We had some doubts about the abolition of regional development agencies by the then Coalition Government, which led to the creation of local enterprise partnerships (LEPs).
These were envisioned as growth agents to lead the country’s long-term economic recovery.
A decade on, we now face the axing of LEPs following five years of uncertainty and prevarication – a great cruelty to their thousands of dedicated employees.
There have been justifiable concerns about the lack of consistency of their role, the variable democratic accountability, and uneven regional outcomes, but there are very many examples of success and innovation, especially when LEPs and local authorities are fully integrated.
“We have a government obsessed with the reinvention of the wheel”
Is there sufficient justification for the announcement that they will be consigned to the dustbin of failed top-down economic meddling, with the associated costs of staff redundancies and dismantling of large independent organisations?
We have a government obsessed with the reinvention of the wheel, chopping and changing things that we are trying to make the best of.
Rather than investing in identifying best practice and learning from mistakes to put things right, government continues to advocate for top-down structures – bypassing councils when there are exemplar models of local government and the private sector working well to deliver the growth this government promotes.
It is local councils, working with the business sector, that are best placed to create jobs, revitalise our high streets and town centres, work with businesses, large and small, lead on major projects that regenerate communities, and boost economic growth in our areas.