What does the future hold for Gloucestershire?

GFirstLEP, the local enterprise partnership for Gloucestershire-the voice of business for the county with its own board-is being gradually integrated into the County Council.

In an exclusive interview, Business West Gloucestershire director, Ian Mean, who is also vice chair of GFirstLEP, questioned the county council’s leader, Councillor Mark Hawthorne, about the importance of retaining the county’s business voice.

How can you guarantee that GFirstLEP will continue as an independent business voice for Gloucestershire as it is integrated into the county council?

“I think what you will end up seeing is a balance between the demands and needs of the county council from a growth perspective and the demands and views of businesses.

“I think that is how it has worked in the past and I don’t think the council hasn’t had a voice during the period that the LEP was responsible for economic growth.“ What this enables us to do is integrate it far deeper than it was maybe before.

“If we are going to have sensible growth in our county it needs to be planned; it needs to be in the right places and it needs to be integrated with the infrastructure, transport and house delivery. 

“This all needs to come together, or otherwise, you will end up trying to tie the pieces back together after you have actually delivered those programmes.”

GFirstLEP is recognised as one of the more successful LEPs in the UK-what are the benefits that the county will get from closer ties with its board?

"We are very clear from a county council point of view that we want to see sustainable growth.

“Ultimately, what it means is that we have the housing, the business sites, the investment, the road infrastructure, the public transport infrastructure are all co-ordinated together so we can ensure that people can make the right choices about choosing how to be more sustainable.

“We get the businesses in a place where they are able to access employment markets very easily. That is all about strategic planning and making sure that all those elements fit together.“ I think what we are starting to see through the emergence of the devolution deals and how those will progress under Michael Gove again, and the Levelling Up process, is that bigger thinking of how all these elements will fit together.”

Will the LEP be able to have views on that or will it just be a county council decision?

“The LEP is definitely going to have views on that-we will want to take business people with us because they are the ones delivering the growth, but equally, we can’t look at it as isolated individual projects any more.

“We need to see the bigger picture of the investment we are trying to deliver. We can’t do it on our own-that’s why we have got the current arrangement with the LEP as a really sensible way that we get the leadership we need on the economy and that leadership is linked into business within the county.”

Can you explain in simple terms what you hope to gain from a County Deal which would presumably also mean that GFirstLEP would disappear? What would be the timeline?

“The basic premise from government is there are certain powers based in central government they believe would be better placed in local government. 

“For that change to take place, the government makes it clear there must be accountability and it needs to be part of a deal as they describe it.

“From the council’s point of view, we see the benefit is getting some influence and control over things we think are really important for Gloucestershire.“ I think the biggest element there is employment and skills. I think having a better say in how that is delivered across our county will make a huge difference to support our local businesses.

“That’s the big win from our point of view, but it also opens up a conversation about having more joined up funding. So, instead of asking for a specific project we can ask for a series of projects.

“If you look at the conversations we are now having on the A417, about Junction 9 and 10 and cyber-all of these projects are connected and are about delivering housing growth and business growth in a sensible way.”

What are your plans for the chain of GFirstLEP Growth Hubs in Gloucestershire? Will they survive?

“The Growth Hubs will continue at least, I think, until 2027-the funding arrangements are in place until then.

“The clear message for us is that some of that funding used to come through the European pot and that has now been delegated down to district councils.

“So, we are clearly in discussion with districts as to whether or not they wish to contribute to that-this is very much a live conversation.

“The key issue for us is that this will always be a changing offer that must respond to the needs of business.

“It might well be that having physical Growth Hubs isn’t the answer going forward.“ We may be looking to something more virtual. We will be very much guided by business as how we change that over time.

“At the moment we have no plans to change the ones we currently have until 2027.”

In these challenging times, how is Gloucestershire going to develop and afford a sustainable, economic strategy and plan?

“We still have got a lot of work to do on Junction 9-Junction 10 is a bit further progressed and the A417 is at the end of that process with a sign off from government-hopefully before Christmas.“ Those are real positives and we have other projects we want to deliver. Our mass rapid transport study is going on -that’s how we connect these urban hubs together within our county, and that has a wider remit as to what is happening in Western Gateway and the Bristol North mass rapid transport links.

“We are also having big conversations with Western Gateway around rail strategy to make sure we get the right rail strategy for Gloucestershire. That we have got that good connectivity for Gloucestershire so we can get the benefits from the connections to HS2 and also the new stations we need in the county to support our growth.

“We know there is a need for a new station south of Gloucester. There is also the opportunity of having more services from Ashchurch at Tewkesbury.”

What will be your plan for business to encourage them to invest and grow?

“One of the things that attracted us about the investment zones proposition is that it gave us the opportunity to create incubator sites for SME businesses.

“A good example would be around cyber—we know the headline businesses  will come in and that industry will be supported by a supply chain made up of SMEs.

“Equally, we are very interested in Berkeley. Clearly, we were not successful in getting STEP fusion  but we know we have opened up many doors with regards to the future—like the Small Nuclear Reactors(SMRs).

“And equally there to support a supply chain for green energy business which will emerge in the south of our county.”

Is Levelling Up alive and well here? What are now your priorities from Michael Gove’s 12 Levelling Up promises?

“I think Levelling Up is a mission statement for this government and it is certainly something we have adopted here. It comes in many different forms so most people will remember that we got something like £52 million from the Levelling Up bids we submitted.

“Another aspect of Levelling Up is some of the things we are now doing as a county council in some of our communities. We have just announced a £1.5 million investment pot for the 12 most deprived areas of Gloucestershire to get investment into those communities.

“We wanted to Level Up those communities-many times you see people with great potential who are not able to reach that potential.”

What about inward investment?

“As a county we thrive on businesses coming here and saying this is a good place to do business and for our workers to live. 

“For us this is a no brainer-I think part of that drive we are doing through Western Gateway is about connecting Gloucestershire to that sub-regional market. If you are an investor, say from China, you will probably see the entirety of the South West.“ Part of that will be driven by Western Gateway, and part will be continued collaboration with business through GFirstLEP and the county council.

“What we need to recognise in Gloucestershire is that we are big enough to attract some of the businesses in , but if we work with people like Bristol and Cardiff through 

Western Gateway, we access even more doors of opportunity and that is what maybe was missing in the past and we want to gain some traction.”

We have six district councils and a county council. Surely this is the time to reduce that number and have more joined-up governance?

“There are two aspects here. All the functions that the districts deliver aren’t the functions that the county council delivers. I do get it that people sometimes find it quite confusing.

“The bit I do think is not working is around planning and strategic planning.

It is increasingly becoming obvious that districts haven’t got the capacity and the finance to drive that agenda successfully. 

“I am increasingly coming to the view that some sort of strategic planning function needs to sit at a county level.

“I think that definitely needs fixing. Whether or not that requires a unitary authority to deliver it or whether or not that needs government to say actually that county councils like ours are responsible-as they were before 2010-for  strategic housing planning, I don’t know. 

“But it does need fixing and because I am increasingly worried ,and  increasingly sympathetic with the district councils who are struggling to recruit planners and are struggling to deal with the huge complexity of delivering joined up strategic planning when it comes to housing.

“It is something I have raised with Michael Gove previously and I will be raising it with him again-I am a huge fan of Michael Gove.

“As a country we need to look at this so we get back to a situation where housing and business growth is delivered through a joined up strategic planning function.“ Planning shouldn’t just be about housing. It should be about delivering new communities-the homes where people will live, the doctors, the dentists, the schools and the hospitals.

“Here in Gloucestershire, we have at the moment two main hospitals smack bang in the middle of urban centres.“ I think there is a logic at some point in saying what we need is a health service that delivers our urban conurbations which is easily acceptable to all those urban conurbations. My view is that you would not put them in the centre of either but on the edge of both.”

How long before we have an elected Mayor for Gloucestershire?

“The reality is that Mayors have been most successful in tight urban settings whether be that Bristol or Greater Manchester where they are effectively a glue that holds together  a location that has a clear identity. 

“Gloucestershire has a clear identity but within that identity it is very distinct and different. How can any one individual faithfully represent the interests say in the Forest of Dean, people who live in the Cotswolds or Gloucester? 

“I think it is the wrong model for the county. I am not convinced that a Mayor is the right option.“ On timing for a County Deal I am still looking towards next year to have those conversations with government. I think what people will start to notice is around things like education and skills. We will start having a more local approach for buses for instance.

“Clearly, we are seeing a very difficult time for bus transport in our county. Many of us are coming to the conclusion that the current set-up isn’t working and there needs to be a more strategic approach as to how bus routes are planned and delivered.

“This will require changes to the powers we have as a county council—that’s the sort of thing, I will be knocking on the door to Michael Gove with.

“I will be saying these are the routes the public want and the bus companies need to come and apply for them.

“This needs fixing, and I will tell Michael Gove that if you support rural bus services you need to give us the ability to deliver those rural bus services.”