Report of Chair, Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership
Minutes:
The meeting was attended by Alun Rodgers, Chair, SSLEP and Andy Devaney, Interim Chief Executive SSLEP.
The Committee considered the report and presentation of the Chair, Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (SSLEP) regarding the operation and performance of the Partnership during 2021/22.
The National Framework stated that LEPs should participate in relevant Local Authority scrutiny arrangements to guarantee the effective and appropriate democratic scrutiny of their investment decisions. Furthermore, SSLEP’s Assurance Framework provided that scrutiny should be undertaken annually via joint arrangements between relevant Local Authorities in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.
Stoke on Trent City Council and all District and Borough Councils had been invited to the meeting. Cllrs McKiernan (East Staffs Borough Council) and Wilcox (Lichfield District Council) both attended the meeting and were able to speak and ask questions.
During his presentation Mr Devaney highlighted:-
· The purpose of their attendance at the meeting.
· The function of SSLEP.
· The composition of SSLEP’s Board.
· The national LEP review.
· SSLEP’s governance structures.
· SSLEP’s Delivery Plan for 2021/22.
· SSLEP’s programme management.
· The recommendations contained in the LEP annual report 2021/22
During the discussion, Members asked questions and sought clarification of various matters. The following information was gathered:-
The Chairman thanked the representatives of SSLEP for an informative and worthwhile debate. Whilst acknowledging that there had been a request for more frequent scrutiny of the LEP it was felt that given the Committees work programme it would be more useful to scrutinise the LEP in a different format in future, with additional information and case studies of projects on the Local Growth Fund or Building Fund; their purpose; LEP contribution to the bids; and the project results, would be more useful. This may also help the committee understand the bidding criteria and how projects were selected. The SSLEP stated that they would also be happy to attend District/Borough meetings if requested, which would provide an opportunity to scrutinise at a local level.
Resolved:
a) That the report be received and noted.
b) That at the next scrutiny meeting with the SSLEP (annual scrutiny) the report contains case studies of projects on the Local Growth Fund or Building Fund; their purpose; LEP contribution to the bids; and the project aims and results.
c) Information on the City Deal Carbon Emissions reduction targets, how this was reported and local authority involvement in collecting the data, be provided to the committee.
Supporting documents: