Ministers urged to heed the voice of business when creating new enterprise partnerships

Paul Jeeves

MINISTERS are being warned that they should back “only the very best” bids to create new Local Enterprise Partnerships, the bodies which will replace regional development agencies like Yorkshire Forward.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will receive detailed blueprints from businesses and local authorities for a network of Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs).

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However, the Institute of Directors has written to Business Secretary Vince Cable and Communities Secretary Eric Pickles to express concern.

The director-general of the IoD, Miles Templeman, has set out key principles against which his organisation believes any bid to create an LEP should be judged, including the need to forge a “balanced” partnership between local authorities and the private sector.

Mr Templeman said: “The private sector has strong views on the way that LEPs should operate and we are increasingly concerned that in some areas the views of business are not being taken into account.

“Let’s be clear – the Government should back only the very best LEP collaborations and there should be no rush to grant permission to every proposal received.

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“We believe that each proposed LEP should only go ahead if it has critical mass in terms of size, is supported by the vast majority of business bodies based locally, and focussed on the issues of transport, infrastructure and planning development.

“If these conditions are not met by bids and business is not given a central role in the governance of each new LEP, the Government must be willing to say no on a case by case basis.”

The possibility of using an LEP to secure funding for projects by steel firm Forgemasters has already started in Sheffield, after an 80m loan promised by Labour was withdrawn by the coalition Government.

Sheffield Council leader Paul Scriven has confirmed one option would be to utilise the 1bn regional growth fund, which may be administered by LEPS. Coun Scriven said he had discussed the Forgemasters proposals with Deputy Prime Minister and Sheffield Hallam MP Nick Clegg.

LEPs are expected to be operating by April next year.

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