CUMBRIA LOCAL ENTERPRISE PARTNERSHIP

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF CUMBRIA LOCAL ENTERPRISE PARTNERSHIP HELD BY VIDEO CONFERENCE ON FRIDAY 26 MARCH 2021 AT 9.30AM

DIRECTORS PRESENT

Lord Richard Inglewood, Chair; Jim Jackson, Deputy Chair; Cumbria County Council represented by Stewart Young; Barrow Borough Council represented by Lee Roberts; Graham Booth; Steve Cole; Copeland Borough Council represented by Mike Johnson; John Coughlan; Steve Curl; Eden District Council represented by Mary Robinson; Julie Mennell; Emma Porter; Mike Smith OBE; Lorrainne Smyth, Chief Executive ACTion with Communities in Cumbria; Sarah Swindley; Rebecca Weston; Nigel Wilkinson and Andrew Wren.

IN ATTENDANCE

• Harry Colwell, Baines Wilson LLP • Cath Dutton, Careers Hub Manager (Item 12) • Sami Falou, Cities and Local Growth Unit, BEIS • Alison Hatcher, Representative of Cumbria County Council, Accountable Body • Jen Hewitt, Office Manager, CLEP • Andrew Hill, Company Secretary • Craig Ivison, Head of Skills (Item 10) • Mark Johnson, Head of Strategy and Policy, (Item 7) • Jo Lappin, Chief Executive, CLEP • Mitchell McCombe, Futures Forum • Sarah Peak, Export Manager (item 13) • Neil Robinson, Chair, Logistics Sector Panel (Item 6) • Ian Wheeler, Head of Clean Energy (Item 7)

1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

1.1. Apologies for absence were received from Carolyn Dodwell, Mike Starkie (Copeland Borough Council represented by Mike Johnson) and Peter Allen (Lake District National Park Authority). 2. DECLARATIONSDRAFT OF INTEREST 2.1. The Deputy Chair declared an interest in any matters to be discussed in relation to which the Lake District National Park Authority has an interest and also declared a commercial interest in Project Gigabit. He would therefore take no part in discussions on the matters.

!1 2.2. Nigel Wilkinson disclosed an interest in the Lakes Line Improvements, as the business he managed was a member of the Lakes Line Community Rail Partnership. He also declared an interest in Optimising Connectivity 2 – South Windermere in that the business he managed had an interest in property that the path and cycle track may cross. He would therefore take no part in discussions on the matters.

2.3. Lee Roberts declared an interest in any matters in which Barrow Borough Council had an interest, including the Marina Village, and he would therefore take no part in discussions on any such matters.

2.4 Steve Curl declared an interest in any discussions related to Vertical Farms in which he had a non-pecuniary interest. He would therefore take no part in discussions on the matter.

2.5 Mike Johnson also declared an interest in any discussion relating to Vertical Farm and would take no part in discussions on this matter should they arise.

2.6. Sarah Swindley declared an interest in the Lake District Foundation Grants Programme for businesses, mentioned as part of the Net-Zero Carbon item on the agenda and would therefore take no part in discussions on this matter.

2.7 All Local Authority members of the Board declared an interest in Item 11 (Local Government Reorganisation) and agreed that they would take no part in discussions on that matter.

2.8 Emma Porter declared an interest in any rail or road programmes as the company that she is Managing Director of would likely tender for such projects, including Carlisle Station. She would therefore take no part in discussions on such matters.

3. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

3.1 The minutes of the previous Board meeting held on 22 January 2021 were discussed. The Chair asked the Board if they had any additions or amendments to make to the minutes. The Board confirmed that there were no such additions or amendments and accordingly IT WAS RESOLVED that the minutes be approved in the form provided. 4. UPDATE FROMDRAFT THE CHAIR, DEPUTY CHAIR AND VICE-CHAIR 4.1. The Chair provided an update to the meeting on the following matters:

(a) The Chair had been involved in various discussions in relation to the Shared Prosperity Fund and emphasised that it is now clear that CLEP will not be involved in disbursing the Fund.

(b) NP11 - The Chair provided a brief update in relation to the NP 11 Board meeting that had been held earlier in the week and mentioned in particular that NP11 was concerned that the North as a whole makes

!2 representations on appropriate matters that are best done at a Northern level.

(c) Local Government Reorganisation – CLEP had been lobbied by various parties. This issue was to be discussed in more detail later in the meeting.

(d) The Chair mentioned that there had been various meetings with the Cumbrian MPs and points of discussion included infrastructure, Freeports and the proposed coal mine.

(e) The Chair and the Chief Executive had held a meeting with Simon Fell MP to discuss the problems facing Ulverston and in particular the planned closure of the GSK site.

(f) Borderlands Economic Forum – the Chair had attended an induction meeting and stated that the Forum had made a good start and would be a good link for CLEP.

(g) The Chair advised the Board that he had attended a private meeting about the future of forestry organised by Confor at which Anne-Marie Trevelyan had been in attendance. It was clear that there were different approaches to the future of forestry.

(h) The Chair mentioned that the majority of his time has been spent in relation to Newton Rigg and that he and the Chief Executive had provided evidence to the EFRA Committee in the House of Commons. He had emphasised in particular the wider impact that the closure of Newton Rigg would have on Cumbria. The next step was that the Committee would send a letter to the relevant Minister. Developments thereafter were awaited.

(i) LEP Scrutiny Board – The Chair and Chief Executive had appeared in front of the LEP Scrutiny Board.

(j) The Chair had attended a meeting of the Cumbria Leadership Board and provided an economic update.

(k) In the House of Lords, the Chair had provided a question about levelling up. DRAFT

(l) The Chair had attended a briefing by the Chair of Radioactive Waste Management regarding Geological Disposal Facility.

4.2. The Deputy Chair informed the Board that much of his focus has been on Investment Panel work, on which further details would be provided under the relevant agenda item. He suggested to Board members that they might wish to watch Countryfile on Sunday evening for an item in relation to National Parks with implications for the Lake District National Park.

!3 4.3. The Vice-Chair updated the meeting on the following matters:

(a) The Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal – had now been signed, providing £350 million of Government investment and an expectation of approximately £100 million of matched funding across the whole Borderlands area. Delivery could therefore now formally start, although some projects had already started.

(b) The Community Renewal Fund - Cumbria Council is the lead authority on this, with the fund being launched last week. Proposals for up to £3 million of funding are invited from any one of the District areas. The funding must be spent by 31 March 2022, with proposals to be submitted by 17 May 2021. The Investment Panel would be invited to prioritise these projects so that they could be submitted to MHCLG by 18 June 2021.

(c) Project Gigabyte – the Vice-Chairman emphasised that this was a hugely important project for Cumbria with somewhere in the region of £5 billion of investment. Gigabyte connectivity is a significant issue in Cumbria at present, with the aim of the project being to provide as close to 100% gigabyte capability to UK properties as possible. 40% of UK property currently had gigabyte connectivity, but for Cumbria only 7% of properties had that capability. Negotiations had resulted in the underspend of around £1 million on the current broadband top-up scheme, which was to be carried forward. The Vice-Chair suggested that Jonathan Harris could present to a future Board Meeting in relation to the Project. Members agreed that this would be helpful.

Action Point: The Chief Executive to invite Jonathan Harris to attend a future meeting of the Board to provide a presentation on Project Gigabyte.

(d) Northern Transport Acceleration Council (NTAC) - The Vice-Chair explained that the NTAC had been set up by Grant Shapps. He had attended a recent NTAC meeting at which the new bus strategy had been the most significant item of discussion. The County Council had received £1.5 million from the Rural Mobility Fund, which was a pilot project for on-demand bus services in rural areas. The bus strategy requires Local Authorities to enter into enhanced partnerships with bus operators in their area. If this was not done, they would not be eligible for theDRAFT future operating grants from the Government.

(e) The first stage of the Design and Build Contract for the Carlisle Southern Link Road had now been awarded and was in the standstill period.

(f) Various staff changes were taking place at Cumbria County Council. The Chief Executive, Katherine Fairclough, was leaving to join the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and Julie Crellin (Section 151 Officer) was leaving to join the City and Guilds as a Senior Manager. Allan Harty and Alison Hatcher had also been internally

!4 promoted. Board members offered their congratulations to Alison Hatcher on her appointment as Assistant Director for Growth and Infrastructure.

5. MATTERS ARISING NOT COVERED ELSEWHRE ON THE AGENDA

5.1. The Chief Executive invited the Board to note the update and advised that this would be covered by exemption. She then made specific reference to the BAE 150-year anniversary celebrations and advised members that Maisie Hunt, CLEP’s Head of Secretariat was liaising with Steve Cole’s team about how best to support this event.

6. LOGISTICS UPDATE

6.1. Neil Robinson, Chair of the Logistics Sector Panel and Managing Director of Tyson H Burridge Limited provided the Board with an update on the issues currently facing the logistics sector.

6.2. The Board was informed that, while there was relief that the Trade and Cooperation Agreement had been agreed, which enabled hauliers to carry on as before under existing licensing arrangements, there had been challenges. Recently, things were starting to improve slightly. 85% of European haulage was carried by European hauliers, with 40% returning empty. There were various reasons for this, including the fact that some companies had decided not to export in the short term together with supply chain issues. There continued to be issues with access into Southern Ireland.

6.3. There was a general discussion about how important the logistics sector was to the Cumbrian economy given in particular the deliveries into and out of wholesalers, into tourism and home deliveries.

6.4. Steve Cole asked what additional help or support CLEP could provide to the sector. Neil Robinson stated that in his view CLEP was being very supportive and mentioned by way of example that points of concern have been fed into the House of Lords EU Goods Sub-Committee.

6.5. Lorrainne Smyth queried the impact of Net Zero Carbon on the sector and whether in the recovery of the logistics sector it would be possible to include some Net DRAFTZero opportunities. Neil Robinson acknowledged that this was a big topic in the industry and that the right solution needed to be found. He emphasised that electricity was not necessarily the long term solution and hydrogen wad being looked at instead. The Chief Executive advised that there was potentially a greater impact on the environment as businesses look to wider markets and increased trade outside of the EU. The Chief Executive added that there had been significant reductions in the number of businesses looking to trade with the EU, with smaller businesses unable to manage the paperwork involved. There were also challenges around Rules or Origin and VAT.

!5 6.6. Neil Robinson added that there was an issue in the industry with an ageing workforce and a shortage of drivers, which also needed to be addressed.

7. NET ZERO CARBON (STANDING ITEM)

7.1. The Board received a brief update from Mark Johnson, Head of Strategy and Policy and Ian Wheeler, Head of Clean Energy, who had joined CLEP on 1 March 2021 on secondment from Sellafield.

7.2. Mark Johnson informed the Board that since the last Board meeting, CLEP’s Chief Executive has been invited to join the Net Zero North West group as an observer. The Group had started based on the Cheshire and Warrington, Liverpool City Region and Greater Manchester geography, with the group keen to extend representation to include Cumbria and Lancashire. CLEP would therefore look at how Cumbrian businesses might engage going forward and was exploring with Sellafield and BAE whether there was an appetite for engagement. The Group was looking to undertake an economic evaluation of the low carbon transition. Ian Wheeler was involved in this. The Net Zero North West’s target was to achieve Net Zero by 2040.

7.3. Members were provided with a brief update in relation to COP26, scheduled to take place in Glasgow during November. The intention was to pull together a collaborative approach to an exhibition, with discussions focused on exhibition space, short films, podcasts and panel events.

7.4. Board members were informed that there was also a proposal to hold some pre-COP26 events in July that would look at investment propositions, including a North West one day event in October focused on collaboration and themes such as energy generation, smart energy and transport. Funding was currently being sourced.

7.5. Mark Johnson mentioned that Electricity North West and Cadent have joined forces to develop an energy master plan for each North West county and would be bringing these together into a North West masterplan by April. CLEP was supporting this by providing relevant reports, particularly on the size and composition of Cumbria’s low carbon sector, more general economic statistics and potential case studies on investable propositions.

7.6. The Board was informed that CLEP continued to engage with the Cumbria Net Zero Partnership, with specific reference being made to the Road to Net Zero event,DRAFT the Lake District Foundation Green Grant Scheme launch for businesses and the CAfS Carbon Footprint Calculator.

7.7. Mitchell McCombe advised that the Futures Forum was happy to support COP26 communications and engagement through the the Forum’s Sustainable Cumbria Group.

!6 7.8. Steve Curl mentioned that there had been a meeting earlier in the week of Transport For the North and that there was an excellent draft paper on TfN's Decarbonisation Strategy for transport in the North. The paper suggested that Cumbria was the third worst county for carbon pollution from transport in the North, driven mainly by things outside of Cumbria’s control, such as the M6 and rail. The paper would be published in the summer with a 12 weeks consultation period following publication. The Environmental Interest in Transport Group had given the paper its support.

7.9 Sarah Swindley emphasised that there were opportunities for international investment to be driven through COP26 and that the opportunities needed to be maximised for Cumbria. Mark Johnson agreed with this and confirmed that opportunities were being explored with all partners.

7.10 Steve Cole asked whether CLEP was gathering an understanding as to how businesses are developing their Net Zero Carbon plans. Mark Johnson said that this information was not available at this stage, although there are various initiatives underway.

7.11 The Chief Executive added that Clean Energy Generation and business decarbonisation were CLEP’s two priorities in relation to Net Zero, which was one of the three strategic touchstones. Ian was refreshing the Sector Panel’s plan and would update members at a future meeting.

Action Point: Ian Wheeler to update the Board on the refreshed Clean Energy Sector Panel Plan, once finalised.

8. FINANCE, AUDIT AND RESOURCES COMMITTEE

8.1. Nigel Wilkinson updated the Board on the following matters:

(a) The latest income and expenditure position of CLEP for the period ending 28 February 2021 - The Board was informed that the position had been updated by CLEP’s accountants and that the projected carry over of revenue expenditure into 2021/2022 was £226,006 and that the operating deficit for the year was projected to be £152,843. This was a considerable improvement on the position presented in November 2020. Nigel Wilkinson specifically thanked the Executive team for their hard work on the delivery of three revenue projects: the BEIS additional funding,DRAFT the Peer to Peer Network and the EU Transition. (b) The proposed revised scheme of delegations - This was required in the Local Assurance Framework and was in response to a recent request at a Board Bird Table meeting. The proposed scheme was recommended by the Finance, Audit and Resources Committee and also by Cumbria County Council in its capacity as Accountable Body. The key changes related to delegations for the Business Support programmes, running cost budget setting and reporting and increased delegation to FARC for approval of recruitment and staffing issues.

!7 (c) The meeting of the Finance, Audit and Resources Committee held on 12 March 2021 - The Board was advised that the redundancy liability in respect of Cumbria County Council secondees has been recalculated and reduced from £145,000 to £122,000 as at the 31 March 2022. Projected net assets as at the end of March 2021 were now £557,000, with an estimated cash position of £400,000.

(d) The 2021/2022 Budget - Nigel Wilkinson emphasised that the Budget was still provisional as details of the BEIS contract were still awaited. The Board was informed that a business case had been submitted to Sellafield for £100,000 of match funding towards the entirety of CLEP’s activities and that notification of the award had been received by CLEP on 16 March 2021. Growth Hub funding had now been confirmed at £462,000 and Nigel Wilkinson thanked Cumbria County Council for its contribution as the Accountable Body and specifically mentioned that the Accountable Body had agreed to accept a reduced Accountable Body cost of £100,000 from £150,000. The Board was advised that the current budget included the creation of a new Head of Business and Programmes and a new Senior Payments and Programme Manager and an anchor Growth Hub Manager post. The Budget also envisaged a small cost of living pay rise to the CLEP direct employees, in line with the CPI rate prevailing in February 2021, with effect from 1 April 2021. The chair suggested that this increase should be rounded up to 1%. The Board was supportive of this suggestion.

(e) Mike Smith queried whether, in the same way CLEP pull out the Careers and Enterprise Company programmes, that CLEP do the same to the £75,000 fund to the Skills and Advisory Panel (SAP). It would demonstrate scrutiny that the money did not fall into general expenditure. The Chief Executive advised that the funding legitimately covers costs in relation to the Heads of Skills role on SAP activity and the purchase of tools to undertake economic analysis. SAP funding requires a separate audit statement to demonstrate how the funding had been spent in line with the Grant Funding Agreement. Mike Smith suggested that the Chair of SAP should be involved going forward.

Action Point: Chief Executive to provide further information to Mike Smith, OBE on SAP funding.DRAFT 8.2 Julie Mennell asked whether the Budget reflected cost savings that could be made as a result of working differently, for instance meeting remotely. Nigel Wilkinson confirmed that savings in relation to things such as reduced travel costs had been factored into the Budget using the comparative budgets to illustrate this.

!8 8.3 Julie Mennell asked whether CLEP could quantify other benefits such as the reduction in carbon emissions as a result of not travelling to governance meetings. The Chief Executive advised that the Executive had been monitoring this and Jen Hewitt would be able to advise members on this. Jen Hewitt informed the Board that since 23 March 2021 there had been 2,835 CLEP Zoom meetings, which had involved 17,500 participants. These minutes had run to 924,000 minutes. The Chief Executive said that proxies could be applied to determine the potential reduction in carbon emissions.

Action Point: Chief Executive to calculate the potential reduction in carbon emissions as a result of moving to online platforms.

8.4 The Vice-Chair mentioned to the Board that a letter had been received from the Government stating that legislation, which enabled Councils to meet remotely was not going to be renewed and as such would expire on 7 May 2021. This was not ideal in a COVID-19 environment. The Vice-Chair stated that in his opinion virtual meetings had been transformational and that there should be an option to decide to still meet virtually, thereby achieving time and environmental savings. There were two challenges, in relation to this, currently going through the courts.

8.5 Lee Roberts added that there was no option for hybrid meetings and endorsed the Vice-Chair’s views on this matter.

8.6 Emma Porter suggested that CLEP should express the view that virtual meetings were good for business. Sami Falou confirmed that he would provide this feedback to colleagues in Government.

Action Point: Sami Falou to provide feedback to government on the concerns regarding the decision not to extend the legislation to allow Council meetings to take place remotely.

8.7 Steve Cole asked for details of the professional service items in the Budget. Nigel Wilkinson advised that this was predominantly related to the delivery of revenue programmes, which would be outsourced. Further details would be provided at the next Board meeting, once contract outcomes had been confirmed.

Action Point: Further details on the professional services costs to be provided at the next BoardDRAFT meeting. 8.8. After discussion:

(a) The Board confirmed that the latest income and expenditure position of CLEP for the period ending 28 February 2021 was noted.

(b) IT WAS RESOLVED that the revised scheme of delegations as produced to the meeting be agreed.

(c) The draft note from the meeting of the Finance, Audit and Resources Committee on 12 March 2021 be noted.

!9 (d) In relation to the provisional 2021/2022 Budget:

(i) IT WAS RESOLVED that the provisional Budget be agreed as provided to the meeting, subject to finalisation.

(ii) IT WAS RESOLVED to agree the creation of a new Head of Business and Programmes and a new Senior Payments and Programme Manager post and that these are to be filled by internal recruitment, with any consequential vacancies filled on a fixed term basis.

(iii) It was noted that an extension will be granted to an existing temporary post, with the grading enriched to reflect additional responsibilities.

(iv) IT WAS RESOLVED to provide delegated authority to FARC to agree fixed term business advisers, should this be the most appropriate delivery option.

(v) It was noted that the Senior Programme Manager’s secondment is coming to an end and as such the post would be advertised as a fixed term part-time CLEP post.

(vi) IT WAS RESOLVED that a cost of living salary is provided to CLEP direct staff at the rate of 1%, which is slightly above the prevailing CPI rate as at the end of February 2021. It was noted that the Budget already contained a 1% provision to cover this.

(vii) It was noted that a finalised Budget for 2021/2022 would be presented to the May 2021 Board Meeting.

Action Point: The finalised Budget for 2021/2022 be presented to the May 2021 Board meeting.

9. PROGRAMMES UPDATE

9.1. Jim Jackson, Deputy Chair, reminded the Board that this was his last Board meeting and that accordingly he wanted to put on record his thanks to the Executive DRAFTTeam, Cumbria County Council, Investment Panel members and all other partners for their work and support.

!10 9.2. In relation to the Growth Deal, the Deputy Chair emphasised that, in line with the Growth Deal offer letter, CLEP, via the Accountable Body, must be able to demonstrate full defrayment of the £60,320,060 Growth Deal monies by 31 March 2021. In this context, there was one project that was considered high risk, the Cross-a-Moor project, which involved funding of £925,000, and was still being discussed on a regular basis with the applicant. The Chief Executive emphasised that queries were still being raised in relation to the Grant Funding Agreement and that some of the proposed changes to the Agreement by the applicant could not be accepted by either CLEP or the Accountable Body. The timescales were now unfortunately extremely tight.

9.3. The Deputy Chair made specific reference to the Growing Our Potential project, which he considered to be “a real nugget”. It had impacted positively on 19 businesses and had levered in private sector investment from SMEs.

9.4. In relation to the Getting Building Fund, the Deputy Chair reminded the Board that an indicative £5 million allocation had been made to the A595 Bothel Improvements project and a further £5.5 million allocation to the Vertical Farm project. The A595 Bothel Improvements project had gone ahead. Various change requests had been made in relation to the Vertical Farm project and CLEP was awaiting decisions on these requests.

9.5. The Deputy Chair updated the Board in relation to the Community Renewal Fund, which comprised £220 million of investment across the UK and would be the pre-cursor to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to be launched in 2022. Cumbria County Council was the legal authority for the Community Renewal Fund and was inviting proposals for up to £3 million in any one of the district areas for projects that align with one or more specific investment priorities. CLEP had been invited to consider a role in prioritising bids submitted under the Community Renewal Fund and the Investment Panel had confirmed its willingness to undertake this role. The Vice-Chair emphasised that the Investment Panel had all requirements in place to fulfil the role in his view.

9.6 Mitchell McCombe queried whether for the purpose of the Community Renewal Fund Barrow was a priority area. In response, the Vice-Chair explained that the Government had specified Barrow as a top priority area for Cumbria, although successful bids from other parts of Cumbria could not be ruled out. 9.7 Lorrainne DRAFTSmyth asked whether there was any potential liability for CLEP, if the Investment Panel fulfilled the role. The Board was satisfied that there would be no such potential liabilities as the Investment Panel would simply be making recommendations and not taking decisions.

9.8 After further decision, IT WAS RESOLVED that the Investment Panel prioritised bids for the Community Renewal Fund and that delegated authority of £3 million per project is provided to the Investment Panel for this purpose.

!11 10. LOCAL SKILLS REPORT

10.1. Craig Ivison, Head of Skills, provided the Board with an update in relation to the Local Skills Report.

10.2. The Board was reminded that it was a Government requirement for the report to be produced and was advised that PESSG had completed an analysis of data provided by DfE and supplemented this with local information. This would form Annexes A and B to the Local Skills Report.

10.3. Craig Ivison explained that the DfE SAP Team had provided useful support in the development of the Local Skills Report and supporting evidence base.

10.4. The Board was assured that the team was working to make sure that the voice of young people was reflected in the Local Skills Report. The Futures Forum was involved in this.

10.5. The Board was advised that the draft Local Skills Report would be circulated to the Board on 30 March 2021, for approval in correspondence by 8 April 2021, prior to its submission to DfE on 12 April 2021.

Action Point: Craig Ivison to circulate the draft Local Skills Report to the Board on 30 March 2021.

Action Point: Board members to provide feedback on the draft Local Skills Report to craig Ivison by 8 April 2021.

10.6. Mike Smith emphasised that there would be some finessing of the report following the 12 April 2021 deadline.

10.7. Sarah Swindley suggested that there needed to be a linkup between funding and opportunities.

11. LOCAL GOVERNMENT REORGANISATION

11.1. After discussion, IT WAS RESOLVED that this item agenda be moved to the end of the meeting, to enable Local Authority Board members to leave the meeting before the matter was discussed. 12. CAREERSDRAFT HUB UPDATE 12.1. Cath Dutton, Careers Hub Manager, presented an update to the Board on the Careers Hub. By way of introduction, Cath explained that she had started in her role on 1 March 2021 and that she had a background in HR and has previously worked in Cumbria Tourism.

12.2. During the course of her presentation, Cath Dutton emphasised that:

• The Careers Hub links schools and colleges to employers and other external careers providers, supports careers leaders in schools and colleges and the delivery of the Gatsby Benchmarks.

!12 • Despite COVID-19, the Careers Hub had continued to support schools and colleges with Benchmarks 5 and 6 (encounters with employers and experiences of work).

• Each of the 42 schools in the Hub had one matched Enterprise Adviser, with some schools having 2. The aspiration was to have 2 Enterprise Advisers matched to each school within 2 academic years.

• Increased use of online media had attracted in excess of 20 new Enterprise Advisers and 4 new Cornerstone Employers.

12.3 By way of example, Cath Dutton made specific reference to the Queen Katherine School’s Insight Week, which had involved 33 local employers and 257 year 10 and year 11 students. The School had not put in place a similar Insight Week for some time and specifically made reference to the fact that being able to operate the week on a virtual basis had helped them to be able to run the Insight Week.

13. EXPORT PLAN UPDATE

13.1. Sarah Peak, Export Manager, provided the Board with an update on the Export Plan for Cumbria. Before doing so, and by way of introduction, Sarah explained to the Board that she had been seconded from the Department of International Trade.

13.2. During the course of her presentation, Sarah Peak emphasised that:

• The basis of the Export Plan was that it followed on from the Internationalisation Strategy. The Plan was made up of a number of practical steps intended to increase the value of Cumbrian exports in support of the UK Export Strategy.

• The four key themes of the Plan were securing interest, adding value in Cumbria, delivering links overseas and strategy and management.

• The intention was to establish and promote CLEP as the first point of contact for businesses considering export work and to encourage Local Authorities, Growth Hub advisers, Britain’s Energy Coast Business Cluster,DRAFT the Chamber (and others) to always have an export discussion on the agenda with business.

• To avoid any risk of duplicative effort, CLEP and International Trade Advisers (ITAs) would meet on a monthly basis.

• The peer-to-peer learning opportunities had proved invaluable to businesses and CLEP can help extend this network across the County.

!13 • For the sector initiatives, it is likely the overseas markets are nuclear (Japan and Korea in particular), defence/marine (Australia and Canada) and food and drink.

• Relationships were being built with the five newly appointed DIT Business Managers in Her Majesty’s Trade Commission.

13.3. Nigel Wilkinson expressed some surprise that the Export Plan made no reference to the Visitor Economy. Sarah Peak offered to discuss this matter separately with Nigel.

Action Point: Nigel Wilkinson and Sarah Peak to discuss the Export Plan in the context of the Visitor Economy.

14. FUTURES FORUM

14.1. Mitchell McCombe provided the meeting with an update on the Futures Forum meeting, which had taken place earlier in the week. He specifically mentioned that Sami Falou and Naomi Hollows had attended the meeting to discuss their roles and funding streams. A Natural Capital presentation and discussion had taken place. Previously, there had been updates from various Sector Panels.

14.2. Mitchell McCombe also mentioned that the Futures Forum would have their individual responsibilities in place by May 2021. Unfortunately, one member of the Forum has needed to leave to focus on his degree and therefore a search for a replacement would commence.

Sami Falou left the meeting at this point.

15. CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REPORT

15.1. The Chief Executive updated the Board on CLEP activities not covered elsewhere in the Board papers, specifically mentioning:

• The LEP Review and the latest position in relation to this. A lead Minister was still to be appointed to oversee the review, which was policy rather than performance related. Members would be kept up to date with developments. • The AnnualDRAFT Performance Review 2020/21, which was expected to be concluded by May 2021. No changes were expected in relation to the indicative markings that had been provided.

• MHCLG had provided feedback on the Heart of the UK Freepost bid, which was useful. Cumbria had performed well in comparison with some places that were chosen as Freeports. Ultimately, it was decided by Ministers that a regional distribution was required and therefore Cumbria was ultimately bidding against Liverpool. Cumbria could not successfully compete as the prioritised criterion was regeneration.

!14 • The STEP application was being prepared for submission by 31 March 2021 deadline. Board members had previously been invited to review the draft, on request.

15.2. The Vice-Chair stated that it was disappointing that the formal process in relation to Freeports had been changed part way through the process.

15.3. In relation to Kingmoor Park, Graham Booth informed the Board that Kingmoor Park had signed an NDA with a party who had expressed an interest in locating a new purpose-built facility at the Park. A meeting was held with the Directors of the company concerned during the previous week.

15.4. The Chief Executive made mention of the Public Service Obligation for the Airport and explained that this related to subsidising a route. The DfT wanted to meet the public sector partners as the expectation was that 50% of the funding would be raised locally.

16. RISK REGISTER (STANDING ITEM)

16.1. The Chief Executive emphasised that the main changes in the Register were reducing the viability risk to green following the receipt of the majority of 2021/22 funding (number 18); escalating to amber the Government changing its position on LEPs (number 21) given the review; and escalating to amber all EU Exit related risks given the implementation issues that had emerged following the end of the EU Transition period (numbers 28-30).

16.2. Mike Smith asked whether the Local Industrial Strategy section was now required. The Chief Executive responded by stating that clarity was still required from government regarding local economic strategy and once this was available the Register would be updated.

Action Point: Chief Executive to update the Risk Register, once government had provided clarity on future local economic strategy.

17. LEP COMMUNICATIONS (STANDING ITEM)

17.1. The Board agreed that communications should be issued regarding the submission of the STEP application, Jim Jackson’s departure and Steve Cole’s appointmentDRAFT as Deputy Chair and the outcomes on the Growth Deal. Action Point: Communications to be issued in relation to the above matters.

18. FORWARD PLAN (STANDING ITEM)

18.1. The Board noted the Forward Plan.

18.2. The Chief Executive confirmed that the Forward Plan had been updated to include the digital update by Jonathan Harris, as agreed earlier in the meeting.

!15 18.3. There was a brief discussion about how meetings of the Board might work going forward. The Chair encouraged members of the Board to let the Chief Executive know how they would like Board meetings to operate going forward – in person or by videoconference or a hybrid of both.

Action Point: Board members to contact the Chief Executive with their views on how Board meetings should be structured going forward.

19. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

19.1. Steve Cole mentioned to the meeting that there had been a good outcome on the report on the integration of defence.

20. DATE AND TIME OF THE NEXT MEETING

The next CLEP Board meeting was scheduled for Friday 21 May 2021 at 9:30am.

PART II ITEMS – THOSE CONSIDERED IN PRIVATE AND, IN RESPECT OF AGENDA ITEM 11, IN THE ABSENCE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT MEMBERS OF THE BOARD

21. BOARD APPOINTMENTS

21.1. The Chief Executive advised the Board that, following Jim Jackson’s decision to step down as Deputy Chair and from the Board, a ballot to appoint the new Deputy Chair was opened, which closed on Friday 5 March 2021. Steve Cole, Chief Infrastructure Officer, BAE, secured the highest number of votes and as such members were now invited to ratify his appointment as Deputy Chair. In discussions between Jim Jackson and Steve Cole, it had been agreed that the formal handover would take place on 23 April 2021 and as such Steve Cole’s appointment would be from that date.

21.2. The Chief Executive reminded the meeting that District Council representation on the CLEP Board operated on a 2 year rotational basis, with the current terms of office due to cease on 6 May 2021, with Barrow, Copeland and Eden due to be replaced by Allerdale, Carlisle and South Lakeland. 21.3. The Chief DRAFTExecutive made reference to the requirement to review Board member portfolios to ensure that these were fully in line with the Local Assurance Framework.

21.4. The Chair and Chief Executive thanked Jim Jackson, Lee Roberts, Mike Starkie and Mary Robinson for their hard work in relation to CLEP. This was echoed by all of the members of the Board. A token of appreciation would be provided on behalf of the Board.

21.5. After discussion IT WAS RESOLVED that:

!16 (a) The appointment of Steve Cole as Deputy Chair of CLEP from 23 April 2021 be ratified.

(b) A targeted recruitment campaign should be opened in the week commencing 29 March 2021 to encourage female candidates to apply for the vacant Board member position.

(c) The process for rotating district representation on the Board to Allerdale, Carlisle and South Lakeland would now commence.

(d) The Chair and the new Deputy Chair would work with the Board to ensure that going forward portfolios were balanced and in line with CLEP’s Local Assurance Framework.

All Local Authority members of the Board left the meeting at this point.

11. LOCAL GOVERMENT REORGANISATION

11.1 The Chief Executive advised that it was proposed that CLEP maintained its current position and did not endorse any particular option for Local Government Reorganisation and instead focused on providing feedback on each of the proposals based on the 10 principles previously established by the CLEP Board.

11.2 Various members of the Board expressed their support for the proposed approach, with Sarah Swindley emphasising that the focus had to be on what was best for Cumbria. Steve Curl expressed concern that although three of the proposals were within Cumbria, one included part of Lancashire. He suggested that CLEP needed to address this in its response as it meant that there could be an overlap or need to adjust LEP geographies between Cumbria and Lancashire. The Chief Executive said that only Cumbria was invited to put forward proposals for LGR, so this would be covered in the response.

11.3 After discussion, IT WAS RESOLVED that:

(a) CLEP maintained its position and did not endorse any particular option for Local Government Reorganisation.

(b) The consultationDRAFT response to MHCLG focused on providing feedback on each of the proposals based on the principles previously established by the CLEP Board.

(c) CLEP’s response was agreed in correspondence with those Board members who were not members of Local Authorities that had submitted a proposal.

The meeting closed at 12.40 pm

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