The RDA is dead, long live the LEP
by David Carter on 24 June 2010
In times such as these, businesses can greatly benefit from financial support to help them grow and manage their operations, especially with the current challenges of obtaining funding from banks. Successive governments keep trying to find the best way to go about providing this support.
In a move that came as a surprise to few, George Osborne confirmed in his emergency budget that the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) are to be scrapped and replaced by Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), with details to be published in a white paper this summer.
The RDAs were set up by the previous government to work with local businesses to help employment, business development and skills. They have been criticised for the way the distribute funds and for failing to close regional divides.
The Taxpayers Alliance, which represents some taxpayers, described the agencies as an "unnecessary and expensive layer of bureaucracy that stifles genuine private enterprise". It said that too many grants went to public bodies, and it criticised the support RDAs give to big firms with large turnovers.
In his Budget speech, Mr Osborne said a new approach was needed "that empowers local leadership, generates local economic growth, and promotes job creation in all parts of the country including Wales and Scotland".
The government said LEPs will be based around England's major cities and natural economic areas to enable improved co-ordination of public and private investment in housing, transport, skills, regeneration and other areas of economic development. A Treasury spokeswoman said that "local leaders" would be involved in the new partnerships, bringing the advantage of understanding the particular needs of each area.
Let’s hope that the new LEPs will succeed in providing the investment and support that UK businesses need.
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