News Release issued by
the COI News Distribution Service on 07 September 2010
The commitment and
ambition shown by councils and business to radically reshape the
way business and government interact at the local level was
praised by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles and Business
Secretary Vince Cable today.
Following the closing day for submitting local enterprise
partnership proposals the Government confirmed that it has
received 56 proposals from across the country.
Ministers have been impressed by many of the proposals which are
radical in their approach. They identify the variety of challenges
facing individual local economies and put forward innovative ways
of tackling them – reflecting the importance of allowing local
areas to determine their own economic development and drive
private sector job growth.
The Government is keen to see partnerships remain proactive and
maintain momentum. Over the coming weeks Ministers will consider
the proposals in detail, looking at how they will support economic
growth, before providing feedback to partnerships ahead of the
publication of the White Paper on sub-national economic growth and
the introduction of the Localism Bill.
Tackling the debt crisis and rebalancing the economy are urgent
national priorities.
Local enterprise partnerships can rewrite the economic geography
of the country - unconstrained by arbitrary boundaries of Regional
Development Agencies and the top-down prescription approach taken
previously. Proposals include partnerships that cut across
existing regional boundaries and include universities or community
groups among them.
Eric Pickles said:
“These 56 local enterprise partnership proposals are just the
beginning of a new radical way of delivering prosperity and
rebalancing the economy.
“We are facing economic problems that need solutions from local
communities. The secret to the success of local enterprise
partnerships will be working on the basis of local economic
geography – gone are the artificial political regions of RDAs -
this will better serve the needs of local business.
“The bureaucracy of Regional Development Agencies gave local
authorities little reason to engage creatively with economic
issues. Local enterprise partnerships are a way of tying council
and business interests together, and creating the conditions for
business to thrive and prosper.”
Vince Cable said:
“Business leadership in local enterprise partnerships is
critical. Mark Prisk and I have met many leading groups including
the CBI, the Institute of Directors, the Federation of Small
Businesses, and the British Chambers of Commerce who have all
contributed their thoughts to how it should work. It is clear that
there must be genuine partnership between business and local
government and that local enterprise partnerships should be
practical bodies for promoting enterprise, not talking shops.
“Trade and investment promotion, sector leadership, innovation,
business support and access to finance will in future be led
nationally, though with devolved local management in many cases.
This still leaves huge scope for local initiatives to promote
enterprise. The outcome will vary just as local economic
priorities differ across the country. In some areas, there might
be a focus on skills. In others, local enterprise partnerships may
help set priorities for planning and infrastructure decisions. The
key is that these partnerships are built from the bottom-up and
will have the flexibility to determine their own agenda, rather
than have it handed down to them by Whitehall.”
Yesterday was also the closing date for the consultation on the
Regional Growth Fund. Announced in the Budget, the £1bn fund will
provide support for projects that offer significant potential for
sustainable economic growth and can create new private sector
jobs. The two-year fund will particularly help areas that have
been traditionally reliant on the public sector make the
transition to private sector growth and prosperity. Proposals for
funding will be sought from private organisations and
public-private partnerships, and local enterprise partnerships
will have a key role to play in coordinating bids across areas and
communities.
Around 350 responses to the consultation were received, from
organisations including trade associations, business groups, local
authorities, universities and, environmental bodies, setting out
their views on how the Fund can be designed to best meet the needs
of local areas and communities. The Government’s response to those
views and further criteria for funding proposals will be set out
in the forthcoming White Paper.
Notes to Editors
1. The full list of local enterprise partnership proposals is as follows:
Bexley, Dartford, and Gravesham
Birmingham and Solihull with
East Staffordshire, Lichfield and Tamworth
Bournemouth, Dorset
and Poole
Brighton and Hove, Croydon, the Gatwick Diamond and
West Sussex - Coast to Capital
Cheshire and
Warrington
County Durham
Coventry and
Warwickshire
Cumbria
Devon, Plymouth and Torbay
East
Anglia (Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and North Essex)
East
Sussex
Empowering Enterprise - Cornwall and the Isles of
Scilly
Enterprise M3 - Covers parts of Hampshire and Surrey
including Andover, Basingstoke, Aldershot, Farnborough, Fleet,
Hook and Camberley
Fylde Coast, Lancashire
Gatwick
Diamond
Gloucester, Swindon and Wiltshire
Greater
Cambridge & Greater Peterborough
Greater
Lincolnshire
Greater Manchester
Hampshire
Heart of the
South West
Hertfordshire
Hull, East Riding &
Scarborough
Humber
Kent and
Medway
Kent-Essex
Lancashire
Leeds City
Region
Leicester and Leicestershire
Liverpool City
Region
Newcastle Gateshead
Norfolk
North
East
Northamptonshire
Northumberland and North
Tyneside
Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, Derby and
Derbyshire
Oxfordshire City Region
Pennine
Lancashire
Sheffield City Region
Solent
South East
Midlands
South Somerset and East Devon
South Tyneside and
Sunderland
Stoke-on -Trent and Staffordshire
Surrey
Connects
Tees Valley
Thames Valley Berkshire
Thames
Valley Buckinghamshire
The Black Country
The Marches
Enterprise Partnership - Shropshire and Herefordshire
The Peel
Group - Atlantic Gateway - Liverpool and Manchester
Visitor
Economy Southern England
West Midlands
West of
England
Worcestershire
York and North Yorkshire
2. Three distinct responses in respect to cross boundary
working arrangements have also been received from Peak District,
South East England and West Leicestershire and Northern Warwickshire
3. In June Business Secretary Vince Cable and Communities
Secretary Eric Pickles have asked councils and businesses to
consider forming new local enterprise partnerships: http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/newsroom/1626475
4. The joint letter to councils can be found at: http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/localgovernment/pdf/1626854.pdf
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