative content, techniques and
technologies
•Gaming
•Serious gaming, to include AR/VR
•Cyber security
5G test beds could potentially benefit development of all market opportunities
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Supporting business expansions Historically, 43 % of investment projects delivered by WMGC have stemmed from the expansions of existing companies. In light of the uncertainty around Brexit, supporting our local foreign owned companies to expand and prosper will be increasingly important. In the short term, WMGC will collaborate with local investment teams and LEPs to agree a list of 70 leading firms across the region, that the company will account manage. For larger companies, it is proposed that both a local representative as well as a WMGC representative acting regionally, may need to be involved in key accounts. It will be important to understand the parent structure, levels of engagement with either DIT or other government stakeholders and the corporate decision making process. The WMGC will account manage and work with these firms, who have already invested in the region, to support them and share market insight with the regional economic teams in each local authority area.
Building an investment pipeline for the region The sector prioritisation above has been formulated to ensure that there are
investment attraction sectors across the region. Table 5 below maps each of the
sector strengths across each of the LEP geographies.
Table 5: Sector prioritisation by LEP
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As can be seen, the business attraction work will generate investment across all of the
WMCA region by targeting the individual sub sectors outlined above.
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Overall ambition Using sector prioritisation, the BAS will consist of a three-pronged approach, aimed at
generating a pipeline of both short and long term investment. The plan will support
the region to develop its core industrial strengths, thereby generating greater numbers
of businesses, jobs and investment. It will consist of investment promotion to
generate an investment pipeline of our existing competitive strengths. This will be
augmented by staggered internationalisation of the four strategic market opportunity
themes outlined by the LIS, thereby stimulating investment to support the growth of
future capabilities. Increased investment resulting from internationalisation activity will
help support the regional growth and the development of local indigenous clusters by
the LEPs and LAs. It is hoped that in turn, a number of these currently immature
capabilities can become FDI targets for the future. The recommended approach
covers the Tiers 1,2, and 3 sectors listed on page 11 and is outlined below. It shows
activity in the short, medium and long terms, whereby short-term is 12-18 months,
medium is 18 months – 3 years and long-term is 3-5 years.
Short Term
Pro-active promotion and support for Tier 1
sectors, reactive support for Tier 2, support expansions of local
companies
Promotion of 5G opportunity, to underpin all market opportunities
outlined by LIS
Internationalisation of Smart Modility and Data
Driven Healthcare themes to support
development of future FDI sectors
Medium Term
Proactive promotion of Tier 1 sectors, reactive support for Tier 2 and
support for local expansions
Tactical promotion of Tier 3 sectors subject to cluster growth by
LEPs/LAs.
Internationalisation of Smart Mobility, Data
Driven Healthcare and Creative services
Long Term
On-going support for local companies and pro-active promotion of Tier 1 and Tier 2 sectors for FDI
Pro-active promotion of selective Tier 3 sectors for FDI, and support for local
cluster development
Continued internationalisation of
regional capabilities
Place marketing and 5G test beds promotion to underpin business attraction across
all market opportunities
Business attraction activity to leverage additional profile generated by Coventry
2021 and Birmingham 2022
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Investment process, working collaboratively across the region The proposed WMGC investment process was outlined in the WMGC business plan. Appendix 2 shows the proactive investment process, whereby a pipeline of enquiries is created using insight, lead generation and intermediaries. Appendix 3 illustrates the reactive process, whereby enquiries are received by WMGC, processed, shared with regional partners and managed until delivery. It is proposed that a reactive approach is taken for tier 2 sectors: technology businesses involved in the internet of things and companies involved in the research and development and manufacture of materials.
Internationalisation activity will be focused on promoting the capabilities of local West Midlands’ clusters linked to two key themes in the short term – Smart Mobility and Data Driven Healthcare. These themes have been chosen as they cross both existing cluster strengths, automotive, rail, aerospace, advanced manufacturing, medical technology etc. as well as encompassing developing sectors for the future, CAV (connected and autonomous vehicles), battery storage, cyber security and life sciences. Both market opportunities will benefit from two of the 5G testbeds and internationalisation of these two themes to key global regions will involve working closely with our university partners, as the strength of our innovation offer will be critical to the development of both market opportunities.
Global target markets The historical investment trends for the region are illustrated in Table 6 below5
Table 7: Jobs created by foreign investment in the West Midlands, by origin country (2007-2017)
5 IBM-PLI GLT database 2017
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In light of the changing global economic environment, for example a more isolationist US president, uncertainty over Brexit and the slowdown of the Chinese economy, there will be a need to target UK based companies in the short term. The results of the current WMGC led research into these opportunities will shared in Summer 2019. IBM outlined a broad range of countries which could be targeted for foreign investment. Table 8 below summarises which countries will be targeted for investment, in each sector. The WMGC Business Attraction team are reviewing all of the recommendations and have produced a draft missions plan which illustrates countries to be targeted over the next 18 - 24 months – see Appendix 4. It is envisaged that via the WMCA SLA there will be a senior leader mission to China, US and Germany, 4 smaller business attraction led missions and one capital attraction mission funded by the SLA.
Table 8: Target country profile
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Delivering Regional Business Attraction
Role of the WMGC Delivering inward investment into a region is a team effort. In order to increase levels of activity across the region there will need to be high levels of collaboration across a range of different stakeholders in both the public and private sectors. Over the next two months WMGC will meet with the investment leads of each regional authority to agree protocols around handing over investment enquiries, for local teams to deliver. This meeting will also be used to agree the list of potential accounts to be managed by WMGC.
The WMGC’s mission will be to attract businesses, visitors and capital to the region through integrated support and effective national and international promotion. They will support cluster development and innovation via brokerage and insight in relation to the sectors outlined by this strategy. This role will involve:
1. Support for the expansion of local FDI companies through active management and the targeting of specific parent companies for new investment activity
2. Leading targeted, pro-active marketing and promotion of the WMCA area to investors and companies.
3. Act as a prime point of contact for companies and potential co-ordinator for wider promotional activities linked to sector development and growth, such as the Tech sector.
4. Support the indigenous growth of companies through international promotion of the region’s capabilities.
5. Act as a facilitator for partnerships between foreign and domestic companies and industry-university collaboration for research, skills and cluster development.
6. Support the after-care of foreign owned companies and facilitate wider cluster development, as well as future expansions of foreign owned companies.
Collaboration and partnerships The WMGC will promote the region to national and international businesses and investor. They will lead the regional narrative, with local teams delivering a local proposition. In order to increase levels of activity across the region there will need to be high levels of collaboration across a range of different stakeholders in both the public and private sectors. The company will work closely with the regional local government infrastructure, including the Mayor’s office, the three LEPs, the WMCA and Local Government economic development teams. Over the next two months WMGC will meet with the investment leads of each regional authority to agree protocols around handing over investment enquiries, for local teams to deliver. This meeting will also be used to agree the list of potential accounts to be managed by WMGC.
Historically over 20% of leads for the WMGC have been generated by partnering with private sector businesses, professional advisors and intermediaries. The WMGC will develop and expand these relationships both locally, nationally and internationally to generate and convert a larger regional pipeline of investment enquiries.
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WMGC also has a strong relationship with the Department of International Trade and the Midlands Engine. The BAS will seek to deepen and develop these links further, looking to support and leverage government funded international activity on both a national and global level. Activity will also focus on developing links with Embassies and foreign office staff based in the key target countries listed above, as well as London.
Under-pinning all of this, the WMGC will maximise the close relationship with their six university partners. Throughout all regional promotion, the company will highlight the breadth of the innovation and research and development strengths of the region, as well as working with other further and higher education organisations to support investor talent requirements.
The following appendices illustrate previous case studies which show the different types of investment projects which will use these agreed protocols:
Appendix 5 – GEZE - proactive lead generation, WMGC delivery
Appendix 6 – Guhring – insight lead generation, account management and expansion
Appendix 7 – Homes England – WMGC lead generation, local partner delivery
Appendix 8 – G&W – lead generation via intermediary, WMGC delivery
Appendix 9 – Shield Group – lead generation via intermediary, local partner delivery
Appendix 10 – Sulzer – WMGC account management, WMGC expansion delivery
As WMGC will be acting as a regional investment organisation, it is anticipated that going forward, the majority of projects will be landed by regional partners as highlighted by Appendices 7 and 9.
Tactics to deliver regional business attraction In order to deliver the required outcomes indicated at the start of this paper, a sales and marketing activity plan will be developed for each of the sectors in Tiers 1 and 2. Internationalisation activity will be framed around the LIS sector development strategies and will be based on the same broad principles outlined below:
1. There will be a strong focus on insight led targeting of companies (companies, intermediaries and associations i.e. a personal sell)
2. Regular communication, with high quality content, to key contacts amongst target markets and investment communities
3. Using the skills of the WMGC PR teams to seed content to raise the profile of both sectors and the regional proposition
4. Development of a West Midlands Investment Portal which will link to local sites and use regular updates, tactical search engine optimisation and compelling interactive content to maximise profile
5. Deployment of a targeted tech marketing campaigns linked to the Make Your Mark theme to set up targeted meetings with C-level executives in priority markets and companies
19 | P a g e
6. Via the WMGC Place Marketing work, creation of an international network of regional Ambassadors via selective and targeted use of social media channels to promote news and success stories
7. Creation of strong links with London based foreign embassies, relocation consultants and foreign based organisations to build a regional pipeline.
8. Engagement of foreign based lead generation agencies in key markets – China, US, Germany and possibly India.
9. Provision of regular feedback to WMCA stakeholders on the status of the investment pipeline, and feedback on activity progress.
Outputs The WMGC team has been operating as an Inward Investment Agency since 2011 –
first covering Birmingham and then the wider Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP
area since 2012. Over the last 7 years the company has developed a strong pipeline
of prospects, successfully landing high numbers of projects and new jobs. The 47
inward investment projects landed in 2017-2018 was nearly 3 times the number
recorded in 2011-2012 and the number of associated new jobs created was nearly
double the figure in 2011-2012.
Source: DIT
During 2018-2019 the company operated over a wider WMCA geography, and have
been collaborating with local investment agencies in the Black Country and Coventry
and Warwickshire to attract inward investment to the wider region.
Nevertheless, reflecting the current contractual position of the company, the majority
of projects are still being landed in Greater Birmingham and Solihull area. This is due
2,257 2,415 2,591
3,5644,028
3,150
4,386
17
4142
53
31
5047
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
7,000
8,000
9,000
10,000
2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18
WMGC/Marketing Birmingham involved successes (FDI and UK inward investment)
New Jobs Projects
20 | P a g e
to the strength of the pipeline which is the culmination of predominantly Birmingham
funded activity over the last 7 years
Over the course of FY 18/19, it is anticipated that more than 90% of targets,
prospects and qualifying projects, 84% of involved successes and 76% of new jobs
created will be in Greater Birmingham.
WMGC 2018-2019 pipeline
Actuals as at end of January Year-end forecast
Wider
WMCA area Greater
Birmingham Total
Wider WMCA area
Greater Birmingham
Total
Targets 17 1,528 1,545 20 1,834 1,854
Prospects 12 667 679 14 800 815
Qualifying projects 9 228 237 11 274 284
Completed projects/involved successes
6 32 38 7 38 46
New jobs created 397 1,265 1,662 476 1,518 1,994
Forecasts for 2019-2020 and the 2019-2022 period for WMCA contract The forecasts are based on the following assumptions:
That company will aim to achieve a similar return on investment as it did in
2018-2019 (i.e. targets, prospects, qualifying projects, completed projects and
new jobs created per £ of budget), with the proviso that:
o The WMGC is making a fundamental transition from focusing on
attracting inward investment to the Greater Birmingham and Solihull
LEP area to a regional promotional agency covering the LEP
geography.
o The team will need to build greater intelligence, contacts, networks and
a well-established brand identity and collateral relating to the WMCA
area.
o The majority of the current pipeline is for the Greater Birmingham area
and the team will need to build a similarly strong pipeline across the
WMCA area as a whole.
Based on the above, it is recommended that the company has the following KPIs
Building a WMCA-wide pipeline: KPIs for 2019-2020
21 | P a g e
KPI Target
Senior level Missions 3
International trade show attendance 10
Account management of strategic
businesses
70
Sector dinners – to foster expansions,
intermediary contacts
5
Lead generation services procured 3 geographic areas
NGDBs engaged with/attracted TBC
Marcomms campaigns - Tech 1
Regional sector propositions agreed 10
o In 2019-2020 the team will still be delivering the ‘Investing in Greater
Birmingham’ ERDF Programme which, due to its required focus on
SMEs, is very resource intensive delivering relatively limited numbers
of businesses attracted and jobs created –as well as other
programmes such as FDIAAE, which are also specifically focused on
the Greater Birmingham and Wolverhampton areas.
o While at the time of writing the exact format and implications of Brexit
are still to be confirmed, the uncertainty alone is already leading to
significant reductions in the amount of FDI being attracted to the UK, a
trend which is expected to continue in 2019-2020.
To take account of these factors, it is proposed that an ‘optimism bias’ of 35%
is added to forecasts based on HM Treasury Green Book Guidance (i.e. we
have made the assumption that, due to these factors, the return on
investment may be up to 35% lower than in 2018-2019).
Taking all this into account it is proposed that the company achieves the following
outputs:
Exploitation of the 7-year pipeline mentioned above, which is anticipated to
yield more than 600 prospects from nearly 1,400 targets (of which around 500
will be new investment opportunities generated over the course of the year),
resulting in more than 200 qualifying projects.
22 | P a g e
Delivery of more than 34 completed projects, creating nearly 1,500 new jobs.
Over the 2019-2022 period we anticipate that more than 100 completed
projects will be achieved, creating nearly 4,500 new jobs.
Breakdown between new investments and expansions Over the last 3 years (2015-2016 to 2017-2018) on average 57% of projects landed by the WMGC were new investments and 43% were expansions. New projects accounted for 40% of new jobs created, meanwhile, while 60% were accounted for by expansions. Based on the assumption that the breakdown will be similar over the next few years
we forecast that:
Of the 34 projects expected to land in 2019-2020, 20 will be new investments
and 14 will be expansions and of the 103 expected to land over the 2019-
2022 period 59 will be new projects and 44 will be expansions
In 2019-2020 new investments will create nearly 600 jobs and expansions will
create more than 900 new jobs. Over the 2019-2022 period, new investments
will create nearly 1,800 jobs and expansions will create more than 2,700 new
jobs.
1,392
612213 34
1,497
4,175
1,835
640
103
4,491
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
4,500
5,000
Targets Prospects Qualifyingprojects
Completedprojects
New jobscreated
WMGC deliverables
2019-2020 2019-2022
Item 12
15/04/2019 1 of 2
GREATER BIRMINGHAM AND SOLIHULL LEP
BOARD MEETING
25 April 2019
2019/20 LEP Delivery Plan
Recommendations
Board Directors are asked to:
1. Note new requirement from government to publish annual Delivery Plan for LEP activities by 31 May 2019, including informal guidance developed by LEP Network
2. Receive and comment on draft proposed Delivery Plan for GBSLEP, which incorporates key LEP activities for the year 2019/2020
3. Delegate final sign-off and publication of designed Delivery Plan to the LEP Chair and LEP Director
Background
4. As part of Strengthening Local Enterprise Partnerships, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has asked all LEPs to produce annual delivery plans, setting out their proposed activities and deliverables for the forthcoming year.
5. MHCLG have not produced formal guidance for this document, and, as they only requested that LEPs produced this document late in financial year 18/19, has asked the LEP Network to work with LEP Chairs to produce informal guidance for content as part of a “light-touch” approach to Delivery Plans in 19/20. The informal guidance for this document is appended to this paper.
6. With its work on Delivery Plans, strong capital pipeline for Local Growth Funds, management of the Enterprise Zone, the recently approved Stakeholder Engagement Plan and key role in the design of the Local Industrial Strategy for the West Midlands, GBSLEP is well placed to produce this Plan as part of its business as usual planning.
Key Issues
7. Draft wording for the proposed LEP Delivery Plan is provided in Appendix B. Specifically, as part of the LEP’s Business Plan for the year, this includes:
Key activities for each of the LEP’s sector and cross-cutting delivery plans with target dates
Local Growth Fund projects that are likely to complete in 2019/20 and Local Growth Fund projects that we anticipate will start in 2019/20
Plans for European Structural and Investment Funds – as approved by the ESIF sub-committee
Item 12
15/04/2019 2 of 2
Growth Hub deliverables as already submitted to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS)
Planned completions and new projects for Birmingham Enterprise Zone
Wider strategic activity including increased levels of stakeholder engagement and proposed work on the implementation of the Local Industrial Strategy
Conclusion
8. Board Directors are asked to note the LEP’s proposed activities for 19/20 and, if felt appropriate, comment on final presentation to government.
Report by: Katie Trout LEP Director
Contact: [email protected]
07825 318250
Date Created: 15 April 2019
Appendices a. LEP Network Guidance for LEP Delivery
Plans b. Draft wording for GBSLEP Delivery Plan
19/20
Delivery Plan 2019-20 Matrix
This Delivery Plan matrix has been created by the Delivery Plan LEP Network Working Group to
provide LEPs guidance on what should be included in their Delivery Plans. Although local innovation
and creativity is encouraged, all LEPs should cover the sections outlined below to ensure consistency
across the network.
Timing of Delivery Plans for 2019-20
LEPs must complete a draft Delivery Plan by the end of April 2019. These Delivery Plans should be
signed-off by the LEP Board and published by the end of May 2019.
Future Delivery Plans
The Delivery Plans for 2019-20 are designed to be light touch. The design and content of the Delivery
Plans will be revisited next year to take account of best practice, the LEP Economic Outlook and the
development of Local Industrial Strategies.
Delivery Plan (covering the period April 2019 - March 2020)
Heading
Information
1. Summary and
strategic
objectives
Summary headlines from the LEP’s Strategic Economic Plan (or
equivalent like a Mayor’s economic ambition) providing the context for
the LEP’s ambitions. It will include linkages and reference to the LIS plans
for year ahead. If applicable, the LEP should note any objectives that
address the five foundations of productivity: ideas, people,
infrastructure, business environment and places.
The summary should provide an at-a-glance summary of the key
indicators that feature in the LEP’s Delivery Plan (so that a total summary
of LEP indicators can be accumulated) and how these will illustrate the
progress the LEP is making towards their objectives outlined above.
Typical indicators are suggested below:
• businesses supported;
• jobs that businesses created;
• total investment;
• private sector leverage;
• houses built (due to LEP investment / influence);
• infrastructure created etc.
Not every indicator will be relevant to every LEPs’ Delivery Plan. Local
creativity is encouraged as to how this information is presented. LEPs
could feature this summary as a series of infographics on the front page
of the Delivery Plan, or a series of tables, graphs etc. When providing
performance data LEPs should report against forecast:
2. Local Growth
Fund
Outline what the LGF will achieve in the next 12 months. This should
include:
• Projects reaching completion/ significant milestones.
• Projects planned for the year ahead.
A degree of creativity will be left to each LEP’s discretion. For example,
LEPs could provide a ‘heat map’ showing where a LEP’s investments will
take place.
There should be a degree of detail that breaks the activity down into
project, themes or sectors: infrastructure, transport, roads, broadband,
innovation, research, creative industry, manufacturing etc. There could
be a read across to the LIS or SEP.
LEPs should provide a breakdown of the performance against indicators
to date and the forecast of expected outcomes at programme level at the
year end. As best practice, LEPs may wish to break this down at project
level. LEPs should report against the following:
Output
Actual
achieved to
date
Forecast in
2019-20
Current
Forecast for
2020-21
Total Forecast 1
1 This can include any forecast outputs expected to be achieved after 2020-21 e.g. up to 2030.
LEPs should outline any plans for monitoring and evaluating this
programme.
3. Other Funding
or Growth
Programmes
The LEP should capture funding progress and plans for their other
funding programmes over the next 12 months e.g. Growth Hubs, City
Deals, European Funding, Enterprise Zones.
As with LGF, there should be a degree of detail that breaks the activity
down into project, themes or sectors: infrastructure, transport, roads,
broadband, innovation, research, creative industry, manufacturing etc.
There could be a read across to the LIS or SEP. LEPs should provide a
breakdown of the performance against indicators to date and the
forecast of expected outcomes at programme level. As best practice,
LEPs may wish to break this down at project level. LEPs should report
against the following
Output
Actual
achieved to
date
Forecast in
2019-20
Current
Forecast for
2020-21
Total Forecast 2
LEPs should outline any plans for monitoring and evaluating these
programmes.
4. Strategic
Activity.
This covers the wider strategic activity and influencing through
partnership working and convening that LEPs do.
It includes multi-LEP working in a wider sub-national area, or connecting
with other LEPs from a wider geography across the network on theme
areas (energy, aero space etc.) - cross LEP collaboration in the coming
year.
2 This can include any forecast outputs expected to be achieved after 2020-21 e.g. up to 2030.
LEPs should also outline their plans for engaging with the wider public,
voluntary and community-based bodies.
The LEP will outline the approach and opportunities (with a timeline if
appropriate) for how they will consult with the business community
(including AGM etc.).
LEPs can also include the ‘soft power’ influencing role of LEPs, as
convenors, bringing the private sector view into local economic decision
making.
1
Item 12 Appendix B ‐ Draft wording for GBSLEP Delivery Plan 19/20
Greater Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership Delivery Plan 2019‐20 Introduction
Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership’s (GBSLEP’s) annual delivery plan sets out our intended activities and deliverables for 2019/20 in our mission to help the economy of Greater Birmingham and Solihull continue to grow and thrive. In part this will be achieved through delivery of our capital programmes and Enterprise Zone and, in part, through specific revenue based interventions supported by funding through our Business Rates Pool. Given the ongoing uncertainty in the UK economy, our proposed interventions are subject to change as we remain alert to, and agile in, our responses to the challenges and opportunities that the second biggest economy in the UK brings. We will no doubt do far more over the year than this plan outlines. Likewise, there will be some proposed interventions that, as the economy changes, will evolve, grow or, in some cases, not be taken forward. Given this, our Plan outlines our proposed activities for the 19/20 period. Context and Geography
The Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP) was established in 2010 as a partnership of business, public sector and further and higher education leaders. Our geography spans nine local authority boundaries: Birmingham, Solihull, East Staffordshire, Cannock Chase, Lichfield, Tamworth, Redditch, Bromsgrove and Wyre Forest. We have a population of just over 2 million people, an estimated 1,038,000 jobs, and an economy worth £46.8bn. Greater Birmingham and Solihull is home to one of the largest professional and financial centres outside of London, with a world‐leading advanced manufacturing base, burgeoning creative and cultural industries and emerging strengths in life sciences. We are the location of choice for international companies such as Mondelēz International, Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Jaguar Land Rover. As a business‐led partnership, working closely alongside public sector and educational partners, we have distinct advantages. We are able to take a private sector view of the supply side constraints on growth and provide a forum for demand and supply sides to come together to agree action. As a collaborative partnership, we work for the benefit of everyone who lives and works in the LEP area. Our success hinges on delivering interventions that bring about meaningful change, leading to sustainable economic growth. This collaborative and business focused approach enables us to target interventions for maximum benefit to the local economy. In 2016, we refreshed our Strategic Economic Plan, in close consultation with our partners, to reflect our vision and strategy for delivering smarter, more sustainable and more inclusive growth for the benefit of
2
our area, the wider West Midlands and the UK as a whole. This involved a clear focus on increasing business and workforce productivity, raising skills levels and stimulating levels of business innovation. In 18/19 we worked closely with our partners to focus our activity on interventions where we had a clear role and added value to the local economy. This resulted in a focus on our highest growth sectors, along with a number of cross‐cutting themes such as place‐making and skills at NVQ3 and above. Other sectors and themes are vital to sustainable economic growth but the view of the LEP Board was that other agencies, such as local authorities or the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) were better placed than the LEP to address them. In addition, in 18/19 we have worked hard, with our neighbouring LEPs in the Black Country and Coventry and Warwickshire, along with the WMCA, to develop a Local Industrial Strategy for the West Midlands. Our proposed delivery plan for 19/20 focuses on those areas of priority and in preparing activity for wider implementation of the Local Industrial Strategy.
Our Mission
GBSLEP’s mission is to drive the economic growth of the Greater Birmingham and Solihull area, creating jobs and increasing the quality of life for all our residents.
In order to achieve our mission, GBSLEP has three main roles to play:
Agitator
Acting as a voice for the GBSLEP area, we will use our influence to secure greater funding and powers from the government and greater investment from the private sector, both at home and overseas. An example from 18/19 was working with national agency, Be the Business, and their Mentoring for Growth programme – which pairs leaders of ambitious SMEs with experienced business mentors – to launch nationally following a highly successful pilot in the Greater Birmingham area.
Enabler
Bringing together existing partners and organisations within the area, we will support and guide activity and resources in order to meet shared priorities. The Towns and Local Centres Framework (launched in 18/19) is a good example of how the LEP enables partners, throughout the region, to work towards their objectives; the document outlines specific criteria for funding to guide partners when they create local place‐making strategies for the improvement of towns and local centres whose success is critical for the sustained economic growth of the region. Commissioner
Using resources directly aligned to the LEP, we invest in priorities that support our mission. An example of this in 18/19 is the approval of funding for Tyseley Energy Park and a pilot Hydrogen Bus scheme, which will use the Energy Park to refuel. These ambitious, joined‐up schemes will support the region’s transport, energy and economic requirements in a sustainable manner.
3
As a series of headline Key Performance Indicator(s) the LEP aims to measure how it influences the performance of the Greater Birmingham economy (Table 1 below). GBS LEP KPI Baseline (2010) Current Progress
To Date
Progress
Latest Data
Create 250,000 private sector jobs by 2030
633,600 800,686
(2017 data)
167,086
(67% of target)
29,452
Increase GVA by £29bn by 2030
£42bn £50.3bn
(2017 data)
£8.3bn
(29% of target)
£0.8bn
Decrease Unemployment to the national average by 2020
2.7% Point Gap with UK average
1.3% gap with UK average
(June 2018)
1.4% points
(52% of target)
0.6% points
To have the lowest unemployment of LEP Core Cities by 2030
5.1% Gap with Leading Core City
2.3%
Point Gap with Leading CC (West of England, June 2018)
2.8% Points
(55% of target)
0.1% point
To be the Leading Core City LEP for GVA per head by 2030
£7,123 per Head Gap £4,159 Per Head Gap
(2017)
£2,141 Per Head
(34% of target)
Gap reduced by £262 per head
Increase the % of working age population with NVQ3+ to national average by 2025
5.6% Point Gap with UK
4.9% Point Gap with UK
(Sept 2017)
0.6% Point
(10% of target)
1.7% point reduction in gap
(Baseline 2015)
Increase GVA per hour [productivity rate] to national average by 2030
£5.81 GVA per hour Gap
£1.72 per hour Gap
(2017)
£4.11 gap closed
(71% of target)
£0.51 Gap closed
Leading Core City LEP for Quality of Life by 2030
Ranked 5/8 Ranked 3/8
(2015 ‐ 2017)
Up 2 places Up 1 place
4
As part of the LEP’s contributions to addressing these KPIs for the wider economy, we commission a range of interventions both capital and revenue. Section 2 (below) highlights how we do this for our capital funding, including through the Local Growth Fund programme and our Enterprise Zone. In addition to these investments, we make a series of revenue based interventions through the use of our Strategic Economic Plan (SEP) Enabling Fund, which is a contribution from our local authority partners resulting from an uplift in business rates. This Fund, combined with our capital funding, enables us to focus on nine delivery plans – five sector based and four that cut across our economy, details of which follow below. Each of these delivery plans is designed to realise direct benefit to companies in the Greater Birmingham and Solihull economy and forms a part of the Local Industrial Strategy for the West Midlands.
19/20 Deliverables1
Business Support and Access to Finance including Growth Hub [Business Environment]2
Effective support for businesses across the Greater Birmingham and Solihull area is crucial to solving the productivity challenges that our local economy faces. Evidence demonstrates that entrepreneurs and business owners who receive external help and support are more likely to have better performing, more successful businesses. Although Birmingham (data not available at GBSLEP level) has a low level of self‐employment against the national average, there is an increasing appetite for business start‐up, with Birmingham having the highest start‐up rate outside of London for the past six years running. Business survival rates are, however, not as strong and the city‐region is still behind the national average, indicating the importance of continuing to drive effective support to our businesses grow and survive longer.
Our focus in 19/20 will be on continuing to provide a core level of support to all businesses through our Growth Hub, and the services it signposts through Growth Hub delivery partners, while growing activity to ensure that there is substantial added value in the specific services that the LEP provides for businesses through scale‐up programmes; pilots with national organisations such as the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) and Be the Business; inclusive growth programmes aimed at business owners and managers in our diverse communities across the city‐region; and ensuring that our businesses are able to access the finance they need to grow and thrive. In addition, and under the auspices of the Local Industrial Strategy for the West Midlands, we will work with Black Country and Coventry and Warwickshire LEPs to explore where our collective business support offerings can add value across the West Midlands. Specific business support activities in 19/20 include:
Deliver the next phase of the Growth Hub through an enhanced partnership model that focuses on simplifying the local business support landscape and maximising the value of the Growth Hub on the local economy – Q3 19/20
1 Where possible, deliverables are indicated by quarter with Q1 representing the period Apr – Jun 2019, Q2 Jul – Sep 2019, Q3 Oct – Dec 2019 and Q4 Jan – Mar 2020.
2 Wording in square parentheses, [ . . . ] indicates which of the national Industrial Strategy foundations of productivity specific interventions relate to
5
Grow our Growth Hub scale‐up offer and plan for next phase of development, including working with Be the Business on delivering and growing their Productivity Leadership Group Mentoring pilot – Q2 19/20
Continue to develop access to finance services through core Growth Hub Access to Finance service; increasing the quality and success of applications to the Midlands Engine Investment Fund; and support the establishment of a more connected and structured angel investment ecosystem within Greater Birmingham and the West Midlands – Q4 19/20
Further develop partnership activity with the Department for International Trade (DIT) to ensure a robust export support offer, particularly in focusing the offer on “export ready” business – Q3 19/20
Improve access to mainstream and specialist business support for businesses outside of existing support networks, particularly in some of our diverse communities, through development of a Commonwealth Games growth support programme and expansion of our inclusive growth business support programme – Q4 19/20
Innovation and Enabling Technologies [Ideas]
It is a key objective of our SEP that Greater Birmingham become a “world leader in innovation and creativity, commercialising cutting‐edge research and innovation” and to “stimulate demand‐led innovation to increase business and workforce productivity and competitiveness. As part of the Local Industrial Strategy and complementing the proposed Innovation Framework and Programme for the West Midlands, LEP delivery will focus on driving innovation in key sectors in the Greater Birmingham economy, helping to realise future market opportunities and ensure that the research excellence in our universities realises wider economic benefits in the Greater Birmingham and West Midlands economy. To inform this work, in 18/19 the LEP commissioned external consultants to co‐design interventions that will increase levels of business innovation. Delivery of these pilot interventions will commence in 19/20. Activities include:
Develop and deliver pilot innovation programme with a focus on i) challenge based events with an emphasis on cross‐sectoral activity ii) financial support for R&D iii) company centric innovation support – Q4 19/20
Support development of key demonstrators, commercialisation of research and support for businesses based on the research excellence of our universities, including (but not limited to) key areas where we have acknowledged national expertise such as energy, quantum technologies and data‐driven healthcare and life sciences supported through a translational ecosystem – ongoing
Support (primarily through capital funding) projects that stimulate and support market‐led innovation amongst businesses in key growth industries by deploying strong market‐led perspectives in appraisal of funding bids with an expansion of LEP capital pipeline for innovation ‐ by Q4 19/20
Extend the pilot Innovation Enabler, in conjunction with IPO, to support SMEs in key growth industries to recognise and realise the value of their intellectual property (IP) through R&D and innovation collaboration – Q4 19/20
6
Skills [People]
Our long‐term people ambition is to accelerate an increase in our skilled workforce ensuring that the gap between our skills levels at least matches the national levels and meets the increasing local employer demands for higher skilled labour. Skills shortages and gaps that continue to increase as the local economy grows can act as a brake on the productivity and future growth of our economy.
As of 2017 data, this means that we need to appropriately upskill over 63,000 more people at NVQ Level 3 (A Level) and above to meet national levels: to reach this level we will require an approximate 10% increase in the current working age population qualified to NVQ Level 3+.
Our plan for skills aims to i) use partnership and collaboration to tackle skills shortages and gaps that are barriers to long‐term business growth and productivity ii) motivate and inspire people to develop skills for key sectors for growth and technologies iii) develop employer led programmes to increase workforce diversity, to combat skills shortages and drive economic growth and iv) prime the adoption of disruptive and emergent technologies to enable skills development that matches today and tomorrow’s skills needs.
Our Plan directly aligns with and complements the emerging Regional Sector Employer Task Forces, the Local Industrial Strategy, as well as delivery of the Regional Skills Plan at West Midlands level.
Facilitate new employer led approaches to ensure training provision that better meets and keeps pace with industry demands through increasing sector based work academies and securing dedicated skills brokers in our Growth Hub – Q4 19/20
Motivate and inspire people to develop skills for key sectors for growth by highlighting opportunities across our key sectors to ensure business growth and productivity is not inhibited through the lack of appropriately skilled staff – Q4 19/20
Develop employer led programmes to increase workforce diversity by supporting and promoting new approaches to growing businesses to reach and encourage the entry of young and diverse talent into our key sectors – Q4 19/20
Encourage employer supported experimentation and early adoption in the use of new technologies for training in future skills needs including provision of facilities and capital equipment to meet future skills needs ‐ ongoing
During 19/20 we also plan to work with partners to develop an initiative that will substantially increase the cohort of learners entering NVQ3+. This is a long term plan, which meets the skills gap within Greater Birmingham and the wider West Midlands economy. Deliverables in 19/20 will be production of the plan, agreement with partners and early stage activities in Q4.
Place‐making [Places and Infrastructure]
The importance of a sense of place and a quality of place is vital to a thriving and a healthy economy. Creating vibrant, exciting and inclusive places for people to live and work is key to retaining and attracting the talented people that our companies need to grow and thrive. The impacts of high quality place‐making on local economies are well documented and are essential to maintaining sustainable economic growth as part of a Local Industrial Strategy.
7
From discussions with key businesses, we have identified four key place‐making constraints to future growth i) a lack of key employment sites ii) too costly and inflexible energy infrastructure iii) the need to maximise the opportunity and potential impact of large‐scale infrastructure investments iv) constrained housing stock.
Additionally talent attraction and retention depends on ensuring that Greater Birmingham and Solihull is a great place to live and work and to that end, in 18/19, we focused activity on enabling our towns and local centres to maximise their full potential and to supporting our cultural offer to extend right across the city‐region. In 19/20 we will further build on these achievements.
Completion of Strategic Employment Sites study across the West Midlands, including making clear recommendations to address barriers to strategic employment sites and exploring the potential to develop a pipeline of sites to meet market demand – Q2 19/20
Build on our Towns and Local Centres Framework by supporting our local authority (and other) partners to develop individual town and local centres plans, develop an ecosystem/economic geography approach to identifying key areas for investment benefiting the whole of the LEP geography and carry out an audit of future workspace requirements in our towns and local centres – Q4 19/20
Deliver the key recommendations of our Housing Framework, including exploring the potential of establishing a joint delivery vehicle for future investment – Q4 19/20
Develop and implement a Cultural Action toolkit, cultural development cluster fund and cultural action zones aimed at encouraging culture based projects to come forward for capital funding across the geography, exploring the overall impact of culture‐led regeneration outside of central Birmingham – Q4 19/20
In addition to the cross‐cutting, foundational priorities for our economy, we will also prioritise activities in our five high growth sectors.
Business, Professional and Financial Services
Business, Professional and Financial Services provide nearly a third of Greater Birmingham’s economic output and provide a key source of Foreign Direct Investment. Strengths include insurance, law, support services, Islamic finance and Fintech. The business and professional services sector is by far the largest priority sector in Greater Birmingham and Solihull in terms of employment accounting for around 20% of total employment in the area, much of which is high value added.
Key market opportunities include next generation modern services, including emerging clusters such as FinTech and blockchain technology, cyber security, and data analytics, all of which have the potential to shape the future of services in Greater Birmingham and across the UK. While this is a substantial opportunity that we aim to encourage to grow and thrive, skills are a challenge for the sector, particularly through embracing digital skills but also ensuring that there is a pipeline of diverse talent to meet the future skills needs of the sector. Our interventions in 19/20 propose to address these opportunities and challenges and will be specifically aligned to the “modern services” opportunity as outlined in the Local Industrial Strategy for the West Midlands.
Design and implement a collaborative lab pilot programme ‘AI for professional services’ with a focus on the legal subsector, in conjunction with our universities – Q1 19/20 launch [Ideas]
8
Provide cluster development and support for our FinTech sector to widen the business base and grow the supply chain – Q2 19/20 [Business Environment]
Launch a BPFS school leaver (pre 19) training scheme focused on skills for next generation services – Q3 19/20 [People]
Creative Industries
Creative Industries have a demonstrable potential to grow substantially in Greater Birmingham and across the wider West Midlands with strengths in advertising and marketing; design; software; jewellery and high value ‘makers’ with potential to grow substantially in film and tv; games; serious games; virtual reality; augmented reality; and web based services.
Through our leadership of the Local Industrial Strategy development and implementation plan for the creative industries, we have identified, with partners, a number of initiatives that have substantial potential to both enable the growth of creative industries in Greater Birmingham and across the West Midlands and maximise their impact on other sectors.
Address gaps in pre‐commercial specialist infrastructure (incubators and accelerators) by identifying gaps and opportunities and bringing forward a pipeline of projects for capital funding – Q3 19/20 [Business Environment]
Develop and deliver, working under the auspices of the Local Industrial Strategy, creative industries sector support and scale‐up programme – Q1 19/20 [Business Environment]
Launch a cluster development Fund to invest in the capacity of sector intermediaries to develop the creative cluster ecosystem – Q2 19/20 [Business Environment]
Launch a specific “screen” initiative focused on locations, production services and supply chain cluster development to realise the potential of filming and production in the West Midlands – Q2 19/20 [Business Environment]
Improve the effectiveness of existing skills pipeline and career progression for the creative industries by bringing together key regional employers and freelancers; developing a multi‐employer apprenticeship model to suit the needs of the sector; and pilot a new entrants support programme – Q4 19/20 [Skills]
Life Sciences
As the lead LEP for life sciences through the development and planned implementation of the Local Industrial Strategy for the West Midlands, our delivery plan focuses on those interventions that will attract investment and support the growth of the region’s life sciences industry, capitalising on the region’s strengths in translational medicine to capture a significant share of the rapidly growing global market for data‐driven healthcare innovation. Our interventions address both key market opportunities and barriers to growth in Greater Birmingham and across the West Midlands.
Lead, on behalf of the West Midlands, the commissioning of a Cluster Development Plan that draws on best practice from other clusters and identifies stakeholder‐owned actions to develop an
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attractive and supportive regional cluster offer to industry and investors ‐ Q3 19/20 [Business Environment]
Support Birmingham Health Partners to bring forward the UK’s first regionally‐scaled integrated translational research and health data innovation hub (Precision Health Technologies Accelerator) as phase one of the Birmingham Life Sciences Park development – target to commence construction in Q3 20/21 [Infrastructure]
Commission work to confirm the level of current and anticipated demand for incubation and grow‐on space to identify any likely shortfall against current plans and options to address any shortfall – Q2 19/20 [Infrastructure]
Work with the Intellectual Property Office to identify and share best practice in IP sharing/agreements to support life sciences company engagement in collaborative R&D projects – Q1 19/20 [Ideas]
Work with industry and academic partners to explore potential initiatives to encourage graduate retention and development – Q2 19/20 [People]
Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering
Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering provides both high value jobs and catalyses innovation across multiple sectors in the Greater Birmingham economy. As a sector, it accounts for 13.5% of economic output, compared with a UK average of 10.6% with particular strengths in aerospace and automotive and associated supply chain activities. Significant opportunities for growth are also provided by the next generation of rail technologies and food and drink processing and manufacturing, which employs more than 17,000 people across Greater Birmingham. Interventions across the sector are focused on key market barriers and opportunities including skills needs across the sector, promotion of productivity gains through innovation and promoting the adoption of future technologies for growth, each of which are key drivers of productivity growth through the Local Industrial Strategy.
Work with the national Productivity Leadership Group (PLG) to roll out an SME mentoring pilot for Advanced Manufacturing SMEs with consideration of further expansion in Q3 19/20 [People]
Pilot approach ‐ with the Rail Alliance ‐ to diagnostic support and in depth mentoring with companies in the rail supply chain building on the investment in HS2 and increasing the knowledge within the local supply chain of the strategic direction of OEMs and Tier 1 companies ‐ Q3 19/20 [Business Environment]
Increasing SME exposure to the benefits of Industry 4.0 through a series of in depth technical workshops led by Drive Midlands, in collaboration with a range of partners – Q4 19/20 [Business Environment]
Pilot a skills framework – focused on the aerospace sector – with local employers that articulates mid‐level training requirements and gaps in provision, working with the Midlands Aerospace Alliance, and leading to changes in training provision and strengthening of local workforce – Q3 19/20 [People]
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Increasing the number of manufacturing and engineering tutors in colleges and private providers to address shortages. Project to be fully scoped and delivery to commence ‐ Q3 19/20 [People]
Raise awareness of cyber security in manufacturers to include demonstrations and signposting to expert support – Q4 19/20 [Infrastructure/Business Environment]
Energy Technologies and Services
The West Midlands has distinctive economic advantages in the developing global transition to clean energy. Strengths include a world‐class concentration of both research and commercial expertise in low‐carbon energy and a large programme of infrastructure planned for the next decade. Identified strengths include energy storage and systems including batteries and fuel cells; power‐trains; and light‐weighting. The energy needs of our firms and the development of our excellent low carbon technology and services businesses are key to ensuring we have a Local Industrial Strategy that embraces the challenges of a clean energy economy. Specific assets include the Energy Systems Catapult, the Energy Research Accelerator, the European Bioenergy Research Institute, the Centre for Cryogenic Energy Storage and Centre for Fuel Cell Research and the developments at Tyseley Energy Park. Activities to maximise the impact of these aspects include:
Continue capital investment at Tyseley Energy Park, maximising the innovation potential of new technologies and business models, realised through the Park – Q4 19/20 [Ideas/Infrastructure]
Support the further development of Energy Innovation Zones across the West Midlands with a particular focus on Rugeley, Staffordshire as a potential third EIZ in Greater Birmingham and Solihull – Q4 19/20 [Places/Infrastructure]
Address failings in tailored business support for low carbon businesses through the development of a low carbon network and consideration of dedicated cluster support for the sector – Q3 19/20 [Business Environment]
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Local Growth Fund
GBSLEP has agreed three Growth Deals with government, creating a £433m Local Growth Fund programme ‐ a pipeline of capital investments that will create jobs, improve transport links, upskill our people, create houses and raise the quality of life across the region. The LGF programme is a key mechanism by which the LEP directly supports the delivery of the ambitions detailed in the GBSLEP Strategic Economic Plan and West Midlands Local Industrial Strategy.
Operating since 2015, the LGF programme is now entering its final two years of delivery. As of March 2019, over £109.3m had been spent on project delivery, out of a total discretionary programme value of £186m3. For the 2019/20 financial year, it’s anticipated that [£29.2m] of LGF funding will be paid out to projects.
The programme is seeing the number of projects reaching a successful completion grow. Over the next 12 months, some [14] projects across the programme are expected to complete delivery. This will take the total projects that are practically completed on the programme to 44 out of a programme size of [64] at this present moment.
These projects include Battery Way Extension, Tyseley, Birmingham, which by December 2019 will have constructed a new 700m road to provide access to the 8ha Mucklow Park employment site, that will deliver up to 340,000sqm. of high quality manufacturing and distribution space. This £6.5m project was awarded £3.7m of LGF funding.
The £81m Redditch Gateway project was granted full approval by the LEP in April 2019. Co‐funding between GBSLEP (£1.84m) and Worcestershire LEP will, by November 2019, have provided access to the 25.5ha commercial development site located on the eastern side of Redditch. This is a key employment site for the Greater Birmingham & Solihull area with up to 90,000sqm of commercial floorspace creating around 2,060 jobs and £90m of additional GVA.
Table 2 below provides a summary of all the projects that will complete over the next year.
Project Lead organisation Delivery Plan Alignment
Expected completion
Journey Time Reliability Improvements to Growth Areas Phases 1 and 2, Birmingham
Birmingham City Council Place‐making June
Battery Way Extension, Tyseley, Birmingham Birmingham City Council Place‐making – key employment sites
December
Snow Hill Public Realm, Birmingham Birmingham City Council BPFS March Birmingham Cycle Revolution Phase 2 Birmingham City Council Place‐making March Iron Lane, Birmingham Birmingham City Council Place‐making June Selly Oak New Road Phase 1b, Birmingham Birmingham City Council Place‐making February Kidderminster Railway Station Wyre Forest District
Council Place‐making ‐ Towns and Local Centres
November
Kingswood Lakeside Access Phase 2, Cannock Cannock Chase District Council
Place‐making ‐ Key employment sites
September
3 This figure does not include the five large Department for Transport schemes, amounting to £246.945m of Growth Deal funding, that are accounted for separately.
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Longbridge Connectivity ‐ MSCP Phase 2, Birmingham
Transport for West Midlands
Place‐making ‐ Key employment sites
October
Aspirations for All, Selly Oak, Birmingham Sense UK Skills August Clean Air Hydrogen Bus Project, Birmingham Birmingham City Council Innovation September Birmingham Dance Hub Hippodrome Creative Industries May Redditch Gateway Redditch Borough
Council Place‐making ‐ Key employment sites
November
Worcester Street Public Realm, Kidderminster Wyre Forest District Council
Place‐making ‐ Towns and Local Centres
September
There are a series of pipeline projects that are expected to progress to full approval of funding, subject to Full Business Case, or to commence project delivery on site over the next year. Some of the highlights include the Lichfield Southern Bypass that will be starting on site in January 2020. This project, which was awarded £2.3m of LGF funding, will enable development sites to come forward for housing and employment, including the direct unlocking of 450 new homes. Another project reaching a key milestone will be The Outpost project, led by Solihull College and University Centre, which is expected to be [fully approved in May 2019]. Benefiting from £0.427m of LGF funding, the project will support the creative sector through provision of equipped employer engagement space, including incubation for student business start‐ups.
Table 3 below provides a summary of the projects that will start or are expected to over the next year.
Project Lead organisation Delivery Plan Alignment Milestone Expected date
Lichfield Southern Bypass Staffordshire County Council Place‐making ‐ Housing Start on
site Jan
Symphony Hall Extension, Birmingham
Performances Birmingham Ltd
Place‐making ‐ culture and creative industries
Start on site Sept
Burton Regeneration and Flood Defence
East Staffordshire Borough Council
Place‐making ‐ Towns and Local Centres FBC June
A38 Bromsgrove Major Scheme – Package 1
Worcestershire County Council
Place‐making ‐ Towns and Local Centres FBC May
Commonwealth Games Birmingham City Council Place‐making ‐ culture OBC June
Fast Track into Skills, Birmingham Birmingham Metropolitan College
Skills FBC April
Cannock Chase Engineering Academy South Staffordshire College
Skills OBC May
The Outpost, Solihull Solihull College and University Centre
Skills OBC May
Construction Skills for Readiness, Solihull
Solihull College and University Centre
Skills OBC May
[NB To be updated with latest position prior to publication – italics indicate those projects that have not yet reached a funding decision]
[NB Map of project locations for completions and starts to be inserted]
With additional projects entering the programme and more completed projects starting to realise their benefits, the positive impacts of the LGF programme are increasingly being felt across the Greater Birmingham & Solihull area. Table 4 provides a summary of performance against the forecast outcomes for
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the programme as a whole. [Table 5 at the back of this document provides a breakdown of outcomes across all projects.]
Outcome Actual achieved to date
Forecast in 2019/20
Current forecast 2020/21
Total Forecast
Jobs created or safeguarded 5,069 1,974 3,871 31,329
New homes built 1,424 1,797 1,250 9,793 New learners assisted 1,036 538 310 3,911 Match funding leveraged £490m
[NB Actuals and forecasts to be updated following review of Q4 monitoring information] [NB Table 5 listing individual project outcomes to be included in final published version following Q4 project monitoring information] The LGF programme will be undergoing an interim evaluation in the year ahead to understand the benefits that are being realised from the LEP investment in the local area. As well as considering the broad programme impact, the evaluation will place a spotlight on a range of projects in the form of detailed case studies that will examine the difference that the intervention has made to the everyday life of people and businesses. A full impact evaluation will take place a year after the conclusion of programme delivery in 2022.
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Other Funding or Growth Programmes
European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF)
European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) form a key part of the overall delivery of the LEP’s Strategic Economic Plan, addressing key priorities in the local economy, including driving up levels of innovation amongst businesses in our key growth sectors, providing a business support offering across the range of delivery agents in the LEP area, addressing low carbon challenges and promoting employment and employability amongst some of our most deprived communities. By providing a mix of revenue and capital funding it complements and enables some of the benefits of the Local Growth Fund to be realised.
The LEP has nominally been allocated €255.8 million of European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and European Social Fund (ESF) monies to be match funded 50% with other funding to cover the period 2014‐20. As part of this, the LEP has a European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) sub‐committee that advises the managing government agencies (“Managing Authorities”) on local strategic aims alongside national strategic and operational objectives and to ensure that maximum impact is achieved through the Funds, thereby contributing to delivery of the overall national programmes. It is the responsibility of those Managing Authorities to manage the Funds and ensure the overall deliverables of the programme are met. This includes management of the call schedule, spend profiles and programme outputs.
In 19/20, as the programme nears its end, it is the priority of the ESIF sub‐committee to maximise strategic use of spend to ensure projects are supported that boost economic growth and social mobility across Greater Birmingham and Solihull. As such, a number of open calls will be prioritised in 19/20, with a particular focus on ESF through, for example, targeted calls for employability skills for the long term unemployed, to ensure, as near as possible, a full allocation of this funding.
Growth Hub
As highlighted above, our Growth Hub is the key delivery mechanism for business support and access to finance across Greater Birmingham and Solihull. In 19/20, we will submit a further bid for European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) monies to enable the growth and expansion of the Hub via a second phase. As part of this, the LEP will take direct responsibility for management and delivery of the Growth Hub. This will enable a substantially enhanced and strategically aligned management and core function, embedded within the LEP structures, maintaining the vital role of partners in delivering Growth Hub services but ensuring increased strategic direction from the LEP.
The Growth Hub will continue to offer a universal service and a single point of contact as well as a streamlined route into and through the business support ecosystem. However, all evidence suggests that targeted, account managed and tailored and/or specialist support for key businesses enables growth and productivity gains (BEIS Productivity review 2018) significantly more than low level generic support.
As a result the Phase 2 Hub will focus on:
‐ Specialist advice and guidance
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‐ Account managed support for key businesses ‐ Mentoring (through BTB offer) ‐ Continued support for Scale‐up companies to enable them to accelerate growth ‐ Enabling Access to Finance
This will be resourced through the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), LEP and ERDF funding. As part of our Growth Hub activity, we will also seek to aggregate and specialise activities with our neighbouring Growth Hubs in Coventry and Warwickshire and the Black Country where this most makes sense.
Specific Growth Hub deliverables for 19/20 are outlined in Table 6 below as they relate to direct Growth Hub activities:
Businesses receiving more than 3 hours of support from the Growth Hub
880
Businesses receiving intensive support from the Growth Hub
345
Jobs created directly by Growth Hub activity 35
Birmingham Enterprise Zone
Established in 2011 the Birmingham City Centre Enterprise Zone covers 113ha across 39 sites representing the most significant growth opportunities in the city. The Enterprise Zone focuses on early intervention in infrastructure to accelerate growth and unlock development to deliver the vision of the Big City Plan (BCP) and the GBSLEP priorities for growing the economy and creating jobs. It provides a mechanism to accelerate development potential and maximise growth. By utilising the uplift in business rates generated by development and investing it in priority schemes, the Enterprise Zone is a unique tool to drive economic success.
The Enterprise Zone Investment Plan (EZIP) 2019 (due to be launched in [June] 2019) consolidates the two existing investment plans: City Centre EZIP (2014) and the Curzon Investment Plan (2016) with a strategy that focusses on delivering a phased programme of £450m of projects in the period 2019‐2028. The programme is unlocking major growth opportunities by removing barriers to development, creating a supportive environment for investment, job creation and growing the city and regional economy. The key areas for investment are:
Strategic site investment
Infrastructure
Business support
The next 12 months will see three projects reaching completion. These are:
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Metro Extension to Centenary Square (£15.95m Enterprise Zone funding) – scheduled to be operational by the end of 2019. This transport project will support the integration of the Westside area with the wider City Centre Core. The Metro will be extended from Birmingham New Street to Centenary Square, linking directly with the major developments at Arena Central and Paradise.
Centenary Square Public Realm (£10.55m Enterprise Zone funding) ‐ the redevelopment of Centenary Square in summer 2019 will provide high‐quality public realm and world class setting to those landmark buildings and developments around it, such as the Library of Birmingham, ICC, Arena Central and Paradise. The Square will not only continue to provide an attractive environment for existing business and visitors but its iconic design will attract new visitors to the area and support business investment in the wider area.
Former Curzon Station Refurbishment (£2m Enterprise Zone funding) ‐ located right next to the new HS2 Curzon Station building, the Grade 1 listed former Curzon Station building is an important heritage asset that was once the world’s first mainline passenger terminus. HS2 and the EZ are jointly funding the redevelopment of the building to bring it back into use as a visitor and information centre for the whole HS2 project, along with office and educational space for other occupiers. It marks the first phase of regeneration activity linked to HS2 and the Curzon Programme which will create a focal point and legacy asset for the area.
There is a stream of new pipeline projects that are expected to progress through to funding approval, subject to business case, over the coming year. One of these projects is the much anticipated Smithfield Development that is expected to prepare its business case in autumn 2019. The project is aiming to create a landmark, sustainable, mixed use development including a family leisure hub, supported by retailers, restaurants, hotels, SME office space, new retail markets and a public spaces as well as a residential neighbourhood and integrated transport facilities. It will be the largest single city centre redevelopment site in the UK and is expected to deliver 3000 jobs, 2000 new homes and 300,000sqm of new floorspace for a mix of uses.
Table 7 below provides a summary of these projects.
Project Theme Milestone Expected date
Birmingham Smithfield Key site regeneration Full Business Case September Curzon Metro Stop Transport Outline Business Case July Southside Link Public Realm Public realm Outline Business Case August Moor Street Queensway Public realm Full Business Case November Belmont Works (site access for STEAMhouse) Site access (innovation) Full Business Case September
Table 8 provides a summary of performance against the forecast outcomes for the Enterprise Zone programme.
Outcome Actual achieved to date
Forecast in 2019/20
Current forecast 2020/21 Total Forecast
Jobs created Land reclaimed and made ready (ha.)
Floorspace created /
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refurbished (sqm) Private sector investment
[NB Actuals and forecasts to be included following review of Q4 monitoring information]
Growing Places Fund
Launched in 2012, the £22.49m Growing Places Fund has supported the delivery of almost 30 projects and ‘pump priming’ activities, such as feasibility studies, through grant and loan funding support. The programme is now largely complete with only two projects still in the delivery phase; the refurbishment of The Grand Hotel (Birmingham) – due for completion in [December 2020] ‐ and the Mezzanine Fund Programme (West Midlands‐wide).
The £56m Mezzanine Fund Programme, managed by Frontier Development Capital, forms part of an evolving package to support SMEs across the region and create 5,800 jobs. It is anticipated that the £10m Growing Places Fund investment will create 1,300 jobs within the GBSLEP area.
The programme is expected to result in the creation or safeguarding of up to 4,875 jobs, 58,000sqm of commercial floorspace, 375 new homes and leverage in £76m of match funding. With the programme drawing to a close, an impact evaluation will be commissioned in the year ahead to determine progress towards these outcomes and to understand what difference the LEP programme has made across the Greater Birmingham area.
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Strategic Activity
Wider strategic activity for the LEP will focus on four key areas in 19/20, in three cases building on demonstrable successes in 18/19 and, in the fourth area, expanding our approach to engaging with local communities in delivering sustainable economic growth.
Local Industrial Strategy Implementation
In 18/19 the LEP committed significant resources, working with the Black Country LEP, Coventry & Warwickshire LEP and the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) in the development of a Local Industrial Strategy for the West Midlands. This included significant consultation with local and regional businesses, expansion of delivery plans to reflect (where applicable) a wider geographic focus and analysis of market opportunities and failures to be addressed to enable the growth of productivity across the West Midlands.
As part of this strategy development, early discussions on implementation have taken place but in 19/20 we expect these discussions to accelerate and broaden with particular consideration given to i) the role of each LEP in driving forward key interventions across the West Midlands; ii) areas in which it makes sense for the WMCA to take the lead; iii) resources required to enable successful delivery and iv) approaches to ensuring a certain amount of delivery where there are significant resource constraints, particularly where there is no certainty over continuation, quanta or allocation of future funding for local growth activities.
Stakeholder Engagement
Detailed and extensive stakeholder engagement has been central to the development of both LEP delivery plans and the Local Industrial Strategy for the West Midlands. However, much of this was carried out on a “task and finish” basis and in 19/20 we intend to formalise our extensive stakeholder engagement activities. Key deliverables as part of this activity include:
Formalise existing industry links by launching Industry Connect in Q1 19/20 with a series of events planned across the year. This includes early engagement (Q2 19/20) in the development of delivery plans for 20/21
Raising the profile and celebrating the impact of LEP‐led interventions through a series of events, celebrating LEP and partner successes and demonstrating to local businesses the impact that LEP‐led interventions have had on the local economy. This will include roundtable events with Business Representative Organisations (BROs) throughout 19/20 and the LEP Annual Conference in Q3 19/20
Increasing the visibility of LEP‐interventions through a series of thought‐leadership pieces in traditional and social media by Board Directors and senior officers with three pieces per quarter throughout 19/20
Further increase the integration and alignment of GBSLEP and the Growth Hub communications, to enhance the reputation of the LEP as a credible delivery partner within the business community, in particular by developing an Advocacy group of companies who have seen substantial benefit from advice received through the Growth Hub service in Q3 19/20
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Meaningfully engage our young people ‐ the next generation of this region’s leaders ‐ in the next generation of the Greater Birmingham economy through our Future Economy initiative aimed at informing a planned Future Economy Delivery plan for 20/21, due to launch in Q3 19/20.
Working with national agencies
In 18/19 we worked successfully with national agencies to pilot regional programmes in Greater Birmingham. Particularly notable was working with Be the Business on their Productivity Leadership Group Mentoring pilot, which is now being expanded on a wider geography as well as on a larger scale within Greater Birmingham. We have also led the way in working with the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) on expanding the valuation and use of intellectual property amongst our companies. IPO are now expanding this activity into other city regions.
In 19/20, we intend to further develop our close working with national agencies. Activities that we plan to undertake include working with Innovate UK and BEIS to explore the potential for a regional innovation scheme, under the auspices of the Local Industrial Strategy. We have also begun to work with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) on how our leading work on towns and local centres can help them to deliver major national funding schemes including the Stronger Towns Fund and Future High Streets Fund.
Working with community groups and social enterprises
In 19/20, we plan to focus our engagement with wider society on community groups focused on regenerating their towns and local centres and social enterprises as key businesses for local growth. As part of our towns and local centres regeneration work, working closely with partners, we will support communities to be appropriately represented in the design and implementation of policies that affect their towns and local centres. Some of this work has already started in places such as Lichfield and Sutton Coldfield and we will expand this over the year.
Through the development of the Growth Hub, we will increase our focus on community businesses and ensure that there is dedicated support for social enterprises as a key part of our growth strategy ensuring that all of our communities contribute to and benefit from that growth.
Conclusion
We have an ambitious delivery plan for 19/20, which builds on our successes in 18/19 and develops new activity to help our economy grow and thrive. New growth opportunities are also likely to emerge which this delivery plan does not foresee and we will embrace them fully. Along with all LEPs, we continue to operate in an uncertain economic and public funding environment. Increased certainty in both will enable us to deliver much more this year and in future years. However, we are confident that our planned interventions will continue to have a positive impact on the Greater Birmingham and Solihull economy.
Item 13
25 April 2019 1 of 3
GREATER BIRMINGHAM AND SOLIHULL LEP BOARD
25 April 2019
GBSLEP FINANCE REPORT – 2019/20 BUDGET
Recommendation The LEP Board is recommended to:
1. Review and approve the Operational Budget proposals for the 2019/20 financial year, noting the key issues set out below.
2. Agree to allocate a maximum of £300,139 of funding from the Business Rates Pool (BRP) to support budgeted expenditure (see para 6).
Background 3. The operational income and expenditure budget for 2019/20 at Appendix A has
been prepared based on the Medium Term Financial Plan agreed by the Board in July 2018, the budget figures used for 2018/19, the latest forecast outturn for 2018/19 and taking account of predicted changes to the LEP’s income streams and proposed interventions as detailed in the annual Delivery Plan (see previous item on the Board agenda). Appendix A is a high-level summary of the budget. More detail is available for Directors as required.
Key Issues Budget expenditure
4. Budget expenditure for the 12-month period ending 31 March 2020 is set at £5,893,828 (2018/19 Budget £4,698,853; forecast outturn £3,889,513).
5. The increase in budget expenditure of £2,004,315, compared to the 2018/19 forecast outturn is in five key areas:
• Revenue Projects (£1,378,871 increase) – the increase to £3.0m reflects increased confidence of the team and the organisation that additional projects to support the delivery of the Strategic Economic Plan (SEP) and preparatory work for the implementation of the Local Industrial Strategy, can be developed and delivered; this expenditure will be met through the Business Rates Pool; further detail on the proposed interventions can be found in the annual Delivery Plan Board paper.
• Staff costs (£450,698 increase) – the increase is as a result of the following:
o The intention to appoint permanent staff in posts filled by interims last year (Head of Place, Delivery Director and Exec Officer Sectors)
o The intention to fill five roles that were vacant for most if not all of last year (Stakeholder Engagement Manager, Comms Assistant, Head of People, Exec Officer Place, Exec Officer Innovation)
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25 April 2019 2 of 3
o The proposed creation of a number of new roles to strengthen the Programme Management team to handle increased Enterprise Zone (EZ) and revenue projects (Project Champion, Programme Management Office (PMO) Contracts Officer, Apprentice) and new roles with the move to a new operating model (‘Chief Operating Officer’, Admin support and Head of Governance).
Most of these roles will start halfway through the budget year. Accordingly, interim/temporary staff costs will reduce year-on-year. These additional staff costs will be funded from this year’s and the prior years’ PMO costs recharge income and the LGF/GPF interest, with a small amount from Business Rates Pool. The roles are necessary to support the effective delivery of the Growth Programme and to ensure there is sufficient capacity and capability to develop and implement revenue projects to support the SEP. Further work will be undertaken as part of the refresh of the Medium Term Financial Plan to look at the ongoing sustainability of the structure.
• External resources, Consultants (£183,368 increase) – additional short-term, temporary consultancy resource is required this year over-and-above last year, such as on the Paradise Project, on funding application development, to provide prior years’ accounts advice and audits and to develop finance operations.
• Corporate contingency costs (£100,000 increase) – no contingency spend was required last year, but £100k has been included in the budget in case of further work required as a result of the implementation of the LEP Review recommendations, specifically those relating to geography.
• Partially offset by reduction in Future Operating Model costs (£7,590 decrease) – the revised date for the implementation of the new operating model means several costs have been deferred into 2019/20 including the new IT and systems (£50,000), legal and consultant costs (£80,000), with a provision for irrecoverable VAT (awaiting advice), although the total budget is slightly less than last year.
6. In order to fund this proposed expenditure, a maximum of £300,139 of Business Rates Pool funding is required. This includes the £100,000 of contingency funding which it is hoped will not be used and £144,960 for the FOM which, as previously reported, will need to be funded locally if the GBSLEP receives no Capacity Funding from Government due to the retention of overlaps. The remaining funding requested is to contribute towards some of the costs of new roles as the LEP moves to a new operating model and as identified above.
Budget income
7. Budget income for the 12-month period ending 31 March 2020 is set at £6,674,150 (2018/19 Budget £5,859,500; forecast outturn £5,324,738).
8. The increase in budget income of £1,349,412 compared to the 2018/19 forecast outturn is in four key areas:
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25 April 2019 3 of 3
• Business Rates Pool income (£1,411,712 increase) – the Pool is forecast by the local authority Finance Directors to be considerably larger for 2018/19 which is due to be paid in January 2020. Final figures will not be known until the audit has been completed, likely October 2019.
• Local Growth Fund (LGF) and Growing Places Fund (GPF) interest (£201,000 increase) – the LEP has not received the full interest earned on these capital funds before; in prior years BCC added the interest to the capital balance; given recent advice has confirmed that Corporation Tax is payable on this interest received, it is reasonable that the net interest should be included as operational revenue income; this treatment has yet to be agreed with Birmingham City Council (BCC)
• EZ PMO costs recharge income (£50,000 increase) - the LEP has not received income from EZ towards its PMO costs before but the intention is that the agreed approach used for recovering PMO costs from the LGF should also be applied to the EZ PMO costs; this treatment has yet to be agreed with BCC
• Partially offset by LGF PMO costs recharge income (£301,950 reduction) – the LEP’s charges to the LGF for the costs of the PMO will be for just one year, 2019/20, whereas the charge made last year was for 2018/19 and for prior years.
Conclusions 9. At the end of the budget year, the Executive is forecasting a year-end surplus of
£780,322.
10. Added to the forecast carry-forward position at the end of 2018/19 (£4,789,144), GBSLEP should end the 2019/20 year with a balance of £5,569,466.
11. With the ending of the BRP, and uncertainties over other future income streams, this balance should enable GBSLEP to continue delivering its agenda over the subsequent two years. Further work will be undertaken on this as part of the refresh of the Medium Term Financial Plan.
Prepared by: Katie Trout LEP Director
Contact: [email protected] / 07825 318250
Date Created: 15 April 2019
Appendices a. Operational Budget
GBSLEP OPERATING BUDGET 2019-20 5TH DRAFT
Category/Subjective
2017/18
ACTUALS
2018/19
BUDGET
2018/19
FORECAST
OUTTURN
BUDGET
VARIANCE V
2018/19
BUDGET
BUDGET VARIANCE V
2018/19
FORECAST OUTTURN
EXPENDITURE £ £ £ £ Assumptions/Basis of budget calculation £ £
Staff 837,518 1,139,837 1,023,404 1,474,102
Existing staff, last year salaries + 2% inflation
New staff converting temps/interims to perms + adding in-house
comms/marketing + filling vacancies 334,265 450,698
External Resources - Interims/temps 177,536 330,403 176,743 104,000 Temps/interims reducing as converting to perms at half year -226,403 -72,743
External Resources - Consultants 123,257 333,000 310,312 493,680
Consultancy increased for Place, Paradise project, Delivery Plans, Finance
Manager 160,680 183,368
Communications & Marketing (External) 194,780 199,600 157,269 140,300
Reducing as bringing some in-house as perm staff, offset by web upgrade £31k
moved from Overheads -59,300 -16,969
Subscriptions 6,143 95,500 73,526 88,000
Increasing as two years of subs to Midlands Engine remain outstanding (GBSLEP
in discussion with ME over them) and whilst there has been no discussion on
subs for 19/20 it is prudent to budget for them -7,500 14,474
Overheads 202,116 323,800 327,580 301,786 Reducing as web upgrade £31k moved to Comms & Marketing -22,014 -25,794
Total Fixed Costs 1,541,350 2,422,140 2,068,834 2,601,868 179,728 533,034
Service Delivery - Revenue 660,339 1,759,499 1,668,129 3,047,000
Substantially more than last year reflecting increased confidence of
team/organisation and preparatory work for Local Industrial Strategy
implementation - see annual Delivery Plan 1,287,501 1,378,871
FUTURE OPERATING MODEL - Implementation - 250,000 152,550 144,960
Several FOM implementation costs deferred to 19/20 - ICT, HR and Finance
systems, Legal adviser, etc -105,040 -7,590
CORPORATE CONTINGENCY - 267,214 - 100,000 In case specific work is required on the LEP Review -167,214 100,000
Total Variable Costs 660,339 2,276,713 1,820,679 3,291,960 1,015,247 1,471,281
TOTAL REVENUE SPEND 2,201,689 4,698,853 3,889,513 5,893,828 1,194,975 2,004,315
INCOME £ £ £ £ Assumptions/Basis of budget calculation £ £
Core Funding 500,000 500,000 500,000 500,000 As previous years although not confirmed in writing yet 0 0
Growth Hub BEIS funding 512,500 512,500 512,500 512,500 As GH agreement with BEIS 0 0
ERDF TA funding 11,943 40,000 40,000 28,650
As application to ERDF; not confirmed yet; budget reduced to reflect that ERDF
programme is nearing its end so less Executive support required -11,350 -11,350
Business Rates Pool (BRP) 1,892,165 3,274,000 3,167,288 4,579,000
Latest forecast from Pool FDs; will be Oct/Nov before audited and final figure
known 1,305,000 1,411,712
LGF PM charge - 1,204,000 975,950 674,000 Latest forecast of PMO costs; 2018/19 claimed but not yet received -530,000 -301,950
GPF PM charge - 100,000 100,000 100,000
Full recovery of budgeted costs; Programme Director discussing with BCC best
way for LEP to recover GPF PM costs for 18/19 and 19/20 0 0
LGF + GPF Interest (net) 14,000 29,000 29,000 230,000
Assume LEP receives all interest from both funds, net of service charge and tax
this year; discussions to be held with BCC about transfer of prior years interest
to the LEP; previous years' budget figures have not included the full amount of
interest earned but will do so going forwards 201,000 201,000
LEP Review Capacity Funding - 200,000 - -
Funding not received for 18/19 and not included in 19/20 budget due to
ongoing discussions on overlaps -200,000 0
EZ PM charge - - - 50,000
Full recovery of budgeted costs; Programme Director discussing with BCC best
way for LEP to recover EZ PM costs 50,000 50,000
TOTAL REVENUE INCOME 2,930,608 5,859,500 5,324,738 6,674,150 814,650 1,349,412
NET REVENUE INCOME/(EXPENDITURE) 728,919 1,160,647 1,435,225 780,322
BROUGHT FORWARD 2,625,000 3,353,919 3,353,919 4,789,144
CARRY FORWARD 3,353,919 4,514,566 4,789,144 5,569,466
2019/20
BUDGET
15/04/201912:36 190415 GBSLEP Budget 2019_20 - By Category + Service + Income stream 2019_20 I&E SUMMARY
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GREATER BIRMINGHAM AND SOLIHULL LEP BOARD MEETING
25th April 2019
STAKEHOLDER ENAGEMENT & COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE
Recommendations
Board Directors are recommended to:
1. Note media coverage highlights for March
2. Note the progress in delivering the Stakeholder Engagement Plan and key highlights
3. Note the “Meet the Board” proposal
Background 4. At the January 2019 GBSLEP Board meeting, the Board considered and approved a
Stakeholder Engagement Plan, which outlined five key approaches to increasing stakeholder engagement and the key activities for 2019.
5. This report provides a progress update, highlighting key achievements and points to note since the last meeting.
Highlights from March 2019
Media coverage key statistics
6. 129 pieces of coverage featured the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership in March
7. Total audience reach: 7,474,778
8. Key tiles include Birmingham Post (print), Birmingham Mail (web), BusinessDesk (web) Express and Star (web) and Business Insider (web)
9. 112 of these stories were online and 17 were print
10. Media coverage in March increased by 158% compared to the previous month. Topics included: Ladder for Greater Birmingham; Next phase of £1.7m Longbridge station; Cabinet vote to free up land for new Kidderminster urban village; and revamp of Kidderminster Train Station.
Digital channels key statistics
11. Twitter:
Twitter followers, 6,190 (+32) Impressions, 28,000 (57%) Retweets, 44 (+214%) Likes, 46 (+92%)
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12. LinkedIn:
LinkedIn followers, 1,336 (+3%) Impressions, 8,449 (+69%)
13. Newsletter:
Delivered to 1,202 Open rate, 24.9% (industry average 23.2%) Click rate, 5.2% (industry average 3.4%)
14. There was an increase across all areas for March’s Twitter and LinkedIn coverage.
Key activity around; TLC Framework; Apprenticeships Week; and Ladder for Greater Birmingham meant more content and thus increased statistics.
15. A change in the style of content has increased engagement, through the use of more hashtags, images and video content.
16. A full coverage book is available on request.
Launch of the Towns and Local Centres Framework
17. The Framework was successfully launched with a breakfast event at Lichfield Cathedral on 21 March, hosted by Simon Marks on behalf of GBSLEP. The event was attended by over 50 stakeholders from across the public and private sectors.
18. The launch received coverage across seven articles in the regional and trade media to date, 100% of which was positive. There were also high levels of engagement across social media posts, supported by video content from external speakers.
19. In particular, there was positive feedback received on content of presentations from external speakers. Insights from external presentations included the significant structural change being experienced in the retail sector, and reflection on potential new opportunities and solutions.
Industry Connect
20. One of the flagship actions in the Stakeholder Engagement Plan was to formalise linkages by launching Industry Connect – a dedicated forum to engage industry on targeted consultation, as well as an “open door” to receive industry input, ideas and feedback.
21. Industry Connect is now live, having been “soft launched” in March. To date, 30 individuals from across GBSLEP’s identified priority sectors have joined as members and are receiving our delivery plans for comment and discussion. Further invitations are being circulated to key stakeholders. It is anticipated that Industry Connect will have 50 members, with the intention to hold a welcome event in May 2019.
22. Whilst the initiative has only been launched recently, the Executive is confident that GBSLEP will be in a strong position to engage with industry as part of the refresh of delivery plans in Q2 2019/20.
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Meet the Board 23. A key theme in the Stakeholder Engagement Plan is to build the visibility and
credibility of GBSLEP.
24. The GBSLEP Executive has for some time been running “Meet the Team” pieces in the monthly newsletter. These pieces, which are designed to be personal and light in tone, are consistently amongst the most-read pieces and generate a considerable number clicks, building stakeholders’ engagement with the team.
25. The Executive therefore proposes to extend this approach to the Board’s private sector Non-Executive Directors. The approach will remain personal, but will be designed to draw out Directors’ professional backgrounds, passions, highlights of their time at GBSLEP and priorities for the future.
26. The first Non-Executive Director profile will be Simon Marks. A schedule of future profiles will be created and convenient times arranged to undertake the short interviews.
27. It is anticipated that these pieces will drive further stakeholder engagement and will encourage potential partners to join Industry Connect.
Conclusion 28. This report provides an update on media coverage, and the progress of delivering the
Stakeholder Engagement Plan. The Board is asked to note and discuss the highlights, and proposed “Meet the Board” activity.
Report by: Katie Fulcher Stakeholder Engagement Manager
Contact: [email protected] Date Created: 01/04/2019