2ND Annual EDAS Conference – ‘Making A Difference’
Conference Report
2ND Annual EDAS Conference
4-5th October 2001
‘Making A Difference’ – Conference Report
Introduction
Since being formed in 1999 the Economic Development Association (Scotland) has grown to a current membership base of over 260 practitioners, making it the largest and most representative body of its kind in Scotland. The second annual conference attracted over 140 delegates and 30 speakers covering 20 separate sessions.
This report summarises the key issues raised throughout the conference. A copy of the analysis from the evaluation forms is also included which will be used in the planning of the 2002 conference.
EDAS would like to thank Virgin Trains, for their sponsorship and association with the event and Meeting Makers for their organisation.
Contents
Introduction and Welcome
Alf Young, Deputy Editor, The Herald / 3
Making a Difference – the Challenges Ahead Towards 2010
Martin Briggs, Chief Executive, East Midlands Development Agency / 3-4
Priorities for Economic Development in Scotland
Eddie Frizzell CB, Secretary and Head of Enterprise & Lifelong Learning Department, The Scottish Executive
Ron Culley, Chief Executive, Scottish Enterprise Glasgow / 5-8
The Challenges Facing the Scottish Economy
Alex Neil MSP, Chair, Enterprise & Lifelong Learning Committee, The Scottish Parliament / 9-11
International Perspective
Dan Flinter, Chief Executive, Enterprise Ireland / 12-14
The Media’s perception of Economic Development – Open Forum
Kenny Kemp, Sunday Herald
Ken Symon, Freelance Journalist (formerly, Business Editor, Scotsman) / 15
Study Visit/ Workshops
Study Visit – The Alba Centre, Livingston / 16
Has the Small Business Gateway made a Difference? / 17
Partnerships, Local Economic Forums & Community Planning / 18
Strategy for Economic Development – Do We Have One / 19
Inclusion: Tackling the Hard to Reach Clients / 20
Lifelong Learning/Skills / 21
Developing the Social Economy / 22
Management Development & Leadership / 23
Rural Development / 24
New Product Development & Innovation / 25
E-Commerce / 26
Sustainability / 27
Appendix A – List of Delegates
Appendix B – Analysis of Evaluation Forms
Appendix C – List of reference Websites
Introduction and Welcome
Alf Young opened the Annual Conference for the second year in succession. In a brief introduction he pointed out the increased challenge faced by economic development agencies as a result of the events of 11th September in the United States and the reaction of the Bush administration. The effect of the Keynesian economic strategy being pursued to boost the US would have unknown consequences on the world economy and may effect the economic development strategy for Scotland.
In addition to welcoming all participants to the conference it was noted that there were a number of practitioners from out-with Scotland speaking at the conference and this was seen as a refreshing addition to the forthcoming debate.
Making a Difference – the Challenges Ahead Towards 2010
Speaker: Martin Briggs, Chief Executive, East Midlands Development Agency
Martin Briggs welcomed the opportunity to share experiences with fellow economic development practitioners in Scotland. With the nine Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) in England being established only in 1999, now was a good time to reflect and review the way they have operated to date and the challenges that lie ahead.
A recent influencing factor on the development of the RDAs is the introduction of Regional Assemblies. These non-statutory bodies (unlike those in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) each have £0.5 million per annum to develop their remit. There is a need to ensure these elected bodies hold the RDA boards to account. There is currently a variation in relationship between the Regional Assemblies and RDAs and this will evolved over time.
In common with the economic development strategy being followed in Scotland, the RDA strategies concentrated on areas such as;
Ø Improving the culture of enterprise and innovation
Ø Improving the climate for investment
Ø Addressing future skills gaps
Ø Creating sustainable communities
Ø Using Information & Communication Technologies
It was acknowledged that there were tensions between some of the above but that they were not exclusive - “Economic success is necessary but not sufficient for regional development”.
Two key areas where RDA strategy differs from Scottish economic development strategy is their emphasis on physical regeneration and in the area of skills policy. With regard to the former, the historical background of the national agencies that came together to form the RDAs meant that a large part of the funding was solely for physical infrastructure projects. With regard to the latter, the RDAs have few direct levers on skills (undertaken by Learning Skills Councils) and educational policy. Influencing the strategy to address the skills gap is currently one of the RDAs “big issues”.
The recent structural change in the Government Department responsible for RDAs (from the Dept for the Environment, Transport and the Regions to the DTI) is reflective of a change in the Governments view of RDAs. In the next financial year they will be given greater budgetary flexibility to allow local issues to be addressed, within the broad strategic plan (EMDA has circa £100M p.a. budget). This will mean stricter targets and greater transparency demanded, a factor that will be addressed, in part, by the new Regional Assemblies.
In conclusion the key challenges for RDAs are to:
Ø secure a balance of economic inclusion and economic growth
Ø continue the close working relationship between RDAs in their relationship with central Government
Ø ensure that Regional Assemblies hold the RDA boards to account
Ø develop the structure of sub-regional RDAs for direct delivery (similar to LECs)
Questions from the audience raised the following issues:
Q. How are peripheral regions with RDA area dealt with if one “local” strategy was produced?
A. This is a key issue as some RDAs cover wide geographical areas with diverse economies. This is the reason that the “sub-regional” structure of local delivery agencies is to be introduced.
Q. How do local communities react to the lack of local accountability if board members are appointed at ministerial level?
A. Transparency and accountability are important and the development of the relationship with the Regional Assemblies will provide for both of these.
Q. What is the current structure for influencing Education policy?
A. The RDAs collectively lobby at Westminster level, mainly on post 16 education. Lobbying is also carried out through the Local Learning and Skills Council, who manage how the national strategy is introduced at a local level.
Priorities for Economic Development in Scotland
Speakers:
Eddie Frizzell CB, Secretary and Head of Enterprise & Lifelong Learning Department, The Scottish Executive
Ron Culley, Chief Executive, Scottish Enterprise Glasgow
Eddie Frizzell CB, Secretary and Head of Enterprise & Lifelong Learning Department, The Scottish Executive
Eddie Frizzell started by stating that Scottish priorities were set against a global context and UK Macro-economic policy, which is set out in
Ø The Way Forward – A Framework for Economic Development in Scotland
Ø Programme for Government (Scottish Executives Programme)
Ø A Smart, Successful Scotland
Ø Global Connections Strategy
The priorities for ELLD and its £2bn annual budget are:
- Skills and employability – this is given top priority in the business plan. This is a change in emphasis from a few years ago when the Scottish Office Industry Department and Scottish Enterprise would state, “Business is our business”.
- Digital Scotland – the connectivity of broadband is the second priority, with its vital role in regional prosperity.
Thereafter, the priorities are, in no particular order:
Ø Tourism
Ø Best value from Higher Education Institutions
Ø Making the Local Economic Forums work
Ø Enterprise Network performance
Ø Reducing regional imbalances
After setting out a number of achievements to date, issues and challenges for the future were identified as:
Under Skills and Employability:
Ø The development of an “all-age” national Careers Service and its alignment with the Enterprise Networks
Ø The development of Future Skills Scotland (formerly SLIMS) and how it links with sector bodies such as Electronics Scotland.
Ø Review of Training strategy – this will take place over the winter period
Ø Improvement of Adult literacy and numeracy – there will be more information on this in the coming few months
Under Digital Scotland
Ø Implement the Broadband Strategy (part of this strategy will include aggregated public procurement – two pathfinder areas are Highlands and Borders)
Ø E-business Strategy, Scottish Enterprise have the main responsibility in this area
Ø Digital Inclusion
Ø levering in the investment of the telecommunications sector despite the current business downturn.
Ø increase business use of telecommunications
Under Business Creation, Growth & Transformation
Ø Review of the Business Birth-rate Strategy
Ø Formation of the Small Business Gateway structure in recognition of the ELLC recommendations
Ø Introduction of the Invest For Growth fund targeted at SMEs (fast-track Regional Selective Assistance)
Ø Continuing with Innovation initiatives such as SMART, SPUR and the Teaching Company Scheme
Ø Commercialisation of research through measures such as Proof of Concept and the Scottish Institute for Enterprise
Ø New approach to Inward Investment – breaking down the barriers between Locate in Scotland and Scottish Trade International
Under Tourism
Ø A review of the Tourism Strategy is urgent in the aftermath of the Foot & Mouth outbreak and the events of 11th September. The extent of any substitution effect is as yet unknown but may be a factor
Ø New focus on niche markets such as golf and genealogy
Ø Securing an improvement in industry performance and quality of service.
Under Enterprise Network performance
Ø Implementing Smart Successful Scotland
Ø Joint Performance Team measuring performance of Enterprise Networks
Ø Recent management changes in the Enterprise Network
Ø Formation of Local Economic Forums
Questions from the audience raised the following issues:
Q. With regard to the Individual Learning Accounts, has there any work been done on the additionality - would the people participating in the training have done it anyway?
A. While no formal assessment has been carried out relating to the additionality issue, Eddie Frizzell was confident that the ILAs were reaching a wider audience.
Q. The presentation highlighted the strategic priorities of the Scottish Executive – where does sustainable development appear?
A. Sustainable development is an underlying theme of all of the priorities mentioned.
Q. The priority given to the promotion of risk aversion in companies is laudable – is this reflected within the Executive itself?
A. Yes, there is recognition that the balance between protecting the public purse and dealing with market failure in funding projects may be skewed by risk aversion. This has been highlighted as an issue in the current review of the Regional Selective Assistance scheme but there is still the requirement to show that due diligence has been carried out.
Q. Is concentrating on supply side measures related to increasing individual skill levels going contribute towards the reduction of regional disparities?
A. Raising skills has been highlighted as the priority issue but it is still only part of the solution. With regard to reducing regional disparity, other strategies, such as physical infrastructure development and communication infrastructure development, must be included with skills in the overall strategic plan.
Ron Culley, Chief Executive, Scottish Enterprise Glasgow
Ron Culley opened his presentation by questioning whether the structure of the Scottish Economy could be changed to cope with the over-reliance on Inward Investment, Tourism and Manufacturing (particularly electronics).
Finland, with its similar population size to Scotland, was given as an example of successful change. In the past 10 years there has been an amazing transformation with growth, on average, at over 5% p.a. There has been a concerted effort to nurture and grow companies involved in high-technology sectors with the result that Finland are now one of the world leaders in mobile communication technology. A commitment to private-public partnership has seen the expansion of Internet usage well above the EU average.
In the same period, Scotland has experienced below average economic growth. The bare figures for the overall economy hide the diversion in performance between the Service sector (with stars such as the financial sector growing at 6.9% p.a.) and the Manufacturing sector.
How does the diverging economy affect Scotland as a whole, and the regional disparities within it? RC was apprehensive about the situation facing those that are unemployed. Taking Glasgow as an example, there is a high level of economically inactive citizens. In addition to this, 1 in 3 adults in work also have to rely on benefits to supplement their income. In Glasgow, 50% of the population live in areas of deprivation.
The solutions being used to meet these challenges may be having an effect but RC was concerned that “we still were not winning the battle”. There is a need to increase support for those that are unemployed. This support must not just be in the form of macro-economic policies but also local funding for initiatives tailored for local needs.
While it is necessary to concentrate on the growth industries of the future in high technology sectors with high skilled jobs, it is equally important to help develop industries where all may be involved – “Scotland must be a nation of all the talents”.
Given the above as a background, what role does Scottish Enterprise Glasgow have to play and what priorities does it have?
SEG have a key role in brokering partnerships and putting the right conditions in place for support to be provided. It is the role of SEG to be a catalyst but not to dominate projects. One of the main opportunities for partnership working is for it to be a source of ideas.
In some areas, such as infrastructure developments, public – private partnerships need to be increased if Glasgow and Scotland are to keep pace with the needs of the economy.
Scotland needs to be positioned in the global economy. For example, playing on the strengths of our Higher Education Institutions and commercialising the research base. The Proof of Concept fund launched in 1999, which has funded 36 research projects to date, is one example of this. Additionally, three new Research Centres are about to be funded covering Energy, Biotechnology and Electronic Communications.
Part of the positioning strategy should include the use of the existing international network of Scots (and friends of Scots) abroad.