Kingsway Centre, Scunthorpe

N Lincolnshire Area Council
Tuesday 3 May 2005
Kingsway Centre, Scunthorpe
1. PRESENT:
Carol Thomsett (Chair) Reeds Hotel
Ian Kelly Hull & Humber Chamber of Commerce
Les Hurst Clugston Group plc
Jacqui Johnson Andrew M Jackson Solicitors
Derek Sharland NatWest
Neil Donaldson Highseal Windows
Derek Marshall SOHBAC Ltd
Simon Driver N Lincolnshire Council
Anne Tate Hull & Humber Chamber of Commerce
Philip Haskins Hull & Humber Chamber of Commerce
Paul Hart Scunthorpe Telegraph
Janice Elliott Kingsway Centre
In attendance:
Cllr Alan Holgate Leader, North Lincolnshire Council
2. APOLOGIES:
Apologies were received from Paul Taylor, Richard Brine, Tony Hoodless,
Sophie Freear and Hugh Callaway.
3. MINUTES:
The minutes of the meeting held on 1 March 20005 were agreed as a true
and correct record.
4. MATTERS ARISING:
Maternity Leave: Philip Haskins commented that following discussion of
this issue at the last Area Council meeting, the Chamber had submitted its
findings to the Review and concluded that many business felt that there was
currently little justification for extending the present 6 months maternity
leave.
Lyons Review: Philip Haskins commented on the proposal to return
business rate income to local councils based on per capita income. The
Chamber submission here was that the status quo should be kept and that
it was against re-localisation.
Derek Sharland commented that by having business rates returned to local
authorities better accountability could be ensured. Simon Driver responded
that this might not necessarily be the case. He also commented that N
Lincolnshire Council was currently a significant exporter of business rates
with a net loss to the area of £17 million.
5. PRESENTATION BY COUNCILLOR ALAN HOLGATE:
MINUTES North Lincolnshire Area
DATE Tuesday 3 May Council 2005
VENUE Kingsway Centre, Scunthorpe
Cllr Holgate opened his presentation by commenting on the changing role
of local authorities and the importance of local performance and
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N Lincolnshire Area Council
Tuesday 3 May 2005
Kingsway Centre, Scunthorpe
partnership. He noted that the authority’s “Excellent” performance was not
being treated with complacency and that N Lincolnshire Council was
working to ensure the area’s competitive position through the dual thrust of
economic and educational development. He noted that the current
economic position of N Lincolnshire was being judged through 6 key
measures which indicated that the economic activity rate was just above the
national average, as was the unemployment rate. Skills levels met the
national average and wage levels were at 96% of the national average. The
VAT registration rate was well below the national average but improving.
Analysis of key sector revealed that manufacturing was above the national
average at 21%, whereas services were below at 56%. Cllr Holgate noted
the importance of key companies to the economy, in particular Corus,
Kimberly Clark, ConocoPhillips and Associated British Ports but stressed
that smaller companies and businesses were all essential to ensure growth.
He felt that short term the Council needed to meet local industries needs
and wants but medium to long term they needed to steer, often through
public sector engagement, key investment decisions such as infrastructure,
physical and IT, sites and premises. Cllr Holgate felt that local government’s
role was to be ‘the oil to enable the engine to work’. With regard to the
future of the North Lincolnshire economy he saw higher value-added
manufacturing, diversification and development of the Service Sector. He
commented on the informal sharing of best practice between 20-25 of N
Lincolnshire’s leading companies, the Incubation Programme at
Watersedge and Normanby Gateway and Enterprise Development, which
will see a general widening of services delivered through the enterprising
Northlincs initiative. He also stressed the importance of Renaissance North
Lincs in attracting key personnel to the area.
Carol Thomsett thanked Cllr Holgate for his interesting and informative
presentation.
Jacqui Johnson enquired how firm a proposal putting leisure services into a
trust status was. Cllr Holgate replied that 90 local councils had already put
leisure services out to trusts and feedback from visits to such councils at
Sheffield had been very good, He also commented that a big advantage to
trust status would be tax reductions. Janice Elliott enquired what would
happen to the savings. Cllr Holgate replied that this money would be
reinvested into the Trust for further leisure services.
Les Hurst made the point that a prime requirement for the area was to
encourage new manufacturing industry. He enquired how the council was
intending to drive this forward. Cllr Holgate replied that the Council had an
excellent regeneration team promoting the area through such initiatives as
trade shows. He added that the team were working to improve the image
and profile of the area and mentioned the possibility of expanding on
educational links which had been forged with the Dalian province of China
to bring about trade links. He was also pleased to announce that Yorkshire
Forward had committed £14,000,000 to N Lincolnshire Council over the
next three years and that they would like to see this money delivered
through the Local Strategic Partnership. He also stressed the importance of
a knowledge campus for the area, commenting that at present N
Lincolnshire was a net importer of FE and a net exporter of HE.
Finally, Cllr Holgate announced that interviews were being held for a new
Chief Executive on 23/24 May. It was hoped the successful candidate would
be in post by July.
6. STATE OF TRADE:
Construction: Quiet period with a fall in enquiries. Cost difficulties because
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N Lincolnshire Area Council
Tuesday 3 May 2005
Kingsway Centre, Scunthorpe
of the working time directive. Further additional costs with rises in fuel.
UPVC: Sales/growth of company up by 20% but flat window industry in
decline. Slight growth in new build noted. Conservatories had seen good
growth.
Banking: Stable picture with modest growth. Demand for finance stable
across all sectors. Financial performance of businesses down on last year.
Knock on effect on confidence could ensue.
Local Authority: Election had caused hold-ups in development of projects.
Normanby Enterprise Park going well.
Chamber: Membership ticking over. International trade documentation
figures down. Training ticking over. Events: Good numbers reported – all
stands at Chamber Expo sold.
Humberside Airport: Leisure industry in boom mode. Trade slowed slightly
with opening of Finningley. Humberside concentrating on the scheduled
flight market. Heavy demand for oil/helicopter traffic. Increase in fish
importation at perishable hub.
Newspapers: Motor advertising good, property reasonable, retail flat. Sales
of paper down but less than the national average.
Business Support: Stable. Enquiry levels slightly down.
Hotels: Business growing. Enlargement of hotel planned. Conference
business very good. Achieved Investors in People.
Education: Business very good. Last month best ever. Achieved Investors
in People and Putting the Customer First.
Consultancy: Currently a very difficult time.
7. CHAMBER ISSUES:
i) Chamber Council, Area Councils and Policy Activity: Noted.
ii) Business Awards: Anne Tate reported that there had been a good
response from business in N Lincs. The event had been grown this year
with more awards, more sponsors and a higher profile Dinner and
Presentation.
8. LOCAL REPORTS:
None.
9. ANY OTHER BUSINESS:
None.
10. DATE OF NEXT MEETING:
The next meeting would be held on 12 July 2005 at the Kingsway Centre,
Scunthorpe. Derek Sharland’s apologies were noted in advance.
Hull & Humber Chamber of Commerce 3