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The Lep Network will not “fight with the government” after plans to withdraw funding for local enterprise partnerships were revealed last week, its chair has said.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced that the government will launch a consultation about transferring the responsibilities of leps to local authorities from 2024 as part of the Budget.
A consultation was launched by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities and will run until Friday 14 April and a policy paper fleshing out the government’s plans is expected by the summer.
Mark Bretton, chair of the Lep Network, told LGC: “The direction of travel for more integration of leps into local government was announced when they did the levelling up white paper. So this is a natural progression from where that began.
“We’re not going to have a fight with government. We’ve never had a fight with government, we’ve just gone through steadily proving the case as to how to get the right things done locally.
“And if the right thing to do locally, as we’ve seen in London is to fully integrate that into the local government structure that’s what’ll happen, if there is some structure to remain that will happen.”
There is still some ambiguity about how the responsibilities of 38 lep hubs across the country will be transitioned into local authorities and what that will mean for the workforce.
It is expected that a decision, following consultation will be reached by the summer and Mr Bretton revealed his concern for leps facing uncertain futures.
He said: “I’ve got 1,000 employee colleagues who need to be taken good care of, they need to be dealt with, with respect and sensitivity because when they were asked to do great things, during covid and Brexit, they worked around the clock. They’ve got fantastic skills which we as a country shouldn’t waste.
“The key to this is making sure that we’ve got the right transfer of skills and people and functions handled properly.”
Mr Bretton insists that the lep network wants any transition to be a success and that following the announcement he and his colleagues won’t be walking away.
He added: “We will act in the best interests of our local communities and our people we’re not going to be resigning en masse or any of that kind of stuff. We want to make this work.
“We want to make sure that money that has been given to local government delivers value and is relevant for the people. We will play our part if it’s going to be integrated, we will do this properly.”
There are 38 leps across England and they are responsible for local economic development, determining the economic priorities and undertaking activities to drive growth and the creation of local jobs and since the announcement was made some figures have expressed disappointment.
Hillary Chipping, South East Midlands local enterprise partnership chief executive, described the government’s decision as “incredibly disappointing”.
She said: “Whilst government’s intentions for closer integration between leps and local democratic institutions was set out in a letter in March 2022, the news about the withdrawal of central government funding following the 2023-24 financial year is incredibly disappointing for us.”
Ms Chipping also published a letter from DLHUC which confirmed that a four-week information-gathering exercise will take place to gain a fuller understanding of the implications of the proposed change in funding and that the government will be working with local authorities to respond and prepare for the transition.
Meanwhile, Ruth Dooley, chair at GFirst LEP also expressed her disappointment and concern for her colleagues but vowed to ensure a smooth transition.
She said: “This news is even more disappointing following five years of reviews and multiple letters from ministers expressing their appreciation for our work.
“Our work will now focus on ensuring a smooth transition over to Gloucestershire CC and we hope that none of the key assets of GFirst LEP, including the lep board, the businesses groups and the incredibly loyal and hard-working staff, will be lost and that an appropriate legacy remains.”
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