Ex-CBI chief adds voice to business criticism of LEPs
Colin Marrs, Regen.net, 26 August 2010
Concern is growing over the lack of involvement from business in the formation of new local enterprise partnerships, with the former boss of powerful lobby group the Confederation of British Industry claiming that his former organisation is opposed to the new arrangements.
Yesterday, Devon Council admitted defeat in its attempts to form a partnership with Cornwall, with sources in Devon blaming Cornish politicians for ignoring the wishes of business.
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Ex-CBI chief Digby Jones has now entered the fray, claiming in an article that local enterprise partnerships are "politically driven and managed".
Writing on business news site BusinessDesk.com, Jones said: "The CBI is universally against this new 'plan'. Director-general Richard Lambert told me [so] last week."
He added that in his view the regional development agencies for the North-East, Yorkshire and the West Midlands regions – One North-East, Yorkshire Forward and Advantage West Midlands - were "successful" and had performed "brilliant work".
He said that there was less enthusiasm for the RDAs in the south of England, and added that some of decisions relating to some of their boundaries were "potty".
But he said that "throwing the baby out with the bathwater is not the answer."
He also said that LEPs were confused in their objectives, too small to work properly and already had a "local authority mentality".
His strident views seem to match those of some business organisations in England that have voiced concerns that their opinions have been ignored by councils.
It emerged today that the East Cornwall branch of the Federation of Small Businesses has written to Cornwall Council complaining about a lack of consultation with business over the preparation of its plans to form a partnership with the Isles of Scilly.
Branch chairman Kevin Oliver told Regeneration & Renewal: "The level of consultation that the councils have undertaken with business has been minimal or non-existent.
"We had to harry Cornwall Council to get a meeting and when we got a single appointment we were told that the document had already been written and that we could either sign up to it or decide to oppose it.
"If government is genuine about business involvement in LEPs, then we believe that the current proposal will be rejected."
In the North-East, businessman Alistair Arkley, founding chairman of urban regeneration company Tees Valley Partnership, said there was "insufficient involvement" from businesses in the decision to submit a Tees Valley LEP bid.
In the South-West, Tessa Coombes, director of policy at business representative organisation GWE Business West, said: "The business community favoured a powerful LEP taking in Bristol, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. However, politicians ignored their view to form a smaller partnership of councils clustered around Bristol."
In the North-West, the leader of business representative body Private Sector Partners, leader Len Collinson, said that the Government’s proposals to centralise inward investment, business support and innovation would render the LEPs "toothless tigers".
He said: "There is little if anything left for LEPs to take on from RDAs. This is something that will probably please local councils’ feeling of importance, but it makes a mockery of the idea of business-led local decision-making."
In a statement, the CBI said: "Most CBI members do not want to die in a ditch in defence of the regional development agencies, although the further north you go in England, the more they will be missed. But there is real concern about the approach so far to the proposed local enterprise partnerships between business leaders and local councils that are intended to take on some of the RDAs’ role.
"Although the Government says they are to be business-led, it is not clear where the real power will lie, and nor do we know how many LEPs there will be or how they will be funded. Some business leaders fear they will turn out to be no more than council-dominated talking shops with no sense of strategic priorities and little economic impact."
