Launched to replace the Regional Development Agencies of England, Local Enterprise Partnerships are beginning to take shape. When launched Communities Secretary Eric Pickles and Business Secretary Vince Cable called for the joint local authority bodies to tackle the issues surrounding planning, housing, local transport and infrastructure improvements. The proposals for the new L.E.P.s are due to be submitted on 6 September.
While the exact make up of these new bodies remains unconfirmed, a picture is emerging of what geographic form they will take. Many have simply opted to use the existing county boundaries. This is without doubt easier to pursue and less controversial, but it may not be the most appropriate economic area. For example the potential of a Thames Valley authority containing Reading, Swindon and Oxford appears to have very little support, despite these natural links being a good argument against dividing the area by the old regions. In some instances where one authority sought to form cross-county alliance they found a lack of support from the neighbouring authorities. According to the Local Government Chronicle this was the case for both Leicester and Peterborough, where in both instances it now looks likely that the proposals will be rather less radical.
Writing for the Local Government Chronicle Allister Hayman notes “In recent weeks it has become increasingly clear that in some regions councils are becoming engaged in increasingly fractious disputes about who they ought to partner with as they put together LEP proposals ahead of the 6 September deadline.”
Nick Webb of Meeting Place Communications commented: “It is interesting to see local authorities trying to define which of their neighbours they feel they have a strong economic bond with. For some, such as Greater Manchester, the geography for the LEP was obvious from day one. However, for the more rural settings there is a real risk that the LEP will be too small to punch its weight when it comes to fighting to bring new business and infrastructure improvements to the area”.
GWE Business West has published and update on progress on its website. It states the following are work in progress :
North East - 2 or 3 LEPs
· The prospect of a single regional LEP has faded after Tees Valley Unlimited decided to push ahead with its own proposal for a Teesside partnership, leaving the Tyne & Wear City region to either go alone or joining with Durham and Northumberland.
North West - 6 or 7 LEPS
· Cumbria
· Blackpool & Fylde Coast
· Central Lancashire
· Merseyside
· Pennine & Lancashire
· Greater Manchester
· Cheshire & Warrington
· Plus - the sub-regions are committed to retaining ‘some form’ of residual regional body to take on high level strategic functions and make the case for investment in the NW
Yorkshire & Humber - 4 LEPs
· Leeds City Region: has agreed to submit proposal based on existing geography (including three districts in north Yorkshire and York) rather than a West Yorkshire partnership as has been reported.
· North Yorkshire (York may choose to sit in both North Yorkshire and Leeds City region LEP*)
· Hull & Humber Ports
· Sheffield City Region (Barnsley will sit in both Leeds and Sheffield LEPs*)
· Plus - like the NW the LEPs may also create a residual regional body
West Midlands - 6 LEPs
· Greater Birmingham (Solihull has yet to decide whether to join this or Coventry
and Warwickshire, and may decide to sit in both)
· Black Country (Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall, Wolverhampton)
· Herefordshire, Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin
· Worcestershire
· Staffordshire with Stoke
· Coventry & Warwickshire (possibly including Solihull)
East Midlands - 3 LEPs
· Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire
· Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire
· Lincolnshire (also in discussions with North Lincolnshire and possibly Hull & Humber)
South West - 3+ LEPS
· Devon & Cornwall
· Greater Bristol
· Bournemouth Dorset & Poole
· Wiltshire and Gloucestershire in discussions, with a range of possible options
· Somerset not clear
Greater South East - 10+ LEPs
· Here things are most messy and uncertain, with county councils courting unitaries to form LEPs based on traditional county council boundaries. Cambridgeshire, for example, is courting Peterborough, but Peterborough wants to form its own LEP with its hinterland, which would include South Holland, Fenland, East Northamptonshire.
· The Partnership for Urban South Hampshire has submitted a bid, while Suffolk, Hertfordshire, and Surrey, are understood to be pursuing single county LEPs.
· Kent may form a LEP with Medway, Norfolk with Norwich, and East and West Sussex are expected to submit a LEP including Hastings and Brighton.
· Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire may join, perhaps with Slough, Reading, and other
unitaries. Milton Keynes, Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Luton may also form a LEP.
Sources and recommended further reading:
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