PAPER D

Purpose : for Noting

REPORT TO THE EXECUTIVE

Date : 13 AUGUST 2003

Title : QUARTERLY REPORT OF THE ISLE OF WIGHT ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP

REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO HOLDER FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, UK AND EU, REGIONAL ISSUES

SUMMARY/PURPOSE

1 The Isle of Wight Economic Partnership (IWEP) provide quarterly reports on their activities to the Economic Development, Planning, Tourism and Leisure Services Select Committee. The Executive have requested that this report is also presented to them.

BACKGROUND

2 As part of the Service Level Agreement between the Council and IWEP it has been agreed that quarterly reports will be provided on their activities. Appendix 1 provides a summary of these activities highlighting key points.

4 Members may wish to note, in particular, the good progress being made on Project Cowes and the work on developing the Area Investment Framework (AIF) to which the Council departments are being encouraged to contribute with project ideas.

STRATEGIC CONTEXT

5 The Council delivers its economic development activities through the IWEP. These contribute to the achievement of the Corporate Objective “encouraging job creation and economic prosperity” as laid down in the Corporate Plan.

6 The activities of IWEP also contribute to actions identified in the Economic Development Best Value Improvement Plan and contribute to 2 PSA targets (supporting businesses and job creation, and encouraging over 50s into work)

CONSULTATION

7 This report has gone to the Council’s Economic Development, Planning, Tourism and leisure Services Select committee on 28 July 2003

FINANCIAL/BUDGET IMPLICATIONS

8 For the financial year 2003 / 2004 the Council have contributed £104,000 in cash and seconded staff as agreed. In addition the Council continue to honour their agreement to pay rent on Enterprise House should the IWEP be unable to do so. This amounts to £135,000 per year paid in quarterly instalments of £33,750.

LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

9 This report sets out information about various activities of the IWEP, to which the Council is entitled under the service level agreement. The Executive, through the Head of Corporate Policy, is responsible for contract monitoring and the invitation to note the information does not raise any legal issues.

OPTIONS

10 N/A

EVALUATION/RISK MANAGEMENT

11 Any potential risk to the Council would come from a failure on behalf of IWEP to deliver economic development services for the Island on behalf of the Council. To minimise this risk the services and the terms and conditions under which they are to be delivered are clearly laid out in the service level agreement. This includes provisions for monitoring IWEP activities, of which this report forms a part.

RECOMMENDATIONS

12 Members note this report.

BACKGROUND PAPERS

13 Service Level Agreement between the Council and IWEP

14 Legal Agreements between the Council and IWEP undertaking to guarantee payment of the rent on the properties known as Enterprise House and the Innovation Centre, St Cross Business Park, Newport, should the IWEP be unable to do so.

15 Area Investment Framework (AIF)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

16 The following appendices are attached to this report:

· Appendix 1 – Summary of IWEP activities

Contact Point : Lesley Williams, Principal Policy Officer

Tel: 01983 823797 email: [email protected]

J BENTLEY Head of Policy and Communications

H REES Portfolio Holder for Economic Development, UK and EU, Regional Issues

APPENDIX 1

IWEP Activities – Quarterly Report

Summary

The regeneration programmes are currently delivering to projected profiles for the year 2003-04. Several grant programmes will cease in March 2004 and work is in progress to access monies from the single pot [SEEDA] and from other funders, for future regeneration activity through the Area Investment Framework process.

Project Cowes is almost at the conclusion of phase 1 [land acquisition] and will start to move into the next phase. The Innovation Centre is functioning successfully as part of the Enterprise Hub Initiative and the Virtual Hub project is gradually gaining momentum.

Other programmes are on schedule to achieve the targets for 2003-04 as described under the sections itemised below.

Regeneration Programmes

Quarterly returns containing key indicators, outputs and outcomes are due to be completed and sent to SEEDA at the end of July for the Quarter 1 period [April-June] 2003-04.

SRB Programmes V and VI

The SRBV programme is due to be completed in March 2004 and is now fully committed.

There was an underspend in SRBVI at the end of 2002-03 due to the development of the Public Realm Strategy. This meant that infrastructure projects could not be taken forward as had originally been planned. This was at the request of SEEDA and therefore the underspend did not result in loss of grant funding and the monies have been carried over into this year 2003-04.

The Public Realm Strategy is in the final draft stage and should be finalised in Quarter 2 [July-September]. The IWEP is looking to work with the IW Council to appoint a co-ordinator for the development of the sea front area including supporting the development of the Interchange project.

The Ryde Development Trust held their AGM in June and there are now 7 Trustees and there will be a Council Member nominated by the IW Council. They are looking to appoint 2 further trustees and have a second nomination from the IW Council.

Rural Development Programme

This programme will cease in March 2004 and this year’s money is already fully committed. Officers are looking to theme projects that are coming forward for funding under the Area Investment Framework proposals to access money from funders for 2004 onwards.

Leader+

There are more projects coming forward under this initiative and 7 were approved by the LAG group over the last three months.

These include:

Title	Grant	Match Funding	Timescale
Apple Day	£16,245	£18,185	3 years
Brading IT	£32,260	£55,011	5 years
Chale Nursery	£50,727	£30,959	3 years
Green Life	£19,951	£4,988	1 year
Sustainable Tourism	£59,873	£54,847	3 years
West Wight Sports Centre	£2,025	£2500	1 year
Wight Community Transport	£23,430	£101,478	2 years

Market Towns Initiative

The delivery plans for Sandown and Shanklin have been approved by SEEDA and a town co-ordinator is working with the two towns to support delivery of the programmes.

The Ventnor delivery plan is still waiting approval and there is a recruitment process in place for the appointment of a town co-ordinator. There is a need to ensure that the MTI is seen as part of a strategy for the whole of the area and is not delivered in isolation. Recruitment of a new MTI co-ordinator is also in place as the previous co-ordinator has relocated to the mainland.

Healthy Living Programme

The 19 projects are currently being reviewed with project leaders to look at forward strategies beyond December 2003. There are still some issues about how to make this programme sustainable and this is being addressed through the advisory group and the management group. The issues will be raised with NOF who are the current funders of the programme.

Enterprise & Investment

Project Cowes:

We have now completed our second round of public consultation with an overall approval rating in excess of 80%. This is a clear indication of the importance of this Project to the overall development of the IoW economy.

In conjunction with SEEDA, we will be hosting a number of guests during Cowes Week. This will include a mix of potential investors, developers, press and potential occupiers, all of whom have shown interest in investing in the Medina Valley.

The Project will soon move on from the current land acquisition phase to concentrate on 4 themes. These are; Business, Infrastructure, Communities and Environment.

We anticipate the Project will last from 5-10 years and will become a key driver in providing a step change in our economic fortunes.

Inward Investment:

We are continually working on a number of inward investment projects. These projects, by their very nature take many months to come to fruition and therefore, there will be little change from quarter to quarter.

Current active projects include; a 12 man call centre, 5 marine operators, a medical supplies company and 2 bio-diesel companies.

We are in contact with many other potential investors under the auspices of Project Cowes, in the main these tend to be in the leisure sector.

Innovation Centre:

We are part of the successful SEEDA Enterprise Hub initiative, whereby up to 30 business incubators are established across the south east. Aimed at high tech. high growth companies, the Centre now houses 8 direct tenants and 2 ‘virtual’ tenants, 2 companies having combined and graduated out of the Centre to their own premises in Newport, (this is exactly what the Centre is here for). The Centre aims to remove barriers to growth which can include access to finance, marketing etc as well as providing top quality business premises. In the 2 year history of the Centre we have had 3 graduations, (the highest in the SE network), 1 business failure and contact with approximately 50 companies.

The next 6 months will see the development of our ‘Hatchery’ where we will provide facilities on a ‘rent a desk’ basis, including access to Broadband.

Ambassadors Scheme:

As previously reported, this scheme now operates with a much lower profile than that previously run by IoW Tourism. However the scheme is far more effective in attracting new investment to the Island. 4 of our current inward investment opportunities have come from people acting as an Ambassador for the Island.

The scheme will now be formalised with names being put forward. We will then supply a simple piece of promotional material and an area on our web-site (currently under development) to all Ambassadors. We will have 3 main areas of operation, Individual Ambassadors, Corporate Ambassadors and Media Ambassadors. The media element is a development of the already successful PR Network we have established.

Ambassadors will simply be asked to promote the Isle of Wight and provide us with contact details for those interested in investing in our future.

We anticipate putting together a business plan during the next quarter, on how the scheme can operate in the future; this will include an Ambassadors Club to promote the Island at a higher level.

PSA Targets

Target 3 – Job Creation

Inward Investment activities have been summed up under the section Enterprise & Investment and the actual returns are in line with the projected targets to be delivered by March 2003.

Target 11 – Over 50’s Employment

It was anticipated that there would be a development phase to this target area prior to the achievement of any target figures. There is now an agreement between JobCentre Plus and the IWEP about the types of activities that will take place and there is a proposal being developed to work with B&Q to help develop confidence and skills with the 50+ unemployed group. There is also a proposal to access a special pot of funding that has been allocated to innovative projects that provide training and resource to enable older people to access work.

Financial Report

The financial forecasts made by the IWEP for the first quarter of the financial year are on target and the figures have been shared with the finance department of the IW Council.

Other Activities

Area Investment Framework (AIF)

The AIF is the key to future grant funding activities. The Isle of Wight as a sub-region is well ahead in the development of its AIF and an action plan to implement it. There is an expectation from major funders that we will have a proposal by the end of 2003 which sets out some major schemes and activities to achieve the priorities set out in the AIF document. Meetings have been held with the executive to the Local Strategic Partnership to ensure that the members of the Partnership are fully involved in the process. Workshops are being planned with the various theme groups to ensure that there is as much involvement as possible with all stakeholders in designing the schemes and activities that will be put forward.