Govt begins to size up LEP bids
THE coalition Government will today publish a list of all the applications to form the Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) that will replace the regional development agencies.
It is understood that eight separate bids have been submitted from the North West.
They typically cover established county boundaries with the exception of Lancashire where there are three bids.
The property and development group Peel Holdings has also submitted a bid covering its Atlantic Gateway plan, a band of proposed development along the Manchester Ship Canal.
A spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government said a statement would be issued once the deadline for bids had passed, on Monday evening.
As yet there is no clear timetable for the approval of the applications but the LEPs are expected to be up and running by September 2011. Communities secretary Eric Pickles and business secretary Vince Cable have said they will “select those that have the strongest commitment to enterprise and to working in partnership”.
The North West bidders are: Cumbria – Cumbria County Council and its six districts; Blackpool & Fylde Coast – Blackpool BC, Fylde BC and Wyre BC; Pennine Lancashire – Blackburn with Darwen BC, Pendle BC, Ribble Valley BC, Burnley BC, Hyndburn BC, Rossendale BC. Central Lancashire – Lancashire CC, Preston City Council, Lancaster City Council, South Ribble BC, Chorley BC, West Lancashire DC. Merseyside – Liverpool City Council, Sefton MBC, Knowsley MBC, St Helens MBC, Halton BC, Wirral MBC.
Greater Manchester – the 10 Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA); Cheshire – Warrington BC, Cheshire West & Chester Council, and Cheshire East Council; Peel Holdings, a property group, covering the area of the company’s Atlantic gateway development across Merseyside and Greater Manchester.
