Agenda and draft minutes

Councillor Philip White is a member of the Local Visitor Economy Partnership.

Agreed.

The Committee received a report on the Stoke-on-Trent & Staffordshire Growth Hub.

Businesses are engaged with the Growth Hub via the local business helpline, website, weekly newsletters, and events. Partnership working with other business support providers has enabled businesses to participate in workshops, webinars, and seminars across the county and a concerted effort by all business support partners to communicate with each other has seen a lack of duplicated offers to businesses.

Particular attention was drawn to the Monthly Intelligence Reports that are submitted to Department of Business & Trade (DBT) providing information on local economic conditions, needs and concerns. The following KPIs have been set to assess the performance of the Stoke-on-Trent & Staffordshire Growth Hub and cover the period 1st April 2024 – 31st March 2025:

1. 500 - Number of people making initial contact with the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Growth hub (helpline, email and direct referrals).

2. 253 - Number of business referrals moving on to other business support.
   
   
3. 313 - Number of businesses receiving specialist 1-2-1 support.
   
   
4. 225 - Number of businesses attending events / webinars / workshops /masterclasses

Members of the Committee welcomed the report and celebrated the good news story of the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Growth Hub.

The Committee agreed to:

1. Delegate responsibility for the finalisation of the Growth Hub Strategy for April 2024 - March 2026 to the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Growth Hub Steering Group.

2. Note that the Government has recently confirmed, in the October 2024 budget announcement, that the Growth Hub Core Grant is set to continue for at least a further year into 2025/26.

3. Approve the continuation of the one-year contingency of £298,250 from the LEP reserves for 2026/27 to enable the continuation of the two-year strategy, as agreed by the Committee in May 2024.
   
   
4. Delegate responsibility for the finalisation and submission of the 6 monthly bi-annual report for the period 1 April 2024 – 30 September 2024 to the Growth Hub Manager and Senior Finance Business Partner.

An update was provided on the Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP). Following the national reform of Destination Management Organisations in England, Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent have been awarded LVEP status. The (LVEP’s) main objective is to identify areas that the sub-region is best working on together, while harnessing support from the private and voluntary sector, to support recovery and growth of the sector.

The Staffordshire & Stoke-on-Trent LVEP board has been successfully recruited and launched on Thursday 3rd October 2024. Managed by a board of members representing public, private and voluntary sectors and industry sub-sectors, the board’s key responsibilities are to develop a Growth Plan for the area’s visitor economy and provide support to stakeholders in the visitor economy.

Particular attention was paid by the Committee to national recognition and influence being made by the LVEP to its tourist destinations.

The Committee agreed to:

1. Note the local authorities’ strong ongoing commitment to the success of the Local Visitor Economy Partnership through the agreement to utilise c.£324k of legacy Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (SSLEP) reserve funding to increase the capacity and capability of the partnership.
   
   
2. Note the significant early successes already achieved by the LVEP as including securing a seat on the national steering group responsible for developing England’s Visitor Economy Strategy.
   
   
3. Note the Growth Plan priorities set by the newly formed LVEP board.
   
   
4. Support the exploration of a Destination Development Partnership – strengthening relationships in destination and across neighbouring LVEPs.

An update was provided on the Careers Hub Delivery Plan. Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Career Hub team were transferred as agreed from Stoke-on-Trent City Council to Staffordshire County Council on 1st September 2024. The Careers Enterprise Company (CEC) Grant Agreement providing funding to support the delivery of the activities of the Careers Hub has been issued to Staffordshire County Council for the academic year 2024/25.

Members of the Committee highlighted the connection of local businesses to education and welcomed the system-wide approach to careers across schools, FE colleges and universities within Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire.

The Committee agreed to:

1. Review the Careers Hub Delivery Plan for Academic Year 2024/25.
   
   
2. Consider the proposal to provide a full update on progress and performance to the Joint Committee Officers group on a termly basis and to each Joint Enterprise Delivery Committee.

The Committee received considered the report on the Green Loan Fund.

Businesses can fund the recommendations from the Green Loan Fund, and immediately repay 50% of this cost back from the awarded grant upon evidence of defrayal, leaving the remaining 50% cost to be repaid interest-free over 2 years

The Committee celebrated the success of including the Growing Places Fund into the Green Solutions programme made by the respective local authorities’ Cabinets and endorsed by the Joint Committee.

The Committee agreed to:

1. Note the Cabinets of SCC and SoTCC agreed to the use of Growing Places Fund (GPF) for the provision of loans to enable businesses to invest in decarbonisation measure through the Green Loans Scheme.
   
   
2. Note that the scheme is now operational and provided its first loan in October.
   
   
3. Agree that an update on the delivery of the scheme will be provided at future meetings of the Joint Committee, whilst the scheme is operational.

The Committee received an update on the status of the Local Enterprise Partnership Legacy Projects. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) have a responsibility to monitor the Growth Deals made through the Local Growth Fund (LGF) and the Getting Building Fund (GBF). This reporting was the responsibility of the Stoke on Trent and Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (SSLEP) until March 2024 and is now the remit of Staffordshire County Council as the Accountable Body following the dissolution of the LEP.

There were 37 approved LGF projects and 20 GBF approved projects leading to total grant investments of £98.3m and £23.7m, respectively, into Staffordshire and Stoke-on Trent. All projects are now financially complete following the drawdown of their approved grant allocations and they are expected to complete their agreed, contracted outputs by March 2026 although MHCLG are considering extending this deadline.

Clarity was sought by the Committee on the status of the City East Link Road project. For the avoidance of doubt, confirmation was provided that whilst the link road itself was never progressed, junction improvements and housing outputs have been successfully completed.

The Committee agreed to:

1. Delegate responsibility to the finalisation and submission of the Stoke and Staffordshire LEP LGF Report 24 25 Q1 & Q2 Return to the S151 Officer (SCC), Head of Funding Business & Enterprise (SCC), and Senior Finance Business Partner (SCC).
   
   
2. Delegate responsibility to the finalisation and submission of the Stoke and Staffordshire LEP GBF Report 24 25 Q1 & Q2 Return to the S151 Officer (SCC), Head of Funding Business & Enterprise (SCC), and Senior Finance Business Partner (SCC) JEDC Revenue Grants & Reserves.

Following the closure of the Stoke-on-Trent & Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (SSLEP) on the 1st of April 2024, the Joint Committee has oversight for three former LEP annual revenue grants – the Local Economic Development Fund Grant, the Growth Hub Core Grant, and the Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC) Grant.

For 2024-25, MHCLG awarded a s31 revenue grant, known as the Local Economic Development Fund Grant (formerly the LEP Core Fund Grant), of £234,285 to the Joint Committee.

Following the recent budget, the accountable body has been notified that the Local Economic Development Fund Grant is to cease at the end of 2024-25.

The Joint Committee has oversight of two former SSLEP restricted reserves that are held by the accountable body. These are as follows:

i.            Getting Building Fund Grant (GBF) Reserve

ii.          Growing Places Fund (GPF) Reserve

The Committee agreed to

1. Note the spend to date against the 2024-25 Local Economic Fund and Growth Hub Core Grant Spend Plans.

2. Note that the Local Economic Fund Grant is to end in 2024-25.

3. Note that the funding of the annual Growth Hub Core Grant has been extended by a further year to 2025-26.

4. Note the two former SSLEP reserve balances that have transferred to the accountable body and the spend commitments approved to date.

5. Approve the Rodbaston College Change of Grant Usage letter, submitted to the accountable body, asking that £61,180 of their remaining GBF Grant allocation be repurposed to purchase additional IT equipment for the Village Green Centre.

The Chairman to move: 

“That the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business which involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A (as amended) of the Local Government Act 1972 as indicated below”.