Posted on by Paul M Tate

You need to read “After RDAs: Look before you LEP”

David Bailey in his Birmingham Post BusinessBlog has a very good discussion on what we all need to think about before we jump into replacing the RDA’s

BusinessBlog

After RDAs: Look before you LEP

By David Bailey on Jul 12, 10 11:10 PM in Economics

As days go by we begin to learn more about what the coalition government, now two months old, has in mind in terms of economic development across England.

Leave aside the fact that London can carry on as usual, along with Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, where there is no change to their development agencies. We’re talking of course of the English regions, or rather what replaces them.

What do we know so far?

The Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) that will replace the RDAs will, it seems, have to fund their own running costs, with LEPs bidding into a central pot of some £500 million a year (a quarter of what the RDAs had to work with).

And after Communities Secretary Eric Pickles won out in a Yes-Minister style Whitehall Turf War with Business Secretary Vince Cable, popular RDAs in The North East and West Midlands won’t after all be able to continue. They’re being scrapped, lock, stock and barrel.

As I’ve said in earlier blogs, that’s a mistake as there is much expertise in RDAs like Advantage West Midlands (AWM) which could be used to join up the work of sub-regional LEPs.

And even if a LEP’s territory actually maps that of an old RDA, sadly much of the RDAs’ former work will head back to Whitehall anyway.

…… the rest is here:

http://blogs.birminghampost.net/business/2010/07/after-rdas-look-before-you-lep.html

Should it disappear I have saved it here ……

pdf After RDA’s look before you lep pdf

2 Replies to “You need to read “After RDAs: Look before you LEP””

  1. ICAEW Chief Executive Michael Izza seems to agree with the above as well

    http://www.icaew.com/index.cfm/route/172810/icaew_ga/en/Home/Press_and_policy/Press_releases/RDA_successors_must_be_business_led_to_succeed_says_ICAEW

    Commenting on today’s confirmation that Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) will be abolished, ICAEW chief executive Michael Izza said:

    “To succeed, Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) must be strongly business-led. ICAEW has long recommended greater business participation in RDAs, and the new LEPs offer a chance to strengthen co-operation between the public and private sectors in backing regional economic growth.

    “LEPs should be chaired by a strong local business person, and LEP boards must include a significant proportion of business representatives. ICAEW will shortly publish further recommendations on how LEPs should be set up, and we will be contributing our members’ expertise on regional business support to advise local and national government.

    “A private sector-led economic recovery must be driven by business across the country, not just in the south east. Tax breaks for new employees in the regions will help this, but business support structures have a key role to play too, and they work best when driven by the priorities of local businesses.”

  2. yayyy my local MP agrees with me (in principal)

    Oral Answers to Questions – Communities and Local Government: Topical Questions (15 Jul 2010)
    http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2010-07-15a.1083.2&s=speaker%3A10023#g1083.5
    Tony Baldry: When the RDAs are scrapped, will some of the money saved be available to help fund local enterprise partnerships? For far too long, Banbury has been at the edge of three RDAs. We want a local enterprise partnership which puts Banbury where it rightly belongs-at the heart of England.

    Eric Pickles (Secretary of State, Communities and Local Government; Brentwood and Ongar, Conservative)
    I have always felt that Banbury was indeed at the heart of England. Of course, the local enterprise partnerships will give an opportunity for local authorities, business and academic institutions to coalesce around a genuine economic area. We will ensure that they have an opportunity to bring prosperity to that very fine town.

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