Redundancy on offer for staff

The RDA, which has seen its budget slashed by 40m by the Government, has invited staff to apply by August 3.

In two years the agency will be closed, and it is likely to be replaced by local enterprise partnerships between businesses and local authorities.

A spokeswoman said: "These are very difficult times for our staff and our focus is both on ensuring they are supported and that we can continue to safely deliver what is still a multi-million pound programme of work and an orderly transition, until our closure date of March 2012."