Please find below some key points from the Thursday 27th January 2011 Black Country Constructing Excellence event at The Public, West Bromwich on ‘The Black Country LEP & Construction - Building A New Relationship’: 

Regeneration of West Bromwich
Opening part was about how Sandwell Council are trying to regenerate West Bromwich through to 2014
John Garrett- Corporate Director Place for Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, responsible for the strategic management and development of place shaping services across the borough explained that the following projects are wither under construction, in planning or will shortly be out for tender. These are:

• Sandwell College (Interserve)
• All Saints Business park including new BT and West Bromwich Building Society office’s and associated multi-storey car park
• M5 – town centre road link improvements including underpass (Balfour Beatty)
• Tesco Superstore and associated retail/leisure development including cinema complex
• New Police Station
• New Leisure Centre inc. Swimming Pool

 
The Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP)
This was presented by Stewart Towe CBE - Chairman of the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership, Group Chairman and MD of Hadley Industries Holdings Ltd

• The Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) is being set up to replace the £300million-a-year Regional Development Agency Advantage West Midlands which has been scrapped.
• A question hangs over £100 million of property AWM owns, including 21 plots in Birmingham and the Black Country.
• Very little money compared with previous AWM funding (£1.4Bn over 3 years for 30 LEPs across the country)
• Original Black Country LEP proposal submitted to Government September 2010 (see here for submission)
• LEP Board made up of 5 business leaders (including Carillion’s own John McDonough), the 4 local authority leaders and 1 University of Wolverhampton representative
• Main advantage seen as direct access to government with tag line ‘Removing Barriers to Growth’, government encouraging the LEP to challenge the status quo to deliver this aim
• Stewart has spoken with Eric Pickles Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government about potential for devolving transport budget to LEP as well as powers to open M6 toll during peak times freely etc…this was an example of even early on what the LEP could do
• LEP’s 6 main areas of focus or ‘pillars’ will be:
  • Planning – Developing single coherent set of planning rules for area, reduce bureaucracy, make it more simplified, faster and provide more certainty to developer/investor. John McDonough will be leading this pillar
  • Employment and Skills – Increasing student employability, moving away from local government dominated education, more education/business partnership, raise aspirations, link need business/industry skills requirements to education for ‘real jobs’
  • Transport Infrastructure – Improve use of road space, better public transport links
  • Enterprise – Provide SME support, support to new start ups and entrepreneurs
  • Credit – Challenge financial sector to provide more credit insurance/lending to credit worthy local businesses
  • International Trade – Promote the area (e.g. visitor attractions), provide assistance to businesses
• Dialogue ongoing as to how the large amount of data AWM have collated over the years can be transferred to the LEP
• Stewart emphasised that the LEP will not be another AWM, it will work in partnership with businesses and other stakeholders and asked businesses to feedback what their barriers to growth are
• LEP event 17th March, Himley Hall