Written evidence from the South East England
Chambers of Commerce
South East England Chambers of Commerce welcomes
the opportunity to provide evidence to the Business, Innovation
and Skills Committee on the new Local Enterprise Partnerships
and the associated proposals for the Regional Growth Fund. This
paper is produced and submitted by Ross McNally, Chief Executive
of South East England Chambers of Commerce.
This evidence seeks to identify key proposals for
better engagement of businesses (and their representation organisations
"business intermediaries") based in South East England
in the Coalition Government's new proposals for Local Enterprise
Partnerships.
South East England Chambers of Commerce (SEECC)
is the voice of business for the South East representing the network
of Chambers of Commerce in the region. Together it has some 15,000
business members and reaches out to very many others through its
activities. The Chambers work with a range of stakeholders sub
nationally across a spectrum of activities and interventions and
as such they are well placed to identify and represent the needs
of their business communities.
The strategic context of the LEP proposal is
clear but the criteria for their approval is less certain at this
time. SEECC welcomes this essentially enterprising approach to
the development of LEPs. Our understanding is that the underlying
intention of the new approach by Government is to focus on driving
up enterprise activity as a priority. This would result in economic
impact and the move from economic partnerships to enterprise partnerships
would suggest that we need to place business engagement at the
heart of any new proposals. It would by definition need to be
led by the business community to achieve this and this is reinforced
by the Government recommendation that LEPs are chaired by a Business
representative and the voice of business leads the agenda setting.
The South East as an administrative region of
Government is being dismantled however as an economic region it
continues to be a very major net contributor to the Exchequer.
This places it in a position of great responsibility for the continuation
of its success for the UK economy as a whole. The economic aim
must be to build on success and the areas offering higher returns
in the medium term can provide exponentially greater tax take
for central Government.
The members of SEECC contribute to the consultation
on the development of the LEPs and the Regional Growth Fund as
follows:
THE PROCESS
OF DEVELOPING
LEPS
1. The opportunity for business leadership
in shaping the new LEPs is a welcome development but the timescales
for this are too short for meaningful business input. Some considerable
time afforded to business engagement is needed to really identify
a dynamic agenda for change. It must be recognised that the initial
LEP proposals will merely point in a general direction of travel
rather than set the agenda for business development.
2. The criteria for judging the LEPs are
unclear and this is perhaps to be welcomed if it encourages innovation.
The concern is however that the opposite may be the outcome. Too
many Local Authorities may revert to existing structures, plans
and proposals repackaged and without any real broad business input
or support.
3. Regional Government and the RDAs are
consigned to history however the need for cost effective development
and delivery of LEPs projects will remain. Underpinning structures
are needed across the LEPs within manageable network sizes (regionally)
to ensure cohesion and real buy-in of the business community as
a whole.
4. There are signs that local political
tensions are in some areas preventing sensible countywide debate.
In this environment it is even more difficult for the business
community to discuss the development of LEPs with all participating
local authorities and agree what might be best for the whole economic
landscape and as a result produce best possible proposals.
5. There are too many bids being considered
in the South East. This is because they are being local authority
led and drafted rather than being a partnership of equals with
the business community. Local Authorities are stronger on economic
development but light on enterprise. This is a flaw which will
damage future agenda setting in the sub regions.
6. In providing evidence of business support
some bids will rely on bodies that were created and funded by
the RDA and that have strong public sector links. If these bodies
continue under the new LEP framework there will be a network of
mutual dependency (rather than support) which will have changed
little from the era of the RDAs.
7. There needs to be a wider debate on the
processes adopted in creating LEPs proposals to avoid the outcomes
being flawed and new opportunities wasted. Business Intermediaries
are in a position to lead on and organise business engagement
but the Local Authorities need to address this positively.
8. The businesses community is showing great
willingness to participate in the new approach and indeed in most
aspects welcomes the change. However they are being denied leadership
roles if over the course of the next year they witness the creation
of local authority led bodies in their sub regions, focusing on
debate rather than action, they will soon disengage from the process.
THE POWER
OF NETWORKING
LEPS WITH
BUSINESS INTERMEDIARIES
9. The LEPs should not merely aspire to
being endorsed or supported by the business community but actually
shaped and directed by the business community. This would ensure
greater business leadership and economic impact through cohesion
with business investment.
10. Empowering the marketplace to be aligned
with Government programmes can only be achieved through joined
up communication so the LEPs must also focus on communication
strategies.
11. Decisions should be led by the voice
of business to ensure ongoing advocacy from business.
12. SEECC recommends that there is a network
of LEP Chairs working together with a network of intermediaries
(such a network exists in the South East) with the purpose of
identifying and addressing good practice, cross border opportunities,
efficiencies and business development issues. It will also explore
new methods of effective business engagement. This would be an
effective use of scarce resources because:
— Business needs do not recognise local
administrative boundaries. Networking the new LEPs will prove
a cost effective solution to achieving consistent business engagement.
— The lack of critical mass in distributing
some aspects of enterprise development support could be overcome
through engaging across a regional partnership network.
— Linking the new structures can help build
cost effective and sustainable growth for UK PLC through meaningful
integration between strategic planning and local needs. Just one
of many examples is "Green Energy" where there needs
to be a clear strategy by having the right scientific, commercial,
and political mix effectively engaging with groups of LEP's.
AGENDA SETTING
BY THE
BUSINESS COMMUNITY
13. The business community would like to
see the new LEPs producing highly focused and coherent sets of
proposals which are action oriented and can be aligned with the
goals of the business community.
14. The agenda of the LEPs must not be overly
concerned with planning and infrastructure at the expense of business
goals. The issues of skills, business development, new enterprise,
innovation and exporting must be high on the agenda.
15. In the South East proposals must be
impact oriented producing positive returns on investment to both
the business community and the treasury in the short and medium
term. This is necessary in a region which will be disadvantaged
in the economic rebalancing.
16. The Regional Growth fund should recognise
that the South East is a powerhouse of the UK economy and where
strong proposals are put forward they are given equal consideration
to other regions.
17. From research undertaken there is very
real need to ensure the South East is able to deliver on eight
key fronts of enterprise development. The Regional Growth Fund
should welcome and give support to programmes which address:
— Real business skills, not qualifications.
— Enterprise education with SMEs in schools,
FE colleges and Universities.
— Developing SME ambition and innovation.
— Business critical infrastructure.
CONCLUSION
South East Chambers and its members are ready
and willing to play their part in the development of LEPs. If
the business community can be placed in a strong "coalition"
with a new look landscape of enterprise development positive results
will certainly flow. The resultant activities will be leaner and
fitter and most importantly place real business engagement central
to the vision and purpose.
Local SME business communities possess the knowledge
and ambition to innovate and grow but translating these ambitions
into sustainable business strategies is the challenge in the changing
economic landscape. Extending the reach and creating greater leverage
for the diminishing business support infrastructure and ensuring
it flexes to local market need is the goal.
The closure of the RDAs and development of the
LEPs and Regional Growth Fund provide a real opportunity to develop
local responses to business need. South East England Chambers
of Commerce invites Government and the burgeoning LEPs to address
the real needs of business and identify effective networked partnerships
with business intermediaries across the South East economic landscape.
13 August 2010
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