Archived decisions

1.0 Summary

1.1 This report sets out the strategy and proposals for economic development across the County area of Hampshire and with partners. It builds on recent internal and external developments, and approval by Cabinet on 30 March 2009 of the nine Corporate Services Reviews (CSRs) including one addressing the need and opportunity to strengthen the County Council's economic development function, to broaden its base and coverage, and to have more impact. This was followed on 2 April 2009 by the County Council's approval of its strategy towards Rural Development.

1.2 Externally, the landscape around County government is changing quickly. SEEDA and the South East Council Leaders (SECL) are entering a new development stage bringing together regional and sub regional economic and spatial plans. Before considering specific opportunities associated with these developments, it is essential to consider issues from a county-wide perspective what is necessary to leverage economic development "clout", capability and impact.

1.3 It is not the intention of this report to rehearse the economic and social factors affecting future growth in Hampshire. This has already been done elsewhere. This report focuses on the next steps in developing an economic development function integrated with the rest of the County Council's policy framework and based upon current work, which has extended considerably during the last year.

1.4 This report, therefore, is about taking a strategic approach to harness existing resources to better effect and create a bigger impact, rather than seeking additional resources. It recognises the importance of using the County Council's influence and "powerhouse" capacity to leverage the substantial potential that exists across the County Council's departments, and more widely with public and private sector partners. Further, it recognises that success will depend on influence and leverage: not on a traditional approach of lead Member, chief officer, department and budget. The report considers how to exercise influence with skill and ambition, and looks at:

· how best to create an economic development function for the Hampshire County area

· the steps to developing and implementing an economic strategy for the County area

· the infrastructure to be created to make sense of and manage better what already exists

· the unique characteristics of Hampshire and how best to protect and develop Hampshire as a vibrant County in which to live and work

· the shape of (probable) legislation in this area and how best to position the Council to respond

· the relationship of the LAA and the Senate with the development of an economic strategy.

Recommendations

It is recommended that Cabinet:

1. approve the establishment of an Hampshire Economic Board (HEB)

2. authorise the Chief Executive to bring forward Terms of Reference for the HEB to the Annual Meeting of the new Council on 15 June 2009

3. request the Chief Executive to bring to HEB's first meeting a report on a plan for Hampshire, as proposed in this report, with relevant work streams

4. give consideration to the future transport governance and delivery arrangements

5. agree that this report be used as a basis to promote and discuss with partners the County Council's intentions and ambitions in this area

2.0 Economic Development - The Hampshire Context

2.1 The County Council is one of the largest units of local government in

England with a population of 1.3 million people; over 40,000 employees; over 500,000 households; and 300,000 children. The County Council spends over £600m on goods and services each year, with over £200m going to small and medium size enterprises. The Council is one of the largest land owners in the South East of England. The Audit Commission data for CPA shows the County Council to be the highest performing County Council. The Council's total spend per annum is £1.7billion, much of which finds its way in to the Hampshire economy.

2.2 These features of size, capacity, leverage, and public sector standing and influence make the County Council a potential powerhouse for economic development.

2.3 The County Council is key to protecting and maintaining the rural character of the county and its landscape. It has a long had a tradition (before it became fashionable) of place shaping.

2.4 Implementation of the Economic Development CSR, the last in a series of reviews which began following the appointment of the Chief Executive, takes place with significant achievements already in place. The implementation of the LAA (and its refresh) have been done; the work of the Senate has begun; the development of a strategic approach to Crime and Disorder through the County wide CDRP has been implemented; the Rural Delivery Task Force has been established; the corporate reviews largely completed (with implementation underway, or subject to further development); and a new strategy for work with `third sector' is in preparation. The performance framework under `Driving Success' has begun, as has preliminary work for a refreshed Efficiency Strategy to proceed after the County Council elections. Creating the infrastructure for driving sustainable economic development remains the outstanding task for this Council.

2.5 This report therefore sets out:

· the philosophy behind the proposals

· the nature of the objectives for the economic development function

· a set of next steps to deliver

· suggested work streams to develop

3. Strategic Objectives

3.1 An economic plan for Hampshire should set out clear objectives involving as a minimum:

· creating a skills strategy

· developing effective partnerships with relevant agencies (Job Centre Plus, LSC (and its successor), SEEDA)

· aligning public sector resources to support economic opportunities

· collaboration across public sector organisations (already started through the Senate)

· strengthening our approach to develop regeneration projects (and more readily using the County Council's delivery capacity across the region and sub regionally)

· influencing regional economic development activity and resource priorities

· making sense of and supporting sub regional economic activity (e.g. PUSH)

· developing a vision for transport planning and delivery

· providing a strategic and operational response to existing arrangements (e.g. PUSH and Diamonds for Growth) and other agencies (e.g. Hampshire Economic Partnership)

· maximising government investment in Hampshire and exploiting opportunities to fund new infrastructure projects (e.g. Waste Infrastructure)

3.2 Should Cabinet approve this report, work will begin on each of the above with a report going to the proposed Hampshire Economic Board (see below) in June.

4. Members Board

4.1 It is recommended that following the County Council elections a new Members Panel or Board be established as the Hampshire Economic Board (HEB) to focus on the objectives above. Recognising that some capacity already exists, and work in some of these areas has already begun, the approach should be strategic, to ensure that there is coherence and relevance to Hampshire. This mechanism would recognise that different Executive Members (and departments) would have parts to play because of their functions (e.g. Environment, Children's Services, PB&R, County Treasurer's and the Member for Economic Development)

5 Corporate Strategy for Hampshire

5.1 This section highlights how a strengthened economic development function and plan has a strong strategic and complementary fit to existing and developing corporate strategies, including: the County Council's recently agreed ten year vision in the Sustainable Community Strategy for Hampshire; the developing Cultural Strategy, and the Children and Young People's Plan, both of which require effective economic action to release the potential for all young people in Hampshire; the further development of Hampshire Public Services Network (HPSN) is an example of how Hampshire's leadership can make possible ICT development on a unique scale.

5.2 Similar opportunities will exist in the future. Building on Transport for South Hampshire, there is a need for the development of County wide arrangements to oversee wider sub-regional interests crossing our County boundary and a review of the most effective arrangements with major public and private sector delivery partners. Preliminary discussions are also beginning with the two unitary authorities. The County Council through its own policy and action is uniquely placed to deal with the tensions of achieving both growth and maintaining the quality of life associated with living in Hampshire.

5.3 However, as the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment with Health reinforced, there are wide variations in economic, social and health performance in Hampshire, significant inequalities and examples of social and economic non-participation or exclusion. A strengthened economic function with sharpened policy and interventions is essential to improvement for many residents and areas.

5.4 Increasingly, economic growth will be shaped by the strength and quality of the infrastructure base within and beyond the County including:

· waste and recycling

· water

· minerals planning

· culture

· land and development

· highway and transport

· education attainment

The County Council's leadership role in its environmental policies, sustainability and planning for climate change, and its desire for a county-wide employment and skills strategy, place the County Council central to the above issues.

5.4 The County Council is uniquely placed with past investment to provide for the future, and with future investment to shape economic opportunities and quality of life in Hampshire. The HEB is a recognition of that role and its future importance. The economic development function - alongside activity for Rural affairs - would give, for the first time, complete coverage of Hampshire's different urban, town and rural characteristics and issues.

6. Next Steps

6.1 The establishment of a Members Board has been mentioned above. Subject to agreement of the management proposals, elsewhere on the agenda, it is proposed that these arrangements be established by the Chief Executive with a Members Board and Terms of Reference for approval at the Annual Meeting of the Council on 15 June 2009.

6.2 On the basis of this paper it is recommended that the Chief Executive be requested to bring forward a formal response to the strategic objectives in Section 3 for consideration by the new HEB. This will include programmes and actions setting out the role of partners, and activities for the next 12 months.

6.3 The proposals in this report would significantly widen the scope and impact of Economic Development within the County Council. The potential of this function would be raised by these proposals to suggest that the status of this be increased.

7. For Urgent Attention

7.1 Hampshire's approach should complement what already exists and be capable of either filling gaps or improving performance. To provide initial focus it is proposed to develop a priority set of work streams for consideration at the first meeting of the HEB to cover:

· The rapid development of a skills strategy

· Ideas to exploit the County Council's size, scale and asset base

· Using and exploiting "what works already in this field"

· Immediate opportunities for young people

· The development of short, medium and long term opportunities and ambitions

· A strategy for working with partners at a district, sub regional, County level and beyond

8. Hampshire Economic Development - Future Options and Opportunities

8.1 The Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction (LDEDC) Bill provides for the creation of three new options for sub regional cooperation: Economic Prosperity Boards; the combination of the functions of an Economic Prosperity Board with the functions of an integrated transport authority; and Multi Area Agreements (MAAs) with statutory duties. Taken together the legislation could provide potential opportunities. Opportunities could also exist with the two cities and adjacent counties. It is not proven what benefits will come from statutory MAAs. However, should they become an established form of funding for statutory services then their use should be reviewed. Other forms of voluntary partnership (e.g. Senate) which recognise the two tier nature of Hampshire and work with our wider partners may be more appropriate. It would therefore be appropriate to begin a dialogue, with partners and other local authorities on the above and request the Chief Executive to report to the HEB on potential developments and benefits of particular approaches, including the future of TfSH.

8.2 This dialogue would be consistent with the proposed new duty on upper tier authorities to provide an economic assessment for their area. This is consistent with emerging work related to the Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) where work on partnerships, and impact on equalities, is being reviewed. Building economic capacity around a new Member Panel would ensure elected member involvement and provide capacity for the future new economic assessment duty and emerging legislation.

9. Hampshire Skills Board

9.1 Building on the existing contribution of Children's Services, the County Council could develop a county-wide Skills Board (SB) consistent with the transfer from the Learning and Skills Council to the County Council in 2010 of responsibility for the 16-19 years agenda. This would recognise our statutory provision in 547 schools and give a strong, integrated base for further development in skills and employment for, and reducing inequalities in achievement of, young people across Hampshire. Work with partners (e.g. Job Centre Plus) would be integral to developments alongside adult skills. Working with new partners in the 6^th form and FE Colleges would be required.

10. Integrated Transport

10.1 As the statutory provider of transportation services the Council proposes to develop the model of Transport for South Hampshire (TfSH) into Transport for Hampshire (TfH) recognising the scale and size of Hampshire and the interdependence of transport issues with other providers and local authorities in the South East. This would explore policies, opportunities and flexibilities in the recent Transport Act. The Council could develop the notion around a county-wide (and possibly beyond) Transport Forum with rail, road and other providers.

11. Hampshire Senate

11.1 The development of an HEB and integrated transport mechanism sits alongside the Council's strategy, based on the Senate, for improved two tier working and governance.

11.2 These developing arrangements would be consistent with the County Council's role in the emerging infrastructure for the SECL. This approach has the benefits of:

· Providing a coherent response to the SNR

· Allowing partners to become involved in the strategic developments impacting on Hampshire

· Being consistent with the developing CAA process

· Acknowledging and working with existing infrastructure where it exists (e.g. PUSH)

· Leveraging the County Council's delivery and financial capacity

· Harnessing the benefits of providing integrated public services (including the largest statutory provider)

· Providing a sensible alignment with the Hampshire wide LAA and developing MAA agreements

· Allowing economic development to sit within a coherent countywide structure while recognising the limitations of administrative boundaries in relation to transport and economic development

· Allowing district councils to contribute to strategic developments consistent with their planning policies and the County Council's statutory provision to provide principal public services in Hampshire

· Creating a model capable of allowing further devolution of functions to local government in Hampshire, and possible reaching out to other parts of public services, where relevant, such as key government departments (Ministry of Defence) and agencies that have a significant presence in the county areas

· Recognising the "diamond for growth" points on existing partnership entities.

12. Financial Implications

12.1 The County Council has agreed to provide £200,000 in 2009/10 for pump priming towards these proposals. External funding for some of these activities is currently being discussed with partners (e.g. apprenticeship funding). While the future and scale of LABGI funding is uncertain this to should be considered. The Chief Executive has also begun discussions with CLG about how joint working on MAAs in the transport and waste areas could be funded.

Recommendations

It is recommended that Cabinet

1. approve the establishment of an Hampshire Economic Board (HEB)

2. authorise the Chief Executive to bring forward Terms of Reference for the HEB to the Annual Meeting of the new Council on 15 June 2009

3. request the Chief Executive to bring to HEB's first meeting a report on a plan for Hampshire, as proposed in this report, with relevant work streams

4. give consideration to the future transport governance and delivery arrangements

5. agree that this report be used as a basis to promote and discuss with partners the County Council's intentions and ambitions in this area

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