TES Terms of Reference Appendix A
TES Key Functions, Roles and Responsibilities
Strategic direction and oversight
- Set the vision, strategic direction and priorities of East Sussex.
- Ensure strategy development is intelligence- and evidence-based and reflects the view of business through engagement with businesses and business representative organisations.
- Ensure the vision and identified local priorities are aligned with SELEP’s economic strategy (currently the SELEP Economic Strategy Statement), County Council and county-wide strategies and policies, and the strategies and local plans of our Borough and District authorities.
- Approve, drive forward and monitor the Delivery Plan (or its equivalent) for East Sussex (currently the Economy Recovery Plan).
- Consider and develop responses to new economic opportunities and challenges in East Sussex.
- Consider and agree a unified East Sussex position on major items of strategic importance.
- Provide input into setting the strategic priorities and direction of SELEP through the TES members elected as SELEP Ltd Directors, and contribute to SELEP-wide discussions of regional significance at SELEP Strategic Board meetings.
- Strategic oversight of and engagement with TES’s sub-boards.
Pipeline development and capital programme oversight
- Oversee arrangements for developing a pipeline of projects for capital and revenue investment.
- Provide strategic oversight of key programmes, including oversight of funding bids, and monitor existing East Sussex capital projects.
- Make recommendations for new project proposals in accordance with East Sussex’s priorities.
Project consideration (prioritisation)*
- As appropriate to the public funding sources that may become available, lead the funding programme’s open call for projects and ensure the call is widely publicised (where it is appropriate for TES to do so).
- Oversee arrangements for appraising, approving and prioritising projects for investment, with a view to ensuring that a wide range of delivery partners can be involved (where it is appropriate for TES to do so).
- Provide evidence-based consideration of strategic fit with economic investment priorities during project prioritisation.
- Provide endorsement of programme/project bid submissions as appropriate.
- Ensure the transparency and accountability of all decisions and recommendations made by the TES Board.
Lobbying and promotion
- Provide a strong voice for East Sussex at national, regional, local and SELEP level on economic issues and matters affecting the county’s economic development.
- Champion and promote the activities, projects and programmes of East Sussex positively at local, regional and national level.
- Champion the successes of East Sussex, including bringing to the attention of Government local growth projects which should be recognised as innovative or examples of best practice.
- Oversee the development and implementation of a county-wide communications strategy.
Engagement
- Act as a facilitator to develop strong relationships between key stakeholders and partners across the county, ensuring there is a shared vision for a prosperous East Sussex to unlock barriers to growth.
- Ensure appropriate representation on the TES Board from across the geography of the county, reflecting diversity.
- Maximise connections with SMEs across the county and the wider SELEP area, including in the voluntary and community sector (third sector).
- Maximise connections with further education and higher education sectors across the county and the wider SELEP area.
- Enable collective engagement with all Local Authority Leaders within the county to ensure there is a clear mandate for decision making on economic growth priorities, and support collaboration and joint delivery at county-wide level.
- Maximise connections and engagement by drawing on the established sub-boards of TES – Business East Sussex (BES), Culture East Sussex (CES), Developers East Sussex (DES), Environment East Sussex (EES) and Skills East Sussex (SES) – working with a broad range of stakeholders to facilitate further strategic collaboration, joint working and delivery at county-wide level.
- Support local engagement with, and feedback to, stakeholders about future strategy development and progress against delivery of existing programmes and projects.
- Support the development of good relationships with neighbouring economic partnerships.
SELEP activities
- Agree TES representation on the SELEP Strategic Board (SELEP Ltd Directors).
- Agree where possible an informed joint view or response in respect of East Sussex input to SELEP Strategic Board meetings via the TES representatives.
- Support SELEP as appropriate in the implementation of its annual Delivery Plan.
- Support SELEP in progressing priorities of cross-border economic importance where there is added value in working together, and support priorities of local importance where they are designated a priority by federated boards (including by TES).
- Support SELEP as appropriate in increasing the overall diversity of its membership in terms of protected characteristics, including gender, age, ethnic origin, religion and sexual orientation as defined in the Equality Act 2010.
- Ensure that the SELEP Secretariat is informed of all TES meetings is given the opportunity to attend.
* Note that TES does not have delegated authority to make decisions regarding the allocation of public funds. Formal democratic decision-making is achieved through the SELEP Accountability Board (for SELEP funding programmes) or by County/Borough/District authorities (for the most recent funding programmes such as UKCRF and UKSPF). TES may however make recommendations to the appropriate bodies on its priorities and on which projects/programmes it endorses.