South East England Councils forum with the Bank of England
Details
With Guest speaker: Andrew Holder, Bank of England Agent, Central Southern England
SEEC will host a new discussion forum with the Bank of England (BoE) Agent for central Southern England and SEEC member council representatives.
The BoE Agent
The Bank has a network of 12 Agencies covering the UK that engage with figures from local business and community organisations to glean information on economic activity.
Agents’ collective soundings form an intelligence report that goes to the Monetary Policy Committee and the Office of the Governor.
Agent for Central Southern England is Andrew Holder
BoE Agent since December 2015, Andrew joined the Agency as Deputy Agent in August 2008. He joined the Bank in 2001, working in Head Office roles that included writing parts of the Bank's quarterly Inflation Report, working with Chris Allsopp on his review of statistics for economic policymaking, and as Research Adviser to Andrew Sentance on the Monetary Policy Committee.
Andrew studied Economics at King's College, Cambridge, and London School of Economics. He started his career as an economist working in HM Treasury, where at various times he worked on monetary, fiscal, and environmental policies. Andrew lives with his family near Winchester, where he tries to eke out enough spare time to play viola in the Winchester Symphony Orchestra.
The Forum
Andrew agreed it would be ideal to host a gathering with a group of Councillors to probe local economic conditions. This would be helpful to the BoE on building a picture of the state of the South East economy.
It is intended to have the Forum at least once a year.
The Forum will serve as a platform that can support the pursuit of SEEC main objectives:
- To monitor and highlight the economic pulse of the South East
- To provide and act as a unified democratic voice on South East interests
- To promote and maintain the South East’s position as a leading global economy
- To seek and secure fair funding for the South East region
The format will be:
|
Time |
Activity |
|
2pm |
Welcome SEEC Director Sean McKee outlines purpose of the Forum |
|
2.05pm |
Overview BoE Agent Andrew Holder provides update on BoE economic outlook |
|
2.15pm |
Discussion SEEC Chair Cllr Roy Perry facilitates participant dialogue |
|
2.55pm |
Conclusions Sean McKee draws the Forum towards a close |
Areas for reflection
The discussion will be wide-ranging, though Andrew Holder has asked if participants could also give some thought to matters in their areas related to:
- How local economies are faring as restrictions have eased over recent months?
- As government support schemes taper off, how large are risks of widespread business failures or unemployment?
- Which parts of the economy may face greater risks or pressures?
- Are councils changing their plans for resourcing or investment strategy because of the pandemic?
It may be useful to reflect on indicators of change in local areas such as closure of premises in retail or commercial fields, reduced revenues from charges, fees, and levies etc.
Proceedings
SEEC looks forward to a good discussion. In order to foster a good exchange of views, the forum will be conducted to a degree under the Chatham House Rule – SEEC will not be maintaining a note of what specific points were raised by an individual (or identifying a particular authority).
The BoE Agent himself may choose to follow-up on points raised by you afterwards.
