Written evidence from Norwich City Council
SUMMARY
Norwich is a major regional service centre and
the largest economy, in employment terms, in the east of England.
Norwich City Council has an established track record
of delivering projects (through innovative partnerships with local
government, local communities, neighbouring local authorities
and key businesses stakeholders) to support sustainable growth
and address economic inclusion. The City has the capacity to deliver
further significant job and housing growth which will benefit
all who visit, live and work in the City whilst retaining its
essential character and quality of life of a historic cultural
and economic capital.
LOCAL ENTERPRISE
PARTNERSHIPS—KEY
RECOMMENDATIONS
FUNCTIONS
— Clear synergies exist between the delivery
of housing, economic development, key infrastructure and economic
inclusion activity to address skills and worklessness. These areas
should form the basis of LEP activity with additional area-specific
priorities as appropriate and clear democratic processes for bidding,
procurement and prioritisation.
GOVERNANCE
— Ensure local accountability—local
civic leaders and businesses should be able to clearly demonstrate
the added value of LEP membership to their local communities.
— LEP activity must be driven from a local
level upwards.
— LEPs must be able to clearly demonstrate
performance achievements—particularly in the level of resource
they attract to deliver growth.
— Local economic partnerships already engage
with local businesses and will form a solid basis from which to
build a LEP.
— We recognise that funding to support
the development of LEPs will probably have to come from existing
local authority budgets. However, in the current economic climate
this is not a sustainable mechanism for LEPs and consideration
should be given to providing some funding to pump prime at least.
— LEPs must recognise the importance of
cities as economic drivers and collaboration between LEPs and
cities is essential in order to demonstrate added value and tackle
cross-cutting infrastructural issues.
— Most city regions and engines of growth
already have robust governance arrangements in place and a track
record of effective strategic planning and delivery in partnership
with the private sector; use of existing expertise offers the
opportunity for LEPs to quickly demonstrate results and maintain
the engagement of key business partners. This should not be weakened
by limiting the development of partnerships to upper tier authorities.
— The timescale for submitting initial
LEP proposals is too short for detailed proposals in the absence
of further government guidance and will limit what can effectively
be explored. LEPs will need to retain the flexibility to respond
to new market opportunities as they emerge.
— LEPs must have the opportunity to engage
in arrangements for the dissolution of RDAs, particularly with
regard to assets, surplus and ongoing management of key income
streams.
ABOUT NORWICH
Norwich is a major regional centre and the largest
economy, in employment terms, in the east of England. As a top-ten
retail and major employment centre, the built-up area of Greater
Norwich currently has a population of 230,000 and a catchment
population of 1 million people.
The City has a thriving knowledge economy being
a major centre for financial/professional services; creative,
cultural and media industries and health/life sciences over 50
companies have their national or regional headquarters in Norwich;
making the City a the major driver of the Norfolk economy with
just over 7,000 businesses in Norwich providing 39% of all Norfolk's
jobs.
However, despite these strengths, a significant
proportion of the population in the Norwich local authority area
is affected by multiple deprivations (mainly education/training/skills,
income, crime and living environment). The local authority area
also suffers from high levels of worklessness; in at least two
of the city's wards almost one-quarter of the working age population
is claiming out-of-work benefits. A key challenge is delivering
sustainable economic growth that benefits the whole community
in terms of access to employment, decent housing and quality of
life.
PARTNERSHIPS FOR
GROWTH AND
DELIVERY
Norwich City Council has developed a good track
record of delivering projects (in partnership with local communities
and other stakeholders) to support deprived communities by accessing
funding including Local Enterprise Growth Initiative, Neighbourhood
Renewal, Sure Start and New Deal for Communities funding. These
initiatives have helped Norwich City Council to respond to the
needs of its local neighbourhoods and address them through schemes
such as its financial inclusion programme to build the capacity
of local credit unions and reduce the prevalence of doorstep lenders.
LEPs should build upon good practice and innovative
delivery; for example, over the last decade, Norwich has been
transformed through a major programme of regeneration and sustainable
development activity. This redevelopment means that the City is
well placed to deliver further major housing and employment growth.
Norwich City Council and the HCA have entered into a 10-year,
formal collaboration agreement, which will bring forward sites
and projects that have stalled to deliver over 1,300 homes and
hundreds of new jobs in the City.
Greater Norwich covers approximately 28% of
the land area of Norfolk. It is a key engine of the Norfolk economy,
accounting for almost one-half of the County's population and
one in every two of the County's jobs. Greater Norwich has significant
strengths in many of the knowledge intensive sectors which in
national terms have generated the strongest growth in recent years:
financial services, business services, creative industries, health
and life sciences and advanced engineering.
Greater Norwich has strong economic inter-relationships
with the surrounding rural and coastal areas of Norfolk (for example
in tourism, motorsport, high-tech engineering, food processing
and business services). There is also potential to build on existing
capabilities through emerging industries such as the renewables
sector and low carbon manufacturing/engineering technologies.
The urban area acts as a major regional service
centre providing a wide range of employment, cultural, leisure
and retail opportunities for the county and beyond. Norwich is
one of the fastest growing cities in the UK in terms of population
growth (ranked 5th in 2010 Cities Outlook report).
Norwich diverse business base is actively engaged
in the economic growth agenda through a variety of private/public
sector partnerships and networks including a vibrant City Centre
Partnership, Chamber of Commerce and key sector groups.
The Greater Norwich Development Partnership
(GNDP) is the body through which Broadland District Council, Norwich
City Council, South Norfolk Council, Norfolk County Council, and
the Broads Authority are working together to manage the delivery
of growth and meet the needs of the three-district functional
economic area that makes up Greater Norwich. Coordinating the
significant growth agenda can only be achieved through effective
management and commitment of all partners and stakeholders. The
GNDP was established in 2006 in recognition of the fact that no
single existing agency or authority could be expected to implement
the planned growth or fully exploit the economic opportunities
on its own. GNDP has robust governance arrangements and a track
record of securing, managing and allocating funding to deliver
the economic infrastructure and housing needed to support sustainable
population and jobs growth whilst retaining quality of life and
ensuring that the existing population is able to benefit from
growth. Projects that have been delivered successfully already
include those that will generate knowledge jobs, such as The Genome
Analysis Centre (GAC) and The IFR2 Innovation Centre; commuter-focused
schemes such as the St Augustine's Gyratory system and the Lady
Julian Bridge which will also deliver improvements in air quality
and traffic movement and projects to promote the use of green
spaces, for example a series of pathway upgrades around the 280-acre
Whitlingham Country Park.
The GNDP has consulted on and developed a local
economic assessment, a five-year economic strategy and annual
action plan in place. This has been developed with business leaders
to ensure that infrastructure development, population and jobs
growth will benefit all sections of the local community.
FUNCTIONALITY AND
GOVERNANCE OF
LOCAL ENTERPRISE
PARTNERSHIPS
Clear synergies exist between the delivery of
housing, economic development, key infrastructure and economic
inclusion activity to address skills and worklessness—these
areas should form the basis of LEP activity with additional area-specific
priorities as appropriate.
LEP Boards must develop a shared vision which is
informed by the detailed analysis of economic performance, change
and deprivation available from Local Economic Assessments, Work
& Skills Plans and area boards. LEPs will lead bids for funding
and develop influencing strategies to lobby for government controlled
spending. Funding priorities should be driven by area board strategies
with recognition of the needs of both rural and urban areas.
There must be clear democratic processes for
bidding, procurement and prioritisation which are accountable
to public bodies, local communities and subject to independent
audit.
If LEPs are to become engaged in any delivery
or commissioning activity (rather than confining activity to strategy
and co-ordination) then this must be linked to clear targets and
evaluation.
FUNDING ARRANGEMENTS
FOR LOCAL
ENTERPRISE PARTNERSHIPS
It is extremely challenging to fully define
the scope of activities of a LEP without a clearer indication
of the potential funding opportunities available and the functions
which may be devolved following the abolition of Regional Development
Agencies. The Regional Growth Fund allocation of £1 billion
over two years is a relatively small resource to address the needs
of LEPs and we would suggest that the Government looks at how
it can provide LEPs with other funding structures which will facilitate
delivery. There is certainly an appetite and enthusiasm on the
part of the private sector to engage in LEPs at a strategic level
but in order to retain the support of key businesses, LEPs must
be able to demonstrate achievements—particularly in the
level of resource they attract to deliver growth.
Funding to get LEPs up and running will probably
have to come from existing local authority budgets which are already
highly constrained and likely to see further reductions for the
period of the next Comprehensive Spending Review. A degree of
goodwill will be required to cover initial costs and this is not
a sustainable mechanism for LEPs in the longer term.
LOCAL ENTERPRISE
PARTNERSHIPS AND
THEIR CO
-ORDINATION WITH
OTHER STRATEGIC
PARTNERSHIPS
There is a clear case for flexibility, not only
in the make-up of LEPs themselves, but also in recognising the
need to think beyond defined boundaries in consideration of projects
which are of strategic importance to growth and development over
a far wider area. For example, Norwich City Council and the Greater
Norwich Development Partnership have made significant efforts
to support the case for investment in key rail infrastructure
in Essex in order to improve reliability and transit times between
Norwich and Liverpool Street. LEPs must recognise the importance
of cities as economic drivers and collaboration between LEPs and
cities is essential in order to demonstrate added value and tackle
cross-cutting infrastructural issues.
STRUCTURE AND
ACCOUNTABILITY OF
LOCAL ENTERPRISE
PARTNERSHIPS
Most city regions and engines of growth already
have robust governance arrangements in place and a track record
of effective strategic planning and delivering jobs growth, infrastructure
and housing development across local authority boundaries in partnership
with the private sector. Unfortunately the current guidance would
appear to limit the development of partnerships to upper tier
authorities; potentially weakening effective existing partnerships
in favour of larger, artificial area partnership which may create
inappropriate tensions between different kinds of economy ie rural
vs urban.
While a county-based LEP could optimise co-ordination
of activities across a very wide geographic area with a population
approaching 800,000; it must recognise that this is best achieved
by recognising and empowering effective existing structures (where
they exist) via strong area boards which have accountability for
harnessing local resources to deliver against key priorities.
This use of existing expertise offers the opportunity
for LEPs to quickly demonstrate results and maintain the engagement
of key business partners.
In any LEP it will be essential to manage the
needs of different kinds of economy through a governance structure
which recognises the potential of key areas and does not stifle
existing strengths. It will also be necessary to retain local
accountability and ensure that local civic leaders are able to
clearly demonstrate added value of LEP membership to their local
communities.
TRANSITIONAL ARRANGEMENTS
WITH REGIONAL
DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES
The timescale for submitting initial LEP proposals
is too short and will limit the partnership possibilities that
are able to be explored—there is a danger that local authority
leaders will feel pressured into joining a less-than-ideal arrangement
at the risk of being excluded. There must therefore be flexibility
to build upon initial proposals over time as new opportunities
emerge—particularly during the wind-down of the RDA network.
An opportunity must be provided for LEPs to
engage in arrangements for the dissolution of RDAs, particularly
with regard to asset transfer/disposal, the distribution of any
surplus and ongoing management of European or other important
income streams not controlled centrally.
12 August 2010
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