Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were intimated from Councillors Robin Currie, Ellen Morton and Elaine Robertson and from Douglas Cowan, HIE, Robert Pollock, Argyll and Bute Council, James Hilder, Argyll and Bute Social Enterprise Network, Frances Webster, Skills Development Scotland and David Cannon, Caledonian MacBrayne.

None declared.

Economy Thematic CPP Group 8 June 2010

The Minutes of the Economy Thematic CPP Group meeting held on 8 June 2010 were approved as a correct record.

The Chair welcomed Mr Michael Levack, Chief Executive of the Scottish Building Federation (SBF) to give a presentation on the role of the SBF, the challenges faced by the building industry both nationally and locally and the impact of the current economic climate on the Scottish construction sector.  Mr Levack also set out the Federation’s Recovery Plan and sought support from the Thematic CPP Group on this.

 

Mr Levack also responded to a number of questions arising from his presentation.

 

Decision

 

1.             Noted the contents of the presentation;

 

2.             Noted that the Economy PPG would arrange to have a discussion with appropriate Officers of the Council at their next meeting regarding the possibility of placing a greater weighting on local firms during the PQQ tendering process with a view to enabling small, local firms to have a fairer opportunity of winning tenders for public sector works;

 

3.             Agreed that the Scottish Government should have capital borrowing powers and noted that Mr Levack would arrange to raise this issue at his forthcoming meeting with the Secretary of State for Scotland; and

 

4.             Noted that arrangements would be made for a copy of the presentation to be circulated to the Group.

Discussion on progress with actions

Consideration was given to the contents of the Economy Thematic CPP Group Scorecard on the Council’s Performance Management System, Pyramid.

 

Decision

 

1.             Noted that some of the data on the Scorecard was missing or out of date from Partners in terms of targets for the Community Plan and that there was a process in place for having this information populated onto the system;

 

2.             Noted the Chair’s request that Partners arrange to have their information updated; and

 

3.             Noted the request from Partners that during the process of reviewing the criteria for the Strategic Housing Investment Programme fund consideration be given to small grants for developers to use in the local economy.

 

(Reference: Report by Performance Manager, submitted)

Partners provided information on work currently being undertaken in respect of the Economy Community Plan Actions.

 

Argyll and Bute Council

 

Ishabel Bremner reported that delivery of the Economic Development Action Plan (EDAP) was going well and that 10% of the actions had been delivered in the first quarter for 2010/11 against a target of 8%.  She advised that five producers had signed up to Food for Argyll and confirmed that the glossy EDAP brochure was at the printers and would be ready for distribution in early September 2010.

 

Ishabel advised that the Council’s Executive had approved the Renewable Energy Action Plan on 12 August 2010.

 

Ishabel also advised that Business Gateway road shows will be held in early September to highlight the Competitive Business Growth Programme for Argyll and Bute enabling up to £500 to be granted for business start ups and up to £3,000 to be granted for business growths.

 

Highlands and Islands Enterprise

 

Sue Gledhill reported that the HIE Board had approved the budget for the Argyll Marine Science Park which will attract up to 40% EU funding.

 

Sue advised that the Skycon extension was on target and scheduled to be completed this year.  She also advised that there had been management changes at Skycon and that HIE were currently working with the new Managers.

 

It was noted that HIE and Argyll and Bute Council had granted an additional £5,000 each to enable the Tayvallich - Jura Passenger Ferry Service to complete the entire 3 years of its pilot phase.

 

Chamber of Commerce

 

Jane MacLeod reported that the launch of the Argyll and the Isles website would take place on 15 September 2010

 

ACHA

 

Linda Haig advised that as this was her first meeting she would arrange to bring a report to the next meeting in November.

 

Argyll and Bute Social Enterprise Network (ABSEN)

 

Shirley MacLeod reported that due to a change in his role Mike Geraghty would no longer be representing ABSEN at this Group.  Arrangements were currently being made to recruit at new Manager and it was hoped that the new Manager would be able to attend the next meeting of the Group in November.

 

Shirley advised that James Hilder, Chair of ABSEN had hoped to attend the meeting today but due to other engagements had to submit his apologies.  He did however prepare a short note of work currently being undertaken by ABSEN which Shirley read out to the meeting.

 

Growth – there has been significant growth of social enterprise initiatives in the region with significant new initiatives in part being brought about by the Council’s own Service Level Review process as well as dealing with requests from NHS Highland.

 

Carnegie UK Trust – ABSEN is working closely with the Council and Carnegie to deliver a support package to support social enterprises emerging from Council reviews and to share good practice.  This is a significant initiative supported by HIE for the next three years and a full update should be available for the next meeting.

 

Third Sector Partnership – ABSEN is also heavily involved in working alongside CVS’ in Argyll, Bute and Islay to finalised the Third Sector Partnership Business Plan.  Progress is very positive so that a new method of delivery will be in place for next year.

 

Events – ABSEN has been commissioned by the Council, on behalf of the Third Sector Partnership to organise four road shows focussing on income generation for the Third Sector and these will be held in Campbeltown (29 September), Dunoon (6 October), Oban (7 October) and Helensburgh (13 October).  The event in Campbeltown incorporates the ABSEN Annual Conference and Dragons Den on 30 September and 1 October.

 

Decision

 

1.             Noted the updates provided by Partners; and

 

2.             Agreed to invite Fergus Younger to attend the next meeting to give a presentation on progress with the Argyll and the Isles brand and on the launch of the Argyll and the Isles website.

Report by Community Planning Manager

A report reminding Partners of what their role in Community Planning is was considered.

 

Decision

 

Noted and agreed the contents of the report.

 

(Reference: Report by Community Planning Manager, submitted)

Verbal update from Area Customer Services Manager

Shirley confirmed to the Group that following each Thematic CPP Group meeting she prepares a report for the Community Planning Partnership (CPP) Management Committee detailing the current work activities of the Group.  She advised that there was the opportunity for the Group to make recommendations to the Management Committee and that both she and Douglas Cowan, Economy Thematic Lead, attended the meetings of this Committee.  It was noted that the Chair of the Economy Thematic CPP Group was also invited to attend meetings of the full Partnership which met three times per year.

 

Decision

 

Noted the arrangements in place for reporting to the CPP Management Committee.

Joint report by Area Customer Services Manager, Community Planning Manager and Economic Development Manager

The draft Partnership agreement for the Economy Thematic CPP Group was considered.

 

Decision

 

Agreed the amendments to be made to the draft document and that Eileen Wilson would arrange for the final document to be circulated to the Economy Thematic CPP Group.

 

(Reference: Draft Partnership Agreement for Economy Thematic CPP Group, issued)

Report by Regional Director, Visit Scotland

Consideration was given to a report prepared by David Adams McGilp which outlined the activities currently being undertaken by Visit Scotland across Argyll and Bute.  David also spoke to a supplementary report which related specifically to actions agreed at the previous meeting.

 

Decision

 

1.             Noted the contents of the report;

 

2.             Agreed that David would prepare a report on Destination Management Organisations for the next meeting in November 2010;

 

3.             Agreed that a report on Business Improvement Districts would be brought to the meeting scheduled to take place in February 2011; and

 

4.             Agreed that arrangements would be made to circulate a copy of the supplementary report to the Group.

 

(Reference: Report by Regional Director, Visit Scotland, issued)

Consideration was given to the future work programme of the Economy Thematic CPP Group.

 

Decision

 

1.             Agreed that the following items would be included on the agenda for the November 2010 meeting:-

 

Presentation on Argyll and the Isles Brand and launch of Website

 

Destination Management Organisations

 

Partner Updates on Actions Linked to Delivery of Scorecard/Community Plan

 

Economy Thematic CPP Group Scorecard

 

Future Work Programme

 

2.             Agreed that the next meeting scheduled for Wednesday 24 November 2010 would now take place on Tuesday 23 November 2010.