Overview

On 29 June this year Vince Cable and Eric Pickles wrote to local authority leaders
and chief executives, as well as local business leaders, setting out their proposals to abolish all nine of the Regional Development Agencies and explaining their ideas for Local Enterprise Partnerships. Their letter invited local authorities to work with the Coalition Government to help strengthen local economies, and confirmed the Government's commitment to reforming sub-national economic development by enabling councils and businesses to replace the existing Regional Development Agencies.

A White Paper later in the summer will set out the Government's approach to sub-national growth. Legislation to abolish RDAs and enable local enterprise partnerships was announced in the Queen's Speech and is expected to be introduced to Parliament during the autumn. In the meantime the Government, through the consultation are seeking outline proposals by 6 September from partnerships of local authorities and businesses, to form local enterprise partnerships.

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