Sue Robb of 4Children talks to Julie Laughton and Alison Britton from the Department for Education about the role of childminders in delivering the 30 hours free entitlement.
‘The Next LEPs: Unlocking growth across our localities’ explores the future of Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs). Its findings are based on interviews with central and local government stakeholders as well as ‘interaction’ with all 39 LEPs in order to provide a framework for further financial devolution to LEPs over the next five years.
The report found that 60 per cent of stakeholders rated their LEP to be good or very good but suggests there is room for improvement, and that much of the £18.5bn allocated to LEPs since their 2010 formation has been determined by central priority.
It recommends: that the next government should strengthen LEPs by doubling the £6bn proposed by Lord Adonis in 2014; Local economic spend should be characterised by a ‘dual lock’ approach where both council leaders and the LEP have to sign off on annual budgets, so ensuring that LEPs continue to play a strategic role while maintaining local government’s democratic importance.
It also suggests abolishing the Skills Funding Agency and transferring its £4bn funding to the LEP level, as well as making £280m of annual capital spend available in order to treble the current number of University Technical Colleges by 2020.
The Localis report, authored by Richard Carr, suggests that devolution of funds and powers must be counterbalanced by greater transparency and accountability within LEPs, recommending that LEPs publish their accounts, minutes and board member email addresses.
The report also suggests the possibility of directly electing LEP chairs, and encourages LEPs to address the lack of representation from BME communities (currently 3 per cent) and women (17 per cent) on LEP boards so as to better represent their local business communities.
Launching the report, Alex Thomson, chief executive of Localis said: “The key finding is that LEPs need to remain nimble and unbureaucratic, while retaining their crucial strategic input into local economies. Our research shows that they have the potential to make a massive impact on our national economy in the next parliament if they get the devolution they’re looking for.”
Julian Huppert MP, Liberal Democrat MP for Cambridge, said: “LEPs represent a new way of working with funding and decision-making devolved from government to local people who know their local areas best. This report examines the role they play, how they have been received and how their framework can be reformed to take them forward. It presents a strong analysis of localism in action and offers some interesting concepts for the future.”
Mike Cherry, FSB National Policy Chairman, Federation of Small Businesses: “We welcome this report, particularly the call for small businesses to have greater representation on LEP boards. This echoes the recommendation made in FSB’s report into Local Enterprise Partnerships that called from them to have more resources but not without reform.
Greater transparency is needed to ensure they are accountable to the taxpayer.”
Sue Robb of 4Children talks to Julie Laughton and Alison Britton from the Department for Education about the role of childminders in delivering the 30 hours free entitlement.
Fireco is a one-stop shop for trusted and compliant fire safety solutions! Our comprehensive product range includes smart fire door closers and retainers, notification systems, as well as fire door installation and inspection services. With our cloud-based technology, we offer the convenience of remote monitoring and management of connected devices, ensuring efficient and effective fire safety measures. By choosing Fireco, you can trust that our solutions are tailored to meet complex compliance requirements and provide you with peace of mind.
UKREiiF has quickly become a must-attend in the industry calendar for Government departments and local authorities.
The organisers of the world’s largest dedicated hydrogen event, World Hydrogen 2024 Summit & Exhibition have announced it’s return to Rotterdam in May 2024, with an expansion of a whole extra summit day. Sustainable Energy Council (SEC) are partnering with the Government of the Netherlands, the Province of Zuid-Holland, the City of Rotterdam, and the Port of Rotterdam to host an extended, larger scale Summit in 2024, to expand the event to meet the surging demand.
At GeoEnergy Design, we're on a mission to disrupt the traditional way heating and cooling ha
Professor Harith Alani, director of the Knowledge Management Institute at the Open University explains how AI can be used for good and bad.
Alex Lawrence, head of health & social care, techUK sets out techUK’s Five Point Plan for CareTech.