HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL
ENVIRONMENT, ECONOMY AND COMMUNITY SAFETY
PANEL
WEDNESDAY 23 JANUARY 2013 AT 10:00 A.M
Agenda Item No.
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INFORMATION
REPORT
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT UPDATE
Report of the Director of Environment and Commercial Services
Author: Neil Hayes
Tel: 01707 358741
Executive Member: Robert Gordon (Leader of the Council and Executive
Member for Resources and Economic Well-being)
1. Purpose of report
1.1. To update members on the Local Enterprise Partnership, on current
economic development initiatives in the county, and on the current
state of the local economy.
2. Summary
2.1. The LEP Board will commission a Growth Plan for the County
including an Infrastructure Plan for Hertfordshire.
2.2. The LEP Board has received an update on the Growing Places Fund
Round One Funded Projects and agreed with the LEP Appraisal
Panels recommendations for the 15 Round Two applications received.
2.3. Claimant Count for November 2012 for Hertfordshire is 17,054 a fall of
263 from October 2012. The claimant count proportion now stands at
2.4% of the working age population
3. Recommendation
3.1. That the Panel notes the contents of this report.
4. Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Update
4.1. Following the LEP Infrastructure Conference on 22 October 2012,
there was consensus to develop a Growth Plan for the county,
including an Infrastructure Plan for Hertfordshire.
4.2. A draft prospectus and brief are in preparation. This will have three
likely dimensions/timeframes; a Vision (20 years), a Strategy (10
years) and an initial Delivery Plan (5 years). A draft specification was
agreed by Hertfordshire LEP Board (with input from HIPP) on 20
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December and the work will be commissioned early in the New Year. It
is likely to be a 4/5 month piece of work and will involve extensive
consultation with stakeholders.
4.3. LEPs featured in the Chancellors Autumn budget statement, most
notably on the intention to pool centralised pots of funding around
housing, transport skills etc in order for LEPs to bid into from 2015
(subject to LEPs having robust growth plans in place).
4.4. Further details will be announced in the Spring when the Government
formally responds to the Heseltine Review on Growth published in
October 2012. The main thrust of the review is to devolve greater
powers and resources from Whitehall departments to Local Authorities
and LEPs.
4.5. Also confirmed in the budget statement is the intention for LEP areas
(i.e. groups of 3-5 LEPs) to form the basis of sub-regions by which EU
funds will be devolved when the new funding programme is launched
in 2014. Further guidance is expected but the arrangements are
expected to be voluntary. The Hertfordshire LEP will be negotiating
with neighbouring LEPs on which is the most appropriate grouping for
Hertfordshire.
4.6. Government has agreed core funding to support the operation of the
LEP over three years. £125k has been provided for 2012/12 and
£250k will be available for 2013/14 and 2014/15, subject to these
funding levels being matched by local partners. HCC and the LEP are
developing a Memorandum of Understanding and a Service Level
Agreement to resource the joint LEP/HCC economic development
team over 2013/14 and 2014/15.
4.7. It is clear that LEPs are now playing a more prominent role in the
Government’s economic growth agenda and greater resources and
powers are anticipated. However these resources will only be
delegated if the LEP can develop a clear, prioritised economic growth
strategy for the county over the coming year.
5. LEP Programme updates
5.1. Growing Places Funding Round One – Current Position
The Heads of Terms have been agreed for the Round 1 projects for
Watford Health Campus and Elstree Film Studios. The two bids will
receive funding totalling £8m. Negotiations are still ongoing with
Dacorum Borough Council in relation to projects on Maylands.
5.2. Growing Places Round Two
Following the Infrastructure Conference, bids Expressions of Interest
(EOIs) were invited from projects for a share of £6million.
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5.3. A LEP Appraisal Panel met on 7 December to assess the EOIs. 15
EOIs were received, the value of the bids, excluding a very large bid
from Broxbourne equalled £32.1mill capital (£500k rev). Bids were
appraised into three categories.
5.4. The LEP Board at its meeting on 20 December recommended:
i) Four Priority 1 projects, to be taken forward to the next stage. The list
is over profiled (£) and bidders will be asked to negotiate down their
bids.
ii) A list of four projects that are not recommended for immediate
progression, but which could be considered as candidates as priority 2
projects and held as reserves subject to any changes with priority 1
projects or if the Government tops up the Growing Places programme.
iii) A list of 7 projects that cannot be supported at this current time, full
feedback will be given to each bidder with a view to signposting them
to other funding sources
5.5. Following the LEP Board on the 20 December, letters have been sent
to the bidders with a request for more information from the four Prioriy
1 projects. Full bids to be invited by the end of February 2013 and
awards will be made following the March LEP Board’s meeting, with
an aim to have funding agreements in place by the end of March.
5.6. Priority 1 Projects
Dacorum Borough Council
Broxbourne Borough Council
Watford Borough Council
Three Rivers District Council
Hemel
Hempstead
Town
Interchange
Broxbourne Enterprise Centre
Centre
Bus
Ascot Road, Site Preparation and Regeneration
Scheme
South Oxhey Initiative: Enabling Early Phases
6. Inward Investment
6.1. Charles Lartey is now in post as LEP Inward Investment Manager. He
has already begun work on a number of initiatives:
 Scoping meetings have been held with district Economic
Development Teams to understand their local propositions and
current inward investment activities.
 Successful meetings have been held with the Commercial teams at
the US (Federal) & Brazilian Embassies, to understand and explore
how Hertfordshire can be more visible to prospective investors
from those countries. A programme of joint activity will be
developed based on discussion outcomes.
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
Fairfax County (State of Virginia, US) Economic Development
Authority representatives visited Hertfordshire LEP in August to
scope out mutually benefiting business development activity.
6.2. Last month, Hertfordshire hosted a delegation of 19 UKTI & BIS
Sector in Hertfordshire, arranging visit local key assets, to enable
them better understand what we have to offer in the context of the UK
PLC. Assets visited include:
 The stem Cell Bank in Potters Bar, (Life Sciences
 Ashridge Business School, (Business Professional & Financial
Services including leadership thought development)
 Astrium (Advanced Engineering),
 Hertfordshire University (ICT & Astro Physics)
 Warner Bros. Studio. (Creative )
6.3. The visit has given rise to a better understanding of Hertfordshire and
an increased interest from front line sector advisors, with most seeking
return visits to further improve their knowledge of the area. UKTI
confirm they have been involved with 18 (8 new & 10 expansions)
inward Investment projects in Hertfordshire in 2011/12. These projects
are expected to have created 723 jobs, (1.5% of UK total).
7. Tourism
7.1. The Tourism Company have been appointed to undertake a tourism
review of Hertfordshire. The review is scheduled for completion by the
end of March 2013 with the aim to produce a destination management
plan for the County.
8. Economic Development Roundup
8.1. Claimant Count
8.2. Claimant Count for November for Hertfordshire is 17,054 a fall of 263
from October. The claimant count proportion now stands at 2.4% of
the working age population (i.e. those aged 16-64). The claimant count
is the number of people claiming Jobs Seekers Allowance. This is a
fall of 1.5% compared to October 2012. 26% of JSA claimants are
aged18-24.
8.3. The majority of districts have experienced a decrease in the actual
number and proportion of claimant count since October.
8.4. Claimant count in the East of England is 3.0% of the working age
population, whilst claimant count in the United Kingdom stands at
3.8% of the working population.
8.5. There were 8,578 vacancies in November (compared to 9,479 in
October 2012). This relates to 1.9 JSA claimants to every vacancy.
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8.6. The number of Hertfordshire businesses registered for VAT and PAYE
has risen for the first time in two years, reversing successive falls in
the business base.
8.7. Business Update
8.8. A new state-of-the-art laboratory specialising in analysing the DNA of
crops has been opened in Hoddesdon. The 25,000 sq ft facility is
owned by LGC Genomics who provide scientific products and
laboratory services for use in genetic analysis.
8.9. All four Comet stores have now closed across the county, in addition
there were 138 redundancies at their Rickmansworth HQ.
8.10.Waverley TBS Ltd, a drinks wholesale firm with offices in Tyneside,
Hertfordshire (Hemel Hempstead) and Derbyshire has made 685 staff
redundant after administrators failed to find a buyer.
8.11.Poundland has officially opened its new distribution centre in
Hoddesdon, creating 250 new jobs in the area.
8.12.Amazon is to create up to 600 permanent jobs and over 2,000
temporary jobs at it’s newly opened 450,000 sq ft ‘fulfilment centre’ in
Hemel Hempstead
8.13.Global Communications company; Pitney Bowes has relocated 450
of its employees to a new office on Hatfield Business Park from its
Harlow UK headquarters.
Background Papers
All related papers can be found at www.hertfordshirelep.com
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