Agenda Item 12 a

Cabinet Member Report to County Council

Thursday 07 December 2017

Cabinet Member: Councillor Colin Noble Cabinet Member for Economic Development Contact details: Tel: 01473 260535 Email: colin.noble@.gov.uk

1. Economic Development

Suffolk Business Ambassadors

Our partnership with Suffolk Chamber of Commerce in running the Invest in Suffolk Ambassadors continues to deliver opportunities for businesses. In September around 60 businesses attended a Suffolk MP’s Question Time breakfast at Wherstead Park. In November we were joined by national economic experts Dr Adam Marshall from British Chambers of Commerce and Dan Lewis from the Institute of Directors, who spoke at a dinner of about 20 businesses, Councillor Jane Storey attended this on my behalf.

In the New Year we will start a programme of one to one visits to our Ambassadors to explore challenges and opportunities they are facing, and will continue to work with Suffolk Chamber of Commerce on our engagement events.

OrbisEnergy

OrbisEnergy, the region’s offshore renewable energy hub recently celebrated its 9th birthday. The £9 million, 3,300 square metre, five storey, state of the art building is located near to Ness Point in . Over its life to date it has accommodated around 160 tenants, assisted with the creation of over 1,000 jobs and been a pilot for innovation in the sector.

The centre hosts both fledgling businesses and industry giants. Owned by , the centre offers both managed accommodation and technical support for growing businesses in the sector. The centre looks to continue to fulfil its pivotal role in the future, as more wind energy projects and their supply chain are developed off the Norfolk and Suffolk coast, working in partnership with bodies such as the national Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult.

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Phoenix Enterprise Park (PEP)

The Phoenix Enterprise Park (Phase 1) in Lowestoft reached an important milestone on 22 November when an on-site ceremony was held to mark the topping off of the scheme. Suffolk County Council (SCC) own the PEP, having bought the brownfield site on the South Lowestoft Industrial estate two years ago. With the assistance of a £2.5 million grant from the New Anglia LEP we are developing the first phase of the site to provide 16 modern industrial units, 35,000 sq ft in total. The first phase development is due to be completed in March of 2018 and there is good interest from businesses in the units.

The development, done with support from Waveney District Council, is an initiative to kick start development on the South Lowestoft Enterprise Zone. The whole site was formerly the location of the Wessex Food factory, which was destroyed by fire in 2010. The scheme has accommodated measures to clean up the site and put in some services to enable further phases of development on the 9-acre site. Units are available for rental occupation from March 2018 and SCC are willing to sell the freehold of the remaining land for business expansion. Project management of the scheme was by Concertus.

Screen Suffolk

I’m pleased to report another successful quarter for Screen Suffolk with 189 filming days to date. Most noticeable was the filming at Endeavour House, that doubled up as a London office block, for the first episode of the new series of The Detectorists that aired on the BBC in October. Other shoots have included a TV advert for this year’s Stoptober campaign. Screen Suffolk were successful in putting Suffolk forward and the entire advert was shot in the county. Most recently Screen Suffolk has been overseeing filming and licensing for DIY SOS in Mildenhall.

The planning application for a new film studio at Bentwaters Park has been successful, this will see a main studio built and conversion of nine old military buildings into space for associated users. SCC and local authorities are pulling together an action plan to ensure support for the development through skills and inward investment.

For more information please contact: Jai Raithatha, Head of Economic Development Email: [email protected], Telephone: 01473 264819

2. County Council Network Conference

On 20 – 21 November, I attended, along with Cllr Richard Smith, Sue Cook (Interim Chief Executive) and Chris Bally (Assistant Chief Executive), the annual County Council Network (CCN) Conference. The conference covered an array of topics from Delayed Transfers of Care (DToC), Children’s Social Services, future funding to infrastructure. As County Council Network Spokesperson for Health and Social Care, I chaired a session on the CCN’s approach to The Social Care Green Paper.

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One of the main areas of discussion on the first day of the conference was the report by think-tank ResPublica, Devo 2.0: The Case for Counties. The report puts forward a case for devolution and reform to county areas that could deliver billions in public sector savings and £30bn of additional gross value added (GVA) growth. Alongside the case for devolution to counties, the report analyses some of the additional complexities within the two-tier system, and looks into why public service reform and devolution have been held back in county regions.

You can read the full report here: http://www.respublica.org.uk/our- work/publications/devo-2-0-case-counties/.

Meeting with Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government

During November, following the publication of a New Deal for Counties, I was invited to attend a private meeting with Sajid Javid, along with Paul Carter (Leader Kent County Council) and Philip Atkins (Leader Staffordshire County Council). At the meeting we put forward a case for better funding for County Councils.

For more information please contact: Colin Noble, Leader of Suffolk County Council Email: [email protected], Telephone: 01473 260535

3. Communications

We Are Listening Events 2017

I have now concluded my 2017 series of We Are Listening events, my third such programme since I became Leader of Suffolk County Council. I would like to thank all the officers, cabinet members and councillors that joined me at the five locations across Suffolk, including , Lowestoft, , and Haverhill.

It’s been fantastic to meet and speak to so many of our residents and discuss the things that matter the most to them. We spoke to nearly 300 people at the events, and through a co-ordinated social media campaign, reached 90,000 people. Colleagues in communications and customer services are currently ensuring a huge number of questions and comments are responded to directly. As you would expect from these kinds of events, there was an enormous range of topics that people wanted to speak about, including highways, local planning issues, buses and social care. I received a very positive response from people who welcomed the opportunity to meet in person. I’d like to thank everyone who made time to get in touch. I plan to continue these events in 2018 and would encourage local members to join me and make use of this opportunity to speak to Suffolk residents.

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For more information please contact: Andrew St Ledger, Head of Communications and Media Email: [email protected], Telephone: 01473 264388

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