A LEP FOR THE LONDON THAMES GATEWAY?

Ros Dunn, Chief Executive, TGLPJohn Williams, Chief Executive, Gateway to London

Where are we and how did we get here? Our journey in response to a changing landscape •Localism; as RDAs are wound up, the Government wants to see creation of Local Enterprise Partnerships within recognised functional economic areas

• London position initially unclear, but strong support from the outset for the idea of using LEPs to lead localised delivery of the Thames Gateway

• We didn’t wait, and decided to develop proposals for a LEP for the London Thames Gateway as part of this in the light of this support

More on the proposal later, but

• Strong support for our ideas from members of TGLP and GtL; businesses, boroughs and HEIs

• New partners attracted; new businesses, additional support from a Thames Gateway council in Essex, and the 16 FE colleges in the London Thames Gateway, making this a genuinely cross regional proposal

• Close collaboration with our partner organisations in Kent and Essex, including on the implementation of the new Thames Gateway Strategic Group, and with other London sub regions

Representative business organisationsFederation of Small Businesses East London Business Alliance South East London Chamber of Commerce East London Small Business Centre

Supporting businessesBT Group Canary Wharf Group J&H Sales Avanta City Airport Westfield HSBC Kingston Smith AEG Siemens

Borough partnersLB Barking & Dagenham LB Bexley LB Greenwich LB Havering LB Lewisham LB Newham LB Tower Hamlets LB Redbridge LB Waltham Forest LB Hackney Dartford Borough Council Thurrock Unitary Authority

Higher Education partnersUniversity of East London Goldsmiths Ravensbourne London Metropolitan University Trinity Laban Queen Mary University of Greenwich

Further Education partnersHackney Community College Newham College of FE Waltham Forest CollegeB6 Sixth Form College NewVic Sixth Form College Leyton Sixth Form CollegeTower Hamlets College Redbridge College Barking and Dagenham CollegeHavering College Havering Sixth Form College Lewisham CollegeGreenwich Community College Bexley College Christ the King Sixth Form College Sir George Moneaux Sixth Form College

Clarity on the London situation emerging post SR10 • The Mayor has decided to propose a single London Enterprise Partnership covering whole of the London region

• This is seen as a potential vehicle for double devolution from government to Mayor and then on to Boroughs

• The London Enterprise Partnership will be designed to support effective delivery of sub-regional and local ambitions in context of London Plan and Economic Development Strategy

If government agrees, London boroughs can be included in both the London Enterprise Partnership and Partnerships including authorities bordering London (for example, LB Croydon is already in the successful Coast to Capital LEP)

London Thames Gateway: a view from the sub-region • The LTG sub-region is still critical to driving long term economic growth looking West and East: a genuinely “pivotal place” that needs to link strongly to the rest of London and the rest of the Gateway

• This is reflected in the proposal, which includes local authorities outside London (Thurrock in Essex and Dartford in Kent) and London boroughs with Gateway and non Gateway areas

• Still some uncertainty: will we be a free standing LEP or a sub regional part of the London Enterprise Partnership architecture?

• Our private and public sector partners are clear: we want whatever will make things happen in our sub-region and the wider Gateway

• Strong support for using this opportunity to organise the London Thames Gateway into a suitable streamlined partnership structure to:

deliver our sub-regional prioritiessupport the economic growth aspirations of the London-wide LEPcontribute to the delivery aims of the wider Thames Gateway (Kent ,Essex and E Sussex LEP)

On to our proposal; a new Partnership for the London Thames Gateway boosting our efforts to invest in private sector jobs growth

• Purpose (worked out in discussion with partners) would be…..

Working within the context of Mayoral strategies,the London wide Partnership arrangements and the government’s aspirations for the delivery of the Thames Gateway,

to influence the strategic direction for rapid private sector growth in London Thames Gateway and beyond and to attract investment to deliver this growth within the sub-region.

• Strong focus on maximising investment, including bidding to the Regional Growth Fund in support of places with high dependency on public sector employment

• With objectives around working with the London Enterprise Partnership to :

promote inward investmentsupport enterprise, innovation and business supportimprove skills development and employment opportunities

HOW? THROUGH BEING PART OF CO-ORDINATED ACTION TO STRENGTHEN THE DETERMINANTS OF PRIVATE SECTOR JOBS GROWTH

WORKING IN SUPPORTIVE PARTNERSHIP WITH REGIONAL AND NATIONAL GOVERNMENT TO DELIVER

PLACE PEOPLE

BUSINESS

PRIVATE SECTOR JOBS

WHAT DOES BUSINESS NEED?

AgglomerationBenefits

Connectivity

(Skilled) Labour

Regulation &Fiscal Environment

Supply Chain

Suitable Business Space

BUSINESS

CONNECTING PEOPLE TO NEW JOBS

Provide decenthousing & family

opportunity

Assist with jobreadiness

Provide job opportunities

Opportunities toimprove skills

PEOPLE

IMPROVING THE THAMES GATEWAY AS A PLACE OF QUALITY

ImprovingPublic Realm

Investing in Infrastructure

Focus on Opportunity Areas

(Space)

PLACE

What could this mean in practice? With strong local leadership, the Partnership could….

Lead strategic dialogue between private sector and public/voluntary agencies in the sub region to inform delivery.

Simplify the delivery architecture, helping to cut down the Thames Gateway alphabet soup and cut costs where possible

Maximise flexibility in design and localised delivery of solutions to meet the distinct challenges to growing the private sector in the LTG

Present local priorities at sub-regional level and in turn, advocate sub-regional needs to national government

Represent London in the new Thames Gateway Strategic Group with sub regional partners from Kent and Essex

What could this mean in practice? Specific examples could be…….

Forging links with the Mayor’s new pan London inward investment agency and strengthen links with UKTI to drive forward and co-ordinate efforts and funding towards the enormous investment opportunity in the LTG

Providing a co-ordinated offer of enterprise support programmes using expertise from FE, HEIs and business networks.

Helping to deliver bespoke business support services to LTG’s recognised growth sectors (e.g. creative industries including digital media, low carbon/clean tech industries/sustainable construction technologies, ports, logistics and distribution, business and financial services)

Forging an effective working relationship with the DWP Work Programme Prime Contractors working in the area

STRUCTURE & DELIVERY MODEL

LONDON THAMES GATEWAYINVESTMENT PARTNERSHIP

INVESTMENT BOARD

SKILLS & ENTERPRISE HUB(e.g. green economy)

SKILLS & ENTERPRISE HUB(e.g. creative industries)

SKILLS & ENTERPRISE HUB(Other sectors)

SUPPORT TEAM/SECRETARIAT

C O – O R D I N A T E D S U P P O R T S E R V I C E S

A C C E L E R A T E D D E V E L O P M E N T Z O N E S

To sum up

•We have a clear view of what we want to do to support the delivery of rapid private sector growth in the Thames Gateway in London and our neighbouring sub regions, and will work to deliver new arrangements •We are aiming for our proposals to be recognised as a separate LEP which will support and complement the work of the London Enterprise Partnership

• We will work across regional boundaries within the context of the Mayoral strategies and London wide arrangements, and also in support of the government’s aspirations for the Thames Gateway.

•We’re ready to go!