Agenda item - Greater Brighton Place Narrative & Inward Investment

Report of the Chair, Greater Brighton Officer Programme Board

1)             That the Board recognise and accept that post-Brexit and post-COVID, the role of place narrative and inward investment is key to Greater Brighton’s recovery and future growth and approve the overall direction of the narrative and proposed approach towards inward investment.

2)             That partners agree that a level of funding is required for an Inward Investment Desk service. The report suggests that the minimum level of funding for an efficient service is £250,000 per year, although there are options beneath this. The Board agrees that work should commence to identify the most appropriate potential sources for this funding, including Local Enterprise Partnership and national government funding, to resource the desk from 2021/22.

3)             That the current team utilise existing resource to continue to develop and deliver elements of the plan, where possible, and report back on progress at the end of 2020 the work undertaken to date.

7.1          The Board considered a report of the Chair, Greater Brighton Officer Programme Board that outlined the basis behind the city region’s place narrative, how this was key to attracting investment and the preferred approach to securing inward investment through the utilising of existing resource and the establishment of a pro-active desk. The report was commissioned at the request of the Board at its meeting in November 2019.

7.2          Councillor Lamb stated that it was imperative that the Board monitor asks and there was no clear grasp of what the Board was collectively delivering. Councillor Lamb stated that strategies developed and approved must lead to outcomes.

7.3          Councillor Nicholson agreed and stated that it was important to establish ground rules and red lines. Councillor Nicholson noted that the Board had available resources and could use them in the short-term.

7.4          Councillor Lamb stated that he did not feel it was viable to allocate further resource to something that wasn’t working. Councillor Lamb suggested the Board could consider delegation of specific areas to each Board Member to focus upon and deliver. Councillor Lamb highlighted that Crawley Borough Council were not currently receiving the economic benefit of being a member of the Board.

7.5          The Chair noted that there was no request for further financial commitment recommended within the report and delegation was certainly something that could be considered.

7.6          RESOLVED-

1)             That the Board recognise and accept that post-Brexit and post-COVID, the role of place narrative and inward investment is key to Greater Brighton’s recovery and future growth and approve the overall direction of the narrative and proposed approach towards inward investment.

2)             That partners agree that a level of funding is required for an Inward Investment Desk service. The report suggests that the minimum level of funding for an efficient service is £250,000 per year, although there are options beneath this. The Board agrees that work should commence to identify the most appropriate potential sources for this funding, including Local Enterprise Partnership and national government funding, to resource the desk from 2021/22.

3)             That the current team utilise existing resource to continue to develop and deliver elements of the plan, where possible, and report back on progress at the end of 2020 the work undertaken to date.