Agenda item

For information: To consider a presentation setting out an update on the refreshment of the Oxfordshire Strategic Economic Plan.

It is expected that a final version will be presented to the Partnership in November 2023.

Nigel Tipple, Chief Executive of the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership, (OxLEP) gave a detailed presentation setting out progress on the development of framework that would be used to build a new Strategic Economic Plan for Oxfordshire following an engagement process which had first begin in February. 

It was noted that an updated version of the presentation had been circulated and published in advance of meeting which sought to reflect and respond to many of the comments and challenges made by the Future Oxfordshire Partnership Scrutiny Panel.  

The Partnership was informed of the timetable for finalising the Plan which now included consideration of a draft final Plan document by the OxLEP Board on 19 September for endorsement, prior to consideration of the draft document by the Partnership at its meeting on 26 September. It was expected that the OxLEP Board would be asked to approve the Plan via a meeting in October or via procedures for written decisions.

In discussion, various members of the Partnership thanked Nigel Tipple for the revised presentation which they felt did set out a pragmatic way forward with regard the development of the Plan and which had responded to the concerns expressed by the Scrutiny Panel. The OxLEP team were thanked for the significant work undertaken in developing the Strategic Economic Plan to its current point and comment was also made as to the value of Local Enterprise Partnerships more generally.

Reference was also made to the importance of growth to be inclusive and it was noted the Oxfordshire Inclusive Economy Partnership was actively operating within this space.

The Chair commented that the Plan needed to consider that currently many journeys were undertaken into and out of the county via un environmentally friendly forms of transport when ideally people would both live and work within it. The lower levels of productivity within Oxfordshire compared with the national average also needed to be carefully explored as the reasons for this were not yet fully understood.  

In response to the various points raised, Nigel Tipple commented that lower rates of productivity within Oxfordshire was partly linked to the economic mix within the county and the balance of the economy in terms of how productive certain sectors were over others. Technological adoption and transformative change were also influencing factors. Considerations around productivity were informing the development of the Plan.

It was also stressed to the meeting that although three of the nine Oxfordshire Strategic Vision priorities had been identified as having a particular reference to economy, it had been made clear throughout the engagement process that this did not imply a second order of priorities and that it was recognised that all the Strategic Vision priorities were of equal value. It was accepted that there needed to be better articulation of the intended actions linked to the other priorities as well as those with specific economic focus. The Strategic Plan was one a suite of strategies and plans that would be critically important in the delivery of the overarching Strategic Vision and all would need to be robust. Finally, past experience demonstrated that having plans in place put Oxfordshire in a more positive position to attract HM Government funding if such opportunities arose.

RESOLVED:

1)     That the amended presentation and update be noted.

2)     That the draft Strategic Economic Plan be added to the Partnerships forward programme for 26 September 2023.