Govt confirms plans to scrap RDA's

The government has confirmed plans to scrap the UK’s nine Regional Development Agencies and replace them with local enterprise partnerships.

The government will also create a £1bn fund to help those English regions that depend on the public sector for jobs. 

The Regional Development Agencies - set up by Labour to support local businesses - will be replaced by partnerships between councils and firms. 

The plans for the new "regional growth fund" were announced in the Budget.  

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg today said the regional growth fund would be available for 2011-12 and 2012-3 to help "areas most dependent on public sector employment as the country makes the transition to private sector-led growth and prosperity".

Clegg said: "The regional growth fund will create the conditions for growth and enterprise in the regions by stimulating investment and create sustainable private sector jobs." 

Plans for new local enterprise partnerships - which will replace RDAs – have been outlined by Business Secretary Vince Cable and Communities Secretary Eric Pickles in a letter to councils and businesses.

They wrote that they expected the new partnerships to provide "strategic leadership" on their areas' economic priorities and to create the "right environment for business and growth" by looking at issues like planning, housing and transport. They also said most should have an equal number of business and council leaders on the board. 

The letter comes ahead of a White Paper on "sub national growth" later in the summer.

Tim Johnson, head of development consulting, London & South East, at DTZ, said: “For the regeneration sector it is positive news that we now have clarity on what amounts of funding are available. Even though the amounts are less than RDAs previously had in their budgets, today’s announcement will increase certainty in the sector and allow priority projects to move forward.”

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