UPDATE September 8 2010: NFU members can now read our letters to the communities secretary, Eric Pickles, and business secretary, Vince Cable, outlining our thoughts on Local Enterprise Partnerships by clicking on the documents links to the right of the page.
The NFU has submitted a response to the BIS Committee inquiry into Local Enterprise Partnerships – the coalition government’s proposed new means of distributing hundreds of millions of pounds of regional development money.
The government hopes LEPs will see businesses and local authorities come together and set out their priorities for their area ‘rather than being told what is best for them’. The inquiry is examining how the proposed new structure will work, alongside issues such as distribution of funding, value for money, accountability, timing, transitional arrangements and required legislation.
We’re taking a close interest in LEPs, which may take on functions previously met by the Rural Development Agencies. At present, it is unknown where the delivery of the Rural Development Programme for England will sit post RDAs – but we believe the large number of LEPs makes them an inappropriate vehicle for such a task.
Consistency is key to avoid disruption of the current programme – and the NFU feels that means a greater degree of centralisation.
We also believe it is vital that the framework and the functions of LEPs reflect the importance of the sorts of development needed to meet the agricultural and food production challenges. They should also help increase the competitiveness of rural areas through diversification and energy generation. Those are very much the messages we hope are taken on board at an early stage.
See also: Our concern at plans for RDAs
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