/Business%20People%20%20Places

Renaissance House, Centre Park, Warrington, WA1 1QN Tel: +44 (0)1925 400 100 Fax: +44 (0)1925 400 400 www.nwda.co.uk

Business, People & Places Learning from the NWDA’s Experience June 2011

Contents

Foreword

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1. What We Did and How We Evolved

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2. Timeline of Key Developments

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3. Strategic Leadership and Partnership

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4. Securing Investment

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5. Delivering Effectively

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6. Scrutiny, Assessment and Results

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7. Looking Ahead

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Foreword For nearly 12 years, the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) has been working hard to invest in projects and activities that make the biggest impact on the regional economy – the transformational actions. We have learned a lot over this time about what works and does not work. Business, People, Places: Learning from the NWDAʼs Experience is designed to help share our experience, good practice and learning, for the benefit of leaders, policy makers and practitioners in the post-RDA economic development landscape. There will be a follow-up document, which we will publish before our closure in March 2012, which will set out how key activities will be taken forward once NWDA has gone and where further information can be found.

Business, People, Places: Learning from the NWDAʼs Experience is not designed to celebrate the achievements of the NWDA – that was the purpose of Making Big Things Happen issued in 2009 – but to capture what has happened in the North West over the past few years and provide a flavour of the thinking behind our activity and our evolution. We hope it provides a clear picture of the important learning gained by the NWDA as we tried over the decade or so of our existence to improve the North West for businesses, for people, and for places. It reflects the views of a large number of people, inside and outside the Agency, who have been involved in different ways in the activity of the NWDA and have knowledge, experience and learning to contribute.

From the outset, the Agency sought to be a learning organisation, ready to experiment and try new approaches but always seeking to evaluate and review how things worked in practice so that the lessons learned could be built into future work. Over our lifetime, we have learned how to work as a public body led by a private sector board and chair, with staff drawn from the public, private and third sectors, and with a wide range of partners and stakeholders of varying resources and outlook. We have learned how to invest to create the most impact, using project evaluation as the tool by which project experience and results can be analysed, learned from and, most importantly, built into future decisions.

We learned the importance of a medium to long-term focus on economic development, as well as how essential a multidisciplinary approach is, breaking down the silos that separate, for example, skills training from enterprise support or infrastructure development. One very significant lesson from our experience of economic development is that there are multiple facets to what makes places fulfil their potential, and that a single issue approach will invariably fail.

Promoting sustainable economic development was in our brief from the outset; the first Chair of the NWDA, Lord Thomas, set a clear aspiration that, as the worldʼs first industrial region, the North West should be the first to apply the principles of sustainable development. Over the years, we pioneered new approaches to integrating environmental considerations fully into our activities. We also learned how important it is to build into our work considerations of equality and diversity, because only when everyone has a stake will a place be truly successful. As a result, major projects such as MediaCityUK now have a commitment from all stakeholders to provide local employment opportunities.

We also sought from the outset to ensure that rural areas benefitted from being part of a wider regional approach to economic growth, recognising the interdependencies between urban and rural areas as well as the need to address specific rural challenges and opportunities. Over time, our approach developed from running bespoke rural programmes to ensuring that rural considerations were embedded in our mainstream programmes.

The North West is now viewed regionally, nationally and globally as a better place to live, work, visit and do business. Around the North West, places, people and business organisations are more confident, more market oriented and have plans for growth that would not have been possible a decade ago. Independent assessment of our work by PricewaterhouseCoopers has shown that for every £1 invested, more than £5.20 of economic impact was generated. The economic development community in the North West has grown in knowledge and expertise, and many of our staff and our partners will go on to make a difference to investment, leadership and delivery in other organisations.

We know that successful economic development and place-making will continue in the North West. Our region has immense potential – to achieve this potential we will need to continue to see the big picture, including: addressing the opportunities and challenges of climate change; recognising the value of infrastructure; collaborating to bring forward major initiatives; and continuing the skills and enterprise transformation that will drive sustainable wealth creation for future generations. The evidence-based work we led with the Regional Leaders Board to develop Future North West: Our Shared Priorities, which sets out the key strategic issues looking ahead 20 years, will provide a sound platform for the region moving forward.

We would like the lessons we have learned to be available to everyone involved in economic development, regeneration and the big issues facing our places in the coming years. The NWDA was not perfect and the job is not finished. But we believe the Agency has made an important contribution to the economic development of the North West over the last dozen years, and we hope new players will be well placed to capitalise on these assets, learning and ways of working. After all, while institutional arrangements may alter, the issues, challenges and opportunities for this part of the UK do not.

Robert Hough Chairman

June 2011 3

Mark Hughes Chief Exectuive

What We Did and How We Evolved The NWDA was established by the Regional Development Agencies Act of 1998, and was formally launched on 1 April 1999. Across the country, the nine RDAs took over English Partnerships' land holdings and some of its regional staff, Single Regeneration Budget programmes, some Countryside Agency functions and some DTI inward investment responsibilities. RDAs were given an explicit remit to increase the economic competitiveness of their regions.

Transfer of Functions into Regional Development Agencies

Our reponsibilities Under the 1998 Act, each RDA had five statutory purposes:

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To further the economic development and regeneration of its area;

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To promote business efficiency, investment and competitiveness in its area;

• To promote employment in its area; • To enhance the development and application of skills relevant to employment in its area; and

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To contribute to sustainable development in the United Kingdom where it is relevant to its area to do so.

The Act stated that “A regional development agencyʼs purposes apply as much in relation to the rural parts of its area as in relation to the non-rural parts of its area.”

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RDAs were required to produce a strategy setting out how they propose to discharge these purposes. The first North West Regional Economic Strategy was produced in 2000, the second in 2003 and the third in 2006. In 2010, NWDA and 4NW (the Regional Leaders Board) jointly published a new integrated strategic framework for the region, Future North West: Our Strategic Priorities, which sought, for the first time, to consider economic, social, spatial and environmental issues together and recognise their inter-relationships.

Since 1999, the RDA remit has significantly broadened, and the chart above shows the key transfers of functions into RDAs by central government over time.

Particularly important was the establishment of Single Pot funding in 2002, which pooled the contributions of government departments and allowed RDAs flexibility on how that funding was allocated. Some new responsibilities came with associated budgets, and collective RDA budgets rose from under £1bn pa in 1999 to £2.3bn in 2007-08.

Since 2006, however, increased responsibilities came without associated new finance and, in real terms, the overall RDA budget fell between 2006 and 2010. RDA budgets in 2008 equated to c. 0.7% of all public sector spend in regions.

NWDA income grew to a peak of £540m in 2010, which included £100m from the European Programme to establish the North West Urban Investment Fund.

Evolution of Activity A large proportion of the Agencyʼs budget in the earlier years was made up of the Single Regeneration Budget (SRB) and other inherited funding regimes. NWDA brought together regeneration, land and property development funding and staff to develop a coherent approach to the development and delivery of physical economic development projects.

NWDAʼs five Area Offices (which were later superceded by Sub-Regional Partnerships) worked with local partners, particularly local authorities and private sector developers, to ensure that wide ranging SRB-funded physical regeneration projects also tackled social and economic deprivation challenges. At its peak in 2001/02 and 2002/03, the SRB programme was worth around 60% of the total NWDA budget of £270m. After 2003, as SRB drew to a close, the NWDA used Single Pot funding to continue significant investment in capital physical development projects via Urban Regeneration Companies (URCs) in Manchester, Liverpool, West Cumbria, Blackpool and Central Salford, and major development schemes such as Kingsway and Liverpool Science Park.

Over time, the focus of activity broadened to cover support for priority business sectors, strategic skills development, and the visitor economy. Exploiting the legacy of the successful 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester influenced how the NWDA planned and prioritised its investments, and is recognised as the point at which NWDA sought seriously to engage with the business audience to promote the benefits of the North West. Taking on the Manufacturing Advisory Service reinforced this business focus. The North West Science Council established in 2001 was the first attempt nationally to link knowledge creation by universities to knowledge transfer to, by and from business.

The impact of the 2001 Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak on rural businesses and communities in Cumbria and other parts of the region led to the NWDA launching the innovative Rural Renaissance programme in 2002 to develop the rural economy.

Regional Economic Strategy We led the development of successive Regional Economic Strategies (RES), to provide an agreed framework for priorities and action. With each iteration, we sharpened our focus, became more evidence-based and gained greater traction. The 2006 RES was recognised as a significant step forward, both in the inclusive way it was developed and also the prioritisation of regional action, with the identification of transformational actions that would make the biggest impact.

By this stage, the Agency was developing a clear sense of evidence-based priorities for the region, and was seeking to ensure that its own investment addressed these strategic priorities through its corporate plans. Strong programme and project management systems had been developed to ensure that funding proposals had a strategic fit with the RES, had clear outputs, benefits and outcomes, and were successfully delivered. These systems also enabled the Agency to proactively intervene in projects to re-orientate them – business start-up support is one example of a project that started slowly and required ongoing support to get back on track. The Agency sought to organise itself internally, through establishing Board sub-committee and other governance arrangements, to develop expertise and capacity in key areas such as enterprise, climate change, tourism and Europe.

Sustainable Development Over its lifetime, the Agency progressively raised its game on building sustainability considerations into the heart of its activities and decision-making. This went far beyond sustainability appraisal of strategies, plans and programmes. A groundbreaking piece of work in 2003 demonstrated that the environmental economy made a substantial contribution to regional Gross Value Added (GVA) and jobs, as well as contributing to regional image and quality of life to support wider investment. This led to the creation of Natural Economy North West and the Newlands land regeneration and Regional Parks programmes to develop environment-led investment. The Agency also sought to exercise leadership in responding to the emerging climate change and resource use agenda through developing the first regional climate change and sustainable consumption and production action plans.

Equality and Diversity From its inception, the Agency has been committed to furthering equality and diversity, both as an employer and as an investor, recognising the strong economic case of ensuring everyone has access to opportunity. This led to us developing ever closer relations with the voluntary, community and faith sectors. In 2008, we brought this together as a Single Equality Scheme, to go beyond our legal obligations and make sure that equality was promoted and discrimination challenged in everything the Agency did.

Internally, we improved our systems and processes and concentrated on developing our workforce, ensuring we employed people from the widest pool of talent. Externally, we supported our partners through training and the promotion of best practice. We also recognised that we had to understand more about where we work, so the Single Equality Scheme committed us to learning more about our region and its demographics to help us deliver services that more accurately reflect the diversity of the North West. One

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aspect of this was the Women in Work Taskforce report, which improved the understanding of the gender balance in employment in the region and provided a number of practical solutions for tackling the barriers to women achieving leadership positions across all sectors in the North West.

Supporting Rural Areas Our approach to rural issues also evolved substantially. The 2001 Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak highlighted the vulnerability of the rural economy, as well as reinforcing the point that, while farming and tourism are important mainstays, the rural economy is much broader and that there are significant but subtle economic interdependencies between rural and urban areas. We moved over time from delivering major rural programmes such as Rural Renaissance, to a more sophisticated approach of ensuring that rural needs and opportunities were embedded within mainstream Agency programmes covering business support, skills, regeneration, climate change and the like.

Project Access to deliver broadband to Cumbria and other rural areas is a prime example. The Agencyʼs influencing role in bringing forward innovative approaches to upland communities and the contribution that the food and drink sector makes to rural economies also increased during this time.

Developing Strong Relationships Throughout its life, NWDA worked closely with other regional bodies covering the public, private and third sectors, particularly Government Office for the North West (GONW), and the Regional Assembly, which became 4NW – the Regional Leaders Board. By 2008, the NWDA was working jointly with 4NW to lead the development of a new Integrated Regional Strategy, RS2010. The impetus for this was the 2007 Sub-National Review of Economic Development, and the North West was the first region in the UK to work to combine economic and social, spatial (planning, housing, and transport) and environmental imperatives in this way. Although the statutory requirement for Regional Strategies was subsequently withdrawn by the Coalition Government, the evidence base and earlier work was used to underpin Future North West: Our Strategic Priorities, launched in 2010.

Equally, we saw the benefit in collaborating on issues across the three northern regions, primarily through The Northern Way established in 2004. This was an important and effective forum for developing cross-regional approaches on key strategic issues like transport, innovation and energy. The Northern Way provided a credible voice on pan-northern issues, an important influence on national government and an effective coordinator of thinking, views and evidence across the North.

From the start, NWDA sought to work closely with local partners, first through our Area Offices and then by establishing Sub-Regional Partnerships (SRPs). From 2005 onwards, the Agency actively encouraged the development of sub-regional strategies and plans that would resonate with the RES and influence a wide range of funding streams (including the Agencyʼs) and decision-making processes at regional and national level. By 2010, NWDA was developing Joint Investment Planning – a jointly managed evidence-based approach to determine how local priorities could match regional objectives and agree the priority

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interventions to deliver against them – with sub-regional partnerships and others, often based on a Multi-Area Agreement (MAA) footprint. Similarly, the Agency has over more than a decade significantly resourced the development of capacity by a wide range of partners, including within the faith, community and voluntary sectors, enabling the delivery of projects through these capacity-funded partners, and maximising the amount of European funding that the region can access through matched funds.

Understanding the Evidence We progressively developed broader and more sophisticated ways of measuring the impact of our activities and regional progress. When established, RDAs were charged with improving the economic competitiveness of their areas. In 2002, the then government set itself a new and challenging Public Service Agreement (PSA) target to grow all regions but also to reduce the gap between them: “Make sustainable improvements in the economic performance of all English regions and over the long term reduce the persistent gap in growth rates between the regions.”

Understanding the components of the GVA ʻgapʼ was important to design the right policy interventions and investment to tackle the issue. The NWDA carefully explored this, largely through the independent Regional Economic Forecasting Panel (REFP), and identified three equally important influences:

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labour markets performing differently; through levels of unemployment, the number of people engaged in economic activity, and the number of hours worked;

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different acceptable earnings in different parts of the country, i.e. the wage for the same job will be less in parts of the North West than in London; and

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differences in the proportion of jobs in various levels of occupations: for example, lower versus higher level service jobs; and the weight of high and low productivity sectors in the regional economy.

Given the complex and longstanding nature of the causes of the GVA growth rate gap, policies designed to tackle it needed to be multi-dimensional. Thus Regional Economic Strategies prioritised several factors which together would act, over time, to improve the GVA growth rate of the region.

The 2006 RES, in particular, marshalled activity designed to achieve three major drivers.

• Improve productivity and grow the market.

• Grow the size and capability of the workforce.

• Create the conditions for sustainable growth and private sector investment.

Section 6 looks at the latest data on the targets adopted for these measures.

Measuring Sustainable Development As noted earlier, as sustainability considerations rose up the political agenda, the NWDA increased its efforts to encourage sustainable development, with the aim of achieving high levels of social and economic well-being within environmental limits.

Since 2007, the NWDA has worked with other RDAs and the New Economics Foundation to develop a broader suite of measures beyond productivity and employment to cover environmental impacts, household income, social wellbeing and quality of life. The Regional Index of Sustainable Economic Well-being (R-ISEW) was developed as a basket of indicators providing a measure of how much a regionʼs economic activity contributes to, and detracts from, wellbeing, and how sustainable this activity is. By monetising social and environmental issues, it brought them into a single analytical framework with economic ones, allowing us to explore trade-offs, and to assess whether economic wellbeing was really increasing sustainably in a given region.

The most recent results (2010) show the North West as ranking third in the list of nine regions, performing above average on several important components driving competitive advantage: strong international trading position; high level of public expenditure; high level of volunteering; lower income inequality; low air pollution; reduced long-term environmental damage; and lower levels of commuting.

While it is challenging to summarise concisely a 12-year history, we hope the above paragraphs give a flavour of how the NWDA developed over its lifetime. RDAs had an explicit remit to increase the competitiveness of their regions. An observer of the economic landscape of the North West in 2011 would, we believe, acknowledge that this has happened, and that our investment activity has been catalytic and positive in its effect. As is said in the Foreword, the North West is now viewed regionally, nationally and globally as a better place to live, to work, to invest in, to study, and to visit.

Timeline of key developments Year

NWDA Legacy Timeline

1999

Northwest Regional Development Agency opens for business on 1 April RDA Act 1998

2000

• First North West Regional Economic Strategy launched in January • Funding for 20 schemes under Single Regeneration Budget • Envirolink Northwest incorporated in January 2000

2001

• NW Regional Science Council established • NWDA joins Burnley / Oldham Task Force • Regional Centre for Manufacturing Excellence established • £30m programme to address Foot and Mouth Disease business impacts • Regional land reclamation programme launched The Agencyʼs budget for 2001/2 had increased to £292m.

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Year

NWDA Legacy Timeline

2002

• £100m regional Rural Renaissance plan launched • NWDA funding secures Jodrell Bankʼs future • Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) transfers to NWDA • £15m Science Fund launched • Transfer to NWDA of Grant for Business Investment finance product (then known as Regional Selective Assistance) • Manchester hosted the successful 2002 Commonwealth Games In 2002 the NWDA undertook Englandʼs largest Compulsory Purchase Order – to regenerate numerous derelict cotton mills and other derelict buildings in Ancoats, Manchester, into a thriving business and residential area fit for the 21st century, whilst preserving its rich cultural heritage.

2003

• Barrow Task Force established • £34M funding for National Bio-manufacturing Centre (NBC) in Speke, Liverpool • Strategic responsibility for tourism transfers to the RDAʼs: establishment of sub-regional tourist boards and publication of Regional Tourism Strategy.

• Coastal Resort Plan launched • Newlands 1 programme agreed • NWDA invests £8.8m in first phase of Mersey Waterfront Regional Park • Second Regional Strategy RES 2003 launched • Northwest Energy Council established – the first of its kind in the UK • Regional European Priorities agreed • ENWORKS appointed to deliver the NW Waste Management project At this time NWDA employed 304 people across all activities and geographical locations during 02/03.

Agency's total resources had grown to £307m for 2002-03.

2004

• Project Access developed to increase broadband access in Cumbria and North Lancashire • InfoLab 21 launched at Lancaster University • NWDA becomes lead RDA for skills development • Major Events Strategy launched • NWDA launches NW Automotive Alliance (UKʼs first regional auto cluster organisation) • University of Manchester, the UKʼs largest single site university, created by the merger of UMIST and Manchester Victoria University, assisted by the NWDAʼs major investment in Project Unity.

April 2004 was NWDAʼs 5th anniversary: by then NWDA had helped to create or safeguard 132,000 jobs; created 8,006 new businesses; reclaimed nearly 3,000 hectares of Brownfield land; and levered in £1.8bn of private investment.

2005

• NWDA supports Carlisle businesses affected by floods • NWDA-funded Liverpool Waterfront arena and wider work starts • Liverpool European Capital of Culture 2008 announced • £50m investment in Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus • Blackpool Masterplan developed • Transfer to NWDA of Grant for Research and Development responsibilities Agency launches initiatives to improve the long-term sustainability of farming and develop more of the region's market towns as enterprise hubs.

2006

• RES 2006 launched • Northwest Climate Change Action Plan launched • Northwest Composites Centre launched in Manchester marking a new era in lightweight aircraft design • NW Statement of Skills Priorities 2007-10 issued • Natural Economy NW programme launched with £3m investment • NWDA-funded Joule Centre for Energy R&D opens In June 2006 NWDA received the highest score possible following an Independent Performance Assessment carried out by the National Audit Office.

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Year

NWDA Legacy Timeline

2007

• Business Link Northwest launched • Rural Development Programme for England transfers to RDA management: NWDA to run NW programme of £75m over five years.

• £23.5m portfolio of investment to implement Climate Change Action Plan initiated • Liverpoolʼs Cruise Liner terminal opened and QE2 visited • University of Cumbria opened • Construction of Liverpool Science Park commenced • Forestry Commission and NWDA invest £36m in Newlands 2 Programme • NWDA invests £11m in second phase of Mersey Waterfront Regional Park • Works begins on Burnley Campus • European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) transfers to RDA management • Britainʼs Energy Coast: A Masterplan for West Cumbria is issued Liverpool hosted the 2007 Turner prize, the first time the prize was presented outside London. Government launches its Sub-National Review of Economic Development, starting the process of developing the North Westʼs Integrated Regional Strategy.

2008

• • • • • • • • •

Joint Regional Economic Commission drives regional response to recession and reports weekly to central government Access to £10m of working capital immediately made available, with a further £9.7m of NWDA and ERDF funds available via the Small Loans to Business Scheme.

New High Growth Business support programme initiated.

2008 Liverpool European Capital of Culture achieves significant popular and cultural success NWDA establishes NW Tidal Energy Group NWDA publishes the ʻEconomic Value of Green Infrastructureʼ report NWDA invests in Mersey Multimodal Gateway Innovation Vouchers scheme introduced NW Equality and Diversity conference takes place Project ACCESS evaluated as a success, supplying broadband internet connections across Cumbria, an area of market failure.

2009

• £100m Northwest Urban Investment Fund (JESSICA) announced • £35m Business Start-Up programme announced • NWDA becomes lead RDA for Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) • Blackburn and Burnley HE Campuses open • NWDA supports Cumbrian businesses affected by floods • North West Manufacturing Strategy and Action Plan launched • NWDA invests £9.5m in Manchester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) • NWDA invests in £30m package to address climate change • NWDA Board approves designation of 36 strategic regional sites • NWDA publishes Single Equality Scheme Evaluation shows major events supported by the NWDA, including 2008 Liverpool European Capital of Culture, and Manchesterʼs Paralympic Games, have contributed £150m to the North West economy during the last five years.

2010

• • • • • • • • • •

£185m North West Fund (JEREMIE) launched. This evergreen growth investment fund is the largest in the UK and one of the largest of any region in Europe Major investment in Blackpool Tower and Winter Gardens Future North West: Our Shared Priorities, the UKʼs first integrated regional strategic framework launched and transferred to Regional Leaders Board UKʼs first Sustainable Consumption and Production Action Plan published NWDA Legal Team wins the In-House Public Sector Team of the Year Award from The Lawyer publication NW Low Carbon and Environmental Goods and Services Strategy launched Atlantic Gateway Strategy launched Social enterprises benefit from £0.5m NWDA grant, part of larger Small Loans for Business funding Almost 250 small business owners graduated from LEAD programme Sport Sector Strategy and Action Plan 2010-2020 published Six months after the Cumbria floods, over 200 businesses had been offered over £1m funding. Coalition Government announces far-reaching changes in economic development policy, which will lead to the closure of NWDA in March 2012.

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Strategic Leadership & Partnership For almost 12 years, the NWDA sought to provide strategic leadership to ensure that the right action is taken and the best investments made to develop a sustainable and prosperous regional economy. This has involved working with a wide range of private, public and voluntary sector organisations, very often investing to develop capacity and expertise in people and organisations, to agree and address the key opportunities and challenges facing the North West.

Through leading three successive Regional Economic Strategies, and more recently Future North West: Our Shared Priorities, we developed evidence-based strategic priorities and transformational actions to address them.

This secured consensus about the key issues facing the North West, allied to a cohesive framework to design, deliver and monitor action. An external assessment of the impact of RES 2006 showed that this approach catalysed activities that would not otherwise have happened or been progressed as quickly.

The Agency provided strategic leadership across a whole range of issues, priorities and places. It is impossible to provide a complete list and may be invidious to mention just a few, but NWDA has worked across a significant range of activity: from developing our science and innovation offer to tackling barriers to disadvantaged groups entering the workforce; from developing our leading manufacturing sectors to assisting NW businesses to deal with economic shocks; from promoting Cumbriaʼs energy coast to regenerating Liverpoolʼs waterfront; from attracting international investment into the region to securing major international events; from leading the UKʼs first regional climate change action plan to transforming East Manchester.

Effective leadership means not just establishing clear,

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ambitious yet realistic goals. Equally important is securing commitment to effectiveMediaCityUK action to deliver the outputs and will: outcomes sought. Focusing on the things that can potentially make the biggest impact is critical. The Agency worked hard to develop and invest in transformational projects such as MediaCityUK capable of making a major impact on the regional economy. This included influencing people national-level organisations, as well as key private sector companies, to make major investments in the North West.

Effective strategic leadership must be supported by a strong and pragmatic approach to partnership working. During its lifetime, NWDA has been committed to working in partnership across the whole range of our activities, whether levering in private sector investment, working with subadditional net to the in regions or building truein engagement withvalue communities Northwest areas of regeneration priority.

The economy vast majority of NWDA investments have been delivered by other organisations and therefore supporting and building capacity in partners has been crucial. In addition, the internal multi-disciplinary creative nature of the NWDA enabled programmes and projects to andwith related draw on a deep mix of skills, attempting to dispense businesses any “silo mentality” approach to economic development.

This broad church approach to economic development provided a good way of delivering real value.

The NWDA invested significantly in capacity building, funding a wide range of strategic partnerships including sub-

regional partnerships, business groups and third sector interest groupings. The rationale for this investment was to improve our investment decision-making and prioritisation, by expanding the involvement of knowledgeable, representative people and bodies. To take one example, the NWDA has delivered the Regional Tourism Strategy through capacity-funded Tourist Boards. As a result, the region has developed national recognition for its investment in tourism development programmes, for its marketing of destinations, for improving the quality of life offer and attracting a prestigious array of major events, including the Turner Prize, Liverpool European Capital of Culture 2008 and the Paralympic World Cup in Manchester.

Similarly, the NWDA sought to maximise the economic potential of important sectors and clusters. For example, the North West is not only the countryʼs largest food and drink-producing region, it is also home to the UKʼs highest concentration of food and drink manufacturing businesses.

NWDAʼs work with the North West food processing industry, through Food NW, has delivered practical help to bring together businesses and make the most out of high-growth markets, support investment in training and quality standards to increase productivity and provide help to enter new markets, both national and overseas.

What have we learned?

We are proud of our achievements but, as indicated earlier, this document is intended to be a vehicle for passing on our experience, knowledge and lessons learned. We have sought to do this by using a number of short case studies to highlight key learning points and good practice. Some of these are based on highly successful investments.

However, sometimes it is by not quite getting things right, or taking the long way round to achieve an end, that the most important lessons are learned.

The most important strategic leadership and partnership lessons learned, which the Agency would wish to pass on, are:

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Strong leadership must be underpinned by a compelling and easily understood vision and strategy, as well as partner commitment to act and invest to achieve a shared interest in success.

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A well managed and open engagement process is vital to securing buy-in to strategic objectives and developing effective partnership working based on trust. This requires maturity from all partners, recognising that often there is overwhelming benefit in committing to work alongside wider interests to pursue collective goals rather than those of particular interest groups.

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Strategic leadership needs to be dynamic, responding to changes in the regional, national and global environment.

Bravery is needed in identifying and seizing opportunities, aiming high and taking calculated risks.

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Bold and mature decision-making is required, underpinned by sound evidence, to focus on those activities with the greatest potential impact and return on investment and backing realisable ambition and scale.

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Many economic, social and environmental issues do not respect political and administrative boundaries and effective arrangements to co-ordinate and collaborate across boundaries are essential.

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Policy needs to further strengthen connections between urban and rural areas given the interdependencies between them, in labour and housing markets, in supply of water and other commodities, in labour, housing and leisure markets; in the supply of water, energy and other commodities, and on questions of food security, carbon capture and sustainability.

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It is essential to understand the art of the possible, and manage expectations of partners by communicating clearly what can and cannot be done within the existing regulatory and financial framework. Early and informed communication keeps trust in place and manages expectations.

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Ownership and formal accountability for delivery of strategic priorities must be clearly identified, to ensure genuine traction leading to successful outcomes. It is essential that strategic leaders “walk the walk as well as talk the talk” in following through on the commitments they have made, and not be side-tracked into other areas.

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Long-term investment in developing the capacity and capability of partnerships is essential to build the expertise, knowledge and experience to underpin effective delivery. A multi-agency approach, including creating dedicated teams, can bring together diverse skill sets, knowledge and networks to improve collaborative working, as well as allowing economies of scale and opportunities for specialisation.

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A broad partnership of stakeholders is often vital at the start of a new and emerging programme: however, over time, it is important to break the issues down and revise governance arrangements accordingly.

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Go with the best ideas, even if they were not “invented here”.

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Care should be taken at the outset to ensure that appropriate metrics are in place, or developed quickly, to enable outcomes to be evaluated and compared fully.

jobs

CASE STUDY: Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus Following the loss of the major £600m ʻnext generation light sourceʼ project from Daresbury in 1999, the North West faced a serious threat to future investment in its science and innovation capability as well as the closure of the Daresbury site. Through a comprehensive and proactive response, led by the Agency working closely with local and national partners, a number of initiatives have been undertaken to re-position Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus as a world-leading science and innovation hub.

supported

Key learning points:

• Ambition and scale, as well as focusing on what the

• A strong shared long-term vision and strategy is critical to

region is really good at, is critical in pursuing opportunities on a global stage – the corollary is to be honest in recognising where the region cannot realistically hope to compete.

provide a framework within which investment and joint working can take place. Effective partnership working needs to be based on a shared interest in success, with senior level representatives able to commit their organisations to effective action to support shared goals, as well as strong personal relationships.

•

The major initial investment in land purchase levered in further private and public sector investment to allow the creation of a large-scale business science park. In a 2008 evaluation by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the initial investment by the Agency of £675,000 was found to have generated by then 5.1 times more net revenue (i.e. £3.47m), and 33 full-time jobs (i.e. a cost per job of around £20,000).

The evaluation made the key point that a long-term timescale is needed to realise the potential of Daresbury and that job growth on the site is expected to reach 10,000 over 10 years.

Looking to the future: The Daresbury Campus is a 600-acre development site for international calibre science facilities. It has a 20 year business vision to create approaching 15,000 jobs, with facilities for both major corporate research and 300-400 SMEs. A joint venture company has been formed with commercial partner, Langtree, to manage the site. NWDAʼs assets on the Campus will be transferred to Science and Technology Facilities Council, which will, with Halton Borough Council, hold the public sector interest.

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Managing the project provided complex challenges for the NWDA. In the early days, the Agency was competent in the delivery of physical assets, but needed to recruit the right people to contribute to the business development aspects necessary for success. Over time, the Agency needed to strengthen its internal governance and clarify lines of responsibility, because this was a complex project requiring differently skilled individuals, part of different internal teams, to work together.

cost savings 12

CASE STUDY: Mersey Waterfront Commencing in 2003, this was the first coherent effort to capitalise on the coastal and waterfront assets of the whole of Merseyside. It sought to harness waterfront assets in a more coordinated and strategic way, to drive economic growth across the Liverpool city region. NWDA investment of £20m led to the creation of a partnership-led environmental and economic development programme totalling £91m. The Mersey Waterfront programme has had a catalytic effect in securing further large-scale regeneration particularly within Liverpoolʼs World Heritage Site, including the restored Canal Link through to the Albert Dock, and the Museum of Liverpool due to open in 2011.

Key learning points:

•

Aim high – the programme set out to create an outstanding regional park that will become a local, national and internationally renowned location.

•

Create a strategic vision with a clear selling point. The ʻWindows on the Waterfrontʼ strategy clearly outlined the areas of focus for investment and action, directing partners to the key spatial priorities and the roles they needed to play.

•

Manage the partnership of local stakeholders through a uniting shared vision – Mersey Waterfront sought to become the ʻleading edgeʼ of the City Region. A series of high value projects emerged, which would not have happened without the collective banner and support of the Regional Park.

•

Having a broad partnership ensured universal support for the waterfront from six local authorities, whilst the views of local people were at the heart of the programme through ʻPeopleʼs Panelsʼ engaged to critique and challenge project ideas.

•

Learning from international case studies accelerated the programme delivery. Making key linkages with the Emscher Park in Germany and using its 20 years of experience shortened the time to develop the approach and catalyse ideas into action.

Looking to the future: Through strategic leadership, funding support and building relationships, a major impact is being made on the Mersey Waterfrontʼs economic, ecological, cultural and aesthetic value. This work will create a long-term legacy, transforming and reconnecting those areas that have been overlooked.

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CASE STUDY: The North West Aerospace Sector The region has the largest aerospace sector in the UK, with two world-class advanced manufacturing companies – BAE Systems and Rolls Royce, plus Airbus just over the border in North Wales, as well as associated supply chains.

Through the NW Aerospace Alliance, the NWDA has sought to develop the capability of aerospace supply companies based in the region to compete for large-scale global contracts through an aerospace supply chain development programme. This has enabled 38 companies to develop manufacturing capability to world-class levels, as well as collaborating effectively to bid for work for supply contracts for global companies.

Key learning points:

•

Developing capacity and capability to allow sectors to compete internationally requires a long term programme based on global standards, with a consistent vision and strategy underpinned by robust evidence and private sector buy-in.

•

Using the expertise of manufacturers to train and mentor their supply companies provided an excellent means of building capacity in the latter from which all benefit.

•

Improving capacity and capability is an essential step to improving collaborative activity and risk sharing.

Looking to the future: The first phase of the programme has been up and running since 2007, with the second phase (ASCE2) moving into implementation. ASCE2 (which has funding secured until December 2013) aims to secure a competitive base of worldclass companies in the North West aerospace sector, by driving forward five priorities – skills provision, innovation, shared services, commodity groups and extended enterprise. It is expected to help the North West aerospace supply chain compete in a global industry, which will help in winning valuable contracts with the main manufacturers and open up new markets such as autonomous systems.

jobs

CASE STUDY: Britainʼs Energy Coast West Cumbriaʼs historic economic performance has been driven by the dominance of the nuclear industry and the restructuring of older manufacturing industries such as steel and shipbuilding. Between 2000 and 2005, manufacturing declined by 28% and public administration by 13%, with the growth focus on business services and tourism-related activities. The Agency, working closely with GONW, supported local partners to work alongside national government to develop opportunities around the delivery of critical elements of emerging national strategies to address both climate change and energy security. Following a Memorandum of Agreement between the Government and Cumbrian partners in 2005, a Masterplan was produced setting out how West Cumbria could be transformed by developing its nuclear and renewable energy offer, providing net growth to the UK economy.

Key learning points:

•

The importance of a strong and ambitious long term vision and buy-in from local, regional and national partners, particularly coordinated support from national government on key interventions required by various government departments.

•

Investing in local capacity and capability to undertake the detailed assessment and planning to underpin the development of the Masterplan was of critical importance in ensuring the quality of the final product.

•

The commitment of nuclear industry partners to align their funding to link in with other funding sources, and work collaboratively to meet an agreed set of objectives, was critical.

•

A stronger focus on the spatial priorities emerging from the strategic Masterplan would have been useful.

•

Developing the specific and highly recognisable “Britainʼs Energy Coast” trade name provided an important focal point in committing the concept to the wider public and private sector.

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Looking to the future: The Masterplan is a key reference document in guiding future prioritisation of investment and activity. Further work is needed to identify the actions/projects required to deliver the agreed outcomes.

CASE STUDY: The Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP)

Climate change is one of the most significant issues impacting on the prosperity of our businesses and communities.

The region will need to decouple growth in the economy from growth in carbon emissions to achieve our share of the national target of 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050, adapt to unavoidable climate change from historical emissions, and seize the £30bn opportunity for jobs and growth from the new low carbon economy. The North West became the first region to develop a holistic CCAP in 2006, led by the NWDA with partners from the private and public sectors. Supported by the multi-agency Climate Change Unit, the CCAP has transformed activity across the region, from a ʻnice to doʼ to a ʻmust doʼ. Since 2006 the CCAP has engaged over 250,000 householders, businesses and organisations; leveraged over £100m in low carbon investment, and was evaluated to have created almost 500 jobs and over £40m of additional GVA.

Key learning points:

•

Clear and decisive leadership in responding to emerging national priorities is critical.

•

A broad partnership of stakeholders is vital at the start of a new and emerging programme: however, over time, it is important to break the issues down and revise governance arrangements accordingly.

•

For emerging new areas of work, there are significant advantages in working collaboratively, including economies of scale in research and evidence, the ability to share best practice and the opportunity for partners to focus on differing priorities whilst remaining aware of the entirety of the programme.

•

Communication and engagement is critical to delivering the scale of cultural change needed: work at the regional level needs to complement national activity and be consistent with that of local organisations.

•

The creation of a dedicated multi-agency team to deliver the plan assisted significantly, through bringing together different skills, networks, and building a consultative and open approach by all stakeholders.

•

Managing large, interconnected change programmes, such as the CCAP, is complex and challenges existing performance management systems. Care should be taken at the outset to ensure that appropriate metrics are in place, or developed quickly, to enable all outcomes to be evaluated and compared fully.

Looking to the future: The profile of climate change in the region has been significantly raised through the CCAP and the Agencyʼs involvement, and the opportunities in moving to a low carbon economy have been recognised at local level. During the remainder of its life, the Agency will seek to ensure that the legacy from the four years of the CCAP is maintained and opportunities for cross border collaboration are explored.

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CASE STUDY: Project Unity Project Unityʼs driving objective was the creation of a world class, leading research intensive university recognised nationally and internationally amongst the top tier of university institutions. The University of Manchester is now the UKʼs largest university, rated third in “research power” behind Oxford and Cambridge and has moved rapidly up the international scale. Working with HEFCE in 2004, the Agency made a major £34m investment to support the merger of three Manchester universities. In addition, the Agency made a total investment of £100m over the last six years − the largest investment by any RDA into any university in the UK. The Agency was able to influence and ensure that the North West secured a powerhouse for world class academic research, maximising regional economic impact with improved linkages with the regionʼs businesses and growth sectors.

Key learning points:

•

The initial Agency investment, allied to an ambitious vision and statement of intent, catalysed action to develop the project. Seeing the big picture, as well as the scale of what can be achieved, secured investment to develop a worldclass university.

•

Significant economic benefits can be realised through the promotion of a world-class university – in relation to enhancing GVA levels, competitiveness, overall image and perception within the national and global economies. From evaluation evidence, it is clear that Project Unity gave a significant boost to inward investment in the North-West, as well as promoting further economic benefits such as increased visitors and the development of an innovative new brand for the region as a research and science-based economy.

•

Recognise impact – the scale of Project Unity had an impact reaching far wider than simply within the physical boundary of the new University. Local people have benefitted through the creation of employment opportunities and from the enhancements to the local built environment that Project Unity has delivered through its Estates Strategy Programme, creating a material uplift in the quality of the physical environment with potential knock-on effects on residential property values and having a catalytic effect on the regeneration of the Oxford Road corridor.

•

Once in a lifetime opportunities must be seized and managed risks taken to make the biggest potential impact on the regional economy. Recognising this and having the confidence to back these projects in a substantial way is critical.

Looking to the future: Manchester has now moved into the top 40 of the Worldʼs Universities. It aims to be in the top 25 by 2015.

CASE STUDY: Working in Partnership with Business Many business representative organisations, including the NW Business Leadership Team, Chambers of Commerce, Confederation of British Industry, Institute of Directors, Private Sector Partners, the Federation of Small Businesses and the Engineering Employers Federation, have worked closely with NWDA over its lifetime. Strong relationships were vital to the NWDA obtaining informed business advice and views on issues and priorities across the wide range of Agency activities, as well as informing the development and delivery of Regional Economic Strategies.

Key learning points:

•

The importance of targeted investment in key industrial clusters and sectors, including support for the nuclear industry in the region and capacity funding for industryfocused and cluster organisations, such as NW Aerospace Alliance, Bionow and Chemicals NW.

•

Just how much of a premium businesses place on rapid and effective reaction to economic crises and shocks, particularly in providing immediate access to finance: examples include combating the effects of the post-2008 recession; the successive floods in Cumbria; and Foot and Mouth disease affecting rural economies and communities in 2001.

•

The value of investing in skills programmes designed to increase the availability of the right workforce for business growth.

•

Maximising the business opportunities from major events, for example NWDAʼs marketing and organisational work around the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002 developed the regionʼs confidence and profile, laying the groundwork for subsequent developments and investment including MediaCityUK. Similar activity by NWDA supported

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Liverpool European Capital of Culture in 2008 and assisted exploitation of the economic benefit of that award.

Looking to the future: As the new economic development landscape emerges, it will be important to ensure that the learning from strong and effective relationships with private sector representative bodies is passed on.

CASE STUDY: Regional Skills Investment Evidence illustrated clearly the significance of skills shortages for its key industries. The 2006 Regional Economic Strategy recognised that inadequate skills were a major constraint on economic growth, particularly a relatively poorly qualified existing workforce, and the numbers of young people leaving school with little or no qualifications. NWDA prioritised a set of investments designed to improve the availability of skills to companies located and locating here; to generated enable North West people to access employment in high productivity sectors; and to help businesses understand the value of investing in their workforce, releasing the potential for growth. Leading the North West Regional Skills & Employment Board to bring key stakeholders together helped make best use of public investment and avoid duplication.

Key learning points:

•

The importance of taking a strategic focus on how the skills profile of the workforce determines the ability of the economy to grow and firms to succeed, and embedding skills within plans for economic growth and development.

•

Major capital investments to fill gaps around the region in the provision of higher education, and a need for investment in the post-16 learning and skills infrastructure is important but also needs to be reinforced with programmes to change the culture of learning.

•

Supporting colleges and other skills providers to become more responsive to employers, developing programmes (including the award-winning Higher Level Skills Partnership) and capacity building higher education colleges to respond to employer demands.

•

Recognising the regional lag in leadership skills and capacity led to investment in a Leadership and Management Programme which targeted over 9,000 individuals in the region. Developing the leadership and management skills of individuals significantly impacts on the confidence, performance and growth of businesses.

•

Integrating skills delivery and employment opportunities into the planning for physical developments: for example, One Central Park in Manchester was located where it could deliver most opportunity for local employment.

Looking to the future: The work led by the Agency on skills will provide an important foundation for future Local Enterprise Partnership activity in this area, including plans to continue the Leadership and Management Programme. As the Coalition Government looks to the future, with businesses and individuals contributing more to the provision of skills, we can be assured that the work we have undertaken with partners across the Region will leave a legacy of learning and good practice, for successor bodies to build upon.

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CASE STUDY: Rural Renaissance Following the 2001 Foot and Mouth outbreak, which had major impacts in Cumbria and parts of Cheshire and Lancashire, the Agency led the development of a £100m programme to support the recovery and growth of the rural economies of the North West. Rural Renaissance was developed by a region-wide partnership and marshalled a range of key investments into key food sectors, improving the rural tourism offer, market towns, rural skills and modernising farming. This investment resulted in 9,000 jobs safeguarded or created; 1,800 businesses created; 240,000 m2 of new business floor space created; and 17,000 businesses assisted to develop supply chains and enter new markets.

Key learning points:

•

Effective leadership during and after crises necessitates acting quickly to tackle short-term recovery issues , through business advice and support and easily accessible ʻfasttrackedʼ funding, to provide a sure footing from which longerterm recovery can be planned confidently.

•

Strong leadership secured the buy-in and commitment of a range of stakeholders, catalysing the creation of subregional rural partnerships. Local delegation was vital for effective delivery and an essential part of improving the capacity of rural areas to respond to new investment. The NW Rural Strategy Group provided strategic direction and improved leadership capacity across the rural North West.

•

Rural areas contribute significantly to the economic output of local areas and the region as a whole: investment in economic growth cannot ignore the impact that rural businesses and communities have on the overall character of an area.

•

It is essential to make strong links between specific rural programmes and other major investments that impact on rural communities such as the £20m ʻProject Accessʼ Cumbria Broadband Network and the Newlands land reclamation initiative.

•

In the longer term, “mainstreaming” the rural agenda so that rural needs and opportunities were dealt with by nonrural specific general policies and programmes, for example covering skills, housing, transport, education and health was essential to the development of the regionʼs rural areas.

Looking to the future: The national programme RDPE (Rural Development Programme for England) will continue under the management of Defra, with transfer taking place in July 2011. However, it is not clear what mechanisms will deliver wider stakeholder involvement, which was a key learning point from our involvement in successful rural projects in the last decade. Growth will need to be generated in ways which recognise that communities, the environment and the economy must work in an integrated, mutually-supportive and ultimately, sustainable way if rural areas are to retain their character, their communities, and their environmental quality.

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CASE STUDY: Sub-Regional Economic Partnerships The NWDA recognised early in its life that sub-regional engagement was essential to develop and deliver policies and activity which supported achievement of regional objectives consistent with local need and opportunity. The Agency initially established sub-regional Area Offices to lead on this approach, but then encouraged the establishment of public and private sector Sub-Regional Partnerships (SRPs). SRPs led on the production of prioritised sub-regional strategies and plans to support RES objectives. SRPs were also intended to provide a strong, coordinated and coherent link between local, sub-regional, regional and national levels in the development and delivery of economic development policy and initiatives, working closely with and supporting NWDA. Key learning points:

•

Stakeholder engagement – sub-regions are very different, as was reflected by SRPs in their establishment, make-up and roles. A consistently critical issue was the extent to which local authority partners bought into the role and function of SRPs. This varied from sub-region to sub-region but those SRPs which built on existing sub-regional arrangements generally had the greatest support from local authorities. Those perceived as NWDA constructs, were less well received and had more difficulty in establishing their credibility, particularly amongst local authority partners and also sometimes within the private sector.

•

Intelligence/evidence base – this proved to be a major strength of SRPs. The development of a detailed understanding of sub-regional economies, underpinned by a robust evidence base, provided a strong foundation for identifying sub-regional opportunities and weaknesses and agreeing strategic priorities.

•

Strategic leadership – notwithstanding some initial scepticism from local authorities about their value, SRPs exercised their strategic leadership function ever more effectively over time. SRPs did help to better define strategic priorities and provide an effective link between national Government, NWDA and sub-regional partners on strategic economic development matters.

•

Planning/prioritisation – supported by the development of strategic economic intelligence and robust evidence bases, SRPs were generally able to produce strategic and prioritised sub-regional economic strategies and plans and supported sub-regional dialogue on related strategic priorities and other sectoral issues. There was some conflict and uncertainty about the divide between SRPsʼ strategic and delivery roles with a consensus emerging that SRPs should focus on strategic issues rather than delivery. Some partners also wished to protect direct relationships with the Agency and other organisations. Development of an MOU with clear objectives relevant to all partners (not just funders) may help avoid this.

Looking to the future: The advent of Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and the development in the North West of sub-regionally based proposals both reinforces and builds upon the SRP approach.

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CASE STUDY: ENWORKS

The award-winning ENWORKS service was established in 2001 to streamline the provision of advice to North West businesses on environmental matters. This included improving skills and knowledge on environmental management, seeking to decouple environmental degradation from economic growth and making environmental practice profitable.

As understanding of the risks posed by climate change, resource scarcity and security of supply continued to grow, the services offered by ENWORKS developed to ensure their continued relevance to business with a clear focus on measurable outcomes. More than 10,000 North West businesses have been supported, and independent evaluations have shown that ENWORKS has helped businesses generate £122m of cost savings each year, reducing carbon emissions by 681,000 tonnes, saving 4.7m tonnes of water and diverting 388,000 tonnes from landfill.

Key learning points:

•

Intensive and continuing one-to-one support to businesses is essential to maximise the identification of resource efficiency opportunities and to implement them effectively.

•

ʻOne to manyʼ support is not effective: awareness raising alone does not lead to behavioural change, particularly in SMEs, due to a complex set of market failures as well as lack of capacity and tipping points for action.

•

The use of local advisers, familiar with local companies and sectors and economic conditions, is critical.

•

By combining support for energy and resource efficiency, it is possible to work with smaller companies and still achieve the desired return on investment, which would not be possible if these issues were separated.

•

A strong focus on businesses with high potential environmental impact is a better approach than looking at particular sectors, which limits the customer base.

•

The agenda is not owned by a single group of stakeholders, so strong working relationships with local authorities and other business support providers are critical to ensure referrals and prevention of duplication/reinvention.

Looking to the future: Support to businesses on environmental risk and resource efficiency continues to be important, as a fundamental building block of the low carbon economy, and will, in future, need to be considered by LEPs alongside other local economic priorities. The Economic Solutions Group took over ownership of ENWORKS in April 2011.

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Moving Forward Strategic leadership on economic development and regeneration will be driven primarily by Local Enterprise Partnerships in future. Future North West: Our Shared Priorities is an evidence-based statement of strategic priorities for the region over the next 20 years. Its development was led by 4NW and NWDA, supported by the five sub-regions and a wide range of private, public and private sector partners. The aim was to promote sustainable and mutually reinforcing economic growth from which all parts of the region can benefit. Without such agreed high-level strategic priorities, competing regional interests and priorities could stifle growth and restrict progress throughout the region.

Given the changes in the sub-national economic development landscape, the NWDA stood down from this process at the end of 2010, handing Future North West to the Regional Leaders Board to take forward.

Future North West identifies key issues which cross local or sub-regional boundaries and where a collaborative approach is needed or where action in one area can benefit others. As such, it can help inform and steer the new LEP-based policy and institutional landscape on the key challenges and opportunities facing the North West over the next 20 years which it makes sense to tackle across local areas. Faced with competition from across the UK for scarce resources, it will be a great advantage to have a set of priorities for investment across the North West that all can agree upon and work collaboratively to address.

10. Develop our sport, culture and quality of place offer, based on our world-famous places, heritage and environmental assets, particularly Manchester, Liverpool, Chester and the Lake District.

11. Enhance our natural environment and resolve emerging pinch points in our critical (utilities) and green infrastructure.

12. Ensure high-quality, energy efficient and affordable housing in the right locations.

In many respects, the need for all areas and interests to collaborate on the “Big Ticket Issues” and underpinning thematic and spatial priorities set out in Future North West is as strong in the new sub-national economic development policy environment as it ever was. Future North West derives its authority not from being a statutory plan but as an evidence-based, stakeholder-backed statement of the most important priorities for the North West on which local areas can collaborate for mutual benefit. As such, the Agency believes it should carry substantial weight in influencing future strategic choices and decisions.

Particular focus will need to be given to the 12 “Big Ticket Issues” identified in Future North West as critical to achieving aspirations to develop a world-class sustainable economy, attractive to private investors and with an excellent quality of life. They are: 1. Develop the enterprise capabilities of our people through education and skills.

2. Develop our world-leading advanced manufacturing, biomedical and digital and creative industries.

3. Develop our world-class research, science and innovation capability, particularly at Daresbury.

4. Develop our low carbon energy offer, especially in nuclear and marine renewables, for example through the Energy Coast initiative.

5. Develop Next Generation Access digital connectivity.

6. Improve rail connectivity across the North West and tackle transport pinch points, especially the Northern Hub and securing High Speed Rail access.

7. Improve international connectivity via Manchester Airport and Liverpool Superport.

8. Reduce levels of ill-health, health inequalities, poverty and worklessness.

9. Increase the number, and quality, of private and third sector jobs and social enterprises.

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Securing Investment The Agency has worked tirelessly to secure private and public investment to grow the regional economy. This included obtaining match funding of Agency money for specific projects, securing European funding, financing essential transport and other infrastructure and securing direct investment by overseas companies. The NWDA’s knowledge of the North West economy, and what drives economic growth, enabled the Agency to identify and pursue opportunities to secure carefully targeted investment where it could make the biggest impact.

Independent evaluation showed that NWDA investment levered in £5.20 for each £1 spent.1

Working alongside local authorities, urban regeneration companies and sub-regional economic partnerships, the Agency was able to encourage investment to regenerate areas and places facing substantial socio-economic challenges: from East Manchester to Barrow and West Cumbria; from Liverpool Waterfront to Pennine Lancashire; and from Blackpool to Salford Quays. Places across the North West have successfully revitalised themselves, using Agency funding alongside other finance to secure targeted investment to create and take advantage of new opportunities. For instance, at the interim evaluation stage, the Ancoats area of Manchester had levered in £320m of private sector investment based upon £70m of NWDA investment.

Over the past 12 years, the NWDA and its partners have experienced how difficult securing major investments can be, and how organisations must be prepared for a sustained medium to long-term effort to yield results. The North West of England is the only region in the EU to have launched both a JESSICA and a JEREMIE fund, utilising ERDF funding of almost £300m. This is a significant legacy for the region, both funds being ʻevergreenʼ or reinvestment 1

PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2008: RDA average leverage £4.10.

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vehicles that will move government assistance away from grants towards a repayable investment that can fund future projects. Both projects took two-three years of intensive work, requiring deep expertise, working within immensely complex regulations, to gain HMRC approval, establish approval from the European Investment Bank, and obtain bridging loans to secure ERDF funding.

Other examples of activities to stimulate and encourage private investment include targeted support in the most disadvantaged areas, which has been provided through the Grant for Business Investment (GBI) scheme. Designed to support sustainable investment and job creation, the Agency delivered some £42m of grant funds securing £348m of private sector led investment between 2004 and 2010, creating or safeguarding more than 11,000 jobs.

Another key challenge for policy makers and economic development practitioners has been to shape a strong economic case for investment into environmental improvements. 'Green' issues might be very attractive, it's often argued, but where are the economic benefits? What difference will they make to jobs, health and the economic

strength of areas struggling with deprivation and social problems? Research funded by NWDA and commissioned via Natural Economy Northwest2 for the first time put a robust economic benefit case for green infrastructure's role in economic prosperity and stability, with a direct gross value added (GVA) calculated at £2.6bn, supporting 109,000 jobs in environmental and related fields.

The NWDA has dedicated significant resources to attracting mobile investments (i.e. investments where the company was choosing between several locations in the world) to the region. As a result of intensive work on both inward investment (with companies not yet in the region to encourage a first investment) and investor development (with companies already in the region to encourage reinvestment) a number of major international companies such as the Bank of New York, Quinn Glass and Maersk chose the North West to locate significant projects, and companies such as Jaguar Landrover, Westinghouse and Waters chose the region for major reinvestments.

Over the Agencyʼs lifetime, over 900 investment projects from companies with HQs overseas have been secured, creating/safeguarding over 85,000 jobs, making the region the number one in the UK for attracting foreign direct investment outside of London and the South East. We have learned that it is the quality of specialised knowledge about sectors, and their specific needs and opportunities, which is critical to underpin successful inward investment activity.

Operating these two activities in silos, or by different organisations, will be less successful compared to where investment discussions are properly informed by deep sector and cluster knowledge.

What have we learned?

The most important learning points that the Agency would wish to pass on, which are amplified in the case studies below, are:

•

The importance of an evidence-led vision and strategy in providing a long term, secure framework to encourage private investment cannot be overstated.

•

Upfront public sector investment in site assembly, infrastructure – physical and sectoral – and local capacity is essential to secure private sector investment further down the line.

•

Focusing on genuinely strategic sites ensures that resources, capacity and investment are directed towards the most attractive, viable and sustainable locations.

•

Paying attention to good branding, such as MediaCityUK, is critical to driving successful initiatives that signal their scale and importance to the marketplace.

•

Good communication and transparency with potential investors, about the requirements necessary to obtain public grants, is necessary to ensure these obligations are factored into business timescales.

•

Investing in the innovation and research capacity of the North West can improve the regionʼs competitive position in attracting high quality national and international investment.

•

Good international relations are important to secure investment for the region, to supplement leads secured from national bodies such as UKTI. But it is also essential to encourage investment by existing businesses – the majority of investment comes from companies that have already made a commitment to the UK.

•

Financial brokering services have an important role in supporting businesses to become investment-ready and select the most appropriate financial products.

•

Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs) can be a very useful tool in securing land for sites but are best used as a last resort. Consideration must be given to making available sufficient resource to manage the CPO process.

•

Great care is needed with “overage” clauses imposed on the public sector. If at all possible, such clauses should be avoided. If an overage clause is unavoidable, the agreement should include a mutually agreed and binding “arbitration” procedure to be applied if there is subsequent disagreement or challenge when the site is sold on.

•

Care is needed in establishing area-based investment frameworks for European programmes. They can be valuable in guiding applicants on the key activities to be invested in, but need to be reviewed and updated to avoid becoming over-restrictive.

•

A long-term and coordinated approach by partners, including dedicated teams to manage activity, reaps major dividends.

•

The attractiveness of the North West as a place for international investment should not be understated, but requires a sustained, proactive effort to raise the regionʼs profile and market it to potential investors.

•

Investing in green infrastructure, including remediating brownfield land, can produce multiple benefits – economic, environmental and social – which improve the attractiveness of places to live and invest in. Green infrastructure and environmental improvement programmes such as Newlands can be crucial to making places work and achieving real regeneration.

2

See www.naturaleconomynorthwest.co.uk/green+infrastructure.php

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CASE STUDY: MediaCityUK In 2004, a major opportunity emerged to assist the BBC with its decision to relocate some of its activities outside London. Salford successfully bid for this, based on a vision for a new century city - MediaCityUK - where the presence of BBC would attract a host of other technology and media companies. The Agency worked closely with the BBC, helping to broker site selection and manage relationships, liaising with Peel Media (the site owner) and other public sector partners, acting as mediator between developer, local authorities and the BBC at key points to ensure the relocation was agreed and actually materialised. Since 2006, MediaCityUK has been a significant investment for NWDA (£45m), ensuring that both the physical environment and the support offered to businesses help position the venture successfully as a global focus of innovation in the digital and creative Industries.

Key learning points:

Looking to the future:

• MediaCityUK used the BBC move as the opportunity to

Phase 1 of MediaCityUK is a 37 acre site, with the BBC and University of Salford as its anchor tenants. It will now encompass the relocation of ITV and the creation of the new Coronation Street set on a site in Trafford next to the Imperial War Museum, connected to MediaCityUK by a new iconic pedestrian bridge funded by NWDA. Phase 1 of MediaCityUK will attract over 1,000 businesses and create 15,500 jobs by 2015. Peel Media has invested more than £700m in development to date, and the site offers potential to expand to 200 acres in future, a substantial legacy for the North West.

develop real global scale and reach for the digital and creative sector, driving growth in employment and GVA.

•

Branding has been critical to signal the scale and ambition of the initiative.

•

Benefits have been achieved by embedding public and private sector partnerships. At the outset, all partners entered a Strategic Framework Agreement which identified aims and objectives and how they might be realised. A programme of activities was agreed and delivered via a structured approach targeting the business sector, people and communities and infrastructure requirements.

•

Sector development expertise focused on markets in which the North West has global potential, including IPTV, digital marketing and computer games. The emphasis has been to improve the resilience and skills base across the whole supply chain for these activities as the basis of a proposition to attract new investment both from international corporates and innovative small to medium-sized businesses.

•

In a sector where rapid adoption of new technology by both producers and users brings about continuing disruption to and reinvention of markets, the public sector cannot hope to be responsive enough to determine all the measures required to support the creation and growth of new businesses. The sector strategy therefore focused on removing the barriers to, and reducing the costs of, accessing and developing talent, technology and working capital, particularly for SMEs, and on engaging partners from industry and academia to offer specific innovation and commercialisation support.

•

The MediaCityUK Strategic Framework Agreement was innovative in that it created a shared commitment to supporting economic inclusion in deprived communities of Salford and beyond, delivering a diverse employee base, and opening up the doors to new talent in the regional digital and creative industries workforce.

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CASE STUDY: Bionow Bionow was funded by the NWDA to promote the North West's major strengths and capabilities in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. Development work led by Bionow has secured substantial increases in GVA, jobs and foreign direct investment for the region. Over the past seven years, the regional biomedical cluster has grown by 66% in terms of numbers of companies, 34% in terms of employment (now around 26,000 in total) and over 19% growth in GVA. Key learning points:

•

Establishing an evidence-led vision and strategy – and sticking with it – is essential to provide a long term sustainable framework to secure private sector investment.

•

Investing in the national standard infrastructure required (buildings, laboratories, access to finance etc.) to support bio-medical research is an important prerequisite for encouraging global businesses to invest in the North West.

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Looking to the future: Bionow is seeking to transform into a company limited by guarantee, allowing the organisation to ensure the continued growth and development of the biomedical community based on excellence, and enabling the North West of England to continue to be among Europe's top 10 biomedical locations.

The recent $200 million investment by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation into the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine to fund vital globally-important research into malaria, offers serious encouragement.

Sector organisations can play a valuable role in raising the profile at home and abroad of the assets and opportunities in the North West and add significant value to the regionʼs sector proposition for potential foreign direct investment.

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Employing commercial development managers in key research establishments to boost capacity, increase commercial awareness and forge stronger links with the private sector can reap dividends.

CASE STUDY: Newlands Launched in the summer of 2003, Newlands was a unique NWDA and Forestry Commission initiative to reclaim and regenerate large areas of brownfield land, working in partnership to make a real difference to local economies, communities and environments.

Newlands helped to make the North West an even more attractive place for investment, developing projects based around key gateways as well as close to major cities and conurbations. Newlands regenerated housing areas and places, bringing back to life abandoned, contaminated sites including tips and disused coal pits. It also highlighted the difficulties which arise from past decisions to locate landfill sites too close to housing developments.

Key learning points:

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Newlands has highlighted the value of investing in the environment to secure socio-economic benefits, providing the foundation for the strong case now being made for investment in green infrastructure to deliver multiple benefits including combating climate change and enabling future growth.

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An evidence-based approach to site selection, the Public Benefit Recording System, enabled sites to respond to local economic and social needs, tackling some of the worst areas of neglected land and transforming them into thriving, durable, community woodlands.

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A long-term, coordinated approach allowed the planning, assembly and delivery of sites to be realised through an agreed seven year secured programme of funding. This allowed a dedicated team to be created to manage the portfolio of activity, so ensuring that lessons learned on one site were transferred to the next.

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Partners combined their key assets to create a joint approach to tackle the problems: NWDA provided leadership and funding security which has been matched by Forestry Commission expertise, experience and its ability to own and manage land assets over the long term.

Looking to the future: Newlandʼs flagship project can be found just off the M6 at Preston, where the Brockholes Woodland and Wetland Reserve has been created to generate economic value, provide jobs and manage a nature reserve of over 100 hectares through the Lancashire Wildlife Trust. It is focussed on the countryʼs first ʻBREEAM Outstandingʼ rated eco-visitor centre, which will provide revenue streams to manage the reserve in the future, leaving a legacy of value and assets in local ownership.

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CASE STUDY: Leveraging Investment into Place-Making Land assembly and regeneration have improved investment prospects in the North West. The burden of risk has been shared and reduced by NWDA involvement, bringing confidence to invest in areas experiencing market failure. The NWDA has successfully remediated contaminated land and consolidated small plots with disparate ownership into commercially viable sites. The success of developments has been shared with both the private and public sector gaining from the uplift in land values. To give two examples:

a. One Central Park is a strategic site to the north east of Manchester city centre, within an urban area of employment and regeneration need. The NWDA worked with New East Manchester URC, Manchester City Council and the Homes and Communities Agency to assemble a single site from the various private ownerships through the Agencyʼs compulsory purchase powers and develop a masterplan. Following decontamination and demolition works, the site was transformed into a high quality business park in partnership with developer ASK:Goodman and has so far attracted Fujitsu, Greater Manchester Police, British Cycling, NHS, together with numerous small businesses within the One Central Park incubator centre. A new transport hub including a Metrolink tram station has been built in Central Park, improving its sustainability and attractiveness to private sector investors. b. Mersey Multi-Modal Gateway (3MG) is a large masterplan for a logistics site near Ditton in Widnes. It has been broken down into a series of projects funded by a range of partners including the NWDA. The initial 3MG Eagle project remediated 48 acres of contaminated land, bringing it back into economically productive use. This early intervention by the NWDA was an important catalyst that brought in other investment and began the transformation of the area. When fully completed, 3MG will comprise around 200,000 square metres of modern rail served warehousing (distribution centres) and an Intermodal rail terminal together with high quality connections to the strategic highway network.

Key learning points:

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The drive for more sustainable development provides an excellent opportunity to secure investment in brownfield land inside the urban core that is supported through local plans by local authorities, including integrating facilities such as transport links into master plans to ensure sustainability.

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Focussing on a limited number of genuinely strategic sites ensures that resources and investment are concentrated on attractive and sustainable locations.

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Close working with urban regeneration companies in areas of severe deprivation proved important, enabling local communities and local knowledge to influence and achieve transformational change.

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The level of detail required to ensure value for money for public grants caused delays to capital projects and led to accusations of inefficient, bureaucratic processes. Early and continuing communication with partners to ensure transparent processes can ease tensions and an increase in project development/approval capacity could reduce the time taken to start on site.

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Arrangements for grant ʻclaw backʼ have not always been robust enough and opportunities have potentially been lost to maximise grant reclaim from developments which have been sold off or had a significant change of use.

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Whilst CPO capability is a powerful tool and allows more control over a project, it is best to only use it as a last resort.

Supporting others to act directly allows for better partnership working and is a less antagonistic approach.

Looking to the future: The unstable property market has tested the resolve of the private sector to continue to invest, particularly in more risky ventures or where additional private investment is needed to pay for infrastructure. The £100m Northwest Urban Investment Fund, an ERDF-funded JESSICA initiative, is a lasting legacy from the NWDA, potentially delivering millions of pounds of investment through a recycled fund that will also move government assistance away from grants towards a repayable investment that can fund future projects.

CASE STUDY: Ancoats Regeneration Programme Ancoats provides an example of a place-based regeneration initiative which has significantly transformed an areaʼs prospects. A part of Manchesterʼs proud heritage, it has seen its derelict historic buildings restored to their former glory, creating hi-tech new office space and modern residential accommodation alongside exciting new vibrant urban spaces.

Key learning points:

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Strategic leadership was needed to bring together a diverse range of stakeholders to help deliver the vision, including the urban regeneration company New East Manchester (which had incorporated Ancoats Urban Village Company), Manchester City Council, the Homes and Communities Agency, Ancoats Buildings Preservation Trust, English Heritage, and a host of developers, local businesses and tenants and residents.

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Regeneration was only possible because the NWDA led on an innovative Compulsory Purchase Order in 2002, which brought together 197 different land ownerships under one single body: the first time a Regional Development Agency had ever utilised such powers, and pioneering the process.

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Public sector investment in upfront infrastructure works and project viability support can generate significant followon private sector investment. The £70m invested by NWDA is well on the way to returning £320m private sector investment.

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Holistic regeneration was assisted by the development of detailed design standards, which were contained within supplementary guidance.

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It has been very helpful to run business and resident forumns to support community engagement in the regeneration effort.

Looking to the future: The long-term vision for Ancoats is to continue to create a sustainable mixed use community in which people can live, work and play. A management company, including key stakeholders both residents and businesses, will be formed to ensure successful delivery and ongoing stewardship of this vision.

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CASE STUDY: Accessing Business Finance Access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is recognised as one of the biggest barriers to their formation, survival and growth. This was reflected in the 2006 Regional Economic Strategy, and led to the development of a dedicated Business Finance team within the Agency in 2007, and subsequently to the launch of the Finance for Business Strategy (FfB) in the following year. The FfB strategy used the NWDAʼs and Business Linkʼs understanding of SME needs to identify areas of market failure, and sought to underpin different aspects of accessing finance, intervening only where the private sector could not or would not help. The Business Finance portfolio of products has enabled business owners to secure finance through the entire spectrum of needs, from the smallest start-up to major growth requirements.

Products in the portfolio designed to overcome the barriers and gaps included:

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The Access to Finance Service, launched in 2008 through Business Link, has engaged 3000 businesses,enabling SMEs to access £72m in private and public funds.

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Small Loans for Business provided £21m in loans of between £3,000 and £50,000 for SMEs with viable business plans that were unable to secure high street lending due to perceived risks during the economic crisis.

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Grant for Business Investment provided support for sustainable investment and job creation in the most disadvantaged areas. It has provided £42m in grant funding, securing £348m of private sector investment between 2004 and 2010, creating and/or safeguarding more than 11,000 jobs.

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Grant for Research and Development supported technological innovation. It provided £48m in investment between 1999 and 2010, investing in projects where the private sector was reluctant to invest due to the risks associated with technical and scientific uncertainty.

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North West Business Angels supported SMEs to understand and access informal equity of up to £500,000.

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The North West Fund (formerly North West Venture Capital Loan Fund) is a £185m fund providing debt, equity and mezzanine finance up to £2 million for businesses in key sectors and established SMEs. Key learning points:

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The development of a financial brokering service (through Business Link) has enabled businesses to understand how to become more investment-ready and make appropriate choices of financial products. The service provided a crucial role in combating the effect of the economic downturn.

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The NWDA implemented a user-friendly Access to Finance website, along with an online support application, which is unique at a regional level and made accessing finance easier for businesses and advisors.

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The Agencyʼs grant processing, evaluation and management team integrated specialist skills to handling

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different grant products in a single team, rather than separate process functions. This enabled balanced assessments of individual applications against scheme criteria and regional priorities.

Looking to the future: A Finance for Business advisory paper developed from the original Finance for Business Strategy will be made available to assist interested organisations, including Local Enterprise Partnerships when considering this area of business support.

CASE STUDY: Operating In a Global Market Place The 2006 RES identified the need to adopt a proactive strategy to ensure the North West maximised the opportunities presented by globalisation. The North West International Business Forum took the lead in developing an Internationalisation Strategy and Action Plan. The Strategy set out clear objectives to develop the regional sectors identified in the RES as being internationally competitive, through investment in sector-focused international trade and foreign direct investment programmes. It also aimed to maximise the regionʼs international potential in terms of science and innovation, research and development and education, and target countries that were strategically important to the North West. These objectives were supported by a coordinated effort to promote the North Westʼs assets internationally and to enhance the regionʼs international connections.

Between 2006 and 2010, the region improved its international performance. In 2009/10 the region had attracted 179 foreign direct investment projects with an associated 13,500 jobs. The North West rose from being the seventh largest exporting English region to become the second most significant exporter of goods. This investment also provided some of the best returns of all NWDA supported projects with the international trade programme providing a net GVA return of £23 for every £1 spent, and the inward investment programme returning £29 for every £1 spent.

Key learning points:

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The approach added value by ensuring intensive assistance for key regional sectors, extending assistance and international trade to a wider range of companies.

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The regionʼs global inward investment network helped UKTI achieve their national targets and also helped the region achieve its international potential. The network provided direct access to overseas companies and significantly increased the number of successful investments in the region.

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The development of the Northwest Investment Board and the associated Sector Investment Groups, which included all sub-regional partners, helped to attract new overseas companies and supporting existing investors.

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The multi-disciplinary structure of NWDA helped inward investment by integrated work on developing the right sites, premises, and facilities. The inward investment offer of the region is now strong because of our clear focus on the end use of each site. which started at the first stages and continued throughout the development process.

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Similarly, the focus on priority sectors highlighted the benefits of internationalisation for the firms in these sectors, and the development of strong offers around R&D, trade and investment which could then be marketed effectively by the overseas sales teams.

Looking to the future: A national programme to attract foreign direct investment, managed by UKTI and delivered by PA Consulting, is being established from April 2011. Strong links by Local Enterprise Partnerships to this programme, and knowledge of the opportunities within industry in the North West, will need to be developed.

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CASE STUDY: European Regional Development Fund 2007 – 2013 The management of the ERDF Programme for North West of England for 2007 – 2013 was formally delegated to the Agency by the Government. The Programme has four main priorities, all of which are focussed on making the business base of the North West more competitive, by increasing the number of businesses and jobs, and therefore increasing GVA in the region. More than £443m has already been committed to projects operating throughout the region, giving an overall total of some £850m worth of project activity, aimed at creating businesses and jobs throughout the region. These projects are contracted to assist over 28,000 businesses, create 7,500 new businesses, and create some 36,000 jobs in the North West. Funded projects have included improvements to Lime Street Gateway, Blackpool Tower and Winter Gardens, Lowther Castle, and Jodrell Bank.

Key learning points:

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The long-term strategic focus of the Programme was robust and flexible enough to cope with the impact of the recession and economic changes within the region, allowing some key additional investments in order to assist businesses to survive and grow.

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Developing the new systems, processes and expertise for successful delivery of the Programme was a significant challenge, and the time to ʻbed inʼ new processes should not be underestimated.

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The integrated nature of the cross cutting themes (Equality and Diversity and Environmental Sustainability), robust Contract Monitoring and Management and Irregularities Management used by the Programme, have had a major impact on delivering value.

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The cost to recipients in terms of time, training, systems etc to successfully complete ERDF processes must be recognised and must be communicated upfront to those recipients, particularly for small and medium-sized firms and the third sector.

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The development of Investment Frameworks for each action area has proved to be both a benefit and a constraint.

While the programme regulations do not require the definitive demarcation between Action Areas (only Priorities), they have proven valuable in guiding potential applicants to relevant key actions and activities . However, they need to be reviewed regularly and updated to ensure that the Programme does not become unduly restrictive.

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As the only region in the EU to have set up both a JESSICA and JEREMIE initiative, there have been significant lessons learned in developing governance models acceptable to both national government, regional stakeholders and the European Commission.

Looking to the future: The ERDF Programme will move to the Department of Communities and Local Government in July 2011. However, £183m remains in the Programme budget to be committed to projects after the transfer.

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CASE STUDY: Innovation Vouchers Made available by the Agency through Business Link, and co-financed by the ERDF programme, Innovation Vouchers were designed to enable small and medium-sized businesses to buy specialist support from universities and other knowledge-based institutions to help in the development of new products, services and processes. They were designed to make it easier for businesses to access knowledge-based experts, develop new skills and knowledge to be retained in the businesses and improve businessesʼ ability to exploit new ideas. Over 1,000 companies have been assisted over two years, with 80% of those maintaining collaboration with their specialist advisors.

Key learning points:

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Be clear about the problem before designing solutions – the emphasis on funding potential investors in innovative products and services, rather than the knowledge-based institutions directly, provided the incentive for business to seek to collaborate with universities on new ideas.

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Universities are important but not all knowledge rests with them. Four times more R&D is undertaken in the private compared with the public sector, so it is essential to ensure that university R&D adds value to this, and supports the private sector in access.

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Investing in innovation capacity and capability can make a substantial impact on the regional economy, and the competitive position of the North West, by supporting investment in developing new products, ideas and services.

Looking to the future: Several local authorities are looking at continuing with Innovation Vouchers, and the Technology Strategy Board will consider the principle for future investment.

Moving Forward It will be important to take the learning from NWDAʼs experience into the new sub-national arrangements being developed by the Coalition Government to support economic development following the abolition of RDAs. Open, strategic collaboration will be essential to provide the right spatial footprint to attract and influence the large-scale investment necessary for the regional economy to continue to grow and prosper.

Equally important will be collaboration by LEPs to work with national bodies delivering functions around innovation, foreign direct investment and sectoral development, including the science and low carbon economy. Joint working to address key infrastructure requirements – roads, rail, energy, water, waste, broadband – which cross local boundaries will be essential to provide a top quality environment for securing investment by private companies and others in the region.

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Delivering Effectively Underpinning our work to lead and catalyse action, stimulate investment, and drive economic growth, are some practices that have been vital to successful delivery. The sections below focus on five particular aspects.

• Responding quickly to crises and shocks, both environmental and economic.

• Utilising project and programme management skills.

• Using evidence as the basis for policy and investments.

• Marketing the North West • Mainstreaming considerations of equality and diversity.

Rapid response to crises and shocks

The most important learning points that the Agency would wish to pass on are:

During the life of the NWDA, the region has experienced a number of crises and shocks, such as the flooding in Cumbria in 2005 and 2009, Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks in 2001 and 2006 and, most significantly, the economic recession which started in 2008 as a result of the global banking crisis. The Agencyʼs response to these crises and shocks provides the opportunity to identify some important learning points.

The importance of putting in place tailored financial support to businesses affected by natural disasters, crises and economic shocks, and getting it to them quickly – this can prove the difference between them staying in or going out of business.

Using the lessons from our earlier experience of leading business recovery from the Carlisle flooding in 2005, we were able to respond swiftly and effectively to the 2009 flooding across Cumbria, which particularly affected the Cockermouth and Workington areas. A £1m programme of support for affected small businesses was put in place immediately. This was aimed at helping them to recover and included business advisers dedicated to help with recovery action planning, funding to provide alternative premises and marketing campaigns to offset the impact of negative press coverage on the visitor economy in Cumbria.

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Good, prior business intelligence is critical in ensuring that resources are targeted on areas of greatest need.

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Whilst the search and rescue phase of an emergency situation is planned for and dealt with by first responder organisations such as the police, fire and health services, plans for the recovery phase should also be developed to enable relevant organisations to act quickly and appropriately. The recovery plan should identify key roles, responsibilities and communication protocols so that all organisations involved understand their role, can manage communications, make relevant resources available and brief staff required.

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The provision of specialist business advisors to help affected businesses plan their recovery is a vital first step in achieving the survival of the business, protecting both jobs and provision of services in areas damaged by disaster.

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CASE STUDY: Business Linkʼs Response to the Recession The Agency took the lead in coordinating the regionʼs response to the recession and early in the downturn identified key areas of support that could be provided to businesses in the North West. These included:

• Using Business Link as the primary access channel for public sector funded business support.

• Provision of Innovation Vouchers to assist small and medium enterprises access support in developing new products or services.

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Establishing within Business Link a team of independent finance specialists (Access to Finance Team) to support investment readiness activity.

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A Transitional Loan scheme was rapidly put in place providing access to working capital of between £50,000 and £250,000. This made available £10m in the region and went on to support 49 businesses in safeguarding some 582 jobs.

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An additional £9.7m of NWDA and ERDF funds, made available through Small Loans for Business, provided loans of up to £50,000.

Business Link delivered over 10,000 business health checks assisting businesses to identify the steps needed for survival and growth. In partnership with the regionʼs Chambers of Commerce, The Manufacturing Institute and UK Trade and Investment, some 30 workshops were held to highlight steps businesses should consider taking during the recession and the support available. Business intelligence gathered by Business Link through its interactions with businesses and supplemented by information provided by commercial data was used across the region as a source of evidence for informing operational and strategic planning.

Key learning points:

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A single point of contact to source support was a great benefit to both companies and support providers.

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Business intelligence allowed evidence-based prioritisation of resource allocation to areas of greatest need.

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Access to finance was a key issue and the availability of specialist independent advisers enabled both businesses and financial institutions to resolve issues.

Looking to the future: Whilst the regional advisory service at Business Link is to close there will be a continued need for evidence-based intelligence to inform decision-making. The availability of finance for small and medium enterprises continues to be an issue and this can in part be resolved through the deployment of independent specialist advisers that are seen by both the companies and finance providers as “honest brokers”.

Programme and project management At inception, the Agency inherited a series of programmes and funding streams with disparate systems, processes and project management arrangements, offering little flexibility in relation to establishing investment priorities.

In 2002, with the establishment of the RDAʼs Single Pot, the Agencyʼs activity began to extend from predominantly local based physical and social regeneration projects to projects and activity across the broader spectrum of economic development − including enterprise, business support and development, skills, and tourism, as well as regeneration.

This widening scope led the Agency to deliver more complex, bigger and riskier programmes and projects and required the development of a strong Project and Programme Management culture. The multidisciplinary nature of the NWDA was a complicating factor: it has always been a challenge to strengthen governance arrangements internally, to allow mixed teams to work on a project whilst ensuring clear lines of reporting and management.

Throughout its life, NWDA has progressively increased the rigour of its project and programme management.

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In addition to strong governance systems, a key lesson learned is the importance of a clear definition of project objectives and deliverables, influenced by the results of earlier project evaluations. This ensures that the learning and experience from previous projects informed and shaped the design and commissioning of new projects.

The Agency has gained a great deal of experience in developing, commissioning, appraising, monitoring and evaluating projects and programmes. The Agency developed and delivered an ambitious training programme to support Project and Programme Management, both within the Agency and by its partners. In the last few years, nearly 2,000 learning opportunities (i.e. person training days) were provided to individuals on the Agencyʼs systems and processes, project management techniques, appraisals, and evaluation.

The most important learning points that the Agency would wish to pass on are:

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Adopting a project lifecycle process, ensuring that all proposals go through rigorous stages of development, appraisal, delivery and evaluation.

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Always establishing a clear project rationale and objectives, with measurable outcomes.

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Emphasising the development of robust business plans including a thorough review of options.

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Establishing governance, risk management and planning appropriate to the scale and complexity of a project throughout its lifecycle.

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Using a well-resourced legal team to provide expertise throughout the lifetime of a project helps deliver best value for money.

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Developing an appraisal system that provides a good balance between rigour and speed.

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Making investment decisions based on benchmarks (e.g. from evaluations of previous projects and from other sources) to ensure maximum return on the public sector investment.

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Being robust about managing project delivery including controlled project closure on completion.

• Recording lessons learned throughout the project lifecycle.

• Ensuring that a strong communications plan, both internal and with external partners, is part of the project.

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Establishing an evaluation plan at the outset, undertaking independent evaluations of activity and acting on findings is integral to shaping future priorities.

CASE STUDY: Complex Business Start-Up Programme: Project Management An example of how specialist project management can achieve benefits for the region is the second Business Start-Up programme, known as ISUS: Intensive Start-Up Support. This represented an innovative co-funding and coprocurement approach with local authorities. It provides a regional programme that achieved economies of scale through intensive, targeted support to business start-ups from under-achieving groups and areas in the North West, coordinated by a dedicated project management resource.

Key learning points:

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The model packaged up to £35m Single Programme and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) money, stripping out complex separate procurement processes, and provided local authorities with opportunities for joint project design, co-funding, and co-procurement.

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The value of learning from the evaluation of the predecessor start-up project, which recommended improved partner involvement in the design and delivery of ISUS helped shape the programme.

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Where local authorities co-fund, the co-commissioning model allows them to effectively define the priorities and targets for the programme to ensure local needs are being addressed.

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The total public sector spend cost is significantly lower from competitive tendering of suppliers, and the efficiency is much greater, because 43 local authorities no longer have multiple funding/procurement processes. The project was resource intensive for the NWDA to design and implement, but provided a cost effective solution for the region as a whole.

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The flexibility of the funding model was utilised to add-in over £1m of Department of Work and Pensions money to support the long-term unemployed who might be thinking of

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starting their own business. A further £300,000 from the Child Poverty Unit was channelled through the project to target and support single parent families into starting their own business.

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ISUS was slow to generate results in its initial stage. The project highlighted the variable delivery capacities of local authorities/suppliers and the extensive project management support that needs to be provided to partners to enable them to ʻhit the ground runningʼ. Whilst partner engagement was extensive, on-going communication and practical support has been required to achieve the necessary performance levels.

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There were complaints from suppliers about the amount of paperwork involved in operating the programme. NWDA therefore worked with suppliers to remove any unnecessary bureaucracy and undertook further capacity building and training.

Looking to the future: The project has ERDF approval and a Panel of start-up providers in place until after the NWDA closes in March 2012. The project will now close in December 2012 but the NWDA is discussing with partners any opportunities to transfer value from this project for the benefit of any future start up programmes.

Using evidence An important part of the NWDAʼs strategic effectiveness has been a greatly strengthened research and evidence function.

For eight years the Regional Intelligence Unit (RIU) has been hosted by NWDA, and closely integrated into the work of the Agency and the region.

Establishing the RIU enabled the region to build a knowledge base, co-ordinate and develop a region-wide intelligence network, establish consistency of methodology and standards, develop new datasets and intelligence where there were gaps and develop evidence for regional level issues and priorities. A key lesson has been the importance of a separately managed evidence base, with wide involvement by stakeholders which generates mutual understanding and increases the likelihood of buy-in to the eventual strategic priorities. Thus, by the time we turned in 2008 to developing the Integrated Regional Strategy RS2010, following the recommendations of the Sub-National Review of Economic Development, the evidence base available to the region was credible and extensive and ranged across the full remit of economic development, spatial, environmental and socio-economic issues. This was used to underpin the development of Future NW: Our Shared Priorities.

The most important learning points that the Agency would wish to pass on are:

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The value of independent, expert advice and challenge in reviewing evidence, economic performance and ensuring robust forecasting – in addition to the Regional Economic Forecasting Panel case study below, the Agency commissioned a peer review by academics of the RS2010 evidence base.

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The importance of bringing together from the outset all relevant partners to develop research projects and ensure that results and learning are widely disseminated and applied.

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It is essential to establish clear objectives for research to ensure the right questions are being addressed – “wouldnʼt it be nice to know” is not sufficient.

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Economic issues can no longer be considered in isolation from environmental and social ones – only by considering the inter-relationships between all three can the principles of sustainable economic development really be understood and applied.

CASE STUDY: Regional Economic Forecasting Panel Established in 2003, the Panel was an independent body which met quarterly to develop short-term (three year) and long-term (20 year) economic forecasts for the North West each year, and provide leadership on critical issues that influenced the regionʼs economic performance relative to the UK average. The Panel was identified as a national example of good practice by the National Audit Office in 2010.

Key learning points:

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Having the Panel led by a private sector chair, with Director-level membership derived from some of the most significant firms in the North West, provided external perspective and challenge on the regionʼs performance. The Panel was able to challenge conventional thinking and raise issues that others might ʻpoliticallyʼ not be able to.

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The Panel added substantial value by using existing data, or commissioning work where data did not exist, and applying authoritative analysis, econometrics and sectoral knowledge to translate this for the region and its long-term economic development.

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The process was sufficiently flexible to adapt to and reflect developing policy areas such as spatial aspects of growth (e.g. city regions), environmental forecasting, European comparisons and functional economic geographies.

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Both geographically and politically, the Panel had no affinities or alliances with any part of the North West, which ensured consistent independent advice and decisionmaking.

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The Panel played a valuable ʻcritical friendʼ role to the North Westʼs five Sub-Regional Economic Partnerships (SRPs), providing ʻcheck and challengeʼ as the SRPs developed their baseline and aspirational forecasts.

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It is essential to ʻget beneath the dataʼ to understand the critical factors that are driving economic performance, and to identify future challenges and opportunities critical for the competitiveness of the North West.

Looking to the future: It will be important to look at how expert, independent advice and challenge can be provided in the new LEP-based economic development landscape.

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Promoting the North West The NWDA made an important contribution to how the region, and its constituent parts, perceives and sells itself, and sought to change perceptions of the North West held by important external audiences.

These changes in spirit and ambition, though less tangible than physical regeneration, are critical. Around the North West, places, people and business organisations are more confident, more market oriented, and have plans for growth that may not have been possible a decade ago. All parts of the North West are now covered by Local Enterprise Partnership bids and Greater Manchester became the first Combined Authority in the country, knitting together the constituent 10 local authorities. Perhaps more importantly, in terms of rebalancing the economy, is the fact that the private sector sees the North West as a place to invest and make money. Partners work together better, and can point to a track record of successful delivery rather than failure.

NWDAʼs representation of the North West, and advocacy of the regionʼs assets and opportunities, was shaped and strengthened by Regional Economic Strategies. Explaining the region, and its opportunities and challenges, to those outside the North West – both in the UK and abroad - has been vital in securing not only new public funds and major capital investment, but also significant shifts in policy that enable the North West to exploit its assets. Marketing the North West as a business and inward investment location can have a major positive impact. As one of the largest regions in Europe, we need to be aware of how the significant advantages of a common market and labour pool can deliver success and growth for our businesses.

CASE STUDY: Regional Major Events Following the success of the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002, the power of major events to contribute significantly to the region's economic, tourism and image objectives was recognised. The need for a Regional Major Events Strategy was included in the 2003 Regional Economic Strategy, and its development was led by the NWDA and completed in 2004. Since that time, the NWDA has played a key part in its implementation,securing events including the Tour of Britain Cycle Race 2004 onwards; UEFA Womenʼs Football Championships 2005; the inaugural Manchester International Festival 2007; FINA World Swimming Championships 2008; Liverpool European Capital of Culture 2008; Lakes Alive Performance Arts Programme 2009-11; the regional contribution to the London 2012 Olympic/Paralympic Games; and Rugby League World Cup 2013.

Key learning points:

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Evaluation of major events supported by the NWDA has shown that these occasions have a significant impact on the economy and image of the region by attracting additional visitors and generating national and international media coverage. An evaluation showed that major events supported by the Agency between 2004 and 2010 generated over £100m GVA.

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Co-ordinated long term planning for major events which have a good fit with other local, regional and national strategies is essential to ensure maximum benefit is secured and appropriate financial planning is in place. It also helps difuse potential regional competition.

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To ensure the evaluation of major events is conducted by all partners in a consistent manner, NWDA worked with a number of national organisations (including UK Sport and VisitBritain) to develop an on-line resource

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(www.eventIMPACTS.com) to provide strategic guidance on economic, environmental and social impact analysis. This is now freely available to all event organisers.

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To maximise the economic impacts, the development of local supply chains should be nurtured and encouraged, subject to following appropriate procurement processes.

The NWDA has developed a Major Events Supplier Directory and a Supply Chain Analysis Toolkit which will be incorporated into the Event Impacts website.

Looking to the future: The region has gained considerable experience over the last decade in bidding for and staging major events, and needs to build on this. For example, it is important that the North West continues to take a proactive approach to opportunities and activities linked to the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games to ensure that the potential benefits are maximised.

CASE STUDY: Delivering the Visitor Economy RDAs were given strategic responsibility for tourism in 2003 and the regional tourism strategy led by NWDA concluded that there should be a more market-focused approach to destination development and marketing. As a result, the ʻAttack Brandsʼ of Chester, Liverpool, Manchester and The Lake District, along with the ʻDevelopment Brandʼ of Blackpool, have been the focus for growth in the North Westʼs visitor economy. Five sub-regional Tourist Boards were established, which provided critical mass to add strategic value within their local areas whilst also being able to deliver a range of effective services and better engagement with the private sector.

Key learning points:

•

The development and positioning of strong destination brands and a consumer focused approach was essential to improve the awareness and image of the region and its destinations.

•

Tourist Boards have sought to add value to local authority agendas with some success but there remains a need to reduce duplication and improve understanding of how the visitor economy fits with local authority agendas and delivery of services, particularly around place shaping and management.

•

By working in collaboration, neighbouring destinations have been able to cluster together for greater impact – for instance spreading the impact of European Capital of Culture 2008 beyond Liverpool city centre.

•

Prioritising and resourcing tourism data and intelligence has resulted in a rich evidence base and source of intelligence for both public and private sectors, which should be protected and built on going forward.

•

Identifying priorities is critical, and a balanced scorecard method of assessing proposals and selecting those to be continued has proven to be effective.

•

The importance of seeking to influence, from an early stage, the development of investment programmes to ensure maximum benefit for the region and a good fit with local priorities.

•

The visitor economy has benefitted greatly from being an integral part of a strategic economic development agenda. It has added value to the delivery of regional economic objectives.

Looking to the future: There is clear evidence that the regionʼs five Tourist Boards have produced significant strategic added value benefits, that the volume and value of tourism to the region has increased and that there is significant economic income (GVA) derived from tourism. There is a continued need for strong strategic leadership for the visitor economy at the sub-national level.

CASE STUDY: European Policy In 2003, the North West set itself a challenge, to be “recognised as a leading European region, a significant influencer of EU policies, and a region actively engaging its stakeholders in the EU agenda”. This objective was important because, while recognising the importance of European Structural Funds (ERDF, ESF and RDPE) to places in the North West, it sets out a case for activity in a wider arena. For example, work on the EU Framework Programme, the main European mechanism for funding collaborative research and development to support the knowledge economy, supported North West participants in more than 70 projects. The previous 2000-2006 Framework Programme (FP6) drew €80m into the North West. Participation in Interreg Projects added €140m to North West projects and their partnerships.

Key learning points:

•

One key facet of regional work in Europe is to influence EU policies to obtain the maximum benefit for the region.

The North West was active in revisions to the Structural Funds Programmes for 2007-2013, to ensure the EU continued to include a Competitiveness objective, which allowed our North West priorities to continue to receive structural funds to support regional growth.

Looking to the future: Influencing work early on to align new European programmes with our local, sub-national priorities will be important. Work to design Europeʼs post 2013 Structural Funds programmes starts shortly, as will capacity building for participation in R&D programmes. Continued participation in EU projects will remain critical to ensure funding and influence.

•

Europe has an extremely wide programme of assistance for its member nations: viewing this whole set of opportunities in addition to the structural funding can enable partners in the region to access new finance, new markets, broader networks, and learn from best practice.

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Equality and Diversity The NWDA has made a strong commitment over the past 12 years to strengthen its approach to ensuring that the benefits of economic growth and greater investment are felt by all in society, not just the already prosperous. On a number of fronts the Agency has worked to understand and roll out equality and diversity considerations throughout the Agency and with partners, and adopt practices that embed inclusion into investment decisions.

The most important learning points that the Agency would wish to pass on are:

•

Recognising and capitalising on the valuable diversity of the North West's people and communities is essential to securing economic goals, developing an entrepreneurial culture, boosting productivity and creating jobs.

•

Unless equality and economic inclusion challenges and opportunities are addressed, the benefits of economic growth will not be shared across the region and by all people and communities, and will not therefore be sustainable.

•

Broad principles can be diluted unless implemented via systems and processes such as Equality Impact Assessments, training on an organisationʼs Equality Scheme, and using procurement processes which champion equality and diversity.

•

Investing seed money in grassroot groups can have a disproportionately positive strategic influence effect.

However, a scattergun approach to funding without a guiding purpose does not work.

The NWDAʼs Single Equality Scheme (2008-2011) is the primary way the NWDA strengthened its approach to equality and diversity across the organisation. The Scheme has an annual implementation plan which is monitored and reported on alongside the annual business plan. Internally, equality champions have worked to increase the knowledge and awareness of all staff and improve the impact of investment in achieving equality goals.

The NWDA led on the regionʼs objective of widening economic participation and tackling discrimination in the labour market, particularly though the establishment of Migrant Workers North West and 50:50 Vision (The North West Forum on Ageing). Other important investment included major support for the health and biomedical sector, and action to sponsor health initiatives as an employer through the Healthy Workplaces Strategy.

The Women and Work Task Force considered the barriers to women accessing leadership positions in the public and private sector and civil society and made a series of practical recommendations to address them, including a recommendation that companies should target a level of 30% female participation on Boards3.

NWDA was a key partner in the development of the regional architecture for equality and diversity, and worked at a senior, strategic level with the Government Office for the North West, the NW Regional Leaders Board, and the Regional Health Authority. The North West Equality & Diversity Group (NWEDG) will continue to exist as an independent forum providing leadership, expertise and advocacy for equality in the region. Responsibility for the secretariat of the NWEDG will be taken forward by Voluntary Sector North West.

Our focus has also been on supporting best practice and policy changes, especially through the Agencyʼs participation in Celebr8, an annual series of events to highlight the contribution of all groups to the region, including a number of policy symposia. The NWDA also made a substantial contribution to an annual North West Equality conference and Disability Awareness Day. In 2009, the Regional Compact set out guiding principles for how the statutory sector should engage with the voluntary sector, and included recommendations around procurement.

This work is being taken forward in part by the Local Authorities and the Equalities and Human Rights Commission.

Performing Equality Impact Assessments of all project and programme investments was a significant step forward in enabling equality and diversity considerations to become embedded in project design and execution. The NWDA improved over time in ensuring that equality and diversity considerations were part of all major project planning. For example, MediaCityUK, one of the largest programmes of NWDA, included a commitment by all partners to ensure that local employment opportunities are generated for the people of Salford, that training and employment assistance is funded to allow these opportunities to be accessed, and that diversity is encouraged in the BBC workforce and the wider set of companies.

A good proportion of the Agencyʼs equality and diversity investment has been through support for enterprise. The North West Enterprise Strategy included an Intensive StartUp project aimed at groups that experience specific barriers to starting up a business. The Agency has supported financially a number of projects to develop enterprise within under-represented groups, especially women, the black and minority ethnic community, and the over-50s, and to drive forward a higher level of enterprising culture amongst all groups.

3 The Women & Work Task Force was officially launched at the second Northwest Equality & Diversity Conference, in Liverpool on 11 November 2009, and met for a period of six months to consider the barriers to women achieving leadership positions across all sectors in the North West. The resulting report can be accessed from www.nwda.co.uk/areas-of-work/building-communities/equality--economicinclusion.

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Scrutiny, Assessment and Results A key element of delivering effectively is to be seen and proved to have done so, and this section considers how the external scrutiny and assessment of NWDA has been conducted. Furthemore, as the Agencyʼs overriding purpose was to improve the North West economy, it looks at changes in the main economic indicators adopted by the region as targets in the Regional Economic Strategy 2006.

What have we learned?

Receiving independent assessments, critical friend reports, and independent evaluations significantly improved NWDAʼs decision-making. The annual RES Assessment monitoring looked at achievement against the regional priorities and gave an assessment of the progress of the regional economy in addressing long-term challenges.

The key learning points that the Agency would wish to pass on are:

• It is essential to understand the integrated nature of regeneration and economic growth, where the outcome can only be achieved with good communication and joint planning between the functions of skills, site/premises development, transport planning, environmental protection, enterprise support, and many other aspects. It is in delivering this integrated, multi-expert approach to economic development that the NWDA was able to achieve real impact.

•

It is important to recognise that the economy of the North West, and its individual constituent places, has dramatically changed over the past twelve years, catalysed by significant public sector investment and prioritisation. This change has been delivered by focussing on how to create the conditions for growth and further investment, how to give confidence to the marketplace and how to work with the private sector.

•

The need to look externally and to represent strengths and opportunities both nationally and internationally to clearly defined audiences including policy makers and the private sector.

•

As an organisation, we found it of vital importance to produce rigorous annual Corporate Plans that were aligned with the Regional Economic Strategy, plus an annual Corporate Improvement Plan designed to build a learning feedback loop into NWDAʼs decision-making.

•

Independent evaluations of projects and investments mean that returns on investment can be carefully calculated and compared to established benchmarks. Through evaluations and a clear feedback loop from these conclusions into new decisions, NWDA was able to take an increasingly rigorous, evidence-based approach to investment choice.

Scrutiny and assessment The NWDA has been committed to continuous improvement and external assessment of its work, and this has been conducted in several different ways: scrutiny from within the region; independent audits; and our evaluation programme.

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Regional Assembly role The Regional Assembly, which became the Regional Leaders Board in 2008, has been a key partner and critical friend to NWDA throughout its existence. For most of the Agencyʼs life, the Regional Assembly performed a formal scrutiny and evaluation function, focusing on the performance of the Agency in the exercise of its functions especially in relation to the Regional Economic Strategy.

The Assemblyʼs Review and Scrutiny Group comprised twelve members: five local authority representatives from the five North West sub-regions, with good all-party political representation; and seven social, economic, and environmental partners. The Assembly published three reports, in 2005, 2006, and 2008 containing evidence and recommendations for improvement, all of which were considered carefully and then implemented.

Theme

Assessment

Score

Ambition

Performing strongly

4

Prioitisation

Performing strongly

4

Capacity

Performing well

3

Performance management

Performing well

3

Achievement (doubled)

Performing well

3 (6)

Overall score

Performing strongly

20

Independent audits Over the past decade, there have been three independent audits of the work of the NWDA – the 2006 and 2010 National Audit Office Reports, and the 2009 Impact report by PricewaterhouseCoopers. These important external reviews of our activity found that the Agency performed at or near the highest possible rating on each measure surveyed.

The 2006 Independent Performance Assessment of the NWDA, undertaken by the National Audit Office, found that the Agency scored 20 points out of a maximum of 24 (shown in table opposite). The NAO found that NWDA performed strongly overall, (the highest possible rating), highlighting:

including 63 for North West projects – provided stakeholders and the RDAs themselves with a robust analysis of the down-stream effects of their expenditure. The headline result found that for every £1 invested by NWDA in the North West economy an overall return of £5.20 in economic impact was achieved. This was higher than the average RDA return on investment (ROI) figure.

•

“There is a shared vision and ambition for the region that is well developed.”

•

This Impact Report concentrated primarily on the impact of job creation and safeguarding. The NWDA used this new evidence to develop and implement performance benchmarks in order to appraise new investments and also to compare against subsequent evaluations.

The 2009 Impact Report, carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers on behalf of the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, delivered the most significant assessment yet of the net impact of Regional Development Agencies. The 270 evaluations undertaken –

In May 2010, the National Audit Office published a second Independent Performance Review of NWDA. Their approach to assessment differed from the 2006 Review but again found that the NWDA was performing strongly overall.

A summary of the the questions and NAO Assessment is shown in the table below.

•

“There is good leadership both within the Agency and across the region” “The Agency has set a very clear budget allocation through the development of its Strategic Investment Plan (SIP).”

Question

Assessment

How effectively has the RDA prioritised the development/deliver of programmes and projects that offer high value added benefits for the region in the economic downturn and in preparation for the upturns?

North West Development Agency has demonstrated strong performance against this descriptor.

How effectively is the RDA implementing improvement plans?

Northwest Development Agency has demonstrated good performance against this descriptor.

How effectively has the RDA implemented improvements in performance management processes and procedures to reflect the lessons of evaluation?

Northwest Development Agency has demonstrated strong performance against this descriptor.

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Project Evaluation

Investors in People (IiP)

The NWDA has developed an increasingly sophisticated approach to evaluation, with a well-resourced and robust programme (for example, over 60 evaluations in 2008 alone). Evaluation captured the lessons from the delivery of projects and programmes, and enabled a better understanding of the true impact of investment, i.e. Return on Investment (ROI), Value for Money, and Strategic Added Value; and how to generate and measure non-GVA (Gross Value Added) impact. Most lessons learned from the case studies are supported by evaluation evidence.

A further external validation took place annually with the IiP assessment, a national quality standard awarded to organisations which demonstrate best practice people management and development. In 2010 NWDA achieved the Gold Award standard, only given to those organisations which are able to demonstrate excellence in the way they develop and support their staff. To secure the award, NWDA met a total of 178 different standards, including 39 core accreditation standards. Only 10% of nationally IIPaccredited organisations achieve IIP Gold status, placing NWDA alongside fewer than 200 other companies.

Evaluation has been improved in a number of ways, including by obtaining primary evidence through beneficiary/stakeholder surveys, and by quality assuring all evaluation to industry standards. The results of rigorous project evaluation have been used to:

•

Improve monitoring data and systems to target delivery of projects, strengthening both delivery and relationships.

•

Improve project design and decision-making through introducing a ROI Assessment as part of the project appraisal and evaluation process, in which the forecast and actual ROI for each project is compared with ROI benchmarks.

•

Provide robust evidence to inform future investment decisions.

Results and Impact The NWDA has been responsible for significant public sector expenditure over the 12 years of its life, and NWDA reports to central Government on the direct outputs (e.g. jobs) delivered from this investment, and communicates to partners in the region via the Annual Report. Below we give the outputs generated by NWDA investments, from 19992010. It is also important to recognise that the economy of the North West, and its individual constituent places, has dramatically changed over the past twelve years, catalysed by significant public sector investment and joint effort to prioritise transformational activity. We therefore provide the performance of the North West economy on six headline indicators adopted by NWDA's Regional Strategy Advisory Group as the key markers for the progress of this region.

1999-2010 Lifetime Northwest Development Agency Gross Output Performance Output

Jobs created or Employment New safeguarded* Support/Number of Businesses people assisted to Created get a job

Businesses Hectares of Public and Private assisted/ brownfield land Sector Leverage supported remediated £M

1999/00

26,440

N/A

2,333

N/A

1,203

674

2000/01

34,520

N/A

1,380

N/A

600

600

2001/02

27,087

N/A

3,229

N/A

530

322

2002/03

16,764

N/A

603

N/A

488

N/A

2003/04

12,910

N/A

736

N/A

322

126

2004/05

24,422

N/A

1,094

N/A

357

238

2005/06

15,738

9,131

2,770

20,936

327

231

2006/07

20,205

3,978

3,306

23,997

299

258

2007/08

17,749

6,748

1,965

20,969

291

284

2008/09

26,602

6,415

5,840

29,980

302

340

2008/09

22,291

13,724

4,882

117,581**

282

580

Total

244,728

39,996

28,138

227,852**

5,001

6,653

* This does not include inward investment jobs claimed by the Agency since they are recorded to a different indicator definition. ** In 2009/10 The Agency began reporting all types of business support rather than just intensive assistance.

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Regional Economic Performance: against targets identified in Regional Economic Strategy 2006.

Each year the Annual Assessment Report of the Regional Economic Strategy 2006 provided the opportunity to performance manage the Strategy as a whole, and to assess progress and barriers to achievement in each Action. The Annual Assessment also reported on the headline indicators of the North West economy, against targets established by NWDA and its Regional Strategy Advisory Group on publication of the Regional Economic Strategy 2006.

The data below updates the last (2009) Annual Assessment to include figures for 2010 and (where available) 2011. The overall picture shows continuing progress in tackling the sustained socio-economic challenges facing the North West, where productivity in 2004 was 85% of the England average. The data includes the initial impacts of the recession of 2008/09: however, time lags in the release of data mean that the activity of the last 1-2 years may not be fully reflected. In addition, revisions and other changes to data mean that some of the original targets do not match the latest figures.

GVA The North Westʼs GVA growth gap with England has fluctuated over recent years. In times of recession, as experienced since 2008, the gap has generally narrowed, whilst during periods of recovery it has widened. GVA in the North West declined less than the England average as a result of the recent recession, largely due to its industrial structure being less exposed to the global financial crisis which significantly impacted London and the South East. The North West has improved its position relative to other English regions in terms of GVA per head, moving from 7th in 2006 to 6th in 2010. Over the same period, whilst all regions other than London experienced a decline in GVA per head performance relative to the England average, the North West maintained its share at 86%.

Target 2006-2009

Measure

2006 Baseline (data 2005)

2007 Update (data 2006)

2008 Update (data 2007)

2009 Update (data 2008)

2010 Update (data 2009)

2011 Update (data 2010)

£103.4bn

£106.6bn

£111.8bn

£117.7bn

£121bn

£119.1bn

4.69%

3.15%

4.83%

5.31%

2.78%

-1.6% Eng -2.23%

£18.9bn

£20.2bn

£22.4bn

£23.5bn

£24.5bn

£20.9bn

GVA Growth Achieve GVA growth GVA: above England average (to GVA growth: close GVA/head gap with England in GVA gap: the longer term)

Job Creation The data shows that by 2007 the North West had achieved its target of creating 80,000 jobs in knowledge occupations. Whilst the recession has impacted on the overall number of jobs in the North West, including the number of knowledge jobs, the data shows that the share of knowledge jobs has increased.

Target 2006-2009

Measure

2006 Baseline (data 2004)

2007 Update (data 2005)

2008 Update (data 2006)

2009 Update (data 2007)

2010 Update (data 2008)

No. jobs

3.04m

2.99m

3.02m

3.04m

3m

No. “knowledge” jobs

1.2m

1.23m

1.25m

1.27m

1.26m

% “knowledge” jobs

38.4%

39.3%

39.9%

40.2%

40.6% Eng 44%

Job creation Create 150,000 new jobs, 80,000 in “knowledge occupations”, to have same % in these occupations as England

42

Firm Formation Our firm formation rate has risen from 33 to 37 per 10,000 people and is approaching the same rate as the England average.

Target 2006-2009

Measure

2006 Baseline (data 2004)

2007 Update (data 2005)

2008 Update (data 2006)

2009 Update (data 2007)

Firm formation (No.) 18,085

18,055

18,165

20,640

Firm formation rate per 10,000 people

33

33

37 UK 43

38,300

38,000

38,000

Firm formation

Raise the firm formation rate to 21,000 per annum (to have same rate and business stock as England in the longer term)

33

No. fewer 38,800 businesses than the England average

Skills Profile The number of people in the working age population with no qualifications reduced by nearly 140,000 by 2009 (target 80,000).

The gap with the England average for the percentage of this group in the workforce has been narrowing year on year.

Target 2006-2009

Measure

2006 Baseline (data 2004)

2007 Update (data 2005)

2008 Update (data 2006)

2009 Update (data 2007)

2009 Update (data 2008)

2010 Update (data 2009)

Working age pop. with no quals:

753,800

725,700

679,900

647,000

701,300

612,900

% of working age pop. with no quals:

18%

17.2%

16%

15.2%

15.9%

13.9% Eng 12.1%

0

0

0

0

0

No qualifications Reduce the working age population with no qualification s by 80,000 and no district with more than 29%. (In longer term to have the same % as England)

Districts with 2 rate more than 29%

The number of people in the workforce with graduate qualifications has increased year on year. 2009 data shows that there are over 200,000 more individuals qualified to graduate level in the North West than in 2004, although the gap with the England average remains.

43

Target 2006-2009

Measure

2006 Baseline (data 2004)

2007 Update (data 2005)

2008 Update (data 2006)

2009Update (data 2007)

2009 Update (data 2008)

2010 Update (data 2009)

Workforce with 974,600 graduate quals:

1,016,400

1,054,900

1,079,700

1,112,000

1,192,800

% of working age pop with graduate quals:

24%

24.8%

25.3%

25.2%

27% Eng 29.6%

Graduate qualifications

Increase the workforce with graduate qualification s by 120,000 to meet the England average

23.2%

Employment Rate Up until the recession, the number of people employed in the North West had been increasing, although our employment rate remained static and a stubborn two percentage points off the England rate. The latest data shows that the gap in employment rates has widened, along with the number of districts with an employment rate below 68%.

Target 2006-2009

Measure

2006 Baseline (data 2004)

2007 Update (data 2005)

2008 Update (data 2006)

2009 Update (data 2007)

2009 Update 2010 Update (data 2008) (data 2009)

Workforce:

3.07m

3.08m

3.10m

3.10m

3.05m

3m

Employment rate:

70.6%

70.6%

70.5%

70.2%

69%

67.7% Eng 70.4%

Districts with rate less than 68%:

8

5

13

11

12

16

Employment rate

Increase the workforce by 83,000 (to meet the England employment rate) and no district to have an employment rate less than 68%

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Looking Ahead We hope that Businesses, People, Places: Learning from the NWDAʼs Experience succeeds in capturing the story of the Agency and what we have learned from our 12 years leading the sustainable development of the North West economy. We intend to produce a follow-up document later this year which sets out how our key activities will be taken forward in the post-NWDA world and where further information can be found.

We firmly believe the North West is a better place as a result of the NWDAʼs contribution and our legacy is there for all to see: improved workforce skills; internationally competitive businesses; revitalised places; valuable infrastructure; leading edge environmental and equalities work; and a range of other tangibles. However, some serious challenges remain to be addressed and there is a host of opportunities out there to be seized. The 12 ʻBig Ticket Issuesʼ described in Future North West: Our Shared Priorities highlight the major challenges and opportunities for the region over the next 20 years or so and we are pleased that the North West Regional Leaders Board has taken ownership moving forward.

We know that Local Enterprise Partnerships and other bodies taking over the NWDAʼs functions stand ready to address these issues. Success will require many things but above all:

• Strong strategic leadership and effective partnership working;

• Securing investment in businesses, people and places; and

• Delivering effectively.

We therefore hope that those operating in the post-NWDA world will be able to build on the Agencyʼs substantial legacy and the learning set out in this document to develop top class local and regional economies and an excellent quality of life for all.

In the short term, challenges and opportunities will need to be addressed against a background of a national economy which is slowly improving but with a significant reduction in public investment in the North West taking effect. We are also in transition to the new Local Economic Partnerships which will in future drive forward economic development at a sub-national level.

The North West is already focussed on how to deliver the rebalanced, private-sector led economic renaissance required, particularly through our advanced manufacturing, biomedical digital/creative and energy strengths. Our indigenous firms need to continue accessing finance, utilising a well skilled workforce, expanding into new markets both at home and abroad and continuing to invest in R&D and business productivity. Continuing to position the North West in the national and global marketplace as a strong location for inward investment will be vital to enable the region to exploit export-led growth and foreign direct investment as a route to prosperity.

Partners will need to focus on creating the right conditions to maintain and increase private sector investment, into employment sites and housing. Key projects such as MediaCityUK and Daresbury will need further support and investment if they are to reach their full potential. Promoting the North West at home and abroad as a great place to do business and hold major events needs to be underpinned by continuing investment in green infrastructure, in revitalising places and in boosting the skills and capacity of our people.

Acknowledgements

This will all need to be achieved whilst safeguarding and, where possible, enhancing our environmental assets as well as reducing our carbon footprint, adapting to unavoidable climate change and using resources more efficiently. There will also be social challenges, and action to spread the benefits of growth and tackle the barriers to engagement in the workplace needs to continue.

Business, People and Places: Learning from the NWDAʼs Experience was produced by the NWDA Strategy Team – Neil Cumberlidge, Tracy Mawson and Brenda Buckley – who wish to extend their heartfelt thanks to the many NWDA staff members and partners past and present who have contributed the thoughts, experiences and other material on which this document is based.

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