Agenda and minutes

Councillor Michael Vincent was elected as Chairman for the meeting.

Members will disclose any pecuniary and any other significant interests they may have in relation to the matters to be considered at this meeting.

None.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the previous meeting

The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed as a correct record.

Presentation by Rachel McQueen

Rachel McQueen of Marketing Lancashire gave a presentation to the board on a five year vision for the effective promotion of the region. It focussed on disconnecting Lancashire the county from Lancashire the County Council and celebrating the region’s diversity to maximise the value of having a wide range of assets with no single urban centre dominating the area.

Her presentation focussed on two core questions: “who are we?” and “who do we want to be?” She talked about the ‘We are Lancashire’ promotional film and how it related to the regional identity and the need to promote the county for the benefit of the people who live here. She explained that Marketing Lancashire’s mission was to work collaboratively with partners to identify, articulate and promote the strengths of Lancashire and focus on delivering economic benefit to the region.

Areas covered included

·         re-establishing a direct connection between the places and assets and the county itself, without extra layers or definitions (saying for example Blackpool, Lancashire rather than Blackpool, Fylde Coast),

·         developing a succinct and memorable message for Lancashire,

·         engaging communications professionals to reverse the obsolete and negative perception of Lancashire perpetuated in the media,

·         an ambassador programme with globally-recognised personalities such as cricketer Andrew Flintoff acting as ambassadors for the county,

·         the potential effect of Brexit and the need to raise the county’s profile in Europe and beyond,

·         tourism zones and tourism levies,

·         reclaiming Lancashire’s connection to the stories of its heritage,

·         prioritising messages and targeting specific audiences,

·         promoting Lancashire against completion from destinations with much bigger advertising budgets.

The board discussed the information presented and agreed that by broadly encouraging and adopting a culture of mutual support focussed around a recognised single brand symbol such as the Red Rose, targeted marketing and advertising of the county’s strengths could challenge stereotypical perceptions of Lancashire promoted by the national media and create a credible narrative of the region’s successes without any need for spin. It was suggested that locally this might include advertising to build upon and take direct advantage of existing media strengths such as BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing at Blackpool’s Tower Ballroom and Open Golf Championships hosted by the Royal Lytham and St Annes Golf Club.

The visual presentation is appended to these minutes.

Report of the Growth and Prosperity Programme Director, Blackpool Council

The Growth and Prosperity Programme Director, Blackpool Council submitted a report to inform the Board of the Government requirement for Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) to develop a Local Industrial Strategy (LIS).

He informed the board that the report was an early alert to make members aware of it and that he would provide further updates at the next meeting and over the coming months.

Decision

The board noted the report.

If the discussion during items 8 and 9 of this agenda involves the disclosure of "exempt information", as defined in Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 and the board wishes to move to confidential session, it may at any point pass the following resolution: "That the public and press be excluded from the meeting whilst the agenda item(s) is/are considered, on the grounds that their presence would involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in category 3 (Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person, including the authority holding that information) of Part 1 of Schedule 12(a) of the Local Government Act, 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) Variation Order 2006 and, that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information".

No members of the press or public were present and the board did not need to move to confidential session during items 8 and 9.

Report of the Head of Enterprise Zones, Blackpool Council

The Head of Enterprise Zones, Blackpool Council (HEZBC) submitted a progress report on the Blackpool Airport EZ covering

a) EZ Masterplan,

b) Delivery (Implementation) Plan,

c) EZ Outputs and Phase One Funding,

d) Retained Business Rates (NNDR),

e) EZ Marketing Strategy,

f) Marketing activity,

g) PIN Notice,

h) Risk Register - the HEZBC apologised that he was unable to circulate the Risk Register for the EZ Project at the meeting as stated in the report,

i) York Aviation Report Summary on Blackpool Airport,

j) Enquiries and Development,

and giving details of forthcoming activity including Phase One Development and the reconstitution of the Project Team. The HEZBC informed the EPB that there was to be an open day on Thursday 6 December 2018 for residents and businesses.

Decision

The report was noted.

The board approved the recommendation to put in place a formal agreement between Fylde and Blackpool Councils to enable the transfer of any confirmed annual business rates growth raised by Fylde Council to Blackpool Council as the accountable body for delivery of the EZ, within one month of the NNDR settlements i.e. usually by June, for each of the next 22 remaining years of the EZ.

Report of the Senior Economic Development Officer, Wyre Council

Wyre Council’s Senior Economic Development Officer submitted a progress report on Hillhouse Enterprise Zone detailing

·         Masterplan and Baseline Report

·         Marketing Strategy

·         Implementation / Delivery Plan

·         Forthcoming Activity

Wyre Council‘s Chief Executive, confirmed that the EZ Masterplan had been approved at the Cabinet meeting on 28 November 2018.

Decision

The report was noted.

The report submitted under item 11 of this agenda is “Not for Publication” because it contains “exempt information”, as defined in Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

If the Board agrees that the public and press should be excluded for this item and has not already done so, it will need to pass the following resolution: “That the public and press be excluded from the meeting whilst agenda item 11 is considered, on the grounds that their presence would involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in category 3 (Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)) of Part 1 of Schedule 12(a) of the Local Government Act, 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) Variation Order 2006 and, that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information”.

The EPB agreed that the public and press be excluded from the meeting for item 11 on the grounds that their presence would involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in category 3 (Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person, including the authority holding that information) of Part 1 of Schedule 12(a) of the Local Government Act, 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) Variation Order 2006 and, that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Report of the Growth and Prosperity Programme Director, Blackpool Council

The Growth and Prosperity Programme Director, Blackpool Council submitted a report providing an overview of the potential for a bespoke Economic Impact Model (EIM) for the Fylde Coast.

Decision

Members discussed the potential benefits from the availability of an EIM and, whilst it was agreed in principle to a procurement/tendering exercise to ensure best value and that following the tendering process, Blackpool Council would fund 50% of the cost of the EIM while Fylde and Wyre Councils would consider part funding to the value of 25% each, prior to any commitment from Wyre confirmation would be sought from the Local Plan/Regeneration Teams that the EIM would be a tool that would support the monitoring of the emerging local plan and wider regeneration initiatives.