A survey has found that 84% of county council leaders believe Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) boundaries should be reshaped to align with county council borders, according to a new survey. The poll, carried out by Grant Thornton and County Council Network found that only six counties share a co-terminous boundary with their LEP. For the remaining 31 counties in England, this means working alongside several different LEPs, or working with an LEP that covers a whole region. County Councils Network, found that half of authorities believe LEPs are democratically unaccountable. Philip Atkins, vice-chairman of the CCN, said: “Reducing the complexity of LEP geographies will be good for business and good for local economies; simplifying overlapping boundaries which creates confusion, and in some cases, makes joint investment and targeted investment harder, with differing LEPs naturally having differing priorities and different needs.”
Reports
Most read in
- IFRS 9 override extended to 2029 for existing investments(37 views)
- Richard Harbord: section 114 was never meant for today’s crisis(24 views)
- After EFS: Worcestershire s151 Phil Rook on the uncertain road to financial resilience(24 views)
- New: LGPS regional investment special report(20 views)
- Westminster borrows £235m over 42 years to acquire temporary accommodation – an ‘innovative’ solution or should government do more?(20 views)
- ‘Golden opportunity to turn ship around’ must not be squandered in Spending Review, say London boroughs(18 views)
- The rise of the senior LGPS officer: how will the new role impact funds?(17 views)
- Room151 LGPS podcast: investing in venture capital climate solutions(16 views)
- The government’s push to merge pools lacks transparency(16 views)
- Conrad Hall: what next for local authority funding?(14 views)
More from
Conrad Hall: a central/local tension is the cause of the financial crisis – not funding
The local government financial crisis has not been caused by a lack of funding: that’s just a symptom of the inherent conflict of having independent local authorities within a highly centralised state, argues Conrad Hall.
(Shutterstock)