Development of the South East LEP Local Industrial Strategy
In 2014, the LEP produced its first Strategic Economic Plan, underpinning a growth deal worth almost £600m in investment, which supports nearly 200 projects. The investment aims to deliver 78,000 jobs and 29,000 homes by 2021. In 2018, following the publication of the national Industrial Strategy in 2017, Government mandated that every LEP should produce a Local Industrial Strategy (LIS). Whilst awaiting further detail and structure from Government, the South East LEP continued its commitment to provide a refresh of the Strategic Economic Plan and in late 2018, we produced an Economic Strategy Statement – Smarter, Faster, Together. This document set out the path towards developing our LIS.
What is a Local Industrial Strategy?
Local Industrial Strategies will be long-term, based on clear evidence and aligned to the national Industrial Strategy. They must set out clearly defined priorities for the area that will help to maximise its contribution to UK productivity and allow places to make the most of their distinctive strengths. The expectation of LEPs is set out in the Governments’ policy prospectus. The LIS has two core aims – to increase productivity and realise potential and allow all communities to contribute to and benefit from economic prosperity. Local Industrial Strategies will help to inform local choices, prioritise local action and, where appropriate, help to inform decisions at the national level. They will also provide strategic overview which will inform LEPs’ approach to any future local growth funding. To drive all areas of productivity, the LIS must tackle the fundamentals of local economies across the five foundations of productivity:
- Ideas
- People
- Place
- Infrastructure
- Business Environment.
And where the area can contribute, the LIS should also cite how its priorities and actions can support the grand challenges:
- Artificial Intelligence & Data
- Future of Mobility
- Clean Growth
- Ageing Society
Approach and Timeline to the Development of the LIS
After much consultation and engagement through Summer/Autumn 2019, we are at a stage of drafting and gaining local sign off to our LIS. Further detail can be found below:
Approach and Timeline to the Development of the LIS
SCOPING Show
- Agree approach to the LIS development
- Reviewing existing evidence and building a narrative that identifies gaps and details areas of strength, challenge and opportunity
- Consultation with partners and stakeholders to inform the approach and process
- Develop a communications & engagement plan for the LIS development
June- July 2019
BUILDING THE EVIDENCE BASE & DEFINING PROPOSITIONS Show
- Consultation with partners and stakeholders around the evidence base narrative to test and debate its findings and agree emerging propositions
- Agreement of evidence base and emerging propositions
- Commissioning of further ‘deep dive’ work, if required, to help further explore an area or help to develop propositions
- Productivity Foundation/ Grand Challenge workshops with partners and stakeholders to further refine the propositions
- Start to identify how evaluation will be undertaken and embedded
- Liaison with Government departments regarding evidence propositions
- Progress and structure agreed through Federated (September)
August – November 2019
DRAFTING OF THE LIS Show
- Progress, structure and process for finalisation agreed through Strategic Board (4th October)
- Drafting and designing of the strategy document
- Wider consultation to inform the development of the draft strategy
- Sharing of the draft with partners and stakeholders for review
LIS Workshops
- 14th October 2019: How can we improve the productivity of the South East economy?
- 5th November 2019
- Morning: Building New Communities for the Future
- Afternoon: Modelling Future Connectivity
- 7th November 2019
- Morning: Accelerating Business Productivity and Growth
- Afternoon: Maximising Natural Assets
View the LIS Engagement Report (December 2019) here.
A first working draft was presented to the SELEP Strategic Board on the 31st January 2020 – click here to find out more. Further iterations, leading to SELEP Board sign off, will be considered in due course as the strategy develops.
October 2019 – March 2020
GOVERNMENT CO-DESIGN AND SIGN OFF Show
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SELEP continues to have close dialogue with Government and is working to agree the timelines for strategy co-design and sign off of the LIS. We will update on this as soon as possible.
IMPLEMENTATION Show
- Development of an implementation plan to follow.
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