Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from the following:

Tony Azubike

Marc Dorfman

Paul Head                  - Phil Gowan substituted

Sean May

Nick Powell

Naeem Sheikh

The Chair will consider the admission of any 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 Item 8 below).

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 decision made with respect to those items.

No declarations of interest were made.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 17 November 2010 as a correct record.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 17 November 2010 be confirmed as a correct record.

Ø      Shared service – Priorities and Objectives

Ø      Future of ABG Programmes and Projects

Ø      The Work Programme

The Board received a report that provided an overview of how Economic Development services, previously offered by the Council and in partnership, may be developed following budget reductions and policy changes implemented by the new Government.

Financial Background

It was noted that the Council had been notified of it’s financial settlement from central Government for 2011/12 on 13 December. The reduction to this had been more severe than originally anticipated; savings of £87M had to be found over the next three years with £46M of this being front loaded into 2011/12.

In response the Council had undertaken a review of the services it provided and how these could be adapted to reflect the new economic situation whilst targeting support to those most in need. Regeneration and the creation of employment opportunities remained a priority for the Council and new approaches being explored to achieve this included the development of a sub regional Local Economic Partnership (LEP).

London Anglia LEP

The Board was advised that this work was being led by the North London Strategic Alliance (NLSA) and North London Business (NLB) and concentrated on Upper Lea Valley area and was provisionally called the London Anglia LEP. This would build on work already undertaken to develop economic opportunities in the north London/Upper Lea Valley/M11 corridor area.

A note of caution was raised around these plans; the Mayor of London had not supported the proposal for a separate sub regional LEP and he had signalled that the focus of a London LEP should be contained within the M25. Therefore it would be sensible to have a ‘Plan B’ in place if proposals for the sub regional LEP were not supported.

The Chair endorsed the interim work that had been undertaken and noted that this was likely to evolve as the more information came forward with regard to the London LEP and funding arrangements both locally and at a national level.

Shared Services

The Board was advised that options for developing shared services had been discussed with Waltham Forest and there had been agreement that given the existing work that was being done across the Boroughs this would be a natural alliance.

A timescale had been compiled for the implementation of a joint Economic Development Service and this would be achieved over three phases culminating in a single service by December 2011. it was hoped that this would include the establishment of a social enterprise for operational delivery of the Employment and Skills Programme and other pieces of work.

The Board discussed this proposal and there was agreement that building on the existing cross Borough working was sensible. By pooling resources it was recognised that there would be greater scope to retain existing beneficial areas of work and that this may mitigate, to some extent, the impact of reductions in funding.

This approach would allow worked to be planned across Borough boundaries in a more business friendly way.

Area Based Grant Funded Programmes

The Board was reminded that a commissioning process had been  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40.

The Board received a report that provided an overview of performance against Local Area Agreement (LAA) national indicators (NIs) during quarter three of 2010/11.

In addition to the information set out within the report the Board was also provided with updates with respect to the following areas:

NI 153

The Board was reminded that this formed on the NIs against which Performance Reward Grant (PRG) funding was allocated. This target had been reconfigured and despite and improvement in performance the target was unlikely to be achieved and consequently the PRG attached to this would not be received.

Better Off Calculation

Good progress was being made in this area with the annual target already being exceeded. It was confirmed that CONEL had agreed to supply information, previously provided by the Learning and Skills Council, which would allow performance in this area to be measured.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

To raise any items of AOB.

Westfield Shopping Centre Stratford / Impact on Wood Green

There was agreement that the Board should discuss this issue at its next meeting and Michael Thompson was invited to give an overview of the anticipated impact upon retailers in Wood Green.

Alexandra Palace / Olympics

It was also agreed that it would be useful to discuss the potential employment opportunities arising from the hosting of Olympic events at Alexandra Palace.

?? Health

Future Jobs Fund (FJF)

The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) had recently reviewed the FJF and deliver programme and it had indicated that it was pleased with the work being undertaken.

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

There were no new items of Urgent Business.

The next meeting is scheduled for 13 April 2011, at 2.00pm and will be held at the Civic Centre, High Road, Wood Green, N22 8LE.

The Council’s Calendar of Meetings for 2011/12 (1 May 2011 – 31 April 2012) is being drafted at present. Once this has been agreed the Trust will be notified.

The Chair noted that although the next meeting was scheduled to take place on 13 April 2011; however, given the proximity of the current meeting this may need to be shifted back.

Members of the Board would be advised shortly.