February
Minutes of Scottish Enterprise Board: 10 February 2006
Present:
Sir John Ward CBE, Chairman
Jack Perry, Chief Executive
Pat Denzler
Barbara Duffner OBE
Fred Hallsworth
Douglas Lamb
Colin McClatchie
Charlie Morrison
Ray Perman
Professor Timothy O’Shea
In attendance:
Roger McClure, Scottish Funding Council
Janet Brown, MD Industries
Iain Carmichael, Chief Financial Officer
John Phillips, MD Corporate Services
Lena Wilson, Chief Operating Officer
Charlie Woods, Chief Economist and Director Strategy
Brian Jamieson, SE Secretary
Apologies:
Frank Blin CBE
Donald MacRae
LEC Chairs:
Simon Foster, SE Ayrshire
Patrick Machray, SE Grampian
1. Minutes of board meeting held on 9 December 2005 and 19 January 2006 – SE(M)185/186
The Minutes of the previous meetings and the Outstanding Action Points SE(06)16 were approved subject to noting that final organisational proposals would now come to the March Board.
2. Chairman’s report
The Chairman paid tribute to the late Professor Neil Hood who had died on 2 February. The Board asked that their condolences be conveyed to the family, recognising Neil’s contribution to Scottish economic development and in particular his service to the Network.
It had been suggested that the December Board Meeting might be hosted by Scotland Europa in Brussels and combined with briefings and meetings with the EC Commission. This was agreed in principle, subject to a business case being worked up.
The International Advisory Board Meeting had been judged the best to date and the presence of Scottish Executive Ministers Jack McConnell, Nicol Stephen, Tom McCabe and Peter Peacock had been appreciated.
The Chairman had held meetings with the First Minister, Deputy First Minister, Minister Cathy Jamieson, the Parliament’s Enterprise Committee, Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce, groups of newspaper editors, Steven Purcell, Leader of Glasgow City Council and Brian Ashcroft of Fraser of Allander Institute.
3. Chief Executive’s report
The consultation process on the organisational review was almost complete. There had been solid support for the objectives from most business organisations. The final stage would be meeting with the Minister after which the proposals would come to the March Board.
The first meetings of pilot Metropolitan Boards, involving SE Board Members, were being scheduled.
New air routes between Prestwick and three Polish cities are to be launched with the support of the Route Development Fund.
Jack Perry had attended:
- Financial Services Advisory Board, chaired by the First Minister
- SE Dunbartonshire, including their Board Meeting
- Launch of JP Morgan new facility.
It was noted that SE Glasgow’s Chief Executive would be leaving to take up a position on one of the new Transport Bodies.
4. A Scottish centre of excellence as part of the UK micro and nano technology network – SE(06)02
Neil Francis, Scott Wilson and Karen Fox joined the meeting for this item and were introduced by Lena Wilson.
Scott Wilson presented the context of the project in relation to Government policy, the method of implementation and the benefits to be achieved.
The Board welcomed this project in a field where Scottish organisations had internationally competitive technology. This project was approved and the Board looked forward to hearing of other projects coming forward in this area.
5. Aberdeen science and energy park – Research and Development accommodation – SE(06)03
Jennifer Craw and David Littlejohn joined the meeting for this item and were introduced by Lena Wilson.
Jennifer Craw outlined the history and composition of the Park and the identified gap of research and development space.
David Littlejohn presented the details of the investment proposal and the benefits to be achieved.
This project had a high priority in the existing Energy strategy and, as such, featured in Competitive Place’s Strategic Investment Plan. The Board approved the project. As SE was not in the business of holding commercial property, SE Grampian will confirm either the date for selling on after pump priming or the specific on rotation of tenants if it is to act as an incubator.
It was noted that the implementation of approved projects was at present subject to prioritisation. For the future, projects will only come forward for approval when funding is confirmed.
6. Updating the network operating plan 2006-09
Julian Taylor and Ed Payne joined the meeting for this item.
Charlie Woods explained that this was a draft annual update of the three year rolling plan. Comments were sought on the context, tone and shape of the draft.
The prioritisation discussed above would be against the criteria of National Strategic fit, National economic impact versus cost and Portfolio balance. Details would come to the March Board.
The Board supported the document’s articulation of the move towards a focus on priority industries and Metropolitan Regions. There would need to be a shorter piece conveying key messages and the Plan needed to mesh with the announcement to be made on the organisational review. More stress could be made on how the Priority Industries would drive demand, on the enabling industries and on the laying of dependencies elsewhere.
7. Roles and priorities for physical infrastructure investment – SE(06)06
Paul Lewis joined the meeting for this item. He presented on how physical infrastructure investment related to the competition elsewhere and how it interacted with Priority Industries, Metropolitan Regions and Talent attraction. The organisation had a track record of using physical infrastructure for economic development and financial return in e.g the Exchange area in Edinburgh, the West of Scotland Science Park and the Public realm in Dundee.
The Board supported the proposals for rigorous prioritisation of activities and asked that Business Units be given a template extracted from the paper as guidance for suitable projects.
Again, to ensure a competitive position for Scotland, it was necessary to articulate dependencies very clearly.
(Patrick Machray left the meeting)
8. Finance report – SE(06)07
Iain Carmichael reported that the new system of resource allocation had had the desired effect of significantly increasing the pipeline of projects. The momentum meant that, as well as managing the current year’s budget, prioritisation among competing projects would be vital for the next financial year. Government Resource Accounting had increased the difficulty for precise in-year budgeting.
9. Board committees
Remuneration Committee – SEBRC(M)04
Audit Committee – SEAC(M)(05)05
SE Audit Committee Terms of Reference – SE(06)08
Investment Committee – SEBIC(M)06
Urgent Approvals Committee – SE(06)18
Operations Committee – SEBOC(M)05
The Audit Committee had assigned specific roles to Members and revised their Terms of Reference.
The Operations Committee was agreed to the appropriate forum for considering management effectiveness issues.
Jack Perry drew attention to the Forward Schedule for the Investment Committee and invited Board Members to feed back on that. An update was requested on the Digital Media Park.
The Urgent Approvals Committee had approved the three projects listed in the paper.
10. Information papers
Summary Minutes for the Pension Trustee Meeting - SE(06)09
Monthly Update – International Operations - SE(06)10
Global, UK and Scottish Economic Commentary - SE(06)12
Calendar of Forward Events - SE(06)13
Monthly Update – Industries - SE(06)14
Approvals Within Delegated Authority - SE(06)15
Outstanding Action Points from SE Board - SE(06)16
Complaints and Testimonials - SE(06)17
Monthly Update – Operations - SE(06)04
The Board noted these Information Papers. On Pensions, the Actuarial Report was being finalised. An options paper on pensions issues more generally would come to the Board.
Brian Jamieson
SE Secretary
February 2006