City region starts LEP recruitment
THE recruitment process for a chairman and board members for a new local enterprise partnership in Sheffield has begun even though the Government has yet to give the official go-ahead.
The chairman’s post will be a paid two-day-a-month role while the board members will be expected to attend monthly meetings in return for travel expenses only. A website set up to market the roles says the LEP board will decide the chairman’s pay once appointed.
A Sheffield City Council spokesman suggested the city region could go ahead with a LEP-style body even if the idea did not immediately receive Government backing.
But the move to appoint the LEP chairman and board adds to the growing momentum behind the Sheffield city region proposal. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, a Sheffield MP, has already publicly offered his support and Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has suggested two applications from Yorkshire are among the frontrunners to get the go-ahead.
In a letter accompanying the adverts for the new roles, Martin Havenhand chairman of the Sheffield City Region Forum describes the area as having “many economic assets as well as challenges” with the LEP offering “an opportunity to work very differently with local and national Government than in the past.”
“Being part of this board presents an excellent opportunity to extend the collaboration of the past and to stimulate effective and efficient change, led by business,” he says.
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In addition to the six posts being offered publicly, the board will include a vice-chancellor from one of the area’s universities and the leaders of seven local authorities.
A Sheffield City Council spokesman said: “We are starting the ball rolling so we are ready to move once we have got a decision. If we are knocked back we may go down our own route working with partners in the sub-region.”
