Calls for radical devolution of powers and funds to LEPs

A NEW report published today recommends a radical and accelerated devolution of powers to LEPs to deal with the widening economic divide.

Labour’s former treasury and housing minister John Healey MP has co-written the publication with Les Newby, the ex-director of Yorkshire Futures.

The report, Making Local Economies Matter, published by the Smith Institute and launched at KPMG in Leeds today, reviews the policy lessons from the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) and Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and concludes that more jobs, growth and wealth generated locally are a vital part of a balanced economy.

In a joint foreword, Ed Balls MP and Lord Andrew Adonis back the report and welcome its clear insights. They say it provides a bedrock of evidence on which to build future growth policy.

The report argues for a fresh commitment to stronger support for England’s local economies and that active policies to promote economic development at local and regional level are essential. It shows that RDA achievements compare well against the LEPs that replaced them, and reveals that from 2000 to 2010 the poorer English regions were able to achieve almost the same rate of GVA growth as the prosperous regions but since 2010 early data show the gap in growth rates is five times greater. 

However, the report concludes that going back to square one will not succeed and that rather than sweeping away the current structures it recommends drawing on the experience of both RDAs and LEPs to make LEPs fit for the future.

The report calls for fewer, stronger, business-led LEPs – with extra powers, larger independent funds and a common sense approach to the areas they cover.  It also proposes that there should be joint local government sign-off on the LEP’s economic strategy to unlock substantial single pot of funds.  And to guarantee clear accountability in Westminster, a single Government department should have responsibility for LEPs.

John Healey said: “Now that growth has finally returned, the central challenge is how to build a balanced and lasting recovery across the whole country. For the next Labour government, jobs and growth generated locally must be an essential part of economic policy.

“The Tory-led Government’s scrapping of Regional Development Agencies was hugely damaging to local economies, and the Local Enterprise Partnerships which replaced them remain deeply flawed.

“It is clear that regions and cities need a better framework to support businesses and local economic growth but going back to square one with each change of Government is no recipe for success.

“Our report provides the blueprint for a new generation of economic policies designed to boost local and regional economic development.

“The next generation of business-led LEPs must be stronger and cover areas which actually make economic sense.  And Ministers must make sure that LEPs have the extra powers and funds they need to deliver a better balanced recovery and stronger growth across the country.”