In England, local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) were voluntary partnerships between local authorities and businesses, set up in 2011 by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to help determine local economic priorities and lead economic growth and job creation within the local area.[1] They carried out some of the functions previously carried out by the regional development agencies which were abolished in March 2012. In certain areas, funding was received from the UK government via growth deals. Funding for LEPs was withdrawn by the Rishi SunakConservative government in April 2024 and their functions were assumed by local authorities, some of whom have formed Business Boards as replacements.
History
The abolition of regional development agencies and the creation of local enterprise partnerships were announced as part of the June 2010 United Kingdom budget.[2] On 29 June 2010, a letter was sent from the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to local authority and business leaders, inviting proposals to replace regional development agencies in their areas by 6 September 2010.[3] On 7 September 2010, details were released of 56 proposals for local enterprise partnerships that had been received.[4] On 6 October 2010, during the Conservative Party Conference, it was revealed that 22 had been given the provisional 'green light' to proceed and others might later be accepted with amendments.[5] 24 bids were announced as successful on 28 October 2010.[6][7]
LEPs were set up on a voluntary basis without any public funding and struggled to make progress. A report by Michael Heseltine in October 2012, No Stone Unturned, was largely accepted by Government, and proposed delegating certain funds from central government to LEPs. Changes included:
allocating a share of a £1,400m Local Growth Fund to generate growth, through competitive bidding;
getting LEPs to draw up plans for local growth as the basis for negotiation on the money in the Fund
realigning the management of the EU Structural and Investment Funds in England to follow the plans made by LEPs.
In the months after funding was withdrawn from LEPs in April 2024, many local authorities and combined authorities formed Business Boards to assume the functions previously carried out by LEPs.[11]
List of LEPs
Local enterprise partnership areas were allowed to overlap, so a local authority was permitted to be part of more than one local enterprise partnership.[note 1][12] After the March 2017 merger of Northamptonshire LEP into South East Midlands LEP, there were 38 local enterprise partnerships in operation.
^The local authority areas taking part in two LEPs were Aylesbury Vale, Barnsley, Bassetlaw, Bolsover, Bromsgrove, Cannock Chase, Cherwell, Chesterfield, Croydon, Derbyshire Dales, East Hampshire, East Staffordshire, Forest Heath, Harrogate, King's Lynn and West Norfolk, Lewes, Lichfield, New Forest, North East Derbyshire, North East Lincolnshire, North Hertfordshire, North Lincolnshire, Redditch, St Edmundsbury, Tamworth, Test Valley, Uttlesford, Winchester, Wyre Forest and York.
