Government ponders 56 LEP applications

THE GOVERNMENT said it has received 56 proposals to form Local Enterprise Partnerships, including the six expected in the area covered by Advantage West Midlands.

A seventh, labelled ‘West Midlands’ in a list released yesterday by  the Department of  Business Innovation and Skills is thought to refer to a submission from Business Voice West Midlands and West Midlands Councils calling for an over-arching mechanism to co-ordinate the work of LEPs within the region. A spokesman said yesterday the BVWM submission was not intended as a proposal for a single West Midlands LEP.

However, the group’s call for the West Midlands to retain leadership on sector issues such as manufacturing and aerospace seemed to be dashed by comments by Business Secretary Vince Cable.

He said: “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 government said councils and business had showed commitment and to radically reshape the way business and government interact at the local level.

LEP proposals submitted from the West Midlands and its neighbouring regions include:

• Birmingham and Solihull with East Staffordshire, Lichfield and Tamworth
• Coventry and Warwickshire
• Gloucester, Swindon and Wiltshire
• Leicester and Leicestershire
• Northamptonshire
• Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, Derby and Derbyshire
• Oxfordshire City Region
• South East Midlands
• Stoke-on -Trent and Staffordshire
• The Black Country
• The Marches Enterprise Partnership – Shropshire and Herefordshire
• West Midlands
• Worcestershire
• A response proposing cross-boundary working arrangements was also been received from West Leicestershire and Northern Warwickshire

• For a full list of all 56 proposals nationwide,click here

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, said a BIS spokesman.

Local government secretary Eric Pickles said:  “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.”

Business secretary Vince Cable said: “Business leadership in local enterprise partnerships is critical. 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.”