Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

An apology for absence was received from Cllr P. Egan.

The Chair will consider the admission of any new items of Urgent Business. (Late items of Urgent Business will be considered under the agenda item where they appear. New items of Urgent Business will be considered under the Item 16). 

There were no items of urgent business.

Members of the Board must declare any personal and/or prejudicial interests with respect to agenda items and must not take part in any decisions made in relation to those items.

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 9 March 2009 as a correct record.

An amendment was requested to LC97 Enterprise Commissioning Prospectus, to read ‘which covered the Area Based Grant (ABG) allocation for 2009-11’.

RESOLVED:

That subject to the above amendment the minutes of the meeting held on 9^th March 2009 be confirmed as a correct record.

To appoint a Chair for 2009/10.

Dr. Ita O’Donovan was nominated and seconded as Chair for 2009/10.

RESOLVED:

That Ita O’Donovan be appointed Chair of the Enterprise Partnership Board for 2009/10.

To appoint a Vice-Chair for 2009/10.

Cllr Kaushika Amin was nominated and seconded as Vice Chair for 2009/10.

RESOLVED:

That Cllr Kaushika Amin be appointed Vice Chair of the Enterprise Partnership Board for 2009/10.

To appoint a representative from the Enterprise Partnership Board to sit on the Haringey Strategic Partnership Board for 2009/10.

Cllr Kaushika Amin was nominated and seconded.

RESOLVED:

That Cllr Kaushika Amin be appointed as the representative from the Enterprise Partnership Board to sit on the Haringey Strategic Partnership Board for 2009/10. 

The Board received a report setting out proposed terms of reference and membership for the Enterprise Partnership Board for 2009/10.

The Board requested that reference to the Voluntary Sector Compact be incorporated into the terms of reference and that further consideration be given to disseminating information from the Board now that voluntary sector membership has been reduced. In addition, it was requested that further consideration be given to linking in RSLs to the work of the Board.

The Board agreed to invite Reed in Partnership to become a full member of the Board as the local Pathways to Work provider, but emphasised the importance of Board members being rigorous in making any declarations of interests especially in relation to allocation of Area Based Grant funds.      

That further work be undertaken to determine the named LDA representative to the Board to allow consideration at the next meeting.  

RESOLVED:

• That the terms of reference of the Board for the new municipal year be agreed.

• That the membership of the Board for the new municipal year be agreed.

• That Reed in Partnership be invited to become a full Board members.

This report will be sent to follow.

The Board received a report setting out recommended projects to be funded under the Enterprise Commissioning Prospectus, covering the Board’s ABG allocation for 2009/10 and 2010/11. The prospectus was agreed at the March meeting of the Board and published on 10 March 2009, with a closing date for applications of 3 April 2009.

The Board were advised of heavy oversubscription against the £2.145m of funds available, with 86 applications received totalling £10.1m. Applications were technically scored by the Economic Regeneration team and approved by the Enterprise Board Appraisal Panel. The Board were advised that a number of projects had been scaled down and that a series of reserve projects and a contingency fund of 10% had been identified.

The Board expressed concern regarding the relatively low scoring of most projects in comparison to the maximum score available. The Board were advised that low scores reflected the large scope of some of the applications, which were then subsequently focused down and also existing knowledge regarding the capacity of companies to deliver. The Board requested that further consideration be given to the scoring process for future allocations including setting a threshold and establishing a policy for potential scaling down of projects to avoid determination on an arbitrary basis. 

Concerns were expressed regarding the town centre projects and the level of outputs demanded. Confirmation was provided that organisations to be funded served as advocacy organisations for town centres and that additional work would be undertaken in centres in addition to ABG funded approaches. The Board requested that selection criteria for town centre projects be evaluated for the next allocations and that the Board consider the Town Centre strategy as part of the workplan. 

RESOLVED:

That the recommended projects be progressed as the basis of the ABG 2009-11 programme.

That the Economic Regeneration team contact all applicants to inform them of decisions and commence contract/delivery plan negotiations with recommended projects.

That the Appraisal Panel would reconvene to consider any appeals against decisions.

That the Economic Regeneration team undertake a review of the Enterprise Commissioning Prospectus process and associated processes and that the Board receive a report to be used as a basis for developing policies for the next funding allocations. 

The Board received a presentation from Rod Cullen, Area Manager – Work and Learning Services at St Mungo’s setting out approaches to facilitating getting the most marginalised people back into work. The Board were advised that St Mungo’s offers 14 Employment, Training and Education projects for homeless clients, centred around three primary programmes: Putting Down Roots, Bricks and Mortar and Job Coaching. The programmes are funded from a variety of sources including central government, the charity arm of St Mungo’s and LDA and LSC. The Board were advised that achievements under the programmes were measured on a London wide basis.

RESOLVED:

The Board noted the presentation.

A verbal update will be provided.

The Board received a verbal update in relation to the Local Area Agreement (LAA) refresh and were advised that the targets for NI 153 and 171 had been confirmed with the option for renegotiation next year should the economic situation have shown no improvement.  

The Board were advised that negotiations in relation to revising the Incapacity Benefit Stretch target via removal of the barriers preventing the Haringey Guarantee and Reed in Partnership from engaging with people on mainstream programmes. The revised target would be split into two parts although obtaining approval for this from DWP prior to submission to GOL had proved problematic due to personnel changes. The Board requested that the matter be escalated as a matter of urgency and an update reported at the next meeting of the Board.

RESOLVED:

That the verbal update be noted.

That the issue regarding the renegotiation of the incapacity benefit stretch target be escalated via formally writing to DWP and GOL to seek a resolution and that an update be provided at the next meeting of the Board.

The Board received the above report updating on performance in relation to LAA targets for the fourth quarter of 2008/09. The Board were further updated that performance against NI 177 (number of 16-18 year olds not in education, employment or training) had increased to 7.4% as of March 2009, but remained below 2008/09 target and stretch target level.  

RESOLVED:

That the Board note the report.

The Board received a report on the Enterprise Board Risk Register as part of the agreed six monthly update. The Board noted the increase in likelihood of the inherent risks identified for the two employment stretch targets and new business registration rate from medium to high and subsequent increase in controls in place as a consequence of the current economic climate.

In response to concerns regarding the impact of inherent and residual risk for EP2 data quality remaining high, confirmation was provided that monitoring service would be going out for tender.

RESOLVED:

That the Board note the report.

The Board received an update report on progress in the main programmes tackling worklessness in the borough including the Haringey Guarantee, Families into Work and the North London Pledge. The Board noted the increase in the number of registrations and the launch of the Haringey Guarantee Employer Zone in February 2009.

Meetings are ongoing with the LDA and NLSA regarding the potential expansion of the North London Pledge programme. The Board enquired as to the feasibility of developing an MAA (Multi Area Agreement) related to worklessness but were advised that an approach in relation to MAAs had yet to be formalised and that feedback on the Olympic borough’s MAA would be provided at the September Board meeting.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

That the Board receive a report on the Olympic borough’s MAA at the September meeting to inform the development of an approach in relation to MAAs.   

The Board received a report providing an update of business and enterprise activities funded through the ABG. The Board noted the inaugural meeting of the Haringey Business Board had been scheduled for 11^th June 2009 and the Wood Green Business Forum on 4^th June.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

To consider any new items of Urgent Business admitted under Item 2 above.  

There were no new items of urgent business.

To consider any items of AOB.

The Board were updated regarding the extra £3 billion resources allocated under the Chancellor’s budget to support ‘back to work’ initiatives. Special focus would be on a Future Jobs Fund to offer support for all 18-24 year olds who reach 12 months unemployed by providing opportunities for guaranteed jobs, training or work placements. Official guidance is scheduled to be produced this month, with the formal bidding process starting in summer with delivery anticipated for autumn 2009.

The Board were advised of submission of a joint NHS and Council bid under the ‘Fit for Work’ funding programme on behalf of the HSP.  

To note the dates of future meetings set out below:

• 8 September 2009, 2pm
• 17 November 2009, 2pm
• 2 February 2010, 2pm