Insider Media Limited

The West Midlands’ new Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) will need support in the form of government funding before they can be self-sufficient bodies. That’s according to a report from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills select committee, which also recommended that the organisations retain the “know-how” of the regional development agencies they will replace.

The report from the MPs, entitled The New Local Enterprise Partnerships: An Initial Assessment, warned that without initial funding from government, the partnerships may struggle to become self sustaining.

Under the new scheme, LEPs will not be awarded any government funding, but will have the opportunity to bid for cash from a £1.4bn Regional Growth Fund.

So far, four LEP proposals in the West Midlands have been accepted. They were submissions from Greater Birmingham, Coventry and Warwickshire, The Marches and Stoke and Staffordshire

The report was critical of the way in which the RGF would be distributed. It stated: “The Regional Growth Fund will play an important part in supporting recovery and in rebalancing the economy, but it should be aligned with other sources of government funding to minimise gaps in overall support for enterprise and to recognise the needs of smaller businesses and of the rural economy.”

It added that the RGF application process “is not straightforward” and “it risks being weighted in favour of more affluent areas”.