MINUTES OF THE TWENTY-NINTH meeting

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FORUM, 19 SEPTEMBER 2006, BELFAST CASTLE

 

Present: See attached list (Annex 1)
Apologies: David Cairns, Peter Gregson, Stephen Kingon, Peter McNaney, Lord Rana, Ann Marie Slavin, MarkSweeney

 

1.                  WELCOME AND APOLOGIES / MINUTES OF LAST MEETING / MATTERS ARISING

 

1.1              The Chair welcomed members to the 29th meeting of the Forum.  She also welcomed the DFP Minister, David Hanson, attending for the first two items.

 

1.2              The Chair informed members that Declan Billington (CBI), Frank Bryan (IOD) and Mark Sweeney (CBI) would be replacing Michael Maguire (IOD), David Dobbin (CBI) and Lord Rana (NICCI) as chairs of the Skills, Innovation and Enterprise Sub-Groups, respectively.  She welcomed Declan and Frank to their first meeting and thanked the outgoing chairs for their work on EDF.  She invited the latter to remain as members of the Sub-Groups for a limited period.

 

1.3            Members were informed that Peter Gregson (QUB) had replaced John Mann (QUB) as Higher Education representative.

 

1.4               The Chair welcomed representatives of the political parties to the meeting.

 

1.5               The minutes of the last meeting were accepted.

 

Matters Arising

 

Planning Figures

1.6             The Chair reminded members of the presentation given by the Planning Service at the June meeting and of members’ request that further figures be provided.  She directed members to these figures on paper 2.

 

1.7               Members asked that further information on major planning application figures be provided.

 

ACTION:           Secretariat to ask the Planning Service for further information on figures.

 

Economic Sub-Group of the Assembly

1.8             The Chair reminded members that the Assembly had established an Economic Sub-Group to consider the economic challenges facing NI.  She advised that the Sub-Group had published its first report and would continue to meet every Thursday until 19th October.

 

1.9              Members were informed that EDF had been invited to give evidence at the initial sessions but EDF’s reasons for not giving evidence (the Economic Sub-Group was taking evidence from a wide range of Forum members; the Forum as a whole had not taken a position on issues such as an economic package) had been accepted.  The Chair informed members that the Economic Sub-Group had asked again to meet with a delegation from EDF.  She advised that David Dobbin, Michael Maguire and Seamus McAleavey had agreed to attend this evidence session on 21 September.  Members indicated that they were content with this.

 

1.10          Political representatives proposed that the Economic Sub-Group’s first report would benefit from consideration by members at a future meeting.  It was agreed that, given the operating timeframe of the Economic Sub-Group, members should be provided with a copy of the current report and invited to submit written comments to the political representatives.  It was also agreed that this first report and any future material would be considered as an agenda item for the next plenary meeting.

 

ACTION:          Secretariat to forward Economic Sub-Group report to members and invite them to submit written comments on the report.

 

ACTION:          EDF Sub-Group Chairs to consider including the work of the Economic Sub-Group on the agenda for the December meeting.

 

2.                  REFORM AGENDA

 

2.1              David Hanson introduced DFP’s paper on the Reform Agenda.  He outlined that his task was to develop an agenda that could be taken forward by a devolved government and that would result in a more dynamic and sustainable economic future for NI.  He highlighted that the Reform Agenda aimed to modernise government in NI by making it more reactive to local communities, more efficient and more cost effective.  Minister Hanson referred members to the update paper which outlined the mechanics of this reform under the headings of review of public administration, water reform, rating reform, welfare reform, civil service reform and communications.  Minister Hanson concluded that the proposed changes would offer better services for customers, increase the efficiency of the public sector and allocate more control to local councils.  He emphasised that all funds saved would be reinvested in NI.

 

2.2              Members agreed on the importance of reviewing and improving the public sector, particularly given the recent changes to local councils.  However, some members expressed concerns about the ways in which these improvements were being made, in particular that the various aspects of the Reform Agenda needed to be more fully integrated.

 

2.3              Noting that Minister Hanson had stressed that the new rates system would be a fairer system, some members insisted on the need to ensure that the most disadvantaged benefit.

 

2.4              Some members also expressed concerns that the impact on public sector personnel was being overlooked. It was also noted that the loss of disposable income to individuals, which would result from reform, may lead to a downturn in spending and thus have a negative effect on the economy.  It was suggested that this might be countered by growth in the private sector and members pointed to the need to develop an economic sustainability plan.

 

2.5              The role of EDF as a medium for consultation in the preparation of this agenda was also raised, and it was agreed that it was a useful forum for further consultation before decisions were made.

 

2.6               Some members also felt that the report did not fully attend to many of the difficult issues.  Some noted that industrial de-rating was not mentioned, and highlighted that a decision needed to be reached on this matter for the manufacturing sector.

 

2.7             Members enquired what measures were in place to ensure that the potential savings would be achieved.  Members pointed to the need to set targets on the various issues to ensure clarity on the outcomes of the Reform Agenda.

 

2.8              Minister Hanson responded by noting that major changes such as the Reform Programme required time to implement and measure, and highlighted again that reform would lead to a more efficient and modern form of government that would contribute to the production of a sustainable economic future for NI.

 

3.         DRAFT REGIONAL ECONOMIC STRATEGY (RES)

 

3.1              David Hanson set the context for a consideration of the draft RES by highlighting its role in tackling long term structural problems.  He reminded members that it addressed a number of challenges facing the economy, including those facing education and the private sector, the need to increase economic prosperity and to improve productivity.

 

3.2              Mike Brennan informed members that a number of minor amendments had been made to the draft that they had considered in June, including revisions to ensure consistency with the NI Sustainable Development strategy and the expansion of the skills section.  He advised that he would welcome comments, both verbally and in writing after the meeting.

 

3.3               During discussion a number of suggestions were offered by members and the political representatives, as follows:

 

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The RES should outline clearly what steps will by taken and who will be responsible for each measure;
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Targets should be set and incorporated into the strategy;
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The document needed to be more politically sensitive, clarifying the benefits of economic efficiency when referring to All-Island benefit and reflecting the positions of two governments; and
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The strategy should also attend to: telecoms; regulations on migrant labour; and the benefits of Further Education for local students.

 

3.4       Mike Brennan agreed with the importance of establishing targets but pointed out the difficulties of looking forward, as public expenditure was only set for the next four years.  Members discussed the difficulties in setting NI targets in relation to the UK or GB average and suggested that in some circumstances it may be useful to set absolute targets for NI.  It was agreed that DFP and EDF's Medium Term Strategic Priorities Sub-Group would meet to discuss the development of targets in the strategy.

 

            ACTION:           Secretariat to invite members to submit written comments on the strategy to DFP.

 

ACTION:           DFP to work with MTSPs Sub-Group to agree targets for the strategy. 

 

4.         FOOD  FORESIGHT PRESENTATION

 

4.1             John Gilliland, Chair of the Food Foresight Leadership Group of the Food Strategy Implementation Partnership, gave a presentation which highlighted the key challenges facing the NI agri-food industry to 2020.  The remit of the group had been to produce recommendations to support a sustainable agri-food industry in NI.  It consisted of members with expertise in broad areas, who consulted with stakeholders and produced a report (due for completion in autumn 2006).

 

4.2              Discussion focused on the amount of investment needed by the agri-food sector to become sustainable and on what the sector would contribute to the economy in monetary terms in return for this investment.  John Gilliland advised members that the group had focused more on the effect of the industry not responding to the challenges of future years and noted that currently the sector is not sustainable.

 

4.3            Methods of tracking future developments in the sector were also discussed and it was noted that the Innovation Sub-Group had been developing annual tracking measures which might be useful for the Foresight Leadership Group.  It will be essential to appoint a champion who would put a robust reporting system in place, but John Gilliland admitted it would be difficult to find someone with the ability to engage across disciplines and departments.

 

4.4              Members noted that the next stage of work for the group would involve identifying strategies to deliver the group’s four key visions.

 

5.         SUB-GROUP REPORTS

 

            Innovation Sub-Group

 

5.1              David Dobbin, Chair of the Innovation Sub-Group, reported developments on the Centres of Excellence and Clustering projects and advised that good progress had been made in establishing a NI Science Industry Panel.  He also noted developments on the establishment of the HE/FE Collaboration Fund and stressed the necessity of using this funding as a stimulus for SMEs.

 

Enterprise Sub-Group

 

5.2               Members were advised that the Enterprise Sub-Group had held a productive meeting on Friday 15th September and would circulate a written update on the group’s progress as soon as possible.

 

ACTION:           Secretariat to forward Enterprise Sub-Group report to members.

 

Skills Sub-Group

 

5.3              Michael Maguire, Chair of the Skills Sub-Group, gave an update highlighting current work including the alignment of EDF objectives with DE and recommended that EDF could usefully look at education’s role in widening opportunities for young people.  He reported on the series of recommendations being produced following the review of careers guidance.  Members also received an update on the group’s work on prioritisation for the development of the FE sector.

 

ACTION:          EDF Sub-Group Chairs to consider including a presentation by DEL and DE on education and widening opportunities for young people on the agenda of a future meeting.

 

Infrastructure Sub-Group

 

5.4              Jim McCusker, Chair of the Infrastructure Sub-group, advised members that the report on the capacity of the public sector to deliver the Investment Strategy for NI (ISNI) imminent.  In any revision of ISNI the view of the sub-group was that the economic benefits should be paramount and that there was a need to prioritise projects to produce meaningful economic results.

 

            MTSPs Sub-Group

 

5.5       Seamus McAleavey, Chair of the MTSPs Sub-Group, advised members that EDF’s annual statement was being prepared and would be considered by the Sub-Group.  He reported that as part of its annual monitoring role the Sub-Group had commissioned Regional Forecasts to produce a report on six scenarios for the future economic development of NI.  This report was being considered by the Sub-Group.

 

6.         ANY OTHER BUSINESS

 

Future Agenda Items