10.30am, Friday 15 th February 2013 Council Chamber Nottinghamshire County Council AGENDA 10.00am Political Group Meetings 10.30am Meeting of East Midlands Councils Page No 1. Apologies 2. Declarations of Interest 3. Minutes of Meeting held on 20 th July 2012 1 4. Presentation of Awards Councillor Development Charter Award - Boston Borough Council Community Leadership Award – Cllr Tony Greenwood, Blaby District Council 5. Investment to Support Local Economic Growth - Cllr Martin Hill OBE and Cllr Jim Harker OBE (a) ‘Investing in Opportunity – A Prospectus for investment, infrastructure and growth’ 7 (b) Future EU Structural Funds 34 6. Local Action on Affordable Housing – Cllr Lewis Rose OBE 39 7. Presentations/Speakers Nick Boles MP - Member of Parliament for Grantham and Stamford, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Planning Toby Perkins MP – Member of Parliament for Chesterfield, Shadow Small Business Minister 8. EMC Board Reports Executive Board Report 51 EM Improvement and Efficiency Partnership Board Report 59 EM Strategic Migration Partnership Board Report 63 Regional Employers Board Report 68 Item 3 Minutes of the East Midlands Councils Meeting held on Friday 20th July 2012, Nottinghamshire County Council Annual General Meeting Dr Stuart Young chaired and welcomed everyone to the meeting 1. Apologies Cllr Ranjit Banwait, Cllr Tom Beattie, Cllr Paul Bell, Cllr Richard Blunt, Cllr Stuart Bradford; Cllr Chris Brewis, Cllr Marion Brighton OBE, Cllr John Burrows, Cllr Jon Collins, Cllr Kay Driver: Cllr Mary Malin, Cllr Ric Metcalfe, Cllr Chris Millar, Ms Deidre Newham JP, Cllr Blake Pain, Cllr Rory Palmer, Cllr Nick Rushton, Cllr Geoff Stevens, Cllr Martin Thacker, Cllr Jonathan West, Cllr Ernie White Non Attendees Cllr Patricia Bradwell, Cllr Mary Clarke, Cllr Ian Duly, Mr Tony Favell, Cllr Ian Jelley, Cllr Burt Keimach, Cllr John Knight, Cllr Patrick Lally, Cllr John McGhee, Cllr David Mellen, Cllr Steven North, Cllr Eoin Watts, Cllr Anne Western, 2. Declarations of Interest None. 3. Minutes of EMC meeting held on 2nd February 2012 These were agreed as a true and accurate record. 4. Amendments to Constitution 4.1 Members of East Midlands Councils were invited to consider the proposed amendments to EMC constitution and governance arrangements that specifically related to: a) The roles and responsibilities of EMC Management Group. b) The roles and responsibilities of EMC Executive Board. c) Wider changes that reflect the changed organizational environment. 1 Item 3 4.2 Support to these amendments was given by Cllr Fiona Martin, Cllr Martin Hill, Cllr Robert Parker, and Mayor Tony Egginton (EMC political group leaders, in office at the time of their development). 4.3 Members of East Midlands Councils agreed to the recommended changes and adopted the revised constitution and governance arrangements. 5. Appointments of Political Group Leaders The following were appointed as Group Leaders: Conservative Cllr Chris Millar Labour Cllr Robert Parker Liberal Democrat Cllr Fiona Martin Independent Cllr Tony Eggington 6. Appointment of Vice Chair(s) of East Midlands Councils Cllr Jon Collins (Nottingham City) was appointed as Vice Chair. Cllr Neil Clarke (Rushcliffe) was appointed as District Vice Chair. 7. Appointment of Chair of East Midlands Councils Cllr Martin Hill (Lincolnshire County) was appointed as Chair Cllr Martin Hill took the chair 8. Presentation of Annual Report Members of East Midlands Councils considered and endorsed the Annual Report 2011/12, as presented by the Chairman of EMC Cllr Martin Hill who said it was an honour to be appointed to what he considered a very relevant organisation. 9. Executive Board Report Members are invited to note the report and inform priorities for East Midlands Councils over the coming year. 9.1 Questions/Comments None. 10. East Midlands Improvement and Efficiency Board Report Cllr Roger Begy presented this report. 10.1 Resolution Members noted the contents of this report. 11. Strategic Migration Partnership Board Report 2 Item 3 This report was introduced by Cllr Simon Galton who stated that the focus of the board for this forthcoming year was around the four key areas of: . Welfare Reform . Compass contract/G4S . The increase in the number of Roma communities and the impact on service provision . Funding – funding beyond 2013 for the partnership from UKBA is very unclear and without that the valuable work of the partnership would not be undertaken. 11.1 Resolution Members noted the contents of this report. 12. Regional Employers’ Board Report This report was introduced by Cllr Ian Fleetwood who thanked Sam Maher and the team. 12.1 Resolution Members noted the contents of this report 13. Motion to East Midlands Councils (submitted by Cllr David Sprason, Leicestershire County Council) a) That East Midlands Councils: i) puts on record its deep disappointment at the decision of the Joint Committee of PCTs concerning the reconfiguration of Children’s Congenital Heart Services in England which will result in the closure of children’s heart surgical services at the Glenfield Hospital in Leicester; ii) notes that the decision of the Joint Committee appears to be perverse in that the Independent Panel of Experts who were commissioned by the National Safe and Sustainable Team had given the highest score to the option which would have seen surgical services retained at the Glenfield Hospital; iii) notes as a consequence and based on the impact analysis undertaken by the NHS itself, that the journey times for children with congenital heart disease and their carers will increase by between 60 to 90 minutes, with the longest journey times being experienced by those living in Lincolnshire; 3 Item 3 b) That East Midlands Council therefore lobbies for an urgent review of this decision and urges its constituent bodies to do likewise Cllrs Robert Parker, John Boyce, David Bill, Tony Howard and Charmaine Morgan spoke in favour of the motion. The motion was carried with no votes against and 5 abstentions. A copy of the letter is attached as Appendix 3(a). 14 Questions to Chairman or nominee None. 15 Speakers i. Rt Hon Stephen Dorrell, MP for Charnwood and Chairman of Health Select Committee spoke about implementing the Health reforms. ii. Chris Leslie, MP for Nottingham East and Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury spoke about economic growth and opportunities for further collaborative work in the East Midlands. iii. Cllr Paul Bayliss – introduced himself as the new Leader Derby City Council and spoke about the challenges facing Derby and the importance of developing high value engineering jobs iv. Professor Colin Copus, Professor of Local Politics, Local Governance Research Unit, De Montfort University. 4 Item 3, Appendix (a) 5 Item 3, Appendix (a) 6 Item 5a East Midlands Councils Meeting 15 th February 2013 Investing in Opportunity A Prospectus for Investment, Infrastructure and Growth in the East Midlands Summary This report sets out the background to ‘Investing in Opportunity: A prospectus for investment, infrastructure and growth in the East Midlands’. Recommendation Members of EMC are invited to: Welcome the ‘Investing in Opportunity’ prospectus as a basis for further work and lobbying aimed at increasing investment into the East Midlands. 7 Item 5a 1. Background 1.1 Investment, infrastructure and growth are common concerns for councils across the East Midlands. Often these objectives can be achieved best by local action, either directly or by working through Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs). 1.2 Reflecting upon our comparative advantage in manufacturing, logistics, construction and food and drink industries, and the strengths offered by our urban communities and rural diversity, we should ensure that the opportunities for securing greater levels of investment in local infrastructure and growth are not lost to us. Councils and LEPs are key to achieving this. 1.3 However, there are some ‘larger than local’ issues where a wider collaborative approach can help deliver results. In this we can point to past successes. The campaigns to dual the A46, secure better broadband and most recently to upgrade and electrify the Midland Main Line have all demonstrated the power of well evidenced collective action to deliver major investment. Despite this, independent research by the Smith Institute has highlighted that the substantial growth potential that exists across the East Midlands has yet to be fully recognised in national investment decisions. 1.4 As result, the EMC Executive Board asked Cllr Jim Harker OBE to lead a small ‘task and finish group’ to develop a short prospectus demonstrating the economic benefits to UK plc of increasing the share of national investment in the East Midlands, and highlighting a limited number of strategic investment priorities. 2. Investing in Opportunity Prospectus 2.1 The ‘Investing in Opportunity’ prospectus is split into 3 main sections. Section 1: Key Economic Growth Opportunities : This highlights the predominance of the East Midlands in manufacturing, and key sectors where local businesses have a competitive advantage relative to the UK and significant growth potential. Section 2: Key Housing Growth Opportunities: This demonstrates the continued commitment of councils across the East Midlands to provide housing for local communities, and the importance of infrastructure investment in unlocking delivery. Section 3: Strategic Infrastructure Priorities : This identifies investment in 5 strategic transport corridors and in broadband, flood defences and energy 8 Item 5a infrastructure as crucial to both national and local competitiveness. It also highlights 6 locally supported and well developed infrastructure projects where there is an immediate opportunity to support collective action by councils and LEPs. 3. Next Steps 3.1 This prospectus is just the start. It sets out the summary case for greater investment and is intended to support the efforts of individual councils and LEPs to promote and deliver growth. However, more work will be required to develop and justify individual strategic projects, and to develop a ‘sub-national infrastructure pipeline’ which will help local business to secure construction contracts.