Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Freeman, Mogford, Plant, Talbot & B Walker.

Councillor Wells attended as a substitute for Councillor Plant.

There were no declarations of interest declared at the meeting.

The minutes of the meeting held on 19 July 2022 were confirmed.

Councillor Jeal asked for an update regarding the sea wall at South Denes. Councillor Wells informed the Committee that a report had been given at the recent Environment Committee at which Councillor Jeal, one of the three Ward Members, had been present. 

The Committee received and considered the Forward Plan.

RESOLVED:-

That the Committee note the Forward Plan.

The Committee received a presentation from Tim Ellis & Richard Hayman following a site visit earlier that day.

The Democratic Services Officer to circulate the presentation slides following the meeting.

The Chairman asked for clarification in regard to the Kickstart placements. Richard confirmed that 2 people had been engaged through Kickstart and had been kept on following the end of their 6 month placement.

Councillor Jeal asked where the steel had been manufactured. Richard reported that the steel had been manufactured in Belgium due to market forces and availability as no British company could manage and deliver to site the amount of steel required.. Councillor Jeal asked if a solution had been found for the frontage of the cafe which was situated near the bridge. Richard reported that these works would be undertaken as part of phase 8 and unfortunately, the options for customer parking were very limited, however, Malcolm was in regular contact with the cafe owner.

Councillor Jeal asked if there was a solution to prevent lorries from the port going along the seafront and down Kings Road to avoid the traffic lights along the Quay which was upsetting local residents at 6am in the morning. The drivers were not adhering to the signage and were using routes not suitable for HGV's. Richard reported that HGV drivers were ignoring the temporary signage to avoid a wait at the traffic lights of approximately 2 minutes. As the street works did not have a TRO in place, this was impossible to police. However, Richard emphasised that the HGV's in question were not associated with the construction of the bridge. The Chairman suggested that Councillor Jeal raise this issue with their County Councillor. Councillor Wells informed the Committee that Councillor G Carpenter, who was the County Councillor for that ward was aware of the situation.

Councillor Wells asked for clarification as to what the * signified in the report commentary  - Jobs safeguarded 201*. Richard agreed to take this away and find out the answer.

Councillor Price asked in regard to the H & S record for the workers constructing the bridge and how much road noise would be generated in wet weather as this noise nuisance could affect the residents of his ward. Richard informed the Committee that there had been no reportable accidents to the H & S Executive and to date, only 4-5 minor accidents recorded in the accident log. There was an on-site full-time H & S representative. David Allfrey stated that the increase in noise from the road would be increased, but this would not be in the extreme due to the low speed of the traffic. Local residents would be entitled to compensation as a Part 1 claim within the timeframe of 1-7 years of the bridge opening from the County if they were adversely affected.

Councillor A Wright reported that he was concerned with the build up of silt and how it would affect the draught of the river between the new bridge and Haven Bridge as this area was prone to silting up and has had to be regularly dredged over the years. Councillor Wright also asked if the bridge could be manually operated during a break down.

Tim reported that a comprehensive baseline survey of the river had been undertaken resulting in a baseline figures as of March 2022 and any changes could be overlaid over the baseline survey to highlight any changes in that area around the bridge. Peelports would be enagaged with on a regular basis and surveys would continue 2-3 years post completion. Tim informed Members that if the bridge broke down, there were 2 back-up systems which could be operated three ways; via main power supply, permanent generator and temporary generator. The bridge operated on a 90 second cycle to lift and lower.

The Chairman thanked Tim & Richard for an informative presentation and for delivering a successful project in the Borough on budget and which would connect two Enterprise Zones. 

RESOLVED:-

That the Committee note the presentation.

The committee received and considered the report from the Economic Growth Manager.

The Economic Growth Manager presented recommendations to integrate the COVID recovery action plan with the main Economic Growth Action Plan, which underpins the Economic Growth Strategy on the basis that delivering and reporting on those has become inefficient. Firstly, business support including insights from the Economic Reference Group and FutureGY. The Economic Reference Group convenes regularly and includes business support providers and practitioners, as well as representative local businesses. The FutureGY cohort is contacted less-formally by the Council's business advisors on a recurring cycle and includes around 60 key local employment and growth businesses.

The Economic Growth Manager informed members that it is clear from this regular dialogue that, as reported at the previous committee meeting, the supply of appropriately-skilled labour remains a challenge for local businesses, together with increasing concern about the cost of business as a parallel issue to the cost of living. A detailed breakdown of FutureGY dialogue can be found in the form of a dashboard in annex D. There is a general overview of business support provided, or facilitated by the Council which is also underpinned by a dashboard report in the annex E.

The Economic Growth Manager informed the committee that section 2.4 provides members with a detailed update on the Enterprise Hub pilot, which is performing very well against its contracted outputs, members will be provided with outputs as of todays meeting where you will see outputs are considerably higher then previously reported, The Hub has today, received confirmation that they have been short listed as one of the finalists in the awards for shops, businesses and market stalls in Great Yarmouth with steady demand for both events and more-specific one-to-one technical support. There is clearly a need and latent demand for this kind of outreach; visible, accessible and friendly within the Town Centre. This is documented in a full dashboard report in annex E of the report.

The report then provides an update on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund from the Head of Inward Investment, which will resource these kinds of activities to 2025 under the Supporting Local Businesses investment priority. This picks up on the presentation given to previous committee meeting. A summary is also provided in annex G, alongside descriptions of the activities proposed in Paragraph 2.5.13. this is not a huge funding award and it has, very recently, been topped up with £400,000 through the Rural England Prosperity Fund.

The Economic Growth Manager reported that there are high-level updates on third party job and employability support schemes with the three main strategic programmes: –

(i) Future High Streets,

(ii) Town Deal; and

(iii) A recent competitive Levelling Up Fund submission – summarised in Paragraph 3.3.4.

Elsewhere in the annexes, the final position on COVID-related grants and reliefs distributed by the Council is summarised in annex B.

The Council has recently secured support through the LGA’s Economic Growth Advisors Programme, this programme is providing circa £14,000 of support.

The Economic Growth Manager informed members that Cambridge Econometrics will undertake an independent review of the current Economic Growth Strategy to ensure it remains fit for purpose in light of recent economic shocks and challenges, including comparison to best practice. The recommendations arising, will be brought to a future committee, scheduled for the new year.

Councillor A Wright asked for confirmation that major projects, for example, the Wintergardens were on track. The Economic Growth Manager assured members that all project timings were regularly checked against the project schedules by the Project Team.

Councillor Wells referred to page 41 of the report and thanked all the officers concerned in getting the Covid grants out to residents and businesses, a package of Government grants totalling £65m. The Council had been recognised as the best performing Council across Norfolk.

Councillor Wells asked if the Council would be applying for the new Investment Zone funding initiative. The Director of Planning & Growth reported that applications would be submitted and he would report on progress to the committee at future meetings.

Councillor A Wright reiterated the need for skills growth within the borough and that he heard on the grapevine that East Coast College would re-start their catering course which was essential for the town's hospitality sector which had been moved to the Lowestoft Campus. The Economic Growth Manager reported that she was meeting with representatives from East Coast College next week and would ask the question and report back.

The Chairman referred to paragraph 1.6 of the agenda report; the pop-up Barclays Lab at The Hub, and that Barclays had indicated that they could see economic benefits for Great Yarmouth in 2023. The Economic Growth Manager reported that it was essential that  resources, such as the Eagle Labs, were pulled into the town.

The Chairman asked that the committee extend an invitation to Barclays to attend a future meeting to give their thoughts on economic opportunities for the town during 2023 and that this be added to the Forward Plan. The Economic Growth Manager agreed to contact Barclays to this effect.

RESOLVED:-

That the Committee:-

(i) Reviewed and commented upon the appended Economic Growth Strategy Delivery Plan update and Recovery Progress Report; and

(ii) Agreed to cease reporting against New Anglia LEP’s Covid-19 Economic Recovery Restart Plan and Great Yarmouth’s Pathway to Recovery normalisation and recovery plan, with relevant items integrated into the main Economic Growth Strategy Delivery Plan in future (please refer to Paragraphs 1.6-1.7).

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