Agenda item

To receive a report on the Thames Estuary Production Corridor.

David Smith (Director of Economic Development) and Sarah Wren (Principal Project Officer) were in attendance for this item.

1.    Mr M Hill, OBE (Cabinet Member for Community and Regulatory Services) introduced the report that set out the success of the Thames Estuary Production Corridor and in particular, highlighted to Members the successful £4.3m bid to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) Cultural Development Fund which would help deliver phase 1 of the Thames Estuary Production Corridor in Kent and Essex. Mr Hill commended the success of the concept and welcomed the report.

2.    Supplementary to Mr Hills’s comments, Mrs Wren addressed the key aspects of the report which highlighted the Thames Estuary as a world class leader for production in the creative and cultural industries.  Over 100,000 creative industry workers lived in the Estuary, however, half of those worked elsewhere: the Production Corridor initiative aimed to build on that strength. Over £200m investment had already been delivered over the last decade into large scale creative production facilities, with 150 creative and cultural focussed projects planned or were already underway. The concept of connecting 21 higher and further education institutes with a creative industries specialism would provide a globally relevant laboratory for R&D and innovation in the creative sector.

By 2030 investment would deliver 50,000 jobs and a surplus of £3.7bn GVA, which in turn would create the UK’s densest concentration of creative production activity. A successful £4.3m bid to the DCMS Cultural Development Fund would deliver Phase 1 of the Thames Estuary Production Corridor in Kent and Essex. The bid was one of only five successful bids nationally, and the only successful bid from the South East.

The Production Corridor was highlighted in the Government’s response to the Thames Estuary 2050 report and the University of the Arts London’s successful Strength in Places Expression of Interest to increase productivity in the screen, stage and the performing arts in the Estuary, would lead to a full bid for £25m in  September 2019. The inclusion of the Thames Estuary Production Corridor narrative was cited as a ‘significant factor’ in success at EOI stage.

3.    Officers responded to comments and questions as follows:

(a)  With regards to the level of support received from Essex and North Kent, Mrs Wren assured the Committee that there had been over £200m of investment in the cultural infrastructure from both South Essex and North Kent over the last 10 years to support the growing ambition of the Thames Estuary Production Corridor.

(b)  In response to the development of Key Performance Indicators to measure the success of the Thames Estuary Production Corridor, Mr Smith referred members to the table 2.3.4 in the report which listed the seven work streams and said that each of those would have Key Performance Indicators to demonstrate how they would have succeeded. Advice had been sought from a consultancy agency on how best to deliver the work streams and the literature supporting this would be made available to the Committee.

(c)  Mrs Wren said that the Thames Estuary Production Corridor Partnership was steered by a Partnership Board co-chaired by the South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP) and the Greater London Authority (GLA), and its members comprised the South East Creative Economy Network, Kent and Essex County Councils, local authorities represented by Thames Gateway Kent Partnership and Opportunity South Essex, the Royal Docks, Universities of Kent and Essex and the cultural organisation, Metal. In terms of Medway’s participation, Mrs Wren said that the Medway campus of the University of Kent was the accountable body for managing the grant; and was due to appoint a Project Manager that would also be based in Medway. She confirmed that Medway also sat on the Partnership group represented by the Thames Gateway Kent Partnership.

(d)  Mrs Wren said that some of the work that was being done as part of the Cultural Development Fund was to look at how the Partnership could support growth of creativity and culture within Ebbsfleet Garden City and how best to influence economic growth within the surrounding community and existing highstreets. Mrs Wren acknowledged the request of Members to involve Parish Councils in the discussions.

4.    RESOLVED that the report be noted.