Issue - meetings

Report No:   CAB/SE/15/064

Cabinet Member: Alaric Pugh          Lead Officers: Steven Wood and Andrea Mayley

RESOLVED:

That it be noted at this time, Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) are awaiting a decision by central Government regarding the award of Enterprise Zone status.  The latest bidding round is once again a competitive process and Government will decide which applications are successful.

It has been made clear to both LEPs that, in the event that either of their applications are successful, that the sites submitted within St Edmundsbury will still require consideration by full Council.

RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL (Extraordinary meeting - 17 November 2015):

That due to the potential financial implications of a successful Enterprise Zone bid, as detailed in Section 2 of Report No: CAB/SE/15/064, the S151 and Monitoring Officers be given delegated authority to pursue the Enterprise Zone discussions further in the event that either or both bids submitted by the Local Enterprise Partnerships are successful.

The Cabinet considered Report No: CAB/SE/15/064 (previously circulated), which presented details of two sites located in St Edmundsbury that had been included in bids to become Enterprise Zones (EZ).

Councillor Alaric Pugh, Portfolio Holder for Planning and Growth, drew relevant issues to the attention of the Cabinet including that Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) had recently been invited by central Government to make an application into the latest Enterprise Zone bidding round.  Within their bids, Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough and New Anglia LEPs had included Haverhill Research Park and 14 hectares of land at Suffolk Business Park, Bury St Edmunds respectively.   

The Cabinet noted the potential benefits and implications of a successful EZ status bid, particularly in relation to business rate growth.

Members agreed that should either of the bids be successful and in order to progress the issue swiftly, that full Council should be asked to delegate authority to pursue the next stages of the decision making process.

RESOLVED:

That it be noted at this time, Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) are awaiting a decision by central Government regarding the award of Enterprise Zone status.  The latest bidding round is once again a competitive process and Government will decide which applications are successful.

It has been made clear to both LEPs that, in the event that either of their applications are successful, that the sites submitted within St Edmundsbury will still require consideration by full Council.

RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL (Extraordinary meeting - 17 November 2015):

That due to the potential financial implications of a successful Enterprise Zone bid, as detailed in Section 2 of Report No: CAB/SE/15/064, the S151 and Monitoring Officers be given delegated authority to pursue the Enterprise Zone discussions further in the event that either or both bids submitted by the Local Enterprise Partnerships are successful.