Leeds City Region Week: LEP leader outlines vision for success
THE chairman of the Leeds City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has said the body needs clear priorities to succeed and has called on the public and private sectors to work together to make that happen.
Neil McLean told an audience of business leaders at international property conference MIPIM that despite the LEP not having direct planning powers or funding, he believed it could make a positive difference to the Yorkshire economy.
Speaking at a panel discussion event organised by the Leeds City Region focusing on how LEPs can create a better environment for business, Mr McLean said it was vital the Leeds LEP was clear from the outset on what it wanted to achieve.
He described the LEP as a vehicle for growth and said he hoped with a clear strategy, achieveable priorities, which it was now formulating, and by being agile, it could win alternative sources of funding for the benefit of the Leeds City Region.
Possible approaches include working to help businesses, local authorities and other bodies invest Regional Growth Fund cash, explore Tax Increment Financing and working with the public sector to drive positive returns by “sweating” the billions of pounds worth of assets across the city region.
But he acknowledged that without clear priorities the LEP could fail.
Other panellists at the event, chaired by TheBusinessDesk.com’s Editor, David Parkin, were Robin Dobson, director of retail development at property developer Hammerson, Richard Lewis, group property director at Leeds-based Town Centre Securities, and Martin Farrington, director of city development at Leeds City Council.
LEPs are the vehicles designed to replace regional development agencies such as Yorkshire Forward.
However, Mr McLean said it was important to stress that unlike RDAs, LEPs did not have “funding or powers”.
He said: “The LEPs are charged with economic regeneration and that will mean different things for different people. For the Leeds City Region that means there’s a huge economy made up of 11 local authorities. That’s a pretty huge economic entity and this is the largest LEP outside London.
“We have to bring the public and private sectors together to grow businesses. We need to work on the world stage. I’m not sure we are at the moment.
“We’re going to focus very much on the delivery of the priorities. We need to get on with it quickly and I believe as a combined entity we can do that.
“But we need input from the commercial market. That’s the only way of getting the LEP to do what the commercial world thinks needs to be done.”
Mr Lewis called on the business community to back the LEP and warned that without its support the LEP could not succeed.
Mr Dobson said Hammerson had experienced examples of when public-private partnerships had worked but said without direct powers he was concerned at how effective LEPs could be.
But he acknowledged that with the Leeds LEP already having named its board and formulating its strategy it was ahead of other LEPs.
“You need a clear structure you can deliver against and have realistic deliverables,” he added.
Mr Lewis agreed: “The LEP is a fantastic opportunity. The Leeds City Region is way ahead of some of the other LEPs. It’s up to us to get the momentum behind it so the Government takes it seriously.”
Mr Farrington said “collaboration was key” and said the public and private sectors had to come together to provide “a single voice”.
Mr McLean said wherever possible he wanted the Leeds LEP to work with, rather than against, other LEPs such as Sheffield but acknowledged there would be instances when different LEPs would be competing against each other.
He added that he believed LEPs could influence region-wide matters, such as transport and infrastructure.
