LOCAL ENTERPRISE PARTNERSHIP

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF CUMBRIA LOCAL ENTERPRISE PARTNERSHIP HELD BY VIDEO CONFERENCE ON FRIDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 2020 AT 2.00PM

DIRECTORS PRESENT

Lord Richard Inglewood, Chair; Jim Jackson, Deputy Chair; Barrow Borough Council represented by Lee Roberts; Graham Booth; Copeland Borough Council represented by Mike Starkie; Steve Cole; John Coughlan; Steve Curl; Eden District Council represented by Mary ; National Park Authority represented by Peter Allan MBE; Julie Mennell; Emma Porter; Lorrainne Smyth, Chief Executive ACTion with Communities in Cumbria; Sarah Swindley; Rebecca Weston and Nigel Wilkinson.

IN ATTENDANCE

• Harry Colwell, Baines Wilson LLP • Jen Hewitt, PA & Office Manager, CLEP • Andrew Hill, Company Secretary • Maisie Hunt, Head of Secretariat, CLEP • Jo Lappin, Chief Executive, CLEP

The Chair opened the meeting by welcoming all attendees to the Cumbria LEP Annual General Meeting.

1. APPOINTMENTS TO THE BOARD

1.1. The meeting was asked to note that the Board had ratified the appointment of Lorrainne Smyth to the Board as a private sector member to represent Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise interests. Lorrainne Smyth would take over the work of her predecessor, Patricia Livsey who had stood down from the position. The Board gave its thanks to Patricia Livsey for her commitment.

1.2. The meeting was asked to note that the Board had ratified the re-appointments of John Coughlan and Nigel Wilkinson as private sector Board members. 2. APOLOGIES FORDRAFT ABSENCE Apologies for absence were received from Cumbria County Council represented by Stewart Young, Vice-Chair; Carolyn Dodwell; Mike Smith OBE and Andrew Wren.

3. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

!1 The Members were invited to declare any interests. No declarations of interest were made.

4. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

3.1 The minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting held on Friday 27 September 2019 were discussed. The Chair asked the Members if they had any additions or amendments to make to the minutes.

4.2. The Members had no additions or amendments to the minutes and agreed that the minutes were an accurate and correct record of the previous Annual General Meeting. Accordingly, IT WAS RESOLVED that the minutes be approved and accepted in the form provided.

4.3. The Members confirmed that there were no further matters arising not elsewhere covered on the agenda.

5. CHAIR’S OVERVIEW

5.1. The Chair informed the meeting that it has been an unusual year and that COVID-19 had dominated the CLEP’s activity as well as the activity of the whole country. The Chair thanked all of the CLEP members of staff, who had been in the forefront of the steps taken to counter the damage from COVID-19. In particular the Chair acknowledged the Chief Executive’s appointment as Chair of the Business and Economic Response and Recovery Group (BERRG) which is part of the governance arrangements established by the Local Resilience Forum in response to the national emergency. In addition to chairing BERRG, CLEP had also taken on its Secretariat function.

5.2. The Chair welcomed back Peter Allen, who the meeting was informed had personally had COVID-19 and as such been away from his activities for a considerable period of time.

5.3. The Chair divided the activities of CLEP over the last twelve months into three key themes:

1. Covid work under BERRG and the LRD Structures; 2. ContinuationDRAFT of activities engaged; and 3. Implications of the end of EU Exit Transition period.

5.4. The Chair acknowledged that the transition period for EU Exit, which comes to an end on 31 December 2020. He recognised that this could cause significant business dislocation, and it was important that businesses did not get deflected from thinking about the challenges and opportunities that might lie ahead.

5.5. The Chair recognised that the operating environment was also changing with positive and increased focus on net zero and a green economy.

!2 5.6. He said that things were literally changing by the minute, and the work that CLEP had been doing to address all of the issues was partly reflected in the Annual Report. There had also been interest about the future role of CLEP and the structure of wider governance in the county. The Chair acknowledged that the government was looking at devolution and local government reorganisation, which would potentially have implications for both Cumbria and CLEP. However, LEPs are currently part of the wider system of ‘government’ and were politically neutral and would work in whichever way best benefits Cumbria.

5.7. The Chair advised that nationally government is giving thought to a system of supra-regional bodies and therefore changes are likely to happen, although it was currently unclear as what these changes were going to be. CLEP would respond as best as it could, putting the best interests of the county at the front of its activities. The future is uncertain, although there are a number of very serious concerns facing Cumbria economically, commercially and more widely. The Chair assured the meeting that CLEP would do its best to stand with the rest of the community to mitigate any damaging impacts and to grasp any opportunities that might arise in the future.

6. INVESTMENT OVERVIEW

6.1. The Deputy Chair provided an investment overview for the previous twelve months. He thanked the LEP officers, members of the Investment Panel, Board Members and colleagues, who had kept CLEP on track throughout such a difficult period, as well as the businesses, which continued to progress their investment plans.

6.2. He identified that £60.32 million of funding had been secured through the Growth Deal, which had unlocked £146 million of investment in Cumbria. Attendees were informed that this was the final financial year of the Growth Deal, which ended in March 2021. £47.5 million had been spent to date, with £12.82 remaining to be spent by March 2021, with more than sufficient projects in the pipeline to deliver the remaining funds. CLEP was slightly over programmed at the moment as a contingency and further contingency projects were available, if required.

6.3. The Deputy Chair acknowledged that the Investment Panel had now exceeded three of the delivery targets and will by 2025 achieve all of the Growth Deal targets. He recognisedDRAFT that housing and jobs tended to be a lagging indicator as infrastructure needs to be built to enable these to be delivered. Clearly, COVID-19 presented a risk for the achievement of jobs, given the level of economic contraction.

!3 6.4. The Deputy Chair informed the meeting that CLEP had invested in over 20 projects over the last 6 years, across a range of activities and geographies. The programme was large and far reaching. He had been pleased about the introduction of the Growing our Potential Fund, which had been designed to provide easier access to relatively small amounts of money and had been a considerable success. The initial allocation of £1 million, had been increased and was now fully subscribed. The funding has gone to provide grant support to private businesses to make capital investments to support growth. CLEP would look to replicate this, should further funding be made available.

6.5. He went on to inform the meeting that in July, a Getting Building fund of £10.5 million had been received from government, which was allocated to two projects; vertical farming (£5.5 million) and A595 Bothel (£5 million), subject to due diligence. These projects needed to be completed by March 2022, and business cases were expected in November of this year.

6.6. The Deputy Chair acknowledged that the future funding horizon was uncertain. Therefore, the primary focus would be on building a pipeline of projects, which had been welcomed by government colleagues, in anticipation of further funding coming forward. Sustainable economic growth is a focus, as well as jobs and housing. Key themes also include clean energy, net zero, active travel, vibrant places, agriculture and manufacturing.

7. MAKING A DIFFERENCE

7.1. The meeting was informed by the Chief Executive that CLEP thought it would be helpful to outline the work of three of the governance bodies, which were all focused on working in and with places. Peter Allen would begin with the Places Strategy Group, followed by Steve Cole who would talk about the Barrow Towns Board and finally Emma Porter who chaired the Construction Sector Panel.

PLACES STRATEGY GROUP – PETER ALLEN, MBE

7.2. Peter Allen began by highlighting key priorities of the Places Strategy Group:

• the promotion of Cumbria as the place to live work and invest; • to address cold spots of worklessness and social deprivation in Cumbria; • to support local place shaping programmes; • encouragingDRAFT housing which is the right product at the right price in the right place; • supporting the development of bespoke local area economic diversification strategies, and • to work with the public sector to deliver high quality public services.

!4 7.3. He started by highlighting the Your Future campaign that had been developed to sell Cumbria using real life case studies of people who had relocated to work in the area. This campaign had now been ‘rebooted’ following the lifting of lockdown. Multiple routes to markets were being used for the campaign. Attendees were then shown images showcasing the campaign including the alliterative campaign - Calming Cumbria; Clever Cumbria, Captivating Cumbria; Creative Cumbria etc.

7.4. Peter Allen acknowledged the work to support partners to deliver housing that meets the needs of all - both current and new residents. The meeting was informed that Lichfields had been appointed to identify barriers to housing delivery and opportunities that could be taken forward. This had resulted in the production of a Housing Delivery Strategy, focused on creating a pro- development culture, providing strategic leadership on infrastructure, supporting construction skills development and producing a Cumbria-wide Development Prospectus.

7.5. He went on to highlight the importance of supporting place shaping and the Towns Deals. The meeting was informed that three of the five Towns Deals Boards (Barrow, Carlisle and Workington) were chaired by CLEP Board members, with the Executive being members on all five Boards. The Places Strategy Group reviewed progress and organised a teach-in to learn from the furthest advanced area. Chatham’s House ‘Star Chambers’ were established with national experts providing advice on the further development of the proposals. Peter Allen gave thanks to the CLEP team for the support throughout the last 6 months.

BARROW TOWN DEAL – STEVE COLE, CLEP BOARD MEMBER AND BARROW TOWN DEAL CHAIR

7.6. Steve Cole introduced himself to the meeting. In opening, Steve outlined Barrow’s history and how it had been at the forefront of shipbuilding, since the 1800s. More recently, Barrow had advanced manufacturing and engineering practices and innovations in clean energy generation and energy support. Barrow was home to natural assets that were to be celebrated and further developed, as it was a town of opportunity. This solid foundation could be built upon, with progress in education and engineering advancements. There was still deprivation, and the Towns Deal was designed to help address these challenges asDRAFT well as take forward opportunities.

!5 7.7. He went on to outline that Barrow was selected by government as one of the 101 towns for the Towns Deal. The focus of the Deals is on three themes: urban regeneration; skills and enterprise; and connectivity. The Towns Investment Plan was expected to form the basis for negotiation with government and this had been submitted at the end of July. Barrow Borough Council would be the Accountable Body for the Towns Deal. Barrow had recently secured significant investment opportunities including confirmed funding from the Arts Council, Heritage Lottery Fund and the Heritage Action Zone running alongside the Towns Deal. There was also potential support from the Future High Street Fund; Local Authority Accelerated Construction Fund; Low Carbon Barrow; Electric Bus Town; and LSCER. There was also strong links to CLEP’s clean energy proposals.

7.8. Steve Cole mentioned the presence of BAE Systems, as an anchor business, provided the opportunity for the community to benefit from the opportunities presented by the submarine programme and the deterrent replacement programme. This was a great platform for Barrow to build upon.

7.9. Attendees were advised that the approach had started with a persuasive socio- economic narrative together, followed by a vision. There was then the development of a long list of potential priority investments, which had been refined to a short list of prioritised investments via the assessment of critical success factors to help make the choices. At the beginning of June the prioritised shortlist was then signed off. A summary of the investment short list was provided by Steve, which totalled just under £30 million rather than the suggested £25million, as the Barrow Town Board believed that the Investment Plan merited this higher investment.

7.10. Steve Cole explained that the shortlist contained 3 programmes in the skills and enterprise theme - Barrow learning quarter (being the flagship at £13.4 million with partnership through Cumbria Univeristy and the Furness College), community wellbeing hubs & Earnse Bay Outdoor Centre and Business Support from the CLEP delivered locally in Barrow; 3 programmes in the urban regeneration and land use theme - housing renewal programme, place development (culture and tourism) and Marina Village; and finally connectivity with the local cycling and walking infrastructure (with £4 million). He closed with an infographic on Barrow which was available online and which brought together the full programme proposed for Barrow. CONSTRUCTIONDRAFT SECTOR PANEL – EMMA PORTER, CHAIR CONSTRUCTION SECTOR PANEL

7.11. Emma Porter explained that the Construction Sector Panel was in its infancy at the last AGM, and since then a lot has been done to develop the Panel and its membership. She started by outlining the Panel’s priorities, which were:

• Increasing the economic contribution and growth of the sector by identifying the greatest opportunities.

!6 • Securing a greater share of the major projects by working collaboratively to identify opportunities. There are a number of Cumbrian contractors who are able to deliver large pieces of work (and the infrastructure recovery programme was almost entirely delivered by Cumbrian contractors). • Ensuring that the skills need of the sector are met and delivered locally by working with the local skills providers (and recognising that there are some skills shortages in the sector that need work).

7.12. The current actions of the Sector Panel was outlined including plans for the future and the development of a response to the White Paper. Work was underway to gear up to respond to major procurements, a number of which were on the horizon; as well as to influence in the skills curriculum, including the Heavy Civils Training Centre at Lakes College West Cumbria.

7.13. Turning to the Sector Panel’s response to COVID-19, Emma Porter acknowledged the challenges that this had been presented for the construction sector. She explained that the Sector Panel had done a lot to mitigate the impact, including escalation of sectoral issues, the Safe Working Campaign, Building Back Better, by using the pandemic as a platform for change, and overall recovery planning and encouraging embracing change.

7.14. The Chief Executive thanked the Board members for their contributions. She highlighted that CLEP had 8 Sector Panels, 5 Strategy Groups, an Investment Panel, Futures Forum and the Kingmoor Park Enterprise Zone, which demonstrated the breadth of activity underway and the excellent engagement of partners in this work.

8. DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION – DIVERSITY CHAMPION UPDATE

8.1. The Chief Executive invited Sarah Swindley to update the meeting on the diversity and inclusion agenda as Andrew Wren, the Diversity Champion, had urgent commitments and was therefore unfortunately unavailable.

8.2. Sarah Swindley identified that last year CLEP had met and exceeded its gender diversity target and had done more this year to embed gender equality throughout its wider governance structure. She outlined that CLEP remained committed to increasing representation from individuals with protected characteristics,DRAFT including BAME representation.

8.3. Andrew Wren’s hard work in establishing the Futures Forum was recognised by Sarah Swindley. This group consisting of 16 young people aged 18-35 drawn from across the county, provided CLEP with a reassurance that there was a mechanism to understand the priorities and interests of younger people. The Futures Forum received Board papers and actively commented on the work of CLEP to influence and shape its priorities.

!7 8.4. Sarah Swindley informed the meeting that slightly separately she had been working on CLEP’s commitment to inclusive growth in the context of recovery, which included commissioning of a piece of work that looked at how CLEP made sure recovery was inclusive. CLEP was keen to hear from partners of how it could do more in this area and welcomed feedback and suggestions from attendees.

9. LEP SCRUTINY BOARD

9.1. The Chief Executive outlined that the Cumbria LEP has been and will continue to operate to the highest standards of governance and accountability which she was pleased to confirm had resulted in CLEP being awarded an ‘exceptional’ marking for governance in its Annual Performance Review.

9.2. The Chief Executive welcomed Cllr Bill Wearing, the Chair of the LEP Scrutiny Board, to provide an overview of the scrutiny activity that had taken place in respect of CLEP.

9.3. Cllr Bill Wearing advised that at the County Council AGM on the 11 April 2019 arrangements had been agreed for the scrutiny of CLEP and the formation of the LEP Scrutiny Board. He explained to the meeting that the LEP Scrutiny Board is made up of 14 County members and one member from each of the six District Authorities.

9.4. The Scrutiny Board meets twice a year with the latest being on 10 September 2020. At the most recent meeting the CLEP Chair and Chief Executive presented the latest reports and answered questions on the funding landscape in light of COVID-19; the Restart, Reboot, Rethink recovery plan; and transitioning from the world of education to the world of work for young people.

9.5. Cllr Wearing added that the Scrutiny Board had covered a wide range of topics over the past 12 months including the LEP Delivery Plan, strategic decisions and plans of the Partnership. The meeting was informed that both the Chair and the Chief Executive have both presented the Scrutiny Board with a very positive and forward-looking organisation, which all elected members on the Scrutiny Board were pleased to see.

9.6. He added that, in his capacity as Chair of the Scrutiny Board, he had found both the Chair and the Chief Executive to be very open and honest with the Scrutiny Board around the challenges and opportunities. Cllr Wearing concluded thatDRAFT the Scrutiny Board welcomes the excellent engagement shown by CLEP and moving forward, the elected members wished to take the opportunity to wish the Board well in what was proving to be a difficult period.

10. ANNUAL ACCOUNTS OF THE LEP

!8 10.1. Nigel Wilkinson was invited to address the meeting on the annual accounts of CLEP as Chair of the Finance, Audit and Resources Committee (FARC). He began by thanking his fellow FARC members and the CLEP Executive for their support. Since the company was incorporated in December 2018, and began operating formally from the 1 April 2019, these were the first audited accounts that were being presented for the company limited by guarantee. The accounts covered the year 2019/2020 ending 31 March 2020.

10.2. He was pleased to confirm that the audit report was clean. The accounts had been audited by David Allen & Co and as part of the process the going concern status needed to be considered. This was confirmed for 12 months from the date that the accounts were signed. There were no material weaknesses identified in the accounting and internal control systems and no significant findings from the audit, including no unadjusted items following the auditor’s report.

10.3. Attendees were provided with a copy of the summary accounts, which had also been included in the Annual Report at pages 43 and 44. CLEP had submitted the accounts to Companies House as required.

10.4. Nigel Wilkinson identified that the reported surplus in the accounts was £710,536, which included pre-incorporation funding that was transferred from the Accountable Body of £527,000 and a contingency reserve of £331,582. If you exclude these two items, amounting to £858,000, over the period CLEP’s expenditure exceeded its income by £148,000. Nigel Wilkinson then presented the balance sheet which showed a net asset of £710,431. Nigel Wilkinson highlighted the £331,000 contingency reserve, which was restricted and had conditions imposed on its transfer which could not be realised without the approval of Cumbria County Council and the accumulated revenue reserve of £378,849.

10.5. He closed by informing the meeting of his intention to step down as the Chair of FARC due to time constraints relating to his own personal business circumstances and role as Chair of the Visitor Economy Sector Panel. The Chair thanked Nigel Wilkinson for all of his work as FARC Chair and was pleased that he was remaining as a member of the CLEP Board. Board Members were happy to receive the accounts and IT WAS RESOLVED that the accounts be received in the form presented. 11. RESTART, REBOOT,DRAFT RETHINK – A PLAN FOR CUMBRIA’S ECONOMIC RECOVERY

11.1. The Chief Executive highlighted that the Business and Economic Response and Recovery Group (BERRG) had been meeting since March 2020. The initial focus was on a response phase with the Terms of Reference recognising that BERRG would develop a recovery strategy, at the appropriate time. The drafting of Restart, Reboot, Rethink - A Plan for Cumbria’s Economic Recovery commenced 6-8 weeks ago. The strategy was very much a constantly evolving document and could be reviewed on the website in the CLEP Board papers for meeting that had taken place earlier that day.

!9 11.2. It was important to be clear about the potential scale of the challenge facing the economy generally and Cumbria, specifically. At the very outset BERRG conducted an economic vulnerability assessment on Cumbria’s 40 sub sectors that make up the economy. This identified a greater degree of vulnerability in employment, with 18% of jobs in a high-risk category nationally, whereas 22% of jobs are at higher risk in Cumbria. South Lakeland and Eden were potentially more vulnerable, given the shape of their economies.

11.3. Some expectations had unfortunately come to fruition in terms of unemployment, with Cumbria’s level increasing to 4.7% in August, which still compared favourably to the UK position at 6.5%. However, this was on the back of an initial 2.3% unemployment level, and when looking at particular geographies, there were stark rises in areas that high or very little unemployment, for example the Lake District National Park area. This was whilst the furlough scheme had been running. The Chief Executive highlighted the level of jobs that had at some point been furloughed in Cumbria, identifying that Eden and South Lakeland had some of the highest level of furlough usage in the country. She explained that the percentages provided were not the numbers as of today but a reflection of those jobs that had been furloughed at any point in the period. However, it was clearly a cause for concern as to what would happen once the schemes are closed at the end of October on levels of unemployment. She added that more individuals had also received the Self Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS).

11.4. The Chief Executive identified that the most recent estimate is that the Cumbrian Economy has contracted by 20.7%, compared with the UK average at 19.1%. The meeting was provided with forecasts demonstrated a recovery between 2021 (at best case) and 2025 (worse case). The same forecast for unemployment demonstrated recovery at 2022 (best case) to 2025 (worst case). She added that at this point in time, forecasting was challenging, given the significant uncertainties.

11.5. A simple framework had been agreed in April, for recovery planning, which was:

• Restart – getting businesses back to work as soon as possible • Reboot – developing a flight path back to the Local Industrial Strategy ambitions which remain feasible and deliverable; and • Rethink – addressing the limitations of some aspects of economic policy including globalisation,DRAFT just in time supply chains and thinking how the economy will operate differently post COVID-19.

11.6. These three phases were not sequential but would run in parallel. She went on to outline the MACMAP framework through which each issue was being assessed; mitigation, access, communication, measures, attitude and policy. The Chief Executive talked attendees through the framework and how it operated, advising that further work was required particularly on the rethink element.

!10 11.7. CLEP’s commitment to the three touchstones - productivity, inclusive growth and net zero carbon – remained and these were now being thought about in a recovery context. In terms of rethink, six themes had been identified where Cumbria had a significant competitive advantage and also where traction would be gained in terms of going with the grain of policy and investment. These were Clean Energy Production; Diversify to Thrive; The New Visitor Experience; The Future of Food, Cumbria as the UK’s Natural Capital; and The Way We Live, The Way We Work Now.

11.8. The Chief Executive highlighted that all of the Sector Panels were producing their own specific plans, with the first being the visitor economy. An example of a Sector Plan synthesis produced by the Visitor Economy Sector Panel was presented to the meeting. She invited Nigel Wilkinson to say a few words about the development of the plan.

11.9. Nigel Wilkinson advised the meeting that the visitor economy was worth £3 billion to Cumbria, securing 44 million visitors and employing 65,000 people in the sector and its supply chain. COVID-19 restrictions had presented significant challenges for the sector, with it being practically closed from 21 March 2020 to 3 July 2020. The furlough scheme had been crucial during this period. Market changes had occurred, particularly to the international market. Those businesses that had reopened are operating on restricted volumes. The key was to come up with a strategic plan to get the appropriate mitigation support and communications and promote the underlying benefits of the visitor economy to Cumbria. The group had met every Monday since May. The plan had been evolving and now needed to look closely at rethink and the new visitor experience, including new markets such as motor homes and increased camping demand.

12. QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION

12.1. The Chief Executive outlined that as the AGM was being hosted online, via videoconference, a number of questions had been sent in advance that would be answered by various members of the Board. There was also a Question & Answer featureDRAFT on the videoconference screen, in which participants could ask questions that would be answered by the Board, once pre-registered questions had been answered.

12.2. The following pre-registered questions were answered by members of the Board:

1. Barry Leahey MBE from Playdale Playgrounds Ltd asked for the Board’s thoughts on devolution and whether a single leader would give Cumbria a bigger voice.

!11 The Chair responded acknowledging that the government was in favour of devolution and reorganisation, which if implemented would result in different local government structures across the country. This could enable Cumbria to have a stronger voice, which is what the Chair would wish for Cumbria.

2. Claire Hensman from Lord Lieutenant asked what has happened to the Local Industrial Strategy (LIS). The Chair answered that the LIS was conceived by the previous government and therefore each LEP was preparing these and each LIS was in a different stage of the process at the time of the last general election. Since then it is unclear as to how enthusiastic government was about the specifics of this particular approach. Up until COVIDd-19 struck, CLEP were having positive discussions with government about the draft LIS, which had been submitted. One of the points of the LIS is that it was based on evidence put together by the LEP and once Covid-19 struck, LEP’s focus changed to the Restart, Reboot, Rethink recovery plan, which has a very strong evidence base to work from, based on that developed for the LIS. While the LIS could be said to be in a state of suspension, in practice the work that went into it is being redeployed under a different name

3. Christopher Nelson from Trafalgar Public Relations Limited asked the Board what emission free energy initiatives are Cumbria LEP currently supporting? The Deputy Chair answered acknowledging that the LEP’s role is to support all opportunities and technologies around the clean energy agenda. CLEP’s current focus is on pressing for the publication of the government’s Energy White Paper, as this is framework that will allow CLEP to progress specific projects that relate to the policies within it. This would provide CLEP with the necessary framework of policies and funding tools to support business to bring forward specific projects. The LEP is engaging in a number of technologies from new nuclear, wind, hydrogen, tidal wave and hydroelectric plants. Once CLEP has the policy and fiscal tools it can support projects to proceed. He believed that Cumbria had the opportunity to punch above its weight in this area.

4. Mark Hesketh from Natural asked how CLEP are going to ensure a green recovery in Cumbria? The Deputy Chair answered outlining that CLEP has put net-zero and decarbonisationDRAFT as one of its three touchstones, right at the heart of CLEP’s recovery strategy. CLEP will do everything to support Cumbria’s net zero ambition, ranging from green energy generation through to de-carbonising transport and supporting businesses to reduce carbon footprints, the implementation of which will be supported by the Sector Panels. CLEP aims to work with other partners on natural capital and the opportunities for Cumbria to absorb carbon through natural landscape. The Deputy Chair stated that he firmly believed that Cumbria needs to build from a firm and measurable base and that a lot of work with partners is currently ongoing to achieve an accurate baseline, which will allow clear tracking.

!12 5. Craig Hatch from White Young Green Tetra Tech Company asked the Board which sector they believe is going to have the biggest potential growth impact for Cumbria over the next three years? Emma Porter answered that the sectors with the greatest potential growth impact are those that are outlined in the Rethink themes, namely: clean energy, manufacturing, visitor economy, rural sector and the future of food. These sectors were selected as they are areas where Cumbria has significant competitive advantage and therefore real potential for growth based on the way that the e economy has and is changing.

6. Dr Marianne Sensier from The University of Manchester asked the Board what efforts are being made to help furloughed workers who may be at risk of redundancy? Emma Porter acknowledged that there was very real concern once the furlough scheme ends, particular because Cumbria has two areas with some of the highest levels of furlough in the country. Latest figures for August do however suggest that unemployment levels in Cumbria remain below the national average at 4.7% compared with 6.5% nationally, with some areas improving slightly on July figures. The People, Employment and Skills Strategy Group was considering this issue and are ensuring that all providers are working together so that those coming out of work have the support that is needed. CLEP is also very keen to see the plan for jobs locally tailored to meet the needs of Cumbrian businesses and workforces.

7. Martin Ward from Dodd & Co asked the Board how they see the Cumbrian economy recovering from the pandemic? Steve Curl recognised that there are a number of factors that will influence recovery. Modelling has already been done in developing Restart, Reboot, Rethink, with forecasts based on data that has been collected consistently by CLEP and their advisors. Based on current estimates, Cumbria was looking at a 3 year period at least to fully recover, although it could be slightly longer than that. However, there were so many uncertainties, things were still very much estimates. These forecasts would evolve as time progresses and more information becomes available.

8. Raymond McCreadie from ARC Business Improvements Limited asked the Board what the CLEP is doing to help the self-employed. Steve Curl identified that CLEP recognised the importance of the self- employed toDRAFT the Cumbrian economy and the way that COVID-19 had impacted on this part of the business community. The biggest support to date had been the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS), which had been of real benefit throughout Cumbria, particularly in certain areas. The range of support initiatives that had been provided through the Growth Hub in Cumbria was available to all self-employed; as is the new supplementary professional services support programme which is being operated through CLEP. Going forward, Steve Curl acknowledged that it would be good to see the government’s Comprehensive Spending Review deliver a great deal more

!13 support than has been available to date, particularly for smaller businesses and the self-employed.

9. Jonathan Davies from Putting Cumbria First asked the Board whether CLEP considers that it is delivering for all parts of Cumbria or whether some parts of Cumbria are missing out? Steve Cole answered by stating that it is CLEP’s mission to deliver for all of Cumbria and provide a full, inclusive and diverse support to every area. CLEP is reaching out and endeavouring to provide full support to all parts of Cumbria whilst bringing Cumbria together in an inclusive manner that is fair and representative and doesn’t leave anyone behind. Steve Cole informed the meeting that in his own personal experience is that CLEP has a very inclusive team that holds each other accountable to the whole county. The focus of the team will always be on delivering for all parts of Cumbria.

12.3. The Chief Executive informed the meeting that that completed the pre- submitted question, and invited the Board to answer questions that had been submitted during the AGM in the Question and Answer feature.

10.Julie Torrent asked the Board a question relating to the presentation on the Barrow Towns Deal. The emphasis on skills and enterprise seemed to be very much about further and higher education, yet in Barrow lots of people have significant issues around lower level skills. What is the plan for investment in reducing high levels of long-term unemployment and reducing the skills gap? Steve Cole reassured Julie that CLEP was very aware of this challenge in Barrow, despite Barrow having some of the strongest business opportunities. Barrow is a town that has one of the higher levels of unemployment in the county and difficulties in skill pathways, from lower through to further and higher education levels. CLEP was trying to address this in several ways. Firstly, building on the anchor business that is BAE systems and the MOD present with heavy investments in early careers programmes and outreach to local primary and secondary schools to make sure that there are clear pathways for young people to enter industry, which will also provide medium and long term opportunities. He acknowledged that when the skills agenda was formed with experts from the skills sector it was felt that a higher education facility, turning Barrow into a university town would provide a greater opportunity to create aspirational and accessible learning for a wider range of the population, rather than the current limitations that were present within the educationDRAFT offer. The investment of the £13.4 million would benefit long-term skills and unemployment issues. He added that a big part of the overall plan for Barrow was to diversify the employment proposition and to encourage Barrow to be a place not just to live, learn and develop, but also for businesses to invest. It would help diversify the economy and encourage the start-up of local businesses, support individuals to start their own businesses and encourage supply chains to provide more localised opportunities. He felt that there was the potential to develop employment opportunities in the advanced manufacturing and clean energy sectors.

!14 11. Matthew Warman from Avanti West Coast Partnership asked what opportunities there are for Avanti to work with CLEP and others to invest in the rail network and attract more visitors. Nigel Wilkinson as Chair of the Visitor Economy Sector Panel answered by saying that the Visitor Economy Sector Panel values the importance of sustainable transport providers, which can bring business to Cumbria is a sustainable manner. Nigel Wilkinson identified that both TransPennine Express and Northern Rail were represented on the Sector Panel and he would be delighted if Avanti West Coast Partnership, as operator of the West Coast Mainline franchise could nominate a representative. He added that there was a tremendous opportunity for the leisure market. However, quarantine restrictions meant that domestic visitors were more important than ever and being able to bring visitors to Cumbria in a sustainable manner during the months ahead would be really important. Working with operators to put together packages to make people realise that Cumbria was an accessible place in the middle of the UK would be welcomed. In the longer term there was also the challenge of attracting back international visitors, in which the rail service is of key importance. Many new visitors had sustainability at the heart of their thinking, and it would be great to get Avanti involved in the Panel. Nigel Wilkinson offered to continue the conversation offline.

Steve Curl, as CLEP’s Board lead on transport and infrastructure, added that the immediate focus is on the short term recovery on which Avanti’s support is appreciated. In the longer term CLEP was working very closely with Transport for the North and the Northern Powerhouse to make sure that Cumbria has the best possible longer term infrastructure, which is as sustainable as possible.

12.Dr Marianne Sensier from The University of Manchester asked CLEP to explain what the Vertical Farming Project is, who owns it, how many jobs is it set to create and whether it will work with the agricultural sector in Cumbria. The Deputy Chair informed the meeting that CLEP was still learning about the Vertical Farming Project and expected to see the full business case in November. He outlined his current understanding, which was that vertical farming was the farming of produce for supermarkets in large buildings that had racks of different products. Heat, light and water were closely controlled to grow quality produce in a tightly managed way and to a high standard that could be harvestedDRAFT at the right time. Vertical farming was considered a future means of feeding the world. Neither ownership nor the number of jobs set to be created had been clarified. The Deputy Chair highlighted that vertical farming would complement Cumbria’s agricultural sector rather than compete with it. It would add a further arm to the agricultural offer with the opportunity to put Cumbria at the forefront of this technology in the UK. He added that once the business case is assessed in November, much more would be known.

!15 13.Peter Hensman identified that natural capital is a huge part of Cumbria’s offering, but in order to use this properly Cumbria needs a system of applying financial value on different natural resources. The Chief Executive outlined that this was one of the issues that was discussed at that morning’s Board meeting and invited Sarah Swindley to offer her thoughts.

Sarah Swindley acknowledged that work needed to be done to quantify the value of natural capital to the Cumbrian economy, which was part of the strategic intent in the recovery strategy. She added that Natural England had just published a new natural capital baseline for the county and CLEP has plans in place to start to articulate that value more clearly to the economy and to Cumbrian businesses.

The Chief Executive asked the Chair if he wanted to add anything on this point. The Chair agreed with Peter that natural capital needed to be measured in monetary terms amongst other things in order to have a way of comparing inherent values and to make value judgement decisions about where priorities lay and what mattered. Nobody had yet devised an entirely satisfactory way of doing this. The Chair acknowledged that he had recently been reading a book about natural capital by Dieter Helm, who builds on a number of these debates.

14.Nick Turner from Intro PR asked a question regarding the digital agenda. Steve Curl identified two aspects, the first being digital infrastructure where Cumbria was making progress with connectivity, which has seen increased use during the COVID-19 crisis. CLEP fully recognised that there were cold spots throughout the county that were being addressed using the current voucher scheme. The second element is how that infrastructure was used to improve the digitalisation of business in Cumbria to drive productivity, which CLEP was actively addressing at this point in time. This had the potential to grow the economy and support recovery.

The Chief Executive added that the Rethink themes to a greater or lesser extent, all include a commitment to digitalisation. CLEP was also in the process of finalising the Digital Strategy.

15.Barry Leahey from Playdale Playgrounds asked about LEP benchmarking. The Chief ExecutiveDRAFT answered that in a LEP sense benchmarking is quite difficult as a lot of benchmarking is about the performance of the economy rather than the organisation. It is also very difficult to compare LEPs, as operations are done on a different footprint, in different economies with different challenges and opportunities. The nearest thing is the Annual Performance Review undertaken by government. In its most recent assessment, CLEP scored exceptional for governance, good for delivery and the highest marking possible for strategy. The level of interface that CLEP and partners were securing at national meetings was a soft indicator of the added value of CLEP’s offers. The Chief Executive invited attendees to make any

!16 suggestions on issues that they would want to see CLEP undertake benchmarking on.

16.Barry Leahey from Playdale Playgrounds informed the Board that he had recently heard a large project in Carlisle is following a procurement route, which will exclude many if not all Cumbrian contractors. Does CLEP’s Sector Panel lobby Councils around their procurement methods. Emma Porter confirmed that it did and that one of the Councils had been invited to the Construction Sector Panel last week where this exact issue was outlined to the Council, which had been good in recent years in bringing forward collaborative working with their frameworks and infrastructure recovery programmes. This had developed a positive track record. That being said, this specific project does exclude all Cumbrian contractors and if we really cared about inclusive growth and collaboration we need to make sure that we delivered these infrastructure projects to enable local contractors to take on apprenticeships and build in the way that they could deliver value. Emma Porter added that she was always happy to talk about this and identify ways in which it could be improved. Not using local contractors was a massive missed opportunity for local infrastructure projects.

17.Martin Ward from Dodd & Co asked what CLEP are doing to help save Newton Rigg College? The Chair identified that Newton Rigg was of importance to the historic rural economy in Cumbria. The current position was that Askham Bryan College, which are the current owners, wish to dispose of it and its assets. The Further Education Commissioner has taken a great interest in the future of the site. A number of different people think it is important for land-based training capacity to be retained in Cumbria. Proposals were sought from people, who were interested in acquiring the assets at Newton Rigg as well as the hill farm and the understanding was that negotiations were currently ongoing between 3 different parties and Askham Bryan College, with a view to seeing what would happen next. The Chair informed the meeting that an outcome that retains some land-based training within the county would be preferable.

What was apparent was that the economics in the current climate were such that it was likely that there would need to be some kind of development on the Newton Rigg land in order to provide a financial input to the sale price to enable the further education to continue. The Chair informed the meeting that he was not in any way privy to the discussions and nor does he know the identities ofDRAFT the parties involved. The process was likely to be complicated. The Chair informed the meeting that CLEP had been told an outcome was due before Christmas on who the successful bidder is to take forward the purchase.

12.4. The Chief Executive thanked all those, who put questions forward and the Board members for providing answers to these. The Chief Executive informed the meeting that the questions would be taken away and factored into CLEP’s thinking going forward.

13. DATE & TIME OF NEXT MEETING

!17 13.1. To be held on Friday 24 September 2021 at 2:00pm.

13.2. The Chair thanked all attendees for joining the Annual General Meeting. The kind of public engagement that CLEPs sought to have in Cumbria could not be achieved without people engaging with CLEP on such occasions. The Chair thanked Board Members, Sector Panel Members, Strategy Group Members and all CLEP staff for the contribution that they had made over the last twelve months. The Chair acknowledged that the high marks received from the government’s Annual Performance Review was a reflection of the excellent engagement of CLEP’s partners.

13.3. Finally, the Chief Executive informed attendees that the AGM would close with a preview of the advertisement that would be rolling out the following week on Border TV. The advertisement was part of the ‘Think Local, Buy Local’ played to the meeting.

The Annual General Meeting Closed at 4:00pm

DRAFT

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