3 Regional
Economic Strategy
25. emda leads the development
of the Regional Economic Strategy (RES), which is the blueprint
for the region's economic development. As Jeff Moore, Chief Executive,
emda, stated in oral evidence to the Committee, its "core
aim is to set a vision."[30]
A Flourishing Region is the third Regional Economic Strategy
for the East Midlands and it describes the vision that "by
2020, the East Midlands will be a Flourishing Region—with
growing and innovative businesses, skilled people in good quality
jobs, participating in healthy, inclusive communities and living
in thriving and attractive places."[31]
26. In oral evidence to the Committee,
Jeff Moore commented that:
We are particularly proud of the fact
that we were the only RDA at the outset, in 1999, to set a specific
measurable target. That target was that by 2010 we would be a
top-20 region in the EU's 77 regions—there were 77 at that
time. We started in the low 40s, have gone through the 30s and
are now in the 20s, and we continue to measure that target.[32]
27. The RES vision is supported by three Structural
Themes or cross-cutting principles, and ten strategic priorities:
| — Structural Themes
| — Strategic Priorities
|
| — Raising
— Productivity
| — Employment, learning and skills
|
| —
| — Enterprise and business support
|
| —
| — Innovation
|
| — Ensuring Sustainability
| — Transport and logistics
|
| —
| — Energy and resources
|
| —
| — Land and development
|
| — Achieving Equality
| — Cohesive communities
|
| —
| — Economic renewal
|
| —
| — Economic inclusion
|
The Regional Economic Strategy also outlines a number of challenges
which the region must address if the region is to achieve its
economic ambition:
- Globalisation;
- Reducing the productivity gap;
- Diversifying and strengthening the economic base;
- Enhancing learning, skills and employability;
and
- Reducing intra-regional disparities.
28. The first Regional Economic
Strategy for the East Midlands in 1999 set an ambitious target
for the region to be a top-20 region in the EU by 2010. We congratulate
emda on its work towards that goal, commend its regional
priorities and fully support its continued vision and ambition
for the East Midlands to be a flourishing region by 2020.
Partnership Working
29. While the RES is developed
and championed by emda, it is owned by the region,[33]
and emda's resources alone will not achieve the objectives
of the Regional Economic Strategy. It is therefore vital that
key partners work together to develop the RES, to ensure that
they share a common strategic vision and a shared understanding
of the key issues for the region.
30. emda stated that the
production of the RES followed the most extensive public consultation
process ever undertaken in the region and was informed by "the
most comprehensive evidence base assembled on the East Midlands,
its economy and its strengths and its challenges."[34]
emda attended over 100 events reaching around 1,400 regional
stakeholders and partners, and held roadshows in 11 public venues
across the region, including city centre and tourist attractions.[35]
For the first time, members of the public were invited to join
the consultation through an advertising campaign on billboards
and public transport and through a dedicated website.
31. Some witnesses
commented on the extensive involvement
they had in the preparation of the RES. Professor Coyne, Chair
of East Midlands Universities Association (EMUA) stated that:
As individual universities, we had an opportunity
to provide expertise, opinions and our balance of priorities.
As the EMUA, we also formally engaged in the process to ensure
that the university body's collective view was well represented.
However, we found emda to be very proactive in seeking
our advice, expertise and support.[36]
32. John Hardwick, Chair, Area Policy Unit, Federation
of Small Businesses East Midlands, commented on the good relationship
they had with emda, but stressed the need for it to have
more involvement with entrepreneurs and micro-businesses.[37]
He noted that:
Sometimes we feel as if the emphasis is too much
on the larger businesses, which make up a small minority. It tends
to forget the 99.2% in the small business sector. While we accept
that it is business orientated, we have to define what we classify
as business.[38]
Industry and local government representatives[39]
also highlighted the desire to contribute at an earlier state
of the RES's development and to ensure that "stakeholders
are not just seen as people to consult on a finished article.
We also want to be involved in consulting on the draft finished
article and then in agreeing a set of principles moving forward."[40]
33. Some witnesses expressed concern regarding
the lack of engagement with emda. In its written evidence,
the East Midlands Environment Link stated that emda had
not:
… been as inclusive as they could have been
in developing their policies and in who they regard as partners.
In particular, emda tend to see environmental NGOs not
as partners, merely as consultees, who are asked for their views
at a relatively late stage of policy and project development […]
It also seems to us that emda do not always appreciate
the distinctiveness of our sector.[41]
34. The strongest criticism came from trades
union representatives who spoke of their "difficulty in communication
with emda."[42]
David Jeffrey, Skills and Development Officer, Unite the Union,
commented that there was a "disjoint between this idea of
championing in a region and not being prepared or willing to talk
about some of the key people within that region."[43]
This was compared with the situation in the West Midlands, where
he said that there was a different approach, and "much more
an open door as far as the trade unions are concerned." [44]
35. emda challenged the views held by
the Federation of Small Businesses East Midlands and the East
Midlands Environment Link, stating that they were "surprised
and frustrated by it,"[45]
and that "these [concerns] were not raised with us direct,
so they have come out of the blue to us."[46]
In commenting on concerns raised by East Midlands Environment
Link they noted that:
… in developing the RES evidence base we dealt
with a number of regional stakeholder organisations—the
British Geographical Survey, the Environment Agency, English Nature,
English Heritage and the Countryside Agency—who were all
engaged in assisting with the development of the environmental
chapter of the RES evidence base.[47]
emda
stated that they had good working relationships with the unions,
but noted that they would "look to learn what we can from
the new conversations that we have had as a result of this scrutiny
process to make what we already think is working well better for
the future."[48]
36. The Regional Economic Strategy
(RES) is owned by the region, and emda alone cannot achieve
its objectives. It is therefore vital that key partners are brought
in early to develop the RES, ensuring that they feel they have
an investment in working towards the region's goals. While some
sectors have spoken of the close working relationship they have
with emda, there is a perception that it did not consult
sufficiently with some key sectors, such as micro businesses,
trade unions and the environment sector, and some witnesses felt
they were involved at too late a stage. We urge emda to
establish and maintain improved relationships with key partners
in the region, whilst continuing to make use of the strong links
it already has with many sectors.
Use of Data
37. A large amount of evidence was gathered in
support of the RES. As Jeff Moore described:
It is the size of several breeze blocks. It was produced
by our own people, using industry-standard mechanisms with experts
from outside - universities and academics. It is a fundamental
piece of work that really does help us to decide our priorities
for our own investment and the rest of the public sector's investment
in the East Midlands, and it has driven up the quality of decision
making on what priorities we adopt through our economic development.[49]
38. While the East Midlands Regional Assembly
acknowledged that a wide range of work was commissioned as part
of the RES evidence base, it commented that not all the evidence
was reflected in the policy. As it stated in its written evidence
to the Committee, "How strategic opinions were developed
on the back of evidence and prioritised was not always clear."[50]
East Midlands Environment Link also commented that evidence commissioned
and published to support the RES was difficult to obtain from
the website, and that there were no discussions regarding their
content. These issues made it "difficult to understand or
challenge emda's underlying assumptions about the relationship
between the natural environment [and] the RES and find the appropriate
time or opportunity to engage emda on these matters."[51]
39. In oral evidence to the Committee, emda
commented that it "believe[s] our research is extensive and
does have the breadth that it needs to have and the depth that
it needs to have."[52]
40. In its written evidence, the Federation of
Small Businesses East Midlands highlighted data collection done
by itself and other support organisations on a quarterly basis,
which was "current and reliable."[53]
The FSB East Midlands said that, rather than utilise the expertise
of these organisations, emda spent considerable time and
resource undertaking large research projects to gather evidence.
It commented that, "This has meant that data has been unnecessarily
duplicated at additional expense, and by the time the research
projects have concluded the data gathered is out-of-date and its
reliability and usefulness has diminished."[54]
41. Concerns were also expressed regarding the
lack of an annual assessment to examine changes in data. The Federation
of Small Businesses East Midlands commented that:
This means that the data and intelligence underpinning
the delivery of the RES is static and historic, whereas an annual
assessment of the data could have usefully shown statistical trends,
and the progress made towards sustainable economic growth. […]
The achievement and promotion of the output targets achieved is
all well and good, but progress made towards a broad set of baseline
indicators would be more timely, meaningful and illustrative of
how emda's activities are having a positive economic, social
and environmental impact.[55]
The East Midlands Regional Assembly also highlighted
the need to ensure that "appropriate monitoring procedures
are in place to assess and demonstrate the effectiveness of activities
in achieving the objectives of the Regional Economic Strategy."[56]
42. The range of data and statistics
that emda has to gather is immense. While we acknowledge
the large evidence base used by emda to underpin the current
RES, which it commissioned from academics and universities, we
urge emda to utilise fully the expertise and knowledge
of its regional partners on data collection and analysis. We also
urge emda to examine its procedures so that emda
can make informed decisions based on accurate and timely data.
This should ensure that emda uses a variety of sources
of information and analyses, not just the large evaluation studies
it commissions.
Measuring Effectiveness
43. emda's Corporate Plan sets out the
high level targets and activities that it is expected to deliver,
which are consistent with RES objectives. In its written evidence,
emda highlighted the fact that since 1999/00, it had:
- created or safeguarded 81,
231 jobs;
- created or supported 95, 645 businesses;
- assisted 117,130 people with their skills development
needs; and
- remediated 1,579 hectares of brownfield land.[57]
44. In 2007, the National Audit Office conducted
an Independent Performance Assessment (IPA) of all RDAs at the
request of the then Department for Trade and Industry. Overall
emda was seen as "performing strongly", scoring
22 points out of a maximum of 24 points, particularly in areas
of ambition and performance management.[58]
45. The Federation of Small Businesses East Midlands
criticised the targets set by emda. In its written evidence,
it stated:
The continuous over-achievement of targets could
suggest that either the targets have been deliberately set low
in order for them to be easily attained, or that emda has
focussed its support on delivering activities that meet the core
output targets ('low hanging fruit') rather than on activities
which would tackle the region's most difficult issues and deliver
strategic added value.[59]
46. In December 2007, PricewaterhouseCoopers
LLP (PwC) was appointed by the then Department for Business, Enterprise
and Regulatory Reform (BERR) and the Regional Development Agencies
to:
- Provide an independent assessment
of the impact of the spending by each of the nine RDAs and the
RDA network as a whole; and
- Assess RDAs' achievements against objectives
of both their Regional Economic Strategies and their Corporate
Plans, and each specific programme and project.
47. The report stated that emda had generated
substantial outputs with over 64,000 jobs having been created
and safeguarded, of which 44% were additional at the regional
level. Additional future potential outputs were also anticipated
as schemes were completed, although these estimates were less
certain. In addition to the impact of its project and programme
expenditure, the report stated that Strategic Added Value (SAV)
was a key element of emda's impact, particularly in terms
of providing strategic direction, leadership and innovative activities.
It highlighted the example of emda's lead in enabling and
managing the remediation, reclamation and redevelopment of the
Avenue Coking Works in Derbyshire, which was one of the most polluted
sites in Western Europe, through a programme involving broad partnership
and engagement with stakeholders.[60]
48. On 31 March 2009, the East Midlands Development
Agency published the results of an independent evaluation of the
agency's spend and activities. Carried out between 2005-08, it
was an extensive evaluation of the agency's impact since its establishment
in 1999 and was carried out by Ecotec Research and Consulting.
In its written evidence, emda referred to the evaluation
as:
… a ground-breaking piece of work and one that
few other public sector bodies have been subject to before. The
Ecotec study into emda's impact was gold standard in terms
of breadth and depth of coverage and was able to look at issues
in more details than the national RDA evaluation commissioned
by BERR.[61]
The independent evaluation showed that emda
had:
- Had a significant impact on
the regional economy;
- Generated economic benefits that substantially
outweigh its overall costs;
- Generated £9-15 of economic output (or GVA)
for the regional economy for every £1 it spends; and
- Produced more than £1 billion in economic
benefits per year.
The evaluation also endorsed emda's organisational
approach:
- 90% of emda's projects
were judged to be effective or very effective in meeting their
objectives;
- 94% of all projects assessed were judged as delivering
good or reasonable value for money;
- Most projects would not have gone ahead without
emda support; and
- Significant financial leverage has been generated
by emda—Ecotec suggest a potential leverage for all
project expenditure to be approximately £1.5 billion.
49. emda was the
first Regional Development Agency to commission an independent
evaluation of all its activities and we welcome its findings.
This was a ground-breaking piece of work carried out by Ecotec
and highlighted the significant impact emda has had on
the region. We are also reassured by the conclusions of the National
Audit Office and PricewaterhouseCoopers reports, and all provide
a positive endorsement of emda's work and its benefits
to the regional economy.
30 Opening statement, oral evidence on 27 April 2009 Back
31
A Flourishing Region, East
Midlands Regional Economic Strategy 2006-2020 Back
32
Opening statement, oral evidence on 27 April 2009 Back
33
Ev 102 Back
34
A Flourishing Region, Regional Economic Strategy for the
East Midlands, 2006-2020 Back
35
EM 102 Back
36
Q 88 Back
37
Ev 90 Back
38
Q 31 Back
39
Q 65 Back
40
Q 48 Back
41
Ev 121 Back
42
Q 32 Back
43
Q 37 Back
44
Ibid. Back
45
Q 220 Back
46
Q 222 Back
47
Ibid. Back
48
Ibid. Back
49
Opening statement, oral evidence on 27 April 2009 Back
50
Ev 93 Back
51
Ev 133 Back
52
Q 224 Back
53
Ev 168 Back
54
Ibid. Back
55
Ev 90 Back
56
Ev 93 Back
57
Ev 102 Back
58
East Midlands Development Agency, Independent Performance Assessment
2007, National Audit Office Back
59
Ev 90 Back
60
Impact of RDA Spending, Department for Business, Enterprise &
Regulatory Reform, March 2009 Back
61
Ev 102 Back
| 
