Agenda item

Marian Sudbury, Director of UK Regions at the Department for International Trade will attend the Board to present an overview of the Department’s work across the UK Regions. A separate briefing for this discussion will be available shorty.

Chair welcomed Dan Gardiner, Adviser, to the Board. 

Dan Gardiner (DG) gave members a brief update on the LGA’s recent policy and public affairs activity in the area of trade and international investment.  

DG informed the Board that the Chairman of the LGA’s Brexit Task Force Cllr Kevin Bentley met with Department for International Trade (DIT)’s Minister for Investment, Graham Stuart MP. While there was no firm offer from the Minister of a defined role for local government in national trade policy development, there were opportunities to pursue and the Minister was keen to hear more examples and evidence of councils leading on this agenda. 

DG then introduced Marian Sudbury, Director of UK Regions at DIT who gave a presentation on the Department’s place-based work across the UK regions. 

Marian Sudbury (MS) presented an overview to the Board of DIT’s vision and aims on how government departments, local authorities and businesses can collaborate effectively and efficiently.  

MS outlined that the function of DIT is to help businesses export, drive inward and outward investment, negotiate market access and trade deals, and champion free trade. MS explained that the UK Export Strategy, launched by Baroness Fairhead, had four components:  

1.    To encourage and inspire more businesses to begin export plans 

2.    To inform businesses by helping them to access the right information, advice and practical assistance 

3.    To connect UK businesses to overseas buyers and markets 

4.    To ensure that UK export plans are financially stable. 

MS went on to explain the logistics of how DIT operates in and outside of the UK before moving on to focus on DIT’s domestic work in the UK regions. 

MS outlined that the core role of DIT in the UK regions is to provide international support for UK business at a local level by using resources in a targeted way to maximise impact on UK regional economies, and by using the Department’s convening power to help increase the combined impact of central government and commissioned providers.  

For example, MS outlined DIT’s Capital Investment (CI) Strategy led by CI teams that seek to connect the demand for CI opportunities with supply. MS urged members of the Board to read the DIT brochures and regional investment portfolios available online, and to identify contact details for regional DIT International Trade Advisors (ITAs) and to get in touch with them for further detail of regional activity and communications (specifically newsletters). 

MS highlighted that international trade is often a crowded landscape for businesses, and it is therefore important to bring the array of local and national stakeholders together and to aim to operate as a collective unit.  

It was explained that Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) are DIT’s primary regional partners, but MS noted that DIT have received feedback from local authorities that this arrangement is not the most effective from a council point of view in some areas.  

MS concluded that all organisations are stronger if local stakeholders operated as a collective unit, as then DIT could link companies and opportunities to overseas markets and investors, and support regional businesses most effectively. In order to achieve this, MS explained to the Board that local authorities need to support DIT to simplify the landscape for business, simplify local authority engagement with DIT, and share competitive strengths with other regions.  

The Chair thanked Marian Sudbury for taking the time to present to the Board and opened up a discussion with the Board. The following discussion took place with members: 

·         Members from some regions noted challenges around a lack of information on the regional DIT offer and local contacts.  

·         Members acknowledged the need for coordination between groups of local authorities and combined authorities but highlighted a need for support in understanding what the architecture is within the region in terms of the Department’s work and engagement.  

·         MS acknowledged these points and recognised a need for clearer communication from the Department to councils and other local stakeholders on the work it is doing within the region and opportunities to engage.  

·         Members welcomed this offer and noted the need for greater clarity regarding the mechanisms for LEP areas to work together on trade and investment.  

·         An example of positive cross-border working between English and Welsh local government was raised, and there are plans to expand this work with the involvement of DIT. 

·         Members raised a query regarding how to engage DIT when councils identify a business or group of businesses that are interested in exporting. MS indicated that businesses should be signposted to online resources in the first instance and then councils should reach out to the Department. 

·         One member highlighted a particular challenge of partnerships across different LEP geographies and the challenges this presented. MS advised members to get in touch with their regional DIT team on this, specifically the ITA for their area (details for which are available on the DIT website). 

·         The Chair noted that while there was some value in producing prospectuses and pitch books, these only capture a relatively limited range of opportunities. As these provide a ‘shop window’ rather than an inventory, it is important that local leaders have a greater say about what is in the shop window to reflect local knowledge of opportunities. MS acknowledged this and agreed to reinforce this point to the CI team. 

·         Members highlighted the need for DIT to pursue a whole-UK approach that goes beyond focusing on London. MS acknowledged this and made a specific point regarding a review of the Southern DIT region. 

Decision:  

Members noted the LGA’s recent activity relating to trade and international and the feedback provided by MS at the Board. 

Action: 

Marian Sudbury’s contact details and relevant DIT contacts to be circulated to the Board.