Enterprise scheme bids underfunded

TWO of Yorkshire’s new local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) have received the lowest percentages of requested Government start-up funding in the country.

By The Newsroom

Published 3rd Aug 2011, 07:00 BST

All 32 LEPs bid for a slice of a £5m fund set up by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) but the Leeds and Sheffield LEPs were only awarded 69 and 68 per cent of their bids respectively. Only five LEPs were awarded less than 90 per cent.

A BIS spokesman said they could not reveal how much money had been awarded to each LEP, but sources confirmed that despite their reduced offer, Leeds was still in the top five allocations.

Leeds West MP Rachel Reeves said: “This announcement from BIS highlights how businesses in Leeds are losing out as a result of the Conservative-led Government’s decision to cut too far and too fast.

“The Government has effectively cut funding for regional growth by two thirds – choking off the support needed for regions to grow and create the jobs our economy needs.”