Extra funding and increased diversity form part of LEP shake-up

Extra funding is to become available as part of proposals for Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) to “supercharge” economic growth and drive forward local business investment.

The publication of the  Strengthened Local Enterprise Partnerships review sees government bring forward reforms to the leadership, governance and accountability of the 38 LEPs nationwide.

The review proposes changes to boost the performance of LEPs, increase diversity and ensure they’re operating in an open and transparent way. These include:

• up to £20m of additional funding between 2018 to 2019 and 2019 to 2020 to support the implementation of these changes and embed evidence in Local Industrial Strategies
• supporting LEPs to consult widely and transparently on appointing new Chairs and improve board diversity
• a requirement for women to make up at least one third of LEP boards by 2020 with the expectation of equal representation by 2023
• a mandate for LEPs to submit proposals for revised geographies including removing situations in which 2 LEP geographies overlap

Roger Marsh, chair of the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership, said: “We welcome the Government’s continued commitment to local enterprise partnerships as effective vehicles for driving inclusive economic growth which benefits all our communities and this represents the logical next step of their development.

“It is important LEPs are ready for the opportunities and challenges ahead and we will be consulting widely and working constructively with our regional partners to agree the best way forward.

“The Government has rightly given areas the opportunity to determine their own arrangements and we intend to respond positively and quickly with proposals that address the review’s recommendations in a way that delivers for the region.”

Local Growth Minister, Jake Berry MP, said: “We’ve committed over £9 billion to help LEPs through 3 rounds of Growth Deals to deliver on their investment priorities, while creating new and exciting economic opportunities for local businesses and communities across the country.

“This landmark shake-up of our local enterprise partnerships will help us deliver on our pledge to deliver over £12 billion through the Local Growth Fund by 2021 while allowing LEPs to use their local knowledge to deliver inclusive growth.”