Agenda item

A paper was submitted to provide the Board with an update and indication of the delivery priorities outlined in the Employer section of the Renewal Action Plan.

Following discussion at the last Board meeting held on 21^st October 2020, the Board was requested to consider, review and agree the contents of the draft RAP Employer Implementation Plan which provided an updated overview of the areas agreed by the Task and Finish Groups established to lead on the development. 

At the MCA meeting held on 16th November 2020 the endorsed priorities were agreed in principle and an initial budget recommended to be made available over the next 2 years of up to £8.3m to deliver against the prioritised elements in the employer section of the RAP.

As a result of the allocated budget, a consolidated set of priorities with an indication of delivery costs was currently in development.  The Task and Finish Group discussions had collectively developed a consolidated set of delivery proposals where it is felt the most impact would be delivered for businesses in comparison to the original plan based on the available budgets as well as priorities previously agreed.

The Board considered and reviewed the consolidated priorities for delivery for the remainder of 2020/21 to the end of 2021/22 initially. 

The anticipated intervention cost for the streamlined and consolidated delivery for the priority employer section totalled £5.20m, excluding any additional delivery costs associated which were currently being worked up to include licence fees and any additional personnel costs.

The Board noted that, due to the fast changing economic conditions impacted by Covid 19, but also UK transition, there was considerable flexibility requested in the delivery of the plans with the ability to review and refocus following review by the Board should matters change significantly.  Any non-allocated budgets assigned to this activity would remain as contingency to enable the programme to flex to changing needs. 

The full and updated Implementation Plan including the developed leadership proposals was also included as appendices to the document. 

In response to questions from Board Members around the timescale for the recruitment of 16 Advisor posts, D Grimes confirmed that work was progressing and advertisement of the Advisor posts was anticipated to be undertaken within the next six weeks, subject to internal funding resources being addressed and a framework being developed. 

The Board expressed its concern on the pace to progress recruitment and discussed if it would be appropriate to use contingency funding, rather than internal funding resources. 

The Board requested that an update report be circulated by email in approximately six weeks’ time to present the progress which had been made.  ACTION: H Kemp.

Mayor Jones asked for confirmation if the SCR LEP was authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to deliver loan funding schemes. 

In response, it was confirmed that there was not a requirement for the SCR LEP to be FCA registered due to the SCR not providing financial advice to businesses.  The SCR LEP would commission any required services from 3rd parties to provide financial advice to businesses who would be FCA registered.

The Board considered that it would be important to either align or combine the employer marketing spends with other sections of the RAP to ensure that end users see a single offer that fits their particular needs. 

D Smith confirmed that the MCA Executive Team were currently in the process of reorganising its Gateway services, which would focus on marketing the whole of the RAP to provide an enhanced reach into businesses than currently experienced. 

The Board asked if the expenditure and targets table previously contained in the RAP could be revised to show the new funding amounts, targets and outcomes. 

D Grimes acknowledged the request and said that he would circulate an additional document after today’s meeting showing the KPIs and outputs attached to the RAP.  ACTION: D Grimes.

RESOLVED – That the Business Recovery and Growth Board considered and approved the delivery plan for the priority initiatives and also endorsed the overall package of support detailed in the revised Implementation Plan.