LEP approved for Lancs – but not Blackburn

THE Government has approved plans for a local enterprise partnership (LEP) covering all of Lancashire apart from Blackburn with Darwen.

In October three separate bids from the county from Lancashire County Council, Pennine Lancashire and Blackpool & Fylde were knocked back by the Government.

At the same time bids from Greater Manchester, Liverpool, Cumbria, Cheshire and Warrington were approved and those LEPs have now appointed boards and are up and running.

The Government devised LEPs as a replacement for the regional development agencies which are being wound down and will be abolished next year.

The Lancashire LEP, which includes Lancashire and Blackpool councils, said talks were continuing to include Blackburn with Darwen Council but did not say why it was not part of the original application.

Geoff Driver, leader of Lancashire County Council, said: “It’s good news that we can now proceed with getting a LEP in place and our focus has already shifted to scheduling the first board meeting as soon as possible. We want to work with business to protect and create tens of thousands of new jobs in Lancashire over the next decade and the LEP will have a key role in making this possible.

“A big plus in receiving approval at this stage is that the LEP will be able to put together a bid to form an Enterprise Zone in th e next round of applications.”

Representatives from BAE, Westinghouse, BT, Enterprise, Booths and Merlin have been invited on to the interim board.

Babs Murphy, chief executive of the North & Western Lancashire Chamber of Commerce, said: “The chamber helped to develop and support the idea of one Local Enterprise Partnership for Lancashire from the outset. We are delighted that the bid has been successful.

“The LEP should put business right at the heart of the plans for future economic growth. The news will help transform the economic geography of the county.

“Now that it has been given the green light, we look forward to working closely with the LEP making sure that business helps shape the future economic prosperity of the county. It will create a new local energy that will encourage economic growth and protect business with proper local accountability.”