Agenda item

Announcements by the Chairman, Executive Councillors and Chief Officers

Minutes:

The Executive Councillor for Economy and Place advised that he was sad to report the news that Fogarty in Boston would be subject to insolvency proceedings, which would result in a loss of circa 200 jobs.  The Committee recognised that Fogarty was an important part of Boston's history.  The Councillors' and officers' thoughts were with the staff and their families, and it was advised that the Council would work with Boston Borough Council, Jobcentre Plus and other partners to support those affected.

 

The Chancellor of the Exchequer's budget had set out significant ways in which Government would help businesses, in particular high street retailers.  It was noted that as with all budgets, the detailed announcements would follow in the forthcoming weeks.  The Executive Councillor was particularly interested to see how the £1.6bn of funding allocated to industrial strategies and technology would be allocated. 

 

The Executive Councillor had previously briefed members on the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership's (GLLEP) World of Work website, which had continued to be very popular and was used by teachers to help them to plan lessons on careers.    The Executive Councillor was pleased to report that by working with the GLLEP and the national Careers and Enterprise Company, the Council now hosted an officer whose job was to be a link between employers and schools so that lessons on careers could be more effective.

 

The Executive Councillor was delighted to report that the North Sea Observatory had been shortlisted for a Design Award through the prestigious Architects Journal.  A meeting of the Committee would be held at the Observatory in the spring of 2019.

 

Lincolnshire had hosted a very successful visit from one of USA's top travel bloggers with excellent coverage of Lincoln and the rest of the County.  It was also highlighted that the Council's Tourism Manager would be representing Lincolnshire on the Mayflower 400 stand at the annual World Travel Market exhibition in London.

 

Team Lincolnshire continued to grow, with circa 80 paying members now in place.  A promotional event had recently been held as part of the MIPIM UK exhibition in London.  A further Team Lincolnshire event would be arranged in late November 2018 focusing on investment opportunities from the West Midlands.

 

The Executive Councillor had signed a formal sister region agreement with Hunan in China in early October 2018.  The officer team would hold monthly video conferencing meetings with officials in Hunan to progress opportunities that had been discussed during the visit.  A 'Trading with China' seminar had recently been held and a student from south Lincolnshire would be spending six months on an internship in Changsha to help to give a presence in that region.

 

The Executive Councillor was pleased to report that the Council had helped a major food business in the south of the county to retain and grow its footprint in the County, protecting hundreds of jobs. 

 

The Executive Councillor reminded the Committee that he had previously briefed councillors on the Government's local enterprise partnership review.  The Council continued to make the case for a GLLEP, potentially with Rutland as an additional partner as this would strengthen economic coherence.  Ministers appeared to be determined that overlapping local enterprise partnerships should be avoided, no matter what the local economic case might be.  It was highlighted that the south bank of the Humber looked to Lincolnshire for food production and for visitor economy, but looked to the north bank of the Humber for energy production.

 

It was reported that there had been a positive uptake at the Kirton Distribution Park in Boston.

 

 
 
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