South West Regional Development Agency

SOUTH WEST OF ENGLAND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY 
MINUTES OF THE 71st BOARD MEETING 12th DECEMBER 2005 
National Waterways Museum, Gloucester 
 
 
Present: 
 
Juliet Williams - Chairman 
Cathy Bakewell - Board Member 
Nick Buckland - Deputy Chairman 
Christine Channon - Board Member 
Nigel Costley - Board Member 
Alan Courts - Board Member 
Duncan Hames - Board Member 
Brian Kemp - Board Member 
Jonathon Porritt - Board Member 
Christine Reid - Board Member 
Judith Reynolds - Board Member 
Harry Studholme - Board Member 
Eric Thomas - Board Member 
 
In attendance: 
 
Geoffrey Wilkinson - Chief Executive 
Nick Lewis - Director of Corporate Services 
Colin Molton - Director of Operations and Development 
Stephen Peacock - Director of Enterprise and Innovation 
Ian Knight - Head of Operations, Gloucestershire 
Jeff Chinnock - Corporate and Parliamentary Affairs Manager 
Caroline Bloodworth - Corporate and Parliamentary Affairs 
 
Visitors: 
 
Chris Oldershaw - CEO, Gloucester Heritage URC (item 2-3) 
Greg Smith - Principal, Gloscat (item 3) 
 
Apologies: 
 
Colin Skellett - Board Member 
Suzanne Bond - Director of Strategy and Communications 
 
1. WALKING TOUR OF GLOUCESTER CITY CENTRE AND THE DOCKS 
 
Ian Knight, SW RDA Head of Operations for Gloucestershire lead the Board on a walking tour of the docks and city centre focusing on current and planned regeneration in the area.  
 
2. URBAN REGENERATION COMPANIES (URCs)/ GLOUCESTER HERITAGE URC (GHURC) 
 
Colin Molton provided an introduction to URCs in the South West. He explained that Gloucester, Camborne/Pool/Redruth and Swindon were all at different stages and each required different approaches.  
 
The New Swindon Company had a new Chief Executive in post, Peter James, and was working on a number of ambitious regeneration projects. 
 
Tim Williams, previous Chief Executive at Camborne/Pool/Redruth had left in the summer to join ODPM. A recruitment exercise for a successor had taken place and the post had now been offered. Recruitment had also taken place for a Development Director although the far south west location and issues concerning pension arrangements had resulted in some difficulties in filling the post. SW RDA and English Partnerships had contingency plans in place for this possibility. The major issue remained the capacity to deliver, in particular, the regeneration of brownfield land in Pool. 
 
Chris Oldershaw, Chief Executive of Gloucester Heritage URC (GHURC) was introduced. He provided a background presentation on GHURC and explained the unique heritage of the area. There were 500 listed buildings and that provided an opportunity to create a sense of identity and local distinctiveness. Chris Oldershaw outlined the size, makeup and structure of GHURC, the investment (£106 million) to date and the challenges for the future. The issue of both Gloucester and Cheltenham playing to their respective and complimentary strengths was discussed.  
 
Ian Knight clarified the position on rail connectivity for both Gloucester and Cheltenham. 
 
3. GLOSCAT 
 
Colin Molton introduced Greg Smith, Principal of Gloscat, who provided an overview of the college since his arrival in 1997. Greg Smith outlined the issues faced in Cheltenham's performance where he had been successful in moving the college campus from an ageing 48,000 sq ft building to a purpose built campus at Hesters Way.  
 
The current Gloucester campus was cramped and costly to run and he explained that he had developed a partnership approach with English Partnerships, English Heritage, both the City and County Councils and SWRDA to support the development of a new campus. The chosen site in Gloucester Quays had now been cleared with development about to get underway. It was hoped that the new college site would be operational from June 2007. 
 
The Board formally recognised the part Greg Smith's energy and enthusiasm had played, and would continue to play, in the development and delivery of the new Gloscat facilities.  
 
4. HALF YEAR PERFORMANCE REPORT 2005 
 
Geoff Wilkinson introduced the item in Suzanne Bond's absence. He explained that the report had been produced for the Board's consideration, it would then be sent to Government Departments before Christmas. The Independent Performance Assessment (IPA) process would begin in April 2006, and this report would continue and be part of the IPA procedure. 
 
The Board questioned the Agency's performance against the new targets within the Tasking Framework and focused particularly on those where the Agency was behind target. It was explained that projects in existence prior to the Tasking Framework had not been required to report against these targets, and therefore capturing this information was not straightforward. It was possible that other RDAs may be in a similar position and it was agreed that an update on the performance of other RDAs would be included in the Chief Executive's Report to the January Board. There was a more general problem with the brownfield land target where ODPM had set a higher three year target. For various reasons it was expected that the South West would meet the target but at the bottom of the range. 
 
The Board discussed the Efficiency Plan noting that the Agency was ahead of target at the half year. Nick Lewis explained that he planned in the future to provide output figures at the same time as financial information as these were the key to delivery of the non cashable savings. Following a discussion of the efficiency of delivery it was agreed that a report on the Agency's evaluation work would come to the Board at a future meeting. There would be an opportunity for Board members to develop a better understanding of Risk Management at the workshop planned to follow the January board meeting.  
 
Board decision 
 
The Board noted the contents of the 2005/6 half year Performance Report.