Meetings

Meeting Details

Economic Development Committee
1 Mar 2021 - 17:30 to 19:30
Occurred

 

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  • Documents
  • Attendance
  • Visitors
  • Declarations of Interests

Documents

Agenda

Standard Items
1 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

 

To receive any apologies for absence. 

 

 

1

 

There were no apologies for absence.

 

 

 

2 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

 

You have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in a matter to be discussed if it relates to something on your Register of Interests form. You must declare the interest and leave the room while the matter is dealt with.

You have a Personal Interest in a matter to be discussed if it affects
•    your well being or financial position
•    that of your family or close friends
•    that of a club or society in which you have a management role
•    that of another public body of which you are a member to a greater extent than others in your ward.
You must declare a personal interest but can speak and vote on the matter.

Whenever you declare an interest you must say why the interest arises, so that it can be included in the minutes. 

 

 


2

 

There were no declarations of interest given at the meeting.

 

 

 

3 pdf MINUTES (148Kb)

 

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on the 26 October 2020.

 

 

3

 

The minutes of the meeting held on 26 October 2020 were confirmed by assent.

 

 

 

4 pdf FORWARD PLAN (13Kb)

 

Report attached.

 

 

4

 

The Committee received and considered the Forward Plan.

 

RESOLVED:-

 

That the Committee note the Forward Plan.

 

 

 

5 pdf EU EXIT (258Kb)

 

Report attached.

 

There will be a presentation from the Local Enterprise Partnership at the meeting.

 

 

5

 

James Allen, New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership, gave a presentation to the Committee on the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union.

 

The Chairman asked for clarification as to what help NALEP was providing to local businesses to allow them to trade globally.

 

Councillor Wainwright referred to page 21 of the accompanying report which highlighted that Norfolk's & Suffolk's GDP would face an average reduction of 4% by 2030 with the UK facing an average reduction of 3.5%. James Allen reported that he would supply the relevant data to Councillor Wainwright after the meeting.

 

Councillor A Wright was concerned about the effect that Brexit would pose for the self-employed, skilled workers from the European Union, for example construction and health and social care sector workers who were now subject to new criteria to work in the UK. 

 

Councillor C M Walker asked if the UK still shipped waste to Europe. James Allen reported that he would make enquires and contact Councillor Walker after the meeting.

 

Councillor Candon reported that the new trade agreement was positive news for both Great Yarmouth and the UK and he relished the challenges ahead.

 

Councillor Myers referred to page 22 of the report; business intermediaries and networks have highlighted the disproportionate impact of increased burdens via costs and paperwork on SME's. Councillor Myers asked if the Committee could have the related figures for Great Yarmouth. James Allen reported that he would find the relevant data and share it with the Committee.

 

The Strategic Director & Head of Inward Investment reported that they would pick up all of the Member's questions and work with James Allen to provide a written response to the Committee.

 

The Chairman thanked James for a comprehensive, informative presentation and thanked him for his attendance.

 

 

 

 

Report attached.

 

 

6

 

The Committee received and considered the report from the Head of Inward Investment & the Regeneration & Funding Manager.

 

The Head of Inward Investment & the Regeneration & Funding Manager gave a joint presentation to the Committee which gave an update on Economic Growth Delivery & Recovery.

 

The presentation highlighted progress against the Economic Growth strategy Delivery Plan and Pathway to Recovery Plan since the last Committee meeting held on 26 October 2020. A comprehensive update report was contained within annexes 1 & 2.

 

The delivery of the Council's inward investment service in response to recovery from the pandemic was outlined and options were given to extend business support reach and capacity. Local and independent analyses of the economic impact of the pandemic were presented together with an overview of local grant distribution and key strategic programmes.

 

The Chairman thanked the Head of Inward Investment for her excellent report and her team for the outstanding work they had undertaken during the pandemic.

 

Councillor A Wright asked for clarification for the figures given in the table at paragraph 2.2.2 on page 26 of the report.

 

Councillor P Hammond asked for clarification regarding the number of people who were unable to work from home effectively due to poor broadband connection.

 

Councillor Myers asked if part of the economic recovery to the town centre would be to encourage small, individual shops with differing offers rather than the chain stores which were closing stores rapidly as a result of going into receivership or operating their business model online. The Regeneration & Funding Manager reported that it was imperative that resilience was built into the future town centre offer.

 

RESOLVED:-

 

(i) That the Committee review the appended Economic Growth Strategy Delivery Plan update and Recovery Progress Report; and 

 

(ii) That the Committee review and comment on the development of the wider business support programme proposed as part of the investment of the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) allocation, building local business support capacity, ensuring schemes are co-ordinated in line with other District & Borough Council's.

 

 

 

 

Report attached.

 

 

7

 

The Committee received and considered the report from the Head of Inward Investment and the Renewables Marketing Manager.

 

The Renewables Marketing Manager gave a presentation to the Committee which gave an update on the Norfolk & Suffolk offshore Wind Competitive Positioning Programme. The project sought to develop and deploy a coherent, co-ordinated and collectively owned brand, offer and identity and marketing strategy to complement other strategic and capital initiatives and help to drive the energy sector investment.

 

The Chairman thanked the Renewables marketing Manager for her informative presentation and reiterated that it was imperative how the East of England presented their energy offer.

 

Councillor C M Walker asked if there was any indication as to whether the pending High Court Challenge by Vattenfall would impact on the energy sector in Great Yarmouth. The Director of Planning & Growth reported that the High Court Challenge would undergo due process but that Vattenfall were still very interested in Great Yarmouth.

 

Councillor A Wright reported that the maritime education facility at East Coast College was a vital resource to educate young people to ensure that had the skills to enter a career in the energy sector.

 

RESOLVED:-

 

That the Committee review and comment upon the context of the report, noting the progress to date, the preferred branding, next steps and proposals for the completion and roll-out of the accompanying marketing strategy.

 

 

 

 

Report attached.

 

 

8

 

The Committee received and considered the report from the Head of Inward Investment.

 

The Head of Inward Investment reported progress made against the Culture, Heritage & Tourism Strategy's high-level delivery plan since its approval by Members in July 2020, when Members approved the ten year strategy and delivery plan which was created with input from partners. This has since been adapted to take account of the Borough's Covid-19 Pathway to recovery plan in terms of safely welcoming people back on to the streets of the town.

 

The Head of Inward Investment reminded member's that they had endorsed four themes within the strategy, approving the recommendation to embed arts, culture and tourism as part of the Town Investment Plan.

 

The Head of Inward Investment reported that members had agreed that this would e a living document and oversight of the strategy and delivery plan would be undertaken by the Borough's Cultural & Tourism Board, which comprised of representatives from local, regional and national partner organisations and the Economic Development Committee. This report meets members' request for a twice yearly update monitoring report on the delivery plan.

 

The Chairman thanked the Head of Inward Investment for the comprehensive report.

 

Councillor B Walker suggested that it would be better if the acronyms were placed at the beginning rather than at the end f future reports.

 

Councillor Candon thanked the Head of Inward Investment and her team for all the proactive work undertaken in the Borough during the difficult, past year and that he was looking forward to a positive outcome for the recently submitted bid for the Wintergardens.

 

RESOLVED:-

 

That the Committee review and comment on the Culture, Heritage & Tourism Strategy Delivery Plan progress update.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Report attached.

 

 

9

 

The Committee received and considered the report from the Director of Planning & Growth.

 

The Director of Planning & Growth reported the salient areas of the Quarter 3 Performance Report to the Committee  which gave an update on current performance for the third quarter of 2020/21, October to December, where progress was assessed against targets which were set at the start of the financial year.

 

RESOLVED:-

 

That the Committee note the Quarter 3 Performance Report and agree all measures to be monitored during the next quarter.

 

 

 

10 ANY OTHER BUSINESS

 

To consider any other business as may be determined by the Chairman of the meeting as being of sufficient urgency to warrant consideration.

 

 


10

 

The Chairman reported that there was no other business being of sufficient urgency to warrant consideration at the meeting.

 

 

 

11 EXCLUSION OF PUBLIC

 

In the event of the Committee wishing to exclude the public from the meeting, the following resolution will be moved:-

"That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Part I of Schedule 12(A) of the said Act."

 

 

11

 

 

12 CONFIDENTIAL MINUTES

Attendance

Name
No other member attendance information has been recorded for the meeting.
NameReason for Sending ApologySubstituted By
No apology information has been recorded for the meeting.
NameReason for AbsenceSubstituted By
No absentee information has been recorded for the meeting.

Declarations of Interests

Member NameItem Ref.DetailsNature of DeclarationAction
No declarations of interest have been entered for this meeting.

Visitors

 

PRESENT:-

 

Councillor Plant (in the Chair); Councillors G Carpenter, Cordiner-Achenbach, Candon, Freeman, P Hammond, Lawn, Mogford, Myers, Wainwright, B Walker, C M Walker & A Wright.

 

Mr D Glason (Director of Planning & Growth), Mrs M Burdett (Head of Inward Investment), Mrs L Barker (Strategic Director), Ms Sara Rushworth (Renewables Marketing Manager), Mr S Best (Regeneration & Funding Manager), Mr D Wiles (Communications & Media Manager), Mrs S Wintle (Corporate Services Manager), Mr M Severn (IT Support) & Mrs C Webb (Executive Services Officer).

 

Mr J Allen (New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership).

 

 

 

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