Supporting Economic Growth

Leonie Cooper AM:  Thank you very much for the opening remark from Rajesh and also the contribution from Simon [Pitkeathley].  I want to ask about actions.  I would like to helicopter back up a bit from a long discussion about the website into what actions you have been taking to support economic growth and job creation, and I think I would like to start with Debbie because you talked about the 200 projects.  Could you divide those up into groupings so that we can get a feel for the overall thrust of what you have been doing? 

 

Debbie Jackson (Interim Executive Director for Development, Enterprise and Environment, GLA, and LEAP Senior Responsible Owner):  Yes, of course.  We are really clear in the work that we do with the LEAP that we need to have some priorities and clarity over our funding.  I agree, 200 projects need to have some clear, overriding priorities.  There is an overriding priority to the LEAP of progressing inclusive growth.  The LEAP have been very clear with us that it is not just about raising productivity, it is about raising productivity in a way that enables all Londoners to participate in the benefits of growth. 

 

The Good Growth Fund is one of the main programmes that we have brought forward under LEAP.  The Good Growth Fund is a £70 million programme and it supports a range of place‑based, community, cultural and green infrastructure projects to achieve the overriding aim of good growth.  What we do with that programme is we take it out to London and we invite London to tell us what their local area would benefit from, because we do not think for one second that sitting here in City Hall we are best placed to understand the challenges and opportunities of some of London’s localities.  We work with local partners.  Time and again we see that programme oversubscribed with brilliant projects.  That is the Good Growth Fund.

 

As part of the Good Growth Fund we have Crowdfund London, which supports smaller projects particularly targeted at community and local groups.  We recognise that the Good Growth Fund oversailed some groups and was too much money, frankly, for them to be able to participate in some of our work, so we specifically designed Crowdfund London to target local and community groups with smaller amounts of money and also for projects that really demonstrate engagement and participation of the local community.  That has supported a whole range of projects across London, over 100 successful crowdfunding campaigns through that, and engaged over 1,650 Londoners.  That has been a really successful programme.

 

The London Regeneration Fund I spoke about, which has just finished.  If you like, that was a forerunner to the Good Growth Fund.  We took a lot of learning from the design of the London Regeneration Fund and fed that into the Good Growth Fund.  They have similar sorts of aims and outcomes but the Good Growth Fund is the current fund.

 

Then we have the Skills for Londoners Capital Fund, which supports capital investment in London’s further education providers.  Again, there are different strands of that to support the large providers but we also have a small projects and equipment fund as well.

 

Leonie Cooper AM:  OK.  I am going to stop you there because I am running out of time.

 

Debbie Jackson (Interim Executive Director for Development, Enterprise and Environment, GLA, and LEAP Senior Responsible Owner):  Yes.  I have more but I can stop.

 

Leonie Cooper AM:  I wanted to bring in Rajesh to see if there is anything you wanted to add to that, but one of the things I also wanted to ask is: what do you perceive to be the challenges that are facing the LEAP with regard to economic growth and job creation?  Then I would also like to bring in Rokhsana [Fiaz OBE] and Simon [Pitkeathley] on that as well, actually. 

 

Rajesh Agrawal (Deputy Mayor for Business and LEAP Co‑Deputy Chair for Mayor’s Office):  Yes, absolutely.  This is a hugely exciting area.  This is talking about real, actionable programmes that are making a difference.  Thank you for the opportunity for me to talk on that.  I will give you examples of some of the programmes we are running. 

 

For example, the London Co‑Investment Fund, which I just mentioned earlier on.  It is the largest in England of its kind, which invests in early‑stage businesses.  We have invested in well over 120 start‑ups but we always co‑invest.  When we put £1 in, the target was that £3 would come from the private sector but it ended up being a 1:7 ratio, which means we put £1 in and £7 came from private sector money, which is exciting.  It means over £140 million went into the start‑up ecosystem.  We are very delighted we just exited from our first investment of that fund, sold the business to Facebook.  It is quite good.  Again, the BAME representation and women’s representation on ‑‑

 

Leonie Cooper AM:  I would like to hear about the challenges you think you face as well.  Perhaps I could ask Rokhsana.  What do you think are the challenges?  I am running out of time as well.

 

Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz OBE (Member of the London Economic Action Partnership and Co‑Chair, Royal Docks Enterprise Zone Programme Board):  OK.  I will try to be very brief.  For the benefit of other Assembly Members, I am not a businessperson.  I am an elected representative representing the London Borough of Newham and I co‑chair the Royal Docks Enterprise Zone [Programme Board], which is a significant programme of the LEAP with some £314 million already secured or committed through approvals at the LEAP Board level last July [2018].  The Programme Board that I co‑chair has enabled just over £200 million of that money to be directed across four principal areas of activity across the zone. 

 

The one itself is London’s only Enterprise Zone.  It is scheduled to deliver, over a lifetime of 25 years,

40,000 jobs and around £5 billion of gross development value including value for local residents and residents ‑‑

 

Leonie Cooper AM:  We are going to come back to the Zone.

 

Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz OBE (Member of the London Economic Action Partnership and Co‑Chair, Royal Docks Enterprise Zone Programme Board):  Yes.  In terms of challenges ‑‑

 

Leonie Cooper AM:  We are going to come back to that in subsequent questions from my colleagues.  Sorry, could I just ask you, Simon?  What do you think are the challenges that are facing London in terms of economic growth and jobs?  It will have to be a really short answer because I am completely out of time.

 

Simon Pitkeathley (Business Member and Champion for Small Business, London Economic Action Partnership):  For London specifically, different from other LEP regions, I think the biggest challenge looking forward is how we position ourselves in relation to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund that is coming up.  If I had one thing I could change, it would be the way London is perceived by the rest of the country and thereby Government in terms of making sure that we get our hands on a fair share of that new fund when the European Union (EU) funding dries up in 2023.

 

Leonie Cooper AM:  OK.  Thank you.  Thank you, Chair.

 

[Note: The Chair resumed the chair at 10.36am.]

 

Jennette Arnold OBE AM (Chair):  Good morning, all.  Mr Devenish?

 

Tony Devenish AM:  Thank you.  Welcome, Chair.  Mr Deputy Mayor, will you commit LEAP resources to the Crossrail to Ebbsfleet rail extension, please?  If you would like you can write to me, if you need to look into it in more detail.

 

Rajesh Agrawal (Deputy Mayor for Business and LEAP Co‑Deputy Chair for Mayor’s Office):  No, LEAP’s funds are not for that.  LEPs are not supposed to do that.  We do not fund transport infrastructure.

 

Tony Devenish AM:  Second question then.  What plans do you have to support the Government’s commitment to the Thames Estuary announced in March [2019], please?

 

Debbie Jackson (Interim Executive Director for Development, Enterprise and Environment, GLA, and LEAP Senior Responsible Owner):  I would point to the Local Industrial Strategy here.  We are in the process of developing a Local Industrial Strategy with our LEAP Board and one of the chapters ‑ there are not many chapters – is dedicated to that is the relationship between London and its corridors, and London and the rest of the country.  We will be working with our LEAP Board members to consider what priorities and what actions they may want to take in future, to Simon’s [Pitkeathley] point about London’s relation to corridors and the rest of the country.

 

Tony Devenish AM:  Do you think you will be able to come back to me more specifically on that question once you have reflected?

 

Debbie Jackson (Interim Executive Director for Development, Enterprise and Environment, GLA, and LEAP Senior Responsible Owner):  I am happy to.

 

Tony Devenish AM:  Thank you.  In terms of the question from AM Hall about the website, could you write back to the Assembly in terms of what exactly you are doing on the website and what it will do in terms of outputs on that website and clarity compared to what we have at the moment, please?

 

Debbie Jackson (Interim Executive Director for Development, Enterprise and Environment, GLA, and LEAP Senior Responsible Owner):  Happy to.

 

Tony Devenish AM:  Thank you very much.

 

Jennette Arnold OBE AM (Chair):  Thank you. 

 

Andrew Dismore AM:  Picking up what Simon [Pitkeathley] said, but I think it is a question for Rajesh, in your quarterly update reports the uncertainty surrounding Brexit is impacting on your programmes.  What are business saying to you about the effects of Brexit so far and what do they want to happen up until the end of October [2019] and thereafter?  Basically, how are you preparing London’s economy for the impact of Brexit?

 

Rajesh Agrawal (Deputy Mayor for Business and LEAP Co‑Deputy Chair for Mayor’s Office):  Brexit is a huge risk to London’s economy, potentially.  Businesses are very concerned around Brexit and there is still no clarity on how Brexit will land.  That is why we are running a number of programmes to help businesses navigate through Brexit through the London Growth Hub, which is funded by LEAP.  We have a big section on Brexit ‑ it is called the Brexit Business Resource Hub ‑ where we pool so much information from all different business organisations and so on, because clearly there is a lack of information from the Government for SMEs and also the Government sometimes publishes technical papers that for a small business owner may not make sense.  It is an opportunity for us to translate some of that and pool the information from other business organisations on that. 

 

We also recognise that just online information on Brexit is not enough.  That is why we are now arranging face‑to‑face consultations.  That started in March this year [2019].  There are workshops and face‑to‑face advisory meetings between businesses and experts.  But clearly if in October [2019] we leave the EU without a deal it is going to be the worst outcome for businesses.

 

Andrew Dismore AM:  Thank you for that.  What impact will leaving the EU have on foreign direct investment into London and what impact has the uncertainty caused so far? 

 

Rajesh Agrawal (Deputy Mayor for Business and LEAP Co‑Deputy Chair for Mayor’s Office):  It has had an impact on the pipeline.  A lot of this comes from London & Partners, who are tasked with bringing more foreign investment into London.  It has had an impact on the pipeline but because of all the hard work and the additional money that the Mayor has put in, meaning more boots on the ground in some of the cities around the world, we have not seen as much disruption just yet.  But it has clearly had an impact on the pipeline.

 

Andrew Dismore AM:  Simon, do you want to comment?

 

Simon Pitkeathley (Business Member and Champion for Small Business, London Economic Action Partnership):  If it is OK, Assembly Member Dismore, I would just like to pick up on the questions about      EU funding generally and segue into that because that is a direct impact.

 

Andrew Dismore AM:  That is going to be my next question.  Basically, because you oversee the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) programme in London, the current ESIF programme runs until 2020 and London has an indicative allocation of almost €750 million, split between the European Social Fund (ESF), which funds employment and training, and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), which supports improvements to economic competitiveness.  If you want to answer, that is fine.  After Brexit and the expiry of these funds next year [2020], what certainty is there over any replacement funding thereafter?

 

Simon Pitkeathley (Business Member and Champion for Small Business, London Economic Action Partnership):  One of my roles on LEAP is to chair the ESIF Committee.  I am actually 25 but this is what it does to me!

 

Can I just correct a couple of points in yesterday’s press release from the Assembly?  I think there are some misconceptions in there.  One is that the EU money is all capital grants.  In fact, it is not.  It is mostly revenue, which is nice to have.  LEAP money is capital, the EU money is not. 

 

The other is that these grants will not be available from next year [2020].  That is actually not true.  Government have committed to continue funding the ESIF, which is the ESF and ERDF programmes that you outlined there, until 2023.  I would say ‑ credit where it is due ‑ it is an example of the Government trying to think ahead and plan for that, but when we get to 2023 the UK Shared Prosperity Fund is, as I mentioned earlier, quite a big concern. 

 

Just a quick update on some of the figures you said there.  The total fund for ESIF ‑ that is ESF and ERDF ‑ is €748 million.  That is £508 million for ESF and £184 million for ERDF.  We require a 50% match of that.  We think that typically we can talk about programmes being worth nearly £1.4 billion over seven years.  That is a measure of the impact that will have if we do not get that right. 

 

Just to hammer home the point, if we on LEAP, the GLA as a whole, the Mayor and the Assembly could agree on something, it is probably that we could all do an awful lot for London to help Government understand the cost to UK plc of not getting the UK Shared Prosperity Fund allocated at least as equitably, in terms of London’s share of that fund, as it does now in future.  I am certainly up for it and I am sure all LEAP members are up for working with you guys to try to help Government see that because at the moment ‑ I have been to other LEAP areas ‑ they gloat and they use the general negative attitude towards London to help make their case for their investment ahead of ours.  We know that the UK does not benefit when London does not do as well as it can. 

 

Andrew Dismore AM:  Just a final, very quick question.  I take your point about the rest of the country because London and the southeast subsidises the rest of the country by huge amounts from the taxation from London.  If we go belly‑up, it will really hurt them.  Has the Government guaranteed to continue the funding post‑2023 ‑ assuming we have left the EU by then, which may not be the case, the way we are going ‑ at the same sort of level?

 

Simon Pitkeathley (Business Member and Champion for Small Business, London Economic Action Partnership):  It is not clear at the moment.  I think we are still waiting for a full consultation on this.  The indication is that the total quantum for the country will be the same but not how that is divvied up across regions, and London is treated as a region by Europe so it is quite important.

 

Andrew Dismore AM:  OK.  Thank you.

 

Nicky Gavron AM:  I want to ask a question about the London Growth Hub, which is a great initiative.  How successful has it been so far in supporting London’s SMEs and its microbusinesses?  Who would like to take that?

 

Rajesh Agrawal (Deputy Mayor for Business and LEAP Co‑Deputy Chair for Mayor’s Office):  I am happy to talk about the London Growth Hub.  For the benefit of those who are unaware of what the London Growth Hub is, essentially it is a free‑to‑access programme to help London’s business support offer.  It is for entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs, microbusinesses, SMEs and so on.  In fact, there was a report produced just last year [2019] by the Assembly around how many businesses in London are aware of the business Growth Hub.  That was about one‑third but we are constantly trying to raise awareness of Growth Hub. 

 

It has done a number of things since in this programme.  It has engaged with 1,722 businesses face‑to‑face, online plus offline, and then it has provided 474 businesses with medium or high‑intensity support.  We are constantly engaging with businesses in social media, wider events.  There are numerous events that are taking place so far. 

 

Nicky Gavron AM:  Thank you.  Perhaps I should ask Simon this question.  I looked into the website for the London Growth Hub and I think it is very good.  There is a map on it which says, “This is the map of where the workspaces are for London”.  It has flags on it.  It has 500 flags on it at the moment and I thought I would look up the Bermondsey area.  I did this because the Economy Committee has been told that workspace for businesses is absolutely under tremendous pressure, and we know this because there is a diminishing stock of low‑cost business space, affordable workspace, and it is exacerbated by the permitted development rights and it is exacerbated by way above the rest of the country’s hikes in rents, business rates and so on, bearing out your point before.  There is a real shortage of space so this is a really important website and map, but I looked up Bermondsey and the first thing that came up was the Shard.  What I want to ask you is: is this really about affordable workspace or low‑cost business space?

 

Simon Pitkeathley (Business Member and Champion for Small Business, London Economic Action Partnership):  If it is the same map that we are talking about, I think it is trying to identify all workspaces.  As someone who runs a workspace where we give away almost all our space for free, I am very aware that while that entry‑level stuff is very important, we also need a continuum, a chain as well.  It is a point well‑made about the Shard but I would also say some people do need that kind of office space too. 

 

We have done a lot of work supporting affordable workspace.  As I say, it is an area I know quite well.  I co‑chair the Mayor’s Workspace Provider Board so we are constantly looking at this and that map is a constant work in progress because there are new spaces popping up, changing and moving all the time.  It is not always easy to keep on top of it.  But if you ask me, “Should there be more and should it be more affordable?”, absolutely.  You are preaching to the converted here.

 

Nicky Gavron AM:  I am very pleased with that answer.  So it is a work in progress.  You will be putting more.  It is obviously an advert, is it not?

 

Simon Pitkeathley (Business Member and Champion for Small Business, London Economic Action Partnership):  Yes.

 

Nicky Gavron AM:  You will be putting more and more workspace on there, because 500 is a beginning but it needs to have more. 

 

I just want to say, on behalf of the Economy and Planning Committees, I put forward at the [London Plan] examination‑in‑public on low‑cost business space and affordable workspace ‑ I do not know if it will be taken up by the inspectors or the planning team but it would be good to get your support for this ‑ that we should have boroughs monitoring how much low‑cost and affordable workspace we actually do have.  That is submarket.  That is a new policy from the Mayor, an excellent policy.  Then there are lots of policies to help them protect it.  We need your backing from the LEAP to make sure that boroughs are going to do that monitoring.

 

Simon Pitkeathley (Business Member and Champion for Small Business, London Economic Action Partnership):  You certainly have my backing.  I think it is an extremely important policy.  I do see in my borough, in Camden, that affordable workspace is starting to come up in Section 106 agreements and things like that.  There is movement there but I think we could all sign up to that.  I think it is a very easy policy to do, understanding that there are also the conflicts and many demands on space from lots of area, including housing and freight consolidation, would you believe, and things like that as well.  But if you are asking me, workspace, workspace, workspace.

 

Nicky Gavron AM:  I hope that speaks for the panel.

 

Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz OBE (Member of the London Economic Action Partnership and Co‑Chair, Royal Docks Enterprise Zone Programme Board):  If I may, in the context of the Enterprise Zone over in the Royal Docks we already have planning consent for some 8 million square feet of workspace.  A significant amount of that is already released under the auspices of the first phase of the ABP development that is coming through and that opened in April [2019].  We are looking at mapping all of the space that we have across the zone, including space that we can use at low cost for meanwhile use for fledging, emerging enterprises and small businesses from across London but also more locally.

 

Nicky Gavron AM:  Excellent.  Thank you.

 

Florence Eshalomi AM:  Good morning to you all.  To both Debbie and Simon, I recently attended a high street summit in Streatham where a number of the businesses raised concerns around the impact of Brexit, the impact of business rates, the impact of charging, the impact of lack of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles, congestion; a whole range of issues.  I just wanted to know how the High Streets Investment Strategy will support high streets to respond to some of these pressures.  Some of the other pressures that came up were around high rents, business rates revaluation and big competition from online retailers.  We are seeing a lot more people choosing to shop online instead of the high streets.  There is also the big impact of Brexit affecting consumer confidence.  How is the High Street Strategy going to help with that?

 

Simon Pitkeathley (Business Member and Champion for Small Business, London Economic Action Partnership):  Firstly, the point is very well made that things like increasing rents and business rates are having a huge impact on high streets generally, but I think we would all recognise that we do use online shopping far, far more than we ever used to.  High streets are becoming places where we go to do things, to have experiences, not necessarily to go and buy things in the traditional way.  I think the idea that the high street is dying is not entirely fair, but the change may well be painful. 

 

What we can do with LEAP is try to spot those painful moments and see how we can help people transition to different business models if they are trying to do that.  Areas like Business Improvement Districts or town centre managers can take control of some aspects.  Rent and rates, unfortunately, are outside any of our direct control in almost all circumstances.  I think there are lots of things that can be done and we are well‑placed.  Back to the earlier point from Assembly Member Gavron, workspace has to become a really important part of what the high street becomes.  Getting activity, and different activities, but motion and maintaining motion in and around high streets is vital in terms of helping them evolve to what they are going to have to be in the new economy. 

 

Debbie Jackson (Interim Executive Director for Development, Enterprise and Environment, GLA, and LEAP Senior Responsible Owner):  I would just add a couple of points, if I may, just to underline the points Simon has made.  For me there are three forces impacting on high streets.  There is the restructuring of the retail market.  There is also their importance as locations for growth in terms of addressing the housing crisis as well.  Also, fundamentally important to the work that LEAP does, there is the social role that high streets play in terms of being focal points for communities and places that communities identify with.  Often our most vulnerable communities identify on the high streets. 

 

As agents of change, as policymakers, they are assets to our work.  They are central to our work and have been over many years.  The first two rounds of the Good Growth Fund have directed over £25 million worth of funding towards high streets and town centre improvements.  There are the programmes and the funded projects.  Also, Crowdfund London supports high streets.  We also do research around high streets as well.  We have completed last year [2018] some research looking at the social role of high streets, the outcome of which informed some of what I am saying about the social role of high streets, and we are underway with another piece of research that will report in the autumn [2019], which looks at strategies for how to consolidate and develop the strategic rationale for investment in high streets so that we and other partners can really value their role in the delivery of London’s growth and in supporting London’s communities.

 

Florence Eshalomi AM:  That is great.  I am really running out of time so quite a quick response from you, Debbie.  We have seen the LEAP’s Good Growth Fund award a number of high streets, including the Blue in Southwark, in the heart of Bermondsey.  Just today the Mayor has announced an additional pot of that Good Growth Fund of £20 million.  When will we get some of the results about the projects that were funded last time?  When are we going to see some of the results from that?

 

Debbie Jackson (Interim Executive Director for Development, Enterprise and Environment, GLA, and LEAP Senior Responsible Owner):  We have done two rounds.  We are releasing a third round of the Good Growth Fund.  Projects complete and finish all the time.  One of the challenges for us is that you announce the fund, and then it goes off and delivers and they all finish at different times.  It is quite challenging for us to bring that story back to one place.  We get great local coverage but we have recently brought in extra communications resource in order that we can tell that story about the successes and achievements of the LEAP, in order that we can bring that cumulative story back together as projects deliver.  We are doing some work on that.  We acknowledge that we have more to do.

 

Florence Eshalomi AM:  Thank you.

 

Tom Copley AM:  Good morning to you all.  My question first of all is to Rajesh but I would welcome any other comments if anyone has any, and it is about construction skills.  How will the £7.2 million of LEAP funding for the Mayor of London’s Construction Academy help to tackle the capital’s housing crisis?

 

Rajesh Agrawal (Deputy Mayor for Business and LEAP Co‑Deputy Chair for Mayor’s Office):  It is something that is hugely important, especially in light of Brexit because a significant number of our workforce in the construction industry comes from Europe.  It will have a big impact.  Also, we are facing a challenge where a significant part of the construction industry workforce are very close to retirement age.  If you have to solve, as we want to and we are working towards solving the housing challenge in London, it is very important we have the right kind of workforce.  That is why we are investing in the Construction Academy.

 

Debbie Jackson (Interim Executive Director for Development, Enterprise and Environment, GLA, and LEAP Senior Responsible Owner):  Yes, just a couple of points to make on top of that.  The Mayor’s Construction Academy is both a capital and a revenue programme.  It is funded by LEAP funding but it is also funded by other GLA funding as well.  In the first instance, it seeks to recognise London’s further education providers that are already doing great work in this space.  There are a lot of programmes out there already.  But then once that recognition is in place, it invites those providers to participate in and apply for capital funding to improve facilities. 

 

A lot of work went into whether the Mayor’s Construction Academy should be one big thing or whether it should be a distributed model.  Given the scale and complexity of London, the conclusion was that it should have been a distributed model but with a degree of hub and spoke.  The Mayor’s Construction Academy programme will have centres of excellence that will support an ecosystem, if you will, of construction skills providers across London’s subregions. 

 

Tom Copley AM:  Thank you.  The GLA is getting the Adult Education Budget from the academic year 2019/20.  It has been devolved.  Will you be able to provide further funding into the LEAP and the Construction Academy because of this devolution to ensure we continue to skill up the next generation of construction workers?

 

Debbie Jackson (Interim Executive Director for Development, Enterprise and Environment, GLA, and LEAP Senior Responsible Owner):  The devolution of the Adult Education Budget is not something that technically is under the control of LEAP, if you see what I mean, but of course we talk to our LEAP members about it and report through.  There is, if you like, a bridge across to the governance arrangements for devolution.  It is early days in terms of devolution.  It starts in September [2019] in terms of the implementation of that funding.  In terms of sectors, the construction sector is a priority, as has been identified through the creation of the Mayor’s Construction Academy.  In terms of the application of future funding, I do not want to commit to additional funding going into the Mayor’s Construction Academy at this time although it did attract additional funding from the Mayor’s Strategic Investment Fund from business rates funding in recognition of the importance of it.  I see it continuing to be a priority sector.

 

Tom Copley AM:  We know that in terms of apprenticeships, apprenticeships in construction in London are very low out of the total number.  Do you have a target, a benchmark or something like that for the Construction Academy to get more Londoners going into construction apprenticeships? 

 

Debbie Jackson (Interim Executive Director for Development, Enterprise and Environment, GLA, and LEAP Senior Responsible Owner):  I am afraid I do not know the answer to that question as I sit here.  Can I come back to you separately on that?

 

Tom Copley AM:  Yes, that is absolutely fine.  Just finally, the Government’s [Sir Oliver] Letwin review into build out rates said that we would need a flash programme, over five years of on‑the‑job training for bricklayers in particular, if the country is going to meet the house‑building target.  Have you had any conversations with Government about greater funding for such a programme in London to ensure that we hit the very ambitious target of 66,000 homes a year?

 

Debbie Jackson (Interim Executive Director for Development, Enterprise and Environment, GLA, and LEAP Senior Responsible Owner):  Again, I am sorry, I do not have the answer to that question, although I am intrigued by the reference to bricklayers because, generally speaking, when we talk about construction skills the consensus is that actually, with modern construction methods, bricklaying is one of many skills that need to be developed.  In terms of the detailed answer to your question, can I come back to that separately, please?

 

Tom Copley AM:  Yes, absolutely.

 

Debbie Jackson (Interim Executive Director for Development, Enterprise and Environment, GLA, and LEAP Senior Responsible Owner):  Thank you.

 

Tom Copley AM:  Thank you.

 

Jennette Arnold OBE AM (Chair):  Thank you. 

 

Dr Onkar Sahota AM:  Thank you.  My questions are about the LEAP and diversity.  How effective has the LEAP been in creating an environment to assist under‑represented Londoners wishing to establish new start‑ups?

 

Rajesh Agrawal (Deputy Mayor for Business and London Economic Action Partnership Co‑Deputy Chair for Mayor’s Office):  This is again something that is very close to our hearts because London’s big strength is its diversity and we should try to reach out to some of the most deprived communities and also the ones who need the most help, whether it is people from ethnic minorities, whether it is women, whether it is disabled people.  Talent is everywhere and we must nurture this talent.  That is why we are running some of the programmes.

 

If you look at the London Co‑Investment Fund, our record on investing in businesses founded by women and founded by people from BAME communities is very strong.  In fact, women cofounders make up 22% of those businesses compared to only 9%, which is the UK average.

 

Through the LEAP we have also done a number of roundtables to engage with entrepreneurs from different communities.  We had specific roundtables hosted here in City Hall with women entrepreneurs specifically from BAME communities and Middle Eastern communities.  We had a particular roundtable ‑ it was absolutely amazing to see the talent in the room ‑ of disabled entrepreneurs and so on.  We put diversity at the heart of everything we do.

 

It is also reflected in the composition of the Board itself.  If you look at the LEAP Board, it has entrepreneurs and it has larger business representation, but in terms of the ethnic makeup of the group and the gender makeup of the Board as well.  Diversity is at the heart of everything we do.

 

Dr Onkar Sahota AM:  Great.  Thank you.

 

Navin Shah AM:  I have questions on regeneration and a planning perspective specific to the Royal Docks development.  This is an opening question to the Deputy Mayor.

 

As the body responsible for providing strategic oversight to the Royal Docks on behalf of the GLA, how does the LEAP ensure delivery of the development brief and accountability?

 

Rajesh Agrawal (Deputy Mayor for Business and London Economic Action Partnership Co‑Deputy Chair for Mayor’s Office):  Can I ask my colleague to answer that question for me?

 

Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz OBE (Member of the London Economic Action Partnership and Co‑Chair, Royal Docks Enterprise Zone Programme Board):  Thank you very much.  I sit on the LEAP Board as the Co‑Chair of the Royal Docks Enterprise Zone [Programme Board], which, as you will be aware, is a collaboration between the Mayor of London and [the London Borough of] Newham.  As previously stated, over a 25‑year period a significant number of jobs are intended to be created, including a contribution to London’s economy of around £5 billion over that ten‑year period.

 

Issues of governance are very important.  As part of the governance arrangements of the Royal Docks Enterprise Zone, particularly in the context of ensuring issues around the work of the Enterprise Zone being efficient and having impact and having social value for the residents and local people in that part of the capital, as well as contributing to London’s economy, we have regular reporting mechanisms.  The Delivery Programme Board meets every two months.  I co‑chair with Colette O’Shea [Managing Director of London and Retail Portfolios, Land Securities Group].  There is the presence of the Deputy Mayor for London

[Joanne McCartney AM], responsible for housing delivery because of the quantum number of housing that will be delivered across the Zone in addition to jobs and economic growth.

 

I am also going to be passing on to my colleague Daniel Bridge, who will be able to provide you with some more detail around the specific area of interest that you have from your question.

 

Daniel Bridge (Programme Director, Royal Docks):  Yes, I will just add to what Rokhsana has said.  The very interesting thing about the Enterprise Zone and the oversight from the Royal Docks Enterprise Zone Programme Board is that all of the money that is used to fund the delivery plan is generated by business rate income and the business rate income is delivered only if the development is delivered.  In addition to them monitoring the outcomes and the outputs in our delivery plan, they pay very close attention to the forecast business rate performance, which is driven by that development.

 

Navin Shah AM:  Can I follow through with another question?  How do the governance arrangements for the Royal Docks compare to those at the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) and the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation?  Newham Council has a huge stake in it and the GLA is the prime landowner and so this has a very, in a sense, different makeup but, again, has a major challenge as well with opportunities.  How does it actually work compared to the other two Mayoral Development Corporations (MDCs)?

 

Daniel Bridge (Programme Director, Royal Docks):  We are doing something very innovative in the Royal Docks.  It is the first time in the Docklands redevelopment that there has been a genuine joint working arrangement between the local authority and the regional authority.  That creates opportunities as well as challenges, but in the main it is working incredibly well in the Royal Docks.  As you will know, in an MDC you have one elected ‑ through the Mayor ‑ oversight of land and planning powers, both plan‑making and planning decision powers.  In the Royal Docks, the majority of the land is owned by the Mayor of London and so that is the same, but the local authority retains plan‑making powers and planning decision powers.  That means that it is really important that both organisations are representing the people that they need to represent to make sure that we get really good decisions for both organisations.  That is working very well in the Royal Docks.

 

Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz OBE (Member of the London Economic Action Partnership and Co‑Chair, Royal Docks Enterprise Zone Programme Board):  If I can add, Debbie [Jackson] made reference to the governance arrangements and the regime as it applies to the LEAP and all the programmes that sit within the context of the LEAP.  The LLDC has a completely different governance regime because it is a different type of entity to the Royal Docks Enterprise Zone [Programme] Board.  Since I stepped into office last May [2018] and as part of my role as the Co‑Chair of the Royal Docks Enterprise Zone [Programme Board] and in line with my administration’s priority around enhancing governance, I have undertaken with colleagues and the other Co‑Chair a refresh and a review of our existing governance arrangements as they pertain to the Royal Docks Enterprise Zone.

 

We have put in additional elements of governance enhancements.  At local level that includes the establishment of a local ward councillor board or working group that is kept regularly appraised of what is happening with regards to the Royal Docks Enterprise Zone, ensuring that as the Programme Delivery Board, in my role as Co‑Chair alongside my other Co‑Chair colleague, we are robustly scrutinising what is being presented to us by the Royal Docks Enterprise Zone Delivery Team in advance of information being provided to the LEAP Board, and ensuring also that we are being as transparent as possible.

 

I noted some of the concerns in response to some of the earlier questions.  The Royal Docks Enterprise Zone has its own website.  There is a link from the website to documents pertaining to decisions that are made at the Royal Docks Enterprise Zone Programme Board, which I co‑chair.  They are contained on the GLA LEAP section of the website, but in addition what we are working through in terms of the localised website for the Royal Docks Enterprise Zone is ensuring that layer of transparency so that local residents can access documents around key decisions that we are making as a Board.

 

Navin Shah AM:  Can I have a very quick response to my last question?  The Mayor is planning to publish his own Opportunity Area Planning Framework next year [2020] ‑ I do not know when exactly next year ‑ but, given that the Enterprise Zone was actually established in 2011 and began in 2013, is 2021 not far too late to bring a planning framework forward?

 

Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz OBE (Member of the London Economic Action Partnership and Co‑Chair, Royal Docks Enterprise Zone Programme Board):  I cannot comment on the decisions made under previous Mayor of London administrations as to whether or not to designate ‑‑

 

Navin Shah AM:  Yes, but the current Mayor is following the ‑‑

 

Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz OBE (Member of the London Economic Action Partnership and Co‑Chair, Royal Docks Enterprise Zone Programme Board):  ‑‑ an Opportunity Area Planning Framework that covers the Royal Docks Enterprise Zone, but clearly, as the Mayor of Newham and as the Co‑Chair of the Royal Docks Enterprise Zone [Programme Board], I am really pleased that it is coming forward.  The wider area surrounding the Royal Docks Enterprise Zone will greatly benefit from its designation as an Opportunity Area Planning Framework.

 

Navin Shah AM:  Thank you very much. 

 

Joanne McCarthy AM:  My question is for Rokhsana and Daniel and it is about culture and social infrastructure on the Royal Docks.  If I could start with social infrastructure, the Council’s own Infrastructure Delivery Plan highlights the pressures there are on those schools and health facilities you need to go with the extra housing.  Are you certain that the Royal Docks will be able to accommodate the needs that you have?

 

Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz OBE (Member of the London Economic Action Partnership and Co‑Chair, Royal Docks Enterprise Zone Programme Board):  Certainly, in the context of the social value offer that the Enterprise Zone is presently developing and driving forward.  That is in three principal areas ‑ the place piece, the connectivity piece and the economic piece ‑ and then the activation.

 

In terms of the specifics around the community infrastructure requirement, the hospitals and schools, there has been some really and good effective synergy between the local planning authority ‑ that is Newham ‑ and the GLA under the auspices of the Royal Docks Enterprise Zone Delivery Team to ensure that there is a coherence around the infrastructure need for residents coming into the Zone as the quantum number of housing delivery comes to fruition.  Already in the context of the Royal Docks Enterprise Zone and some of the areas that sit just outside of the Zone, we have most recently announced the opening of a health centre and Newham Council has undertaken arrangements with one of the principal developers that is contained within the Royal Docks Enterprise Zone around schooling provision over the next five to ten years.  Do you want to add?

 

Daniel Bridge (Programme Director, Royal Docks):  The only thing I would add is that it has worked very well.  It is one of the benefits of the local authority retaining control of the planning powers in the area because it is able to plan in line with everything else that it is doing across the borough.  The Opportunity Area Planning Framework ‑ and we are discussing this now ‑ gives us an opportunity to think about looking across the Royal Docks area and also the Canning Town and Custom House regeneration areas, which are led purely by Newham.  We can think more innovatively about social infrastructure provision and think about whether there may be ways to change locations of some of that infrastructure in ways that might free up land for other activities or uses or deliver collocated social infrastructure facilities.

 

Joanne McCarthy AM:  I am aware that you have a community arts programme that is taking place.  Are you confident that similar programmes will last beyond the Royal Docks construction phase?  What plans are there to have culture permanently there at the heart of the development?

 

Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz OBE (Member of the London Economic Action Partnership and Co‑Chair, Royal Docks Enterprise Zone Programme Board):  Just by way of reassurance, absolutely, at the heart of my administration’s commitment is incubating and cultivating a much more sustained strategic approach to the cultural offer and the cultural capital of our borough.  It is going to be absolutely critical in the context of the Royal Docks Enterprise Zone’s success over the course of the 25‑year period and beyond that we embed and incubate that cultural capital within the Zone and also across the borough as an impetus to attracting the investment that we want to be seeing in terms of business and also the investment from people coming to visit that part of capital as a tourist destination.

 

Daniel Bridge (Programme Director, Royal Docks):  The only thing I would add is that we have recently appointed an organisation called the Contemporary Art Society as part of the wider community engagement process on the Opportunity Area Planning Framework to use this year’s programme of activity as an engagement platform to understand what people want in the area.  Yes, absolutely, it is the whole benefit of looking at the Enterprise Zone as a 25‑year business case and to think beyond the business rates that are being generated.  What other sources of revenue can be generated to provide a long‑term sustainable income stream to provide cultural and arts programmes beyond the initial five years is absolutely at the heart of the thinking about the design of that programme.

 

Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz OBE (Member of the London Economic Action Partnership and Co‑Chair, Royal Docks Enterprise Zone Programme Board):  That is already underway.  There is a huge amount of collaboration between the team at Newham Council that drives forward some of our current cultural programmes.  Last November [2018] for the first time ever, in Newham we run an annual fireworks display and we decided as a part of us wanting to give prominence to the south of the borough and the Royal Docks Enterprise Zone specifically, we would host our fireworks display.  We had some 15,000 people not only from Newham but from outside of Newham coming to enjoy that cultural provision.

 

We are currently working with the Royal Borough of Greenwich relating to an arts programme and we are in detailed discussions around the collaboration between the Royal Docks Enterprise Zone Delivery Team and the Newham team around programmed cultural activities across the summer from next year [2020].

 

Joanne McCarthy AM:  Good.  That sounds hopeful.  Thank you.