Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

No members of the public were present.

Kellie Beirne delivered the presentation and answered the members’ questions, with additional comments from Frances O’Brien, Chief Officer for Enterprise.

Challenge:

54% of economically active Monmouthshire residents have to go out of county for work, and we have areas of deprivation. The ageing population could become unsustainable. If someone wanted to bring a major investment into Monmouthshire, how could the City Deal help our officers? We don’t have the infrastructure for attracting industry, or a Skills college.

We’ve done lots of stand-alone investments but in order to scale impact in the future we have to try to get our money into subsidiary funds so that if a big company were coming to Monmouthshire, there would be a Strategic Premises Fund, SME finance funding to help supply chain impact, an Innovation Investment fund – because we know that provision of risk capital is tricky – etc. We have a role there, and through the Skills Partnership, how do we invest in talent development, but we need to look wider than City Deal, which is only a £500m pot. We need to connect into the bigger conversations e.g. the National Infrastructure Bank, which has £12-14 billion. How can we get in front of them and put forward propositions? How can we influence the picture with the Western Gateway? Not every area will be able to have a further education college on its doorstep. How can we create the connections so that when something is being developed in one area, it takes into account the regional picture? The point about ageing is very important. The approach in terms of challenges is critical because the solutions to ageing could have a massive economic impact. Sometimes these societal issues can result in economic benefits. So there are no straight answers to these questions – it is a complex picture. The key is bringing together lots of different strands and having a high level of ambition.

We are very ambitious, and our geographical placement is ideal, but perhaps we need some help in how we approach and market things?

I can share the investment perspective. As a City Deal we’re limited, but as a city region we could take on inward investment, highlight some of the bigger areas and start to bring a greater focus to many of these issues. There is some frustration as we’re currently in a good position but how we take the next steps to develop that institutional capability as a region will be key to achieving those things that you’ve just set out.

Regarding collaboration with Bristol and the Western Gateway, there’s a feeling that as we’re on the periphery, we might fall between Cardiff and the valleys and the southwest. How are we engaging with Bristol City Deal and academic institutions there, in terms of skills development?

We are part of the GW4 network of universities – Cardiff University plays a prominent role in that. One of the things that we see is that because universities have such a big  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Futures economy work and town centre regeneration are mapped in for upcoming sessions. The workshop for the review of the LDP has been postponed this month due to the election – we will need to get back on track with the workshop programme leading into the summer.

Hazel Ilett reassured members that there are ongoing discussions with officers to ensure that there is alignment within the work programme: the items for the next few months have been chosen deliberately, to go from that regional level through to the local level, so that members understand the alignment between the City Deal and what is being delivered locally.

The minutes were confirmed and signed as an accurate record.