Issue - meetings
Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Integration
Meeting: 27/02/2024 - Cabinet (Item 30)
30 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Functions: Transition Arrangements 
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Cabinet Member: Leader of the Council
Forward Plan Ref: 2023/346
Contact: Chloe Taylor, Head of Economy
chloe.taylor@oxfordshire.gov.uk
Report by Corporate Director: Environment & Place (CA7)
The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to
a) Note the government announcement on the transfer of Local Enterprise Partnership core functions;
b) Approve the creation of a County Council controlling interest in the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (OxLEP Ltd), subject to agreement by OxLEP Ltd’s board
c) Consent to a change to OxLEPLtd’s governance to amend the Articles of Association and By-Laws to enable the County Council to take a controlling interest, if agreed by the OxLEP board;
Decision:
Recommendations approved.
Minutes:
(Nigel Tipple, Chief Executive, OxLEP attended the meeting for this item)
Cabinet had before it a report on the transfer of Local Enterprise Partnership core functions to the Council. The Government had announced that from 31 March 2024, Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) would cease to have official recognition and that existing LEP functions would transfer to upper-tier local authorities or combined authorities, where they exist.
Following this announcement, it was important to establish a new governance framework to ensure local arrangements continue to meet government guidance. It was proposed that the County Council create a controlling interest in OxLEP Ltd. To enable this to happen the OxLEP Ltd Board would need to consider and approve a revision its Articles of Association and By-Laws whereby the County Council would become the sole ‘member’ of the company, exercising its membership functions through Cabinet.
Subsequent to the change of ownership, there would be an opportunity, in conjunction with the LEP and local stakeholders, to revise the local framework of economic planning and partnerships and the system’s capacity and capability requirements for the future.
The Chair introduced the report and explained the background to the proposals which had been considered by the LEP Board and would be developed over a transition period of 6 months.
The Corporate Director: Environment and Place presented the report and explained how the transition proposals would be progressed in liaison with the LEP Board. Nigel Tipple said that there was a strong commitment by the LEP to work with the Council as a partnership to implement the transition proposals.
During discussion members made the following points:-
· The ways in which the Council’s environmental policies could be progressed as a result of the integration of the LEP’s functions into the Council
· The Council’s response to the OXLEP Strategic Economic Plan (SEP) which had not made public previously, was read out at the meeting
· The opportunity to consider the whole structure of the organisation and reframe the economic functions following integration with the Council.
The Chair moved and Councillor Sudbury seconded the recommendations, and they were approved.
The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to
a) Note the government announcement on the transfer of Local Enterprise Partnership core functions;
b) Approve the creation of a County Council controlling interest in the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (OxLEP Ltd), subject to agreement by OxLEP Ltd’s board
c) Consent to a change to OxLEPLtd’s governance to amend the Articles of Association and By-Laws to enable the County Council to take a controlling interest, if agreed by the OxLEP board;