This year Surrey Economic Partnership (SEP) has been very active in developing cross border links to pursue economic development strategies around economic boundaries. Three key examples include:
Economic Contour priorities and actions in the RESSEP led in the development and co-ordination of the priorities set out in the three economic contours outlined in the RES. SEP has worked closely with the Director of Strategy at SEEDA and with the Area Directors (and teams) for Surrey and Sussex as well as KMOBB.
This involved SEP in the following:
- Being the lead EP to brief the SEEPS’ Chairman and co-ordinate SEEPS’s input to drafting the priorities which went into the draft and final RES.
- Chairing the Inner SE Steering group to prepare the Implementation Plan as part of the RES Implementation Plan.
- Writing the brief for consultants to support the ISE work, recruiting the consultants, briefing them and organising two partner workshops to develop the Plan
- Making both written and verbal representations on the weaknesses of the London Fringe SE Plan sub regional policies and boundaries in relation to the ISE RES evidence and priorities. This was done in both the regional debates and sub-regional debates.
SEP has worked closely with West Sussex EP and the Surrey/ Sussex Area team of SEEDA this year to maintain links with the business community and further developed a very close working link with the local authorities in the area, including 6 districts and 2 counties. With staff time and financial support of the Surrey/ Sussex Area team this year, SEP has:
- Formulated a public and private sector agreement around a 5 year economic strategy
- Produced a one to two year business plan as a basis to attract a range of funding streams
- Began discussions about Multi Area Agreements for the Gatwick Diamond.
It can be legitimately claimed that the initial activity of SEP and West Sussex EP has created an initiative that now has a local support from the relevant local authorities, has a unique identity and that has now been formally incorporated into the RES. Without the EP’s agreeing on the concept it is unlikely that the Gatwick Diamond would exist.
Creative Industries Policies and Plans.SEP has worked in partnership with Kent, West Sussex, East Sussex and Brighton Economic Partnerships in a steering group of stakeholders to undertake a state of the nation type review of the creative industries sector, which fed in to the RES and provided a sector of sub regional and regional recommendations for the relevant regional bodies and the economic partnerships to take forward to support his sector. The project was funded by SEEDA as part of the SEEP’s cross border project fund as well as a small contribution by the Arts Council SE
SEP played a key role in the in the steering group supporting the lead organisation KMEB who both worked closely with its lead university in this project, University College for the Creative Arts, (recently formed from a merger of the former Kent with the Surrey Institutes of Art and Design to form the largest arts and design university provider outside London). SEP was also specifically responsible for project managing the production of the final published report.
It will deliver a bespoke programme of leadership to creative businesses, help build a network of creative businesses and champions, contribute to the skills and competitiveness of the sector and contribute to the growing knowledge and provision of Leadership Skills training being led on behalf of SEEDA by the University of Surrey across the region with a consortium of HE institutions.
