Venue: South Yorkshire MCA, 11 Broad Street West, Sheffield, S1 2BQ
No. | Item |
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Welcome and Apologies Minutes: The Chair welcomed attendees to the meeting.
Apologies for absence were noted as above. |
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Declarations of Interest by individual Members in relation to any item of business on the agenda. Minutes: None. |
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Urgent items / Announcements Minutes: None. |
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Public Questions of Key Decisions Minutes: None. |
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Minutes of the Previous Meeting Additional documents:
Minutes: RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 15th December 2022 be agreed as a true record. |
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Matters Arising / Action Log Minutes: RESOLVED: to note that all actions in the Action Log were now closed. |
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Investment Team Activity – Status Update Minutes: An Investment Team Activity Status Update was presented.
48 active enquiries were noted, including a majority referred by the Department for Business and Trade. 50% of these inquiries had come from businesses in North America and Europe.
80% of live enquiries at this time came from the following sectors:
Further detail was requested on the rate of conversion from enquiry to investment. A response was given that the UK average for inward investment enquiries is 3.5%, with most regions in the north averaging between 5% and 10%. 21% of the MCA’s inquiries had been received within the last 6 months, and it could take between 2 and 4 years for investments to be fully realised, depending on the size of the project. It was noted that the MCA was seeking to secure investment in larger projects which create higher numbers of jobs.
ACTION: Senior Business Development Manager to provide more detail in future updates regarding the number of jobs likely to be created by each enquiry, the conversion rate of all enquiries, alongside Mayoral priorities.
It was noted that most current enquiries were seeking a combination of grant and loan funding.
A discussion was had on how actively the MCA was seeking investment opportunities, and it was noted that the development of an MCA International Strategy would make this activity more focussed and effective. The MCA was also continuing to engage with large institutional investors to secure investment in the region, and South Yorkshire would be collectively attending the UK’s Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum (REiiF) in May.
The report also noted that the MCA’s India trade mission had been postponed pending a clearer picture of use of funding by both potential investors and Government.
RESOLVED: to note the status update. |
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Budget, Performance and Programme Approvals Additional documents:
Minutes: A Budget, Performance and Programme Approvals was presented to the Board for approval. It gave the following information:
The Report also requested approval of:
It was noted that in some cases it has taken a long time for schemes to progress through the assurance process, but that the MCA was continuing to review this in order to refine its processes.
RESOLVED:
To note the forward plan timeline and the proposal to seek a decision on scheme reference “D0034” outside of the usual Board cycle through delegations |
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Shared Prosperity Fund Year 1: Community & Place Minutes: An update report on UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) Year 1: Community & Place was presented to the Board. It noted that:
It was asked what could be done if requests to retain underspend were rejected by Government.
ACTION: Innovation Project Director to agree possible lobbying approaches alongside other Combined Authorities should requests to retain underspend be rejected by Government.
It was noted that the MCA is responsible for reporting on SPF outcomes, as opposed to individual Authorities, and therefore realistic outcomes had been set and all outputs across Authorities would be combined when reporting to Government.
RESOLVED: that the Board note the update. |
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Business Support Landscape Additional documents: Minutes: A presentation and report on the South Yorkshire Business Support Landscape were presented to the Board for approval. It was noted that previous requests made by the Board regarding the communication of how funding is budgeted and allocated had been addressed here.
The presentation gave the following information:
Some reasons why South Yorkshire was not having a bigger impact in these areas were noted as: · Heavy reliance on European Regional Development Funding and Growth Hub funding · Innovative businesses not being supported enough · The business support system being confusing to navigate
It was noted that businesses had communicated to the MCA that there was a need for greater financial support, specialist support in specific areas, and core support via a universal brokerage offer. However, reduced funding and significant economic disruption would require the MCA to refine its approach to business support.
An overview was given of the proposed use of UKSPF funding for local business support, noting that the delayed confirmation of the UKSPF funding leaves limited time to design and commission activity. Even with UKSPF activity, a funding gap of £7.4m was noted by the Board.
The Board was asked to take decisions on:
A discussion was had regarding the Board and MCA setting out an effective framework for funding and delivery, which would then support the securing of funding for businesses in the region in the future, though funding gaps may remain at present.
RESOLVED:
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Financing Growth: Unlocking Private Investment into South Yorkshire Additional documents: Minutes: A report on Financing Growth: Unlocking Private Investment into South Yorkshire was presented. It gave an overview of high growth businesses and investment for businesses in South Yorkshire, noting a lack of funding for early-stage businesses in the region, resulting in comparative low business density.
In relation to this topic and in terms of its forward work plan, it was noted that the Board had: · Approved and endorsed investments into those businesses who could not generate finance from traditional sources · Approved and endorsed investment into a business whose core activity would help address the problem identified · Approved the development of a number of pilot schemes that would attempt to identify interventions that could help address the problem identified · Commissioned business support through access-to-finance work
The Board welcomed the continuation of engagement in policy discussions in this area to inform future funding decisions, as well as the MCA’s work to attract and retain high growth businesses in the region.
ACTION: Director of Finance and Resources to bring a report to a future meeting covering how the MCA seeks to be more innovative in attracting finance and investment to the region.
RESOLVED: That the Board note the update. |
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Any Other Business Minutes: None. |