New look as axe set to fall on agencies (From Swindon Advertiser)

New look as axe set to fall on agencies

7:50pm Wednesday 8th September 2010 in

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BUSINESS and local government is going to be radically reshaped with the scrapping of regional development agencies.

They will be replaced by local enterprise partnerships – and there have been 56 proposals for those from across the country, says the Government.

In Swindon and Wiltshire, which was under the remit of the South West RDA, submission has been submitted for Swindon, Gloucester and Wiltshire, by GWE Business West, while Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce group, which hopes to look after an area from Swindon to Heathrow.

Christina Howell, head of external affairs at the Thames Valley group, said: “This is stage one of the Government plan and we will have a better idea of what is going on when stage two is completed.”

Ian Larrard, director of the initiative in Swindon, said: “GWE Business West is extremely pleased to have been included within the detailed discussions concerning the Gloucestershire, Swindon and Wiltshire LEP proposal, and we have been heavily involved in the drafting process.”

Mr Larrard said that an LEP in this area would enable growth and would build links with neighbouring partnerships on various issues.

Ministers will now consider the proposals in detail, looking at how they will support economic growth, before providing feedback to partnerships ahead of the publication of the White Paper on sub-national economic growth and the introduction of the Localism Bill.

Interaction at the local level has been praised by communities secretary Eric Pickles and business secretary Vince Cable Mr Pickles said: “The secret to the success of local enterprise partnerships will be working on the basis of local economic geography – gone are the artificial political regions of RDAs – this will better serve the needs of local business.

“These 56 local enterprise partnership proposals are just the beginning of a new radical way of delivering prosperity and rebalancing the economy.

“The bureaucracy of regional development agencies gave local authorities little reason to engage creatively with economic issues.

“Local enterprise partnerships are a way of tying council and business interests together, and creating the conditions for business to thrive and prosper.”

Around 350 responses to the consultation were received. The Government’s response to those views and further criteria for funding proposals will be set out in the forthcoming White Paper.