S.C.B.F &S.C.D.C Meeting

Melton Hill, Woodbridge
8th February 2011

Present: Colin Hart, Chair Bryan Hall, Cllr Wickham Market
Stephen Baker, Chief Exec SCDC Catherine Thornber
Homira Jovadi, FD SCDC Colin Law, SCC
Liz Jackson, SCC Jenny Stockman, Framlingham BA
Nick Boulter, Chair SCBF Chris Betson, Vice Chair SCBF
Jonny Newton, Leiston Bus Ass Sarah Gooch, Felixstowe Traders
Bob Foyers, Sax Bus Ass Naomi Tarry, Aldeburgh Bus Ass
Charlie Damonsing, Treasurer SCBF

1. Apologies – Ray Herring

2. Notes from previous meeting were agreed as accurate
HCMTI (Heritage Coast Market Towns Initiative) – Jonny Newton reported that this initiative is working very well, they are launching a business directory covering the three towns shortly. Bringing three such diverse towns as Leiston, Saxmundham and Aldeburgh businesses together has really made a difference. Framlingham are considering joining the group. Currently the group have a PR person 3 days per week, as the funding is coming to an end in April, Jonny was concerned for the future of the project

3. SCC – Colin Law and Liz from Suffolk County Council – The New Strategic Direction
Questions
Bryan Hall – why are so many libraries closing? Colin Law replied that it was purely an economic decision. In some libraries it costs £8 per book lent out.
Nick Boulter – how can businesses get involved? Liz replied that SCC held an Industry Day which is the beginning of the conversation with business. “Your Place Models” are a local approach which encourages business to get involved
Jonny Newton – why have the cuts not come before now? CL explained that political issues prevented Councils taking these decisions before now. The national political situation influences how Councils operate
Naomi – what interest has there been from businesses to get involved? LJ, the Council have received 100 serious offers, and they have not even gone out to tender yet. These have come from private sector business, CICs, voluntary organisations
Colin Law – explained that one size does not fit all in divesting services. There will be different solutions for each service. The Council’s main priority is to ensure the stability of the service after divestment
Chris Betson – asked what role District Councils will play. This will vary throughout the county
Jenny Stockman – asked if there was an income stream with Household Waste Sites. CL explained that for some that would be the case, for others there would be none and these would only be able to continue with volunteers
Colin Law – over the next six months the Council will be saying which services will be divested, and communities can express an interest in taking them over
Colin Hart – emphasised that there are big opportunities for businesses in this process
Bob Foyers – expressed a concern that large multi-nationals could come in and offer to run services, for example Tesco’s could take over some libraries. Bob is concerned that these businesses do not always have the local community interests at heart.
Colin Law – agreed that safeguards for the continuity of services would have to be put in place
Jonny Newton – asked if planning permission for large business projects, such as Magnox, could include a contribution towards running a local service. There is a good example of this having worked well in Oulton Broad
Naomi Tarry – asked how business could generate income from country parks, as these are an important part of the tourism offer in this area
Stephen Baker – said that SCDC is taking on some of the parks from the County Council
Bryan Hall – asked about public footpaths and who is going to be responsible for these? This is not decided yet

4. Service Priorities – SCDC Budget
Homira reported that the budget for 2011/12 is balanced. There will be a 30% budget cut over the next 4 years, these will be achieved by:-
Limiting services
Merging management in SCDC and Waveney District Council
Negotiating reduced costs by partners
Voluntary redundancy process has been carried out
Council tax will be frozen for 2 years
Naomi – asked what the SCDC is doing for tourism. Catherine Thornber distributed the Suffolk Tourist Guide. She explained that this was sent out nationwide, but that this may be difficult in the coming years as the Tourist Information Offices by not exist going forward
Colin Hart – explained that planning is one area that SCDC can contribute to making sure that the Suffolk Coast is a desirable place to come
Bryan Hall – invited those present from the business associations to get involved in local politics and stand at the next local elections

5. SCDC and Waveney Partnership Update
Stephen Baker reported that the merger of Senior management had been a success, and that lower levels of management were going to be merged next
He explained that the number of employees had been reduced by those leaving not being replaced. However, he noted that there would be a point at which the councils would start to lose capacity if the numbers drop too far

6. Local Enterprise Partnerships
The Suffolk and Norfolk Partnership was intended to be a public and private partnership lead by the private sector. However, at the moment this is not happening. There are 6 council representatives on the partnership, with Andy Woods, Chairman of Adnams, Federation of Small Business, Chamber of Commerce. Choose Suffolk. The purpose of LEPs is to provide a way of applying for European funding which is not open to counties acting alone. The Suffolk and Norfolk LEP have three main themes, energy, tourism and broadband.
Nick Boulter – said that the SCBF and LSP could access funding through the LEP
7. Broadband Update
Stephen explained that a private/public partnership had been formed to tackle the issue of broadband provision in Suffolk. The project will cost £100m, the aim is 100% coverage and 10Mb speed. The preferred option is fibre optic cable in the ground, with maybe wi-fi access at the end of the lines. The partnership is going to apply for funds from central government under the BDUK scheme. BT are helping with the easy areas, this project will deal with the more difficult areas
Colin Hart- said that businesses can do their bit by applying pressure to support the bid for funds

8. LABGI Funding
Catherine reported that a £1.5m fund had been available to support business in the Suffolk Coastal area. For every £1 of the funding, the project had to match this with £2. Several projects have already benefitted from this money, ie Wickham Market with amenity signs from the A12, Felixstowe town centre and sea front, Woodbridge town centre
There is still £80k of funding available

Date of next meeting – 22nd June 2011

The meeting closed at 9.45pm