NEWS
of devolution. Thus, NLGN proposes that the government create a new statutory ‘duty to devolve’.
Where an LEP wishes to have particular flexibilities and powers to drive economic growth, they should be granted – provided a number of key tests are met. NLGN believes these to be: if an LEP has firm evidence that it is operating at the right spatial level; if it has a strong case for why the desired functions are needed; if it can demonstrate that partners have the necessary commitment; if it can give reasonable assurances that it has sufficiently robust governance in place; and if central government departments are unable to give a compelling reason why new powers should not be granted.
Whitehall departments are currently “judge and jury” when it comes to devolution and are open to the charge that they are insufficiently impartial and too institutionally protectionist to make a judgement about the granting of new freedoms. NLGN is pushing hard for a method of arbitration where appropriate powers, responsibilities and funding are not relinquished by central agencies. Such a function could, for example, fall to the BIS Select Committee.
There needs to be far greater devolutionary urgency on the part of central government. The rapid fiscal consolidation plans outlined by the chancellor in the emergency budget, added to the frontloaded nature of the Comprehensive Spending Review cuts that will hit local authorities, amount to a serious economic challenge for many localities.
Some areas are far more reliant on the public sector for employment than others, particularly in the Midlands and north of England. When the public funding cuts really
Nov/Dec 10
hit, the role of LEPs in rapidly stimulating private sector growth and rebalancing these local economies will be absolutely essential.
Places need decisive and strategic economic leadership and LEPs are the vehicle to do this. Streamlined and integrated governance, with strong business involvement and a clear golden democratic thread, is the key to a radically new way of approaching local economic development.
Devolving powers to LEPs will be important to generate and maintain the buy-in needed from the private sector and locally-elected leaders. Perhaps most critically, LEPs need to be given real firepower if they are to make the investments, infrastructure decisions and policy interventions needed to steer their localities through a precarious economic environment.
NLGN’s Enterprise Partnership Forum will be pushing ministers hard to make speedy progress and supporting LEPs by coordinating national policy discussions, providing practical peer-learning, facilitating networking opportunities and developing innovative thinking on sub-national governance.
The next few months will be a key test of how committed the coalition government really is to the localism agenda and decentralisation from Whitehall. If they fail to live up to their rhetoric, the economic and social consequences for many localities – particularly those with some of the most disadvantaged communities – could be severe and have a damaging impact for decades.
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