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Local Enterprise Partnerships and the Local Growth Fund

10 April 2014

Local Enterprise Partnerships in the region are bidding for investment from the Government’s Local Growth Fund aiming to narrow the north-south divide.

Leeds City Region LEP wants support (£230m a year) to deliver 62,000 jobs by 2021, Sheffield City Region LEP is bidding (£70m) for transport and infrastructure projects and Humber LEP want to turn their area into a hub for renewable energy.

There are two new combined authorities (these combine both funds and powers across neighbouring local authorities and take over some Whitehall decisions) for West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire with plans for growth and new transport projects.

At the same time, new analysis from the Office for National Statistics shows that Yorkshire was hit hardest by the recession losing jobs, economic output and businesses. All this will take a long time to reverse. 

Ed Miliband, the Labour Leader, has made a speech about English devolution and how Labour would rebalance the economy and hand over spending from Whitehall to city regions.

Involve Chief Executive, Judy Robinson, said:

"It is good to see the debate about devolution hotting up. There continues to be uncertainty about how much power and spend will really be devolved to combined authorities. And the propensity for oppositions to talk devolution but fail to deliver is well known. However, the need to spread recovery and prosperity beyond London and the south east is urgent."

Read more on Leeds City Region: More jobs, better jobs