Working Groups

The Clean Growth Working Group was established to provide a strategic and coordinated approach to clean growth activities and interventions across the SELEP region, and to drive forward the implementation of the South2East Local Energy Strategy. Reducing carbon emissions whilst enabling economic growth, was the primary driver for the South2East Local Energy Strategy which was produced together with Coast to Capital and Enterprise M3 LEPs. This strategy is available below .

The working group is no longer operational.

The coastal communities working group brought together a partnership of 15 local authorities across Essex, Kent and East Sussex and SELEP. The group produced the Coastal Communities Economic Prospectus to set out its ambitions and key priorities to improve the coastal economy and make the case for sustained coastal investment in the south east. This is available below.

The group is no longer operational, with activities instead coordinated at a local authority level as appropriate.

View Prospectus

View Data Pack

Accelerating housing delivery was a key ambition in the original SELEP Strategic Economic Plan (SEP). This priority fed through into the 2019 Economic Strategy Statement and was a prominent feature of the ‘Communities for the Future’ priority area of the Economic and Renewal Strategy. The SELEP Housing and Development Group (HDG) was a business led forum established to promote opportunities to boost housing and commercial development, and also provided a platform to bring together colleagues from the Garden Communities across the SELEP area.

Partners, including the  developer group Chairs from East Sussex, Essex and Kent, are keen to continue to convene a South East HDG to exchange ideas and information and share best practice. For further information on future activities contact: brian@hortonstrategic.com

SELEP’s rural economy is a vibrant mix of traditional and innovative land-based businesses including farming, horticulture, viticulture, forestry and rural tourism. These sit alongside a broad range of non-rural businesses.

The Rural Working Group represented SELEP’s rural sector and met on a regular basis to discuss key issues, share priorities and developments and act as a strategic sounding board for the LEP. It had a broad-based membership representing the key sectors in this part of the economy. The group produced a Rural Strategy 2015-2021 which is available below.

The group will not meet on a SELEP geography in the future, with activities instead coordinated at a local authority level as appropriate.

The South East Creative Economy Network (SECEN) works to accelerate growth in the digital, creative and cultural sector. It was established as a working partnership between local authorities, creative businesses and education bodies across the SELEP area. SECEN is an open network which will continue to meet at a regional level and anyone working within the sector has the opportunity to join and attend meetings. Key documents commissioned by the group are also available to download below.

For further information please contact sarah.wren@kent.gov.uk

Creative Industries Report

Statement of Intent

The SELEP Social Enterprise Working Group was a cross sector partnership that worked collaboratively to promote social enterprises as significant providers of local and inclusive employment opportunities and deliver local impact. It aimed to develop the size and diversity of social enterprises by support them to start, sustain and scale. The group also produced a Social Enterprise Prospectus which is available below.

The group is no longer operational.​

See skills page

The U9 network was established to build regional university capacity by providing a platform to promote the higher education sector across the SELEP area. The group will continue to meet to share information and mobilise expertise in order to support the region’s priorities and those of the individual universities. For further information please contact abbie.kempe@canterbury.ac.uk