SOLENT LOCAL ENTERPRISE PARTNERSHIPTRANSFORMING THE SOLENT ECONOMY

Anne-Marie MountifieldChief Executive, Solent Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP)

Informing Hampshire , April 25 th 2014

The Solent LEP – Who we are?• The Solent LEP was formed after the Government offered local areas the

opportunity to take control of their future economic development.

• It is a locally-owned partnership between businesses and local authorities and plays a central role in determining local economic priorities and undertaking activities to drive economic growth and the creation of local jobs.

• Our fully-elected board of 15 directors, with a private sector Chairman, comprises business, the Further Education and Higher Education sector, three unitary authorities, eight district councils and one county council.

• Registered as a company limited by guarantee, we were incorporated on 18 March 2011.

Solent Economy Headlines

The Solent Economy – Overview• The Solent area is an internationally-recognised key economic hub anchored

around the three International Gateways, the Isle of Wight, the two cities of Portsmouth and Southampton, the M27 corridor and the Solent waterway.

• Economic output equates to £48.5bn (GVA of £23.7bn), with over 50,000 businesses operating in the area, supporting 485,000 full-time equivalent jobs.

• At the heart of our economy are the two cities of Portsmouth and Southampton and their associated ports and three leading Universities. Together these two cities provide nearly 39% of high-skilled jobs in the Solent and contribute 37% of our total economic output.

• The maritime and marine sector accounts for 20.5% of our GVA and provides 40,000 jobs locally, and supports over 3,000 businesses. Over the period to 2025 these sectors are projected to grow by 5% in the Solent.

• The Solent sub-region also plays a significant role in advanced manufacturing with significant clusters linked to our key economic assets of the Port of Southampton, Portsmouth Naval Base and the marine and defence cluster.

The Solent Economy – Overview

Solent LEP Strategic Economic Plan – ‘ the do nothing scenario’• Solent is forecast to grow at 2.8% per annum and will continue to lag the average annual UK

GVA growth rate of 2.9% per annum and 3.0% per annum for the South East. • The area will continue to be dependent on public sector employment and large employers

making it vulnerable to business failure and public sector cuts. • Manufacturing is forecast to decline. By 2030, manufacturing is expected to contract by 20.6%

with the shedding of 9,900 jobs. • Increasing levels of congestion in the Solent area will prevail. This will restrict future job

creation and there is a potential loss of GVA of 1.3% per annum by 2025.• A lack of available space for expansion and development - stalled sites and significant

infrastructure requirements will block the delivery of two major strategic housing sites and employment land to support the growth of the international gateways and the maritime sector.

• Significant tracts of prime development land and waterside access are owned by the MoD and will not be put to productive economic use, constraining the growth of the Port and the marine and maritime sector.

• Demographic change and replacement demand will place significant pressures on the labour market and this will inhibit growth

• Poor achievement at key stage 4, particularly in STEM subjects will result in significant skills deficits

Solent LEP Strategic Economic Plan and Local Growth Deal Headlines

Our PrioritiesThe LEP has six strategic priorities:•Supporting new businesses, enterprise and ensuring SME survival and growth;

•Enabling infrastructure priorities including land assets, transport and housing, reducing flood risk and improving access to superfast broadband;

•Establishing a single inward investment model to encourage companies to open new sites in the region, supported by effective marketing;

•Investing in skills to establish a sustainable pattern of growth, ensuring local residents are equipped to take up the jobs that are created and businesses can source local skills and labour to underpin growth;

•Developing strategic sectors and clusters (interconnected groups and businesses) of marine, aerospace and defence, advanced manufacturing, engineering, transport and logistics businesses, low carbon and the visitor economy – establishing the area as a business gateway, at both local and international levels and developing local supply chains;

•Building on our substantial knowledge assets to support innovation and build innovative capacity in the Solent area to stimulate growth in Solent businesses and in new high growth sectors, particularly linked to our HE excellence.

Solent LEP Strategic Economic Plan – Priorities

Transforming Solent, our Strategic Economic Plan builds on our comparative economic advantages and has prioritised interventions that will promote this area as a leading location for the marine, maritime and advanced manufacturing sectors both at home and more importantly in the global marketplace. The key focal points are:

•The critical role of the connectivity of the Solent with our wider UK and global markets.•Overcoming physical constraints to growth through the assembly of public (especially MOD) and private land, which will support the development of housing and employment sites.•Providing an appropriate housing offer.•Addressing our skills shortages and deal with educational under-achievement at key stage 4 and skills deficits in STEM.•Investing in the business base – to address the Solent’s poor performance in SME business start-up and survival, by supporting new businesses and our supply chains.

The Strategic Economic Plan (SEP) and Local Growth Deal

A £1.8bn proposal, with:

•£100m local contributions

•£1.4bn private sector leverage

•£300m Local Growth deal funding ask

•An ask for greater influence over key levers affecting local growth and some freedoms and flexibilities

It demonstrates a wider commitment to growth and goes beyond what is directly managed under the Local Growth Fund and it will deliver 3.1% GVA growth per annum and an increase in productivity of over £6,800 per job

Solent LEP Strategic Economic Plan and the role of key local partners – some examples

Proposed Capital investment for skills

Further information see:

http://solentlep.org.uk/downloads