Presentation to the South West Regional Assembly Jane Henderson 14 July 2006

2 South West of England Regional Development Agency: What we do and how we do it Our job is to help create a more prosperous and sustainable future for the region by:  Supporting business creation and growth  Encouraging innovation  Ensuring the workforce has the right skills  Cleaning up sites; providing workspace  Regenerating run-down communities  Building the communities of the future  Developing the rural economy  Promoting what is best about the South West  Bringing private and public investment into the region

3 Scrutiny protocol  New protocol launched 19 June  Builds on learning from previous protocol  Focus on joint strategic review  RDA Board scrutiny ‘champion’  Reporting of Scrutiny Panel recommendations to the Board  increased flexibility in the selection of topics  extended timetables and deadlines in the process  Topics: –Quality of employment opportunity –Cities and Regions

4 Scrutiny – Sustainable energy  Review just completed very productive  Added value  Good constructive discussion  Recommendations emerge from the whole process – apply to a range of actors  Drawing together RDA formal response

5 Regional economy: challenges  Lowest unemployment rate in England, but..  Modest growth rates projected but more vulnerable  Reasonable employment growth but redundancies in some sectors  Fewer exporters and less inward investment relative to other regions  Impact of globalisation and newly industrialising countries  Productivity challenge remains critical

6  City regions debate  LAAs/ LEGIs  Questions about the role of regional institutions  Local Government White Paper  CSR 2007  European funding  Transport Unfolding agendas

7 2005/6 – Key achievements  Progress –RES review –Priority Sectors –Business Support –Strategy alignment –Aligned planning decisions –Innovation –Quality projects –Sharing good practice/ evaluation –Regional evidence base –Integrated new responsibilities

8 2005/6 - Outputs

9 2005/6 leadership  2012 Games  Tourism development  Defence procurement  Enabling broadband  Urban development – The Way Ahead  SPark  European funding

10 Key meetings at Ministerial level  RDA Chairs: –Prime Minister –Douglas Alexander MP - DFT –Margaret Hodge – DTI  EU Commissioner for Regional Policy  John Prescott/Jim Knight at the Way Ahead Conference  Other recent meetings with Ministers –Shaun Woodward - tourism –Richard Caborn – Sport –Kay Andrews – DCLG –Phil Woolas - DCLG

11 Independent Performance Assessment  IPA process managed by the National Audit Office (NAO) on behalf of the government.  Each RDA produces a self-assessment SWRDA's published in June  NAO then publish own assessment of our performance - score  IPA outcomes part of the evidence base for CSR2007  A rigorous 360 degree view of our capacity and performance will help shape and lend impetus to improvement and change

12 Looking ahead: continuous improvement  Sharpening our focus  Improving relationships with partners and stakeholders  Sense of place: bridging the regional and the local  Connecting with business  Smarter processes and evaluation  Open communications  Developing our people

13 Looking forward  European Programmes  2012  Creative Industries Summit  CSR07 outcomes  SW England campaign  IPA outcomes  RES Big debates

14 Into the future: the RES Debates  Growth within environmental limits  Population change  Globalization  Energy challenges  Regional leadership!