Question mark over future of AWM
A HUGE question mark remains today over the future of West Midlands regional development agency Advantage West Midlands following an announcement by the new coalition Government that such bodies are to be scrapped – except in areas where they are popular.
The ambiguity of the statement has left many confused about what is likely to happen to the agency, which plays such a crucial role in the economic development of the region.
In the policy document, entitled The Coalition: Our programme for government, the section on Business contains a specific reference to the future of RDAs.
It states: “We will support the creation of Local Enterprise Partnerships – joint local authority-business bodies brought forward by local authorities themselves to promote local economic development – to replace Regional Development Agencies (RDAs). These may take the form of existing RDAs in areas where they are popular.”
With the document also mentioning the abolition of the network of Government Offices around the region, concerns are growing about who will end up administering economic development policy.
Advantage West Midlands refused to be drawn on its future today; instead issuing a bland statement saying it wanted to work with the new Government.
It said: “We are looking forward to working with new Ministers, to understand their priorities for the future and to provide any support we can in helping them realise their aspirations for the West Midlands – through encouraging innovation and enterprise and supporting emerging industries to help grow the West Midlands economy.
“Advantage West Midlands has a strong history of working closely with our local authority partners and has strong support from the region’s business organisations.”
To justify its economic performance, the agency added: “Independent assessments have shown that Advantage West Midlands is a strongly performing organisation that has achieved a return of £8 for every £1 it has invested.”
In the run-up to the election, the Conservatives were accused of dithering over what they intended doing with the RDA network.
Then Shadow Business Secretary Kenneth Clarke said that the new LEPs would comprise an equal number of representatives from the local authority and the business community, with the bodies chaired by a leading local business champion.
However, there was criticism that many of the local authorities lacked the level of expertise compared to the RDAs and that policy would be fragmented as a result.
Many business leaders are also opposed to the idea of further bureaucracy, preferring instead to get on with the running of their businesses free of more red tape.
West Midlands Chambers of Commerce said it was concerned about the situation.
Simon Topman, WMCC chairman, said the removal of RDAs would take away a vital component to business development across the region.
“We need a regional voice and if indeed RDAs are to go, then a powerful body capable of linking the disparate elements of our region together, needs to be found,” he said.
“Advantage West Midlands has fulfilled its role with success. It is high time we learn to recognise a successful organisation and leave them in place to continue their good work and not change them every few years just because a new government arrives.
“Business needs consistency if it is to thrive. We should remember the old American adage, ‘if it aint broke don’t fix it’.”
Jerry Blackett, chief executive of Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, said his body would be urging local authorities to retain the best features of AWM in the new LEP, particularly the strategic perspective on regional economic growth.
“We do think there are efficiencies to be found in abundance by streamlining the unnecessary number of Whitehall planted outposts for central government functions.
“Combining agencies to share back office services, for example, seems an obvious thing to do. However, that is not the same as stripping out the capability to create and drive regional economic priorities,” he said.
