Government gives green light to London LEP
The proposed Local Economic Partnership (LEP) covering the greater London area has been approved by the government.
The board of the new LEP – to be called the London Enterprise Partnership - will be co-chaired by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson and a thus far unnamed “leading business person”.
The majority of seats on the board will be given to business leaders from across London, representatives of London's growth and employment sectors and pan-London Business Leadership organisations. It will also include three borough leaders (to be proposed by London Councils) and third sector and higher education institutions.
The government said that the London Enterprise Partnership will work “in the context of” the Mayor's Economic Development Strategy, the aims of which are:
- promoting London as the world capital of business
- ensuring that London has the most competitive business environment in the world
- making London one of the world's leading low carbon capitals
- increasing economic opportunity; and
- maximising the return from investment in the 2012 Olympic Games
The London Enterprise Partnership also promised to pilot and develop proposals for new and innovative ways of raising public finance and aims to “create new opportunities that build on London's knowledge base and its world-class Higher Education Institutions”. It will work closely with the Kent, Essex and East Sussex partnership in also driving the growth of the Thames Gateway, through the new Thames Gateway Strategic Group.
Full details of the LEP can be found at the following link: LondonEnterprisePartnership
The London LEP is the 31st to be given the go-ahead by the government, which said today that that 87% of the UK population is now covered by a proposed or approved LEP. The full list is:
* Black Country
* Birmingham and Solihull with E. Staffordshire, Lichfield and Tamworth
* Cheshire and Warrington
* Coast to Capital
* Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly
* Coventry and Warwickshire
* Cumbria
* Enterprise M3
* Gt. Cambridge and Gt. Peterborough
* Greater Manchester
* Hertfordshire
* Kent, Greater Essex and East Sussex
* Leeds City Region
* Leicester and Leicestershire
* Lincolnshire
* Liverpool City Region
* London Enterprise Partnership
* New Anglia
* North Eastern
* Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, Derby and Derbyshire
* Oxfordshire City Region
* Sheffield City Region
* Solent
* South East Midlands
* Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire
* Tees Valley
* Thames Valley Berkshire
* The Marches
* West of England
* Worcestershire
* York and North Yorkshire
LEPs are set to replace Regional Development Agencies and according to the the Local Growth White Paper, will be able to consider a diverse range of roles including:
* working with Government to set out key investment priorities, including transport infrastructure
* coordinating proposals or bidding directly for the Regional Growth Fund
* supporting high growth businesses, for example through involvement in bids to run the new growth hubs
* participation in the development of national planning policy and ensuring business is involved in the consideration of strategic planning applications
* lead changes in how businesses are regulated locally
* strategic housing delivery, including pooling and aligning funding streams
* working with local employers, Jobcentre Plus and learning providers to help local workless people into jobs
* coordinating approaches to leverage funding from the private sector
* exploring opportunities for developing incentives on renewable energy projects and Green Deal
* involvement in the delivery of other national priorities such as digital infrastructure
Decentralisation Minister, Greg Clark said: "I'm delighted to be able to invite London to begin appointing its local enterprise partnership board today. This partnership has the ambition, big ideas and clout needed to create economic growth in the capital from the ground up. We are continuing to put London's future firmly in the hands of Londoners.
"Nearly 90 per cent of the population now has a local enterprise partnership set to promote jobs and prosperity in their local area. This is a testament to the ideas, ambition and innovation you can find at the grassroots. Local councils, local business and civic leaders who know their area best are coming together to take the reins of their local economy and ensure its future success."
The same time, the government also announced that LEPs are now able to bid for a share of the £4m capacity fund announced by the Prime Minister in January, intended to help local enterprise partnerships understand the issues facing businesses in their areas. Bids for the first round will close at midnight on March 31 and the second round will open later this year. Ministers are seeking bids which address gaps in intelligence available to the Partnerships, facilitate business engagement and interaction with Partnerships, or boost board capacity to prioritise actions which will support business-led growth and jobs within the partnership's area.
- Details
The proposed Local Economic Partnership (LEP) covering the greater London area has been approved by the government.
The board of the new LEP – to be called the London Enterprise Partnership - will be co-chaired by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson and a thus far unnamed “leading business person”.
The majority of seats on the board will be given to business leaders from across London, representatives of London's growth and employment sectors and pan-London Business Leadership organisations. It will also include three borough leaders (to be proposed by London Councils) and third sector and higher education institutions.
The government said that the London Enterprise Partnership will work “in the context of” the Mayor's Economic Development Strategy, the aims of which are:
- promoting London as the world capital of business
- ensuring that London has the most competitive business environment in the world
- making London one of the world's leading low carbon capitals
- increasing economic opportunity; and
- maximising the return from investment in the 2012 Olympic Games
The London Enterprise Partnership also promised to pilot and develop proposals for new and innovative ways of raising public finance and aims to “create new opportunities that build on London's knowledge base and its world-class Higher Education Institutions”. It will work closely with the Kent, Essex and East Sussex partnership in also driving the growth of the Thames Gateway, through the new Thames Gateway Strategic Group.
Full details of the LEP can be found at the following link: LondonEnterprisePartnership
The London LEP is the 31st to be given the go-ahead by the government, which said today that that 87% of the UK population is now covered by a proposed or approved LEP. The full list is:
* Black Country
* Birmingham and Solihull with E. Staffordshire, Lichfield and Tamworth
* Cheshire and Warrington
* Coast to Capital
* Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly
* Coventry and Warwickshire
* Cumbria
* Enterprise M3
* Gt. Cambridge and Gt. Peterborough
* Greater Manchester
* Hertfordshire
* Kent, Greater Essex and East Sussex
* Leeds City Region
* Leicester and Leicestershire
* Lincolnshire
* Liverpool City Region
* London Enterprise Partnership
* New Anglia
* North Eastern
* Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, Derby and Derbyshire
* Oxfordshire City Region
* Sheffield City Region
* Solent
* South East Midlands
* Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire
* Tees Valley
* Thames Valley Berkshire
* The Marches
* West of England
* Worcestershire
* York and North Yorkshire
LEPs are set to replace Regional Development Agencies and according to the the Local Growth White Paper, will be able to consider a diverse range of roles including:
* working with Government to set out key investment priorities, including transport infrastructure
* coordinating proposals or bidding directly for the Regional Growth Fund
* supporting high growth businesses, for example through involvement in bids to run the new growth hubs
* participation in the development of national planning policy and ensuring business is involved in the consideration of strategic planning applications
* lead changes in how businesses are regulated locally
* strategic housing delivery, including pooling and aligning funding streams
* working with local employers, Jobcentre Plus and learning providers to help local workless people into jobs
* coordinating approaches to leverage funding from the private sector
* exploring opportunities for developing incentives on renewable energy projects and Green Deal
* involvement in the delivery of other national priorities such as digital infrastructure
Decentralisation Minister, Greg Clark said: "I'm delighted to be able to invite London to begin appointing its local enterprise partnership board today. This partnership has the ambition, big ideas and clout needed to create economic growth in the capital from the ground up. We are continuing to put London's future firmly in the hands of Londoners.
"Nearly 90 per cent of the population now has a local enterprise partnership set to promote jobs and prosperity in their local area. This is a testament to the ideas, ambition and innovation you can find at the grassroots. Local councils, local business and civic leaders who know their area best are coming together to take the reins of their local economy and ensure its future success."
The same time, the government also announced that LEPs are now able to bid for a share of the £4m capacity fund announced by the Prime Minister in January, intended to help local enterprise partnerships understand the issues facing businesses in their areas. Bids for the first round will close at midnight on March 31 and the second round will open later this year. Ministers are seeking bids which address gaps in intelligence available to the Partnerships, facilitate business engagement and interaction with Partnerships, or boost board capacity to prioritise actions which will support business-led growth and jobs within the partnership's area.
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