News story

Dorset joins local enterprise partnership network

The Dorset local enterprise partnership covers a population of around 710,300 and represents over 30,890 businesses. It has the support from…

From:
Department for Business, Innovation & Skills
Published
7 July 2011
This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

The Dorset local enterprise partnership covers a population of around 710,300 and represents over 30,890 businesses. It has the support from all nine councils in Dorset. It joins the 35 partnerships announced since the Government’s Local Growth White Paper was published in October last year.

The priority of the private sector-led partnership is to promote growth and create jobs in the area. To achieve this, the Dorset partnership plans to build strong relationships with its neighbouring local enterprise partnership to help address strategic issues. The business community was strongly engaged in the development of this proposal and as such it has wide spread support.

Mark Prisk said:

“I’m delighted that we are able to approve a proposal for a Dorset partnership that had the best interests of the area at its heart.

“We are edging closer to having 100 per cent coverage of local enterprise partnerships in England and we are continuing to assess proposals for further partnerships in areas which are currently not represented.”

Local enterprise partnerships bring together local business and civic leaders, working to support their local economy. They operate within a geography that reflects natural economic areas and provide the vision, knowledge and strategic leadership needed to drive sustainable private sector growth and job creation in their area.

Notes to editors:**

  1. The Dorset local enterprise partnership covers: Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset Councils.
  • Black Country
  • Birmingham & Solihull with E. Staffordshire, Lichfield & Tamworth
  • Cheshire & Warrington
  • Coast to Capital
  • Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly
  • Coventry & Warwickshire
  • Cumbria
  • Dorset
  • Enterprise M3
  • Gloucestershire
  • Greater Cambridge & Greater Peterborough
  • Greater Manchester
  • Hertfordshire
  • Humber
  • Kent, Greater Essex & East Sussex
  • Lancashire
  • Leeds City Region
  • Leicester & Leicestershire
  • Lincolnshire
  • Liverpool City Region
  • London
  • New Anglia
  • North Eastern
  • Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, Derby & Derbyshire
  • Oxfordshire City Region
  • Sheffield City Region
  • Solent
  • South East Midlands
  • Stoke-on-Trent & Staffordshire
  • Tees Valley
  • Thames Valley Berkshire
  • The Heart of the South West
  • The Marches
  • West of England
  • Worcestershire
  • York & North Yorkshire
  1. Taken together, these 36 partnerships represent:
  • 2m or 97 per cent of all businesses (active enterprises) in England
  • 22m employees (employee jobs figures) or 97 per cent of all employees in England and;
  • A population of 50m or 97 per cent of England’s population.

  1. A map of approved local enterprise partnerships is available from http://www.bis.gov.uk/policies/economic-development/leps

  2. Proposals for partnerships were assessed in line with the expectations set out in the 29 June 2010 letter from the Business Secretary and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government: http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/regional/docs/10-1026-final-letter-local-enterprise-partnerships

  3. Specifically, the Local Growth White Paper proposes that local enterprise partnerships will be able to consider a diverse range of roles, reflecting the differing local priorities in different areas, 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

  1. Revised proposals from partnerships which have not yet been approved will be welcomed by Government as they become ready_. _

  2. BIS’s online newsroom contains the latest press notices, speeches, as well as video and images for download. It also features an up to date list of BIS press office contacts. See [http://www.bis.gov.uk/newsroom](http://www.bis.gov.uk/newsroom) for more information.

Notes to Editors

Contact Information

Name BIS Press Office Job Title

Division COI Phone

Fax

Mobile

Email NDS.BIS@coi.gsi.gov.uk

Name James Platt Job Title

Division Department for Business, Innovation and Skills Phone 020 7215 5978 Fax

Mobile

Email james.platt@bis.gov.uk

Published 7 July 2011