Insider Media Limited

Local enterprise partnership (LEP) bids for the Black Country and Worcestershire have now been approved by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

The bids were rejected first time around in October but now, together with a partnership for New Anglia, they have been given the thumbs up by business secretary Vince Cable and local government secretary Eric Pickles and will join the 24 approved partnerships that were announced two months ago.

Black Country LEP chairman Stewart Towe told Insider the partnership’s priorities will include skills development, education and planning and transport issues. “This gives us an opportunity to influence government policy directly,” he said.

LEPs are the government’s replacement for the abolished regional development agencies and the plan is that they will bring local business and civic leaders together, working to support their local economy.

Pickles said: “New Anglia, Worcestershire and the Black Country are vital new additions to the growing network of local enterprise partnerships that are going to help to create a fairer and more balanced economy driven by private sector strength.”

LEPs will be able to bid for financial support from the Regional Growth Fund which will support projects that aim to drive sustainable economic growth and create new private sector jobs. It will focus particularly on aiming to help communities that are currently dependent on the public sector make the transition to private sector-led growth and prosperity.

The first round of bidding for the fund closes on 21 January. All bids received will be assessed by an independent panel chaired by Lord Heseltine.

Towe, managing director of Smethwick-based engineering company Hadley Group, said there were two issues that had to be addressed following the failed Black Country LEP bid in October.

“The government wanted to see full connectivity between the LEP and business organisations generally, not just the chamber but the CBI, IoD, FSB etc. It wanted to make sure there was broad business representation,” he said.

“And it wanted to make sure that we understood the importance of all the surrounding areas being connected up and of the need to work with all our LEP partners.”