Agenda item

Philip Clifford, Senior Adviser, introduced the paper. He outlined the Leading Places Project and advised members that it was being run jointly between the LGA, Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and Universities UK (UUK). The project would take place in six pilot areas across the country and would run over the summer, concluding in February 2017. Each pilot area was currently in the process of selecting a priority challenge theme to develop, bringing together leaders from across the public, business and academic sectors in local institutions. The project would draw on successful international examplesto drive growth, support public service reform and strengthen partnerships vital to the devolution agenda.

Ian Hughes, Head of Programmes, advised that HEFCE was funding the first pilot of the project and that this had influenced the criteria used to select areas for this phase. In particular, it was decided that the initial pilot would seek to work with areas where a successful working relationship between local institutions was already well established. If the pilot is deemed to be a success, members were advised of the potential to extend the project to include other areas across the country.

In the discussion which followed, members made the following points:

·         It was positive that education bodies were engaging with local government, but members were concerned that few councillors were currently involved with the project in each pilot area.

·         Members requested to know what work had been done on survey responses for priority working between universities and local authorities.

·         Members asked how work on skills and employment would feed into the project.

·         Members felt that councils needed to work with business leaders in their areas on issues such as land banks and the physical regeneration of communities.

·         Members felt that councils and universities could work on the impact of the student population together, and discussed the impact of council tax rebates for student housing.

Decision:

1.    Members noted the report.

Action:

1.    Officers agreed to come back with updates for members as the project progressed.