Letter to the Chairman of the Committee
from UK Trade and Investment
Following comprehensive joint reviews, UK Trade
& Investment (UKTI) and the English Regional Development Agencies
(RDAs) have agreed new arrangements for delivering inward investment
promotion overseas and trade support in the English regions. The
overseas review also involved close consultation with Devolved
Administrations (DAs), to whom this responsibility is delegated.
Designed to improve coordination, avoid duplication and deliver
value for money, the changes will bring together the management
and branding of overseas investment activity on a national basis
and better align international trade support with other business
support at a regional level. The new arrangements will be kept
closely under review to ensure they deliver effective alignment
of regional and national resources and best value for money.
UKTI will be announcing the outcome of the reviews
tomorrow. The announcement and the reports are strictly embargoed
until 9am on 5 March.
OVERSEAS REPRESENTATION
In its five year strategy, Prosperity in a Changing
World, UKTI committed to working with the nine English RDAs and
the Devolved Administrations to review overseas representation.
Supported by research and analysis from consultants Arthur D Little
(ADL), the review set out to determine how resources deployed
overseas could be used to maximum effect.
ADL's report found that current arrangements
are effective and have helped the UK succeed in winning an increasing
amount of foreign direct investment (FDI). The RDAs and the DAs
ad significant value to UKTI's activities overseas, providing
the expertise and detailed regional knowledge essential to foreign
companies when making their investment decisions. Last year, the
UK was the leading recipient of FDI in Europe and second only
to the US worldwide. Some 1,431 inward investment project successes
were recorded, leading to the creation and/or safeguarding of
78,357 UK jobs. Of these, some 70% were associated with project
successes in which UKTI, the RDIs and DAs were directly involved.
Significantly, ADL'S research found no evidence
that potential investors thought the arrangements particularly
confusing or duplicative. Feedback from a customer survey found
that over 9 % of investors perceived services to be co-ordinated,
of which 70% are in the well or very well co-ordinated category.
No investors perceived the services to be very confused.
However, the review concluded that more could
be done to strengthen existing arrangements and drive better co-ordination.
As a result, UKTI and the RDAs have agreed a new model for overseas
representation who will see UKTI lead the co-ordination of a fully
integrated overseas network, including co-ordinated strategies,
business planning, consistent branding across England and promotional
activity. Additionally, this will involve working alongside the
DAs in line with their own inward investment promotion responsibilities.
UKTI and the RDAs will agree performance measures, to provide
a clear picture of joint impact, and common UKTI led evaluation;
and options for co-location of teams and joint procurement will
be explored to help achieve better value for money.
Work will begin immediately to take forward
implementing these new working arrangements, with implementation
in three pathfinder markets from mid 2008 and full implementation
by April 2009.
REGIONAL TRADE
UKTI's five year strategy also committed to
jointly reviewing, with the RDAs, UKTI's international trade operations
in the English regions. The review focused on raising UK productivity
via business internationalisation and included analysis from consultants
London Economics. It found clear benefits to UKTI retaining its
regional network though recommended closer links between international
trade operations and other business support services in the regions.
Based on these recommendations, UKTI and the
RDAs have agreed a number of changes to align activity with that
of other services, including Business Link. The changes will provide
a simpler, more integrated service to companies who wish to go
global. Going forward, the RDAs will have a greater role in business
planning and delivery of international trade activity in the regions
to ensure that regional needs are more fully reflected. Under
this model, the links between the regional and overseas networks
which are crucial to the quality and scope of UKTI's offer to
companies in the English regions, and with it the economic impact,
will be maintained.
I am sending you the AD Little and London Economics
report with this letter.[7]
The reports will be published tomorrow on the UKTI website.
I have also written to Peter Luff MP, Chairman
of the Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Committee and
am copying this letter to Lord Jones.
Andrew Cahn
Chief Executive
3 March 2008
7 Not printed. Back
| 
