Agenda item

Report of Nottingham City Council’s Corporate Director, Development & Growth with an update by Anthony May, Chief Executive, Nottinghamshire County Council

 

 

a)  Levelling Up Fund

b)  Community Renewal Fund

c)  Freeport / East Midlands Development Corporation

d)  D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership

Chris Henning, Corporate Director for Development and Growth, Nottingham City Council, introduced the report providing an overview of current regional economic issues, including newly available funding, which was announced by the Chancellor in the recent budget, and Anthony May, Chief Executive, Nottinghamshire County Council provided an update on Freeports and the potential changes regarding the Local Enterprise Partnerships, and highlighted the following points:

 

Levelling Up Fund (LUF)

 

a)  £4bn has been made available in England to invest in high value local infrastructure during the next four years, focusing on transport schemes, urban regeneration, and cultural and heritage assets, and replaces previous funds available through the Local Enterprise Partnership;

 

b)  whilst competitive bidding is required, preference will be given to ‘Category 1’ areas, where need has been identified by Central Government, including Bassetlaw, Mansfield, Newark and Sherwood,  and Nottingham City, although all Local Authorities can apply;

 

c)  any schemes submitted must be ready for immediate development, can include multiple projects, and can have a value of up to £20 million per MP constituency (potentially £50m for large transport schemes);

 

d)  further clarity is to be sought regarding whether more than one bid can be submitted per category area, such as Nottingham which is served by 3 MPs;

 

e)  the deadline for submitting applications within round 1 is 18 June 2021, with the expectation that works would start in the same financial year;

 

f)  the arrangement whereby Local Authorities will lead on the bid submission demonstrates a shift away from the Local Enterprise Partnership framework;

 

Community Renewal Fund

 

g)  £220 million has been allocated for pilot schemes in the UK, in preparation for the post-EU Shared Prosperity Fund, which will be launched in 2022, acting as a bridge from European Union funding and totalling £1.5bn;

 

h)  the four priorities of the fund are skills, business support, communities and place, and supporting people into employment;

 

i)  the lead authorities (Nottinghamshire County Council and Nottingham City Council) for each ‘place’ (district, borough or unitary council) is able to bid for funding of up to £3 million with an application deadline of 18 June 2021;

 

j)  4 priority ‘places’ have been identified by Central Government as Bassetlaw, Mansfield, Newark and Sherwood, and Nottingham City, which will receive preference in the competitive bidding process and potentially access to an additional £20,000 for funding capacity.

 

Freeports

 

k)  Freeports are arrangements for simplified customs documents and the avoidance of  import tariffs provided the goods receive added value before being exported;

 

l)  the East Midlands Freeport bid is ambitious and covers 3 sites in and around the Airport including the Seagrove Logistics Hub and Maritime Rail Head, one at Uniper, and a new site, Intermodal, in and around Derby and Derbyshire;

 

m)  this bid has successfully progressed to the next phase of providing an outline business case which is to be submitted by partners (including private sector, land owners and local authorities), to convince Central Government that the governance and programme management is in order. If approved, then a more detailed business case will be required;

 

n)  timescales are unclear due to the complexity of bids, but Central Government is keen for progress which will attract inward investment, innovation, research and skills development, all with a focus on low carbon and carbon reduction;

 

o)  the governance and programme management plan will need to follow a Central Government provided template with a governing body with majority of private partners, an independent chair, also likely to be from the private sector, using the government resource (which is anticipated to be up to £1 million) to create the outline business case and full business case. It is likely that Local Authorities to be required to provide officer time;

 

p)  Central Government have a small team in place to manage the process, with David Wright, the civil servant who previously worked locally on the Development Corporation, allocated to the East Midlands;

 

q)  it is important to ensure that the Development Corporation and Freeport are considered as one enterprise co-ordinated for the East Midlands;

 

 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP)

 

r)  LEPs are currently under review by Central Government, with the results due to be issued during summer. It is likely that there will be an evolution of the LEPs which will focus more on business support and not act as the body which holds remaining European funds or the replacement Shared Prosperity Fund;

 

s)  it’s not clear yet what sort of contribution local authorities will be able to make to the review but, as there is likely to be a very tight turnaround, it would be helpful to gather some initial views from members about how they see the opportunities and challenges.

 

Comments from members of the committee included:

 

t)  it is anticipated that LUF and CRF bids will focus on transport, smart technology and connectivity, but bids will be stronger if the County and City can demonstrate that they are working together to achieve the best schemes and maximise benefit for citizens;

 

u)  it was requested that information on bids being submitted are shared at an early stage with member authorities to ensure a co-ordinated approach; 

 

v)  clarity will be sought regarding the criteria around MP support for bids and whether only one bid per MP or MP constituency will be accepted;

 

w)  it is hoped that an extension of the Robin Hood Line would be considered as it will open the north of the county and promotes economic prosperity for the whole county;

 

x)  within the County Council, Adrian Smith, Corporate Director for Place and Deputy Chief Executive, and Matt Neil Department of Place, are already co-ordinating work around Community Renewal Fund and Levelling Up bids for those authorities in the highest priority categories but stronger co-ordination with the City Council would be beneficial for cross boundary schemes;

 

y)  with regard to the Levelling Up Fund, district authorities are requesting further more detailed information regarding the bidding rounds to ensure applications are best placed for success and can align with local priorities. As there is no direct route for local authorities to request clarity, it is requested that the lead authorities pursue this issue;

 

z)  learning from previous initiative administration needs to be applied, as there are opportunities for cross boarder big ticket schemes to genuinely ‘level up’ north Nottinghamshire which will benefit all of Nottinghamshire, so it’s vital that the City and County work together and mutual support is continued;

 

aa)  there is only a short time frame within which to submit bids and Lead Authorities are seeking clarity on several issues. Without the cross-border co-ordination of previously joint benefit funding routes, such as the LEP, co-ordinating bids for cross border benefit must be considered. This forum could be valuable in directing that.

 

bb)  it appears that with regard to the changing nature of funding management, authorities seemed to have swapped working with representatives from business, on funding arrangements, to working with MPs. Whilst both may have their merits, this is not necessarily a good thing;

 

cc)  with regard to the Freeport, the City is happy to contribute to letters of support, but great care must be taken to ensure business  displacement does not take place with movement of jobs. The Freeport site needs to be attractive to new business but not encourage existing local business to move to the site;

 

dd)  it is vital that quality jobs and organisations are attracted to the area and bring value to the area, and not just achieve tax relief. Some of the other Freeport’s have already got organisations and businesses ready to move into the area. This is an element where the East Midlands seems to be lagging, but a proactive marketing campaign would be beneficial;

 

ee)  the reference to manufacturing and green jobs is key.

 

Anthony May responded to the concerns as follows:

 

ff)  with regard to the Freeport and concerns of potential business displacement, guidance is clear that partners need to work closely together, including with the local cities, to properly manage and mitigate against displacement risks, which will be present for any enterprise zone, but particularly one of this size and scale. If there is significant displacement rather than new business establishing, then this doesn’t benefit the Treasury and Central Government may possibly become involved;

 

gg)  Freeport bids are at different levels of maturity across the country, with some being more and some less complex than the East Midland’s bid, but the East Midland’s is in  a good position to progress. There is capacity to drive a really good business case, and also ensure the marketing campaign attracts appropriate enterprise to the Freeport. Time is short, there are very tight time constraints of probably 8 to 9 months to progress to the required level, however, there is much evidence from the Development Corporation, which can be brought forward and utilised in the bid for the Freeport, but there is still a lot to be done.

 

Resolved to note the updates.