Local growth moves up a gear as Business Minister announces growth package for local enterprise partnerships
Firstly the partnerships are being invited to submit bids for a share of a £5 million Start-Up Fund. The fund is a one-off pot of money to fund…
Firstly the partnerships are being invited to submit bids for a share of a £5 million Start-Up Fund. The fund is a one-off pot of money to fund such things as office equipment and training which they believe will help get themselves established. Partnerships will be expected to demonstrate as part of their bid how they will become self-sustaining in the future.
Secondly, from today partnerships will also have access to an online Toolbox which provides comprehensive information on economic development activity across government departments, and ideas for strong partnership/government working. Thirdly, they will also be able to access information through the new BIS Local network which will be the first point of contact on any issues.
Funding allocations from the first round of the local enterprise partnership Capacity Fund were also issued to partnerships today. Each will receive a share of £1 million to help increase their understanding of the barriers to growth facing local businesses.
Mark Prisk said:
“Today we are moving up a gear in promoting local growth. Over the last ten months, business and civic leaders have risen to the challenge and we now have 33 partnerships in place covering 93 per cent of all businesses in England.
“The package of support opportunities I’ve announced today will help partnerships to translate their ideas and ambition into real action to help businesses in their areas and to unlock growth.”
DCLG Decentralisation Minister Greg Clark said:
“It’s a testament to local ambition that we are now close to full coverage of local enterprise partnerships across the country.
“As businesses and councils take the reins of their local economies, today’s extra funding will help give these new partnerships the lift-off they need to turn their ambitions for local growth into reality.”
Notes to editors:
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Guidance and Application details for the £5m Start Up fund can be found on the BIS website at: www.bis.gov.uk/policies/economic-development/leps/
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Local enterprise partnerships are able to bid for a share of the one-off £5m start up fund until the end of June. The Government expects the fund to cover start up costs such as:
- Office rental and equipment;
- Training; and
- Engaging with the wider business community.
Partnerships that already have these functions in place will not be able to bid for a share of the fund. The bids need to demonstrate that they can bring in other sources of funding as well, and that they have a plan to become self-sustainable.
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An independent panel including experts from business, local government, and academia informed the decisions on the Capacity Fund. Further detail on the methodology has today been published on the BIS website.
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A further round of the Capacity Fund will be launched towards the end of the year.
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The local enterprise partnership Toolbox can be found here: [www.bis.gov.uk/leptoolbox](http://www.bis.gov.uk/leptoolbox).
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The proposal for a pan-Lancashire local enterprise partnership has been approved by both BIS and CLG ministers. The 33 now approved are:
- Black Country
- Birmingham & Solihull with E. Staffordshire, Lichfield & Tamworth
- Cheshire and Warrington
- Coast to Capital
- Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly
- Coventry & Warwickshire
- Cumbria
- Enterprise M3
- Gt. Cambridge & Gt. Peterborough
- Greater Manchester
- Hertfordshire
- 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 and North Yorkshire
- Taken together, these 33 partnerships represent:
- 1.9m or 93% of all businesses (active enterprises) in England
- 21m employees (employee jobs figures) or 93% of all employees in England and;
- A population of 48m or 93% of England’s population.
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A map of approved local enterprise partnerships is available from http://geocommons.com/maps/32888
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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
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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
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Revised proposals from partnerships which have not yet been approved will be welcomed by Government as they become ready_. _
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Notes to Editors
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