Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) must keep a central role in the developing devolution landscape, if they are to realise the potential leverage of £16bn from private sector investors, and help business create 750,000 new jobs by 2021, the LEP Summit heard this week.
The 39 LEPs in England, all led by business, are working with local partners on devolution deals aimed at accelerating economic growth and creating new jobs. LEPs know economic geographies well and their private sector leadership is delivering solutions that meet business needs.
Opening the LEP Summit, Baroness Williams of Trafford, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, said: “LEPs have forged excellent relationships between local businesses and local government that have added significant economic value in local economies across England. With LEPs on course to deliver £16 billion in private investment and 750,000 new jobs in the next five years, they play a vital role in unlocking economic growth and creating jobs.
“Business led LEPs will continue to have a critical role in shaping and implementing devolution deals. Of the 38 devolution proposals received so far, by far the strongest are those which have the clear support of their local business community.”
The summit showcased businesses that are already benefiting from the impact of LEPs in creating that economic competitiveness and prosperity.
Jonathan Browning, Chairman of the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership, said the area had benefited from £300 million of funding support and £330 million of private investment.
“The figures presented at the LEP Summit underline the massive impact which LEPs are making to businesses and their areas,” he said. “This is already being seen by the launch of the Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Hub and the start of developments such as Friargate and J12 of the M40.
“LEPs have a vital role to play in creating jobs and boosting the economy as well as bringing a significant business voice to the devolution debate.
“By being at the heart of devolution deals, LEPs will accelerate economic growth which will lead to new jobs and improved infrastructure.”
A report earlier this month by the manufacturers organisation EEF, who joined the devolution panel at the LEP Summit, called for the Devolution Bill to give greater powers and an “enhanced role” to Local Enterprise Partnerships.
Recently, local government think tank Localis published research on the role of LEPs in devolution. It showed that, if LEPs get the devolution they have requested, England could be contributing an extra £144bn a year to the economy by 2020. They pointed to an English economy worth £1,600bn if the present level of devolution is maintained, but if LEPs get the powers and funds that they have requested from central government, the English economy is expected to be worth £1,744bn by 2020.
The 39 Local Enterprise Partnerships in England bring the Private and Public Sectors together to drive local economic growth from the bottom up. The LEP Network links these 39 bodies through their Chairs and Executives, with the aim of sharing best practice and learning across LEPs to maximise the impact of the network as a whole. We act further as a two-way conduit with Central Government on network-wide strategic issues relating to the generation of more jobs and growth in the economy.
