LEPs handed 'lead role' in coordinating £1bn regions fund cash

The new public-private partnerships LEPs are to be handed a "lead role" in coordinating funding through the coalition's planned £1 billion Regional Growth Fund.

A consultation document on the fund, published last week, says that local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) "will play an important role in bringing together bids for the areas that they cover, working with key partners in their area, such as universities and social enterprises".

Proposals that have LEP backing will be "looked upon favourably", according to the consultation document.

But it adds that access to the fund – worth £1 billion between 2011 and 2013 - will not be restricted to LEPs. "Private sector companies and other public-private partnerships will be invited to bid for the fund independently," the document says.

The consultation says that there will be at least two rounds of bidding for the fund. "The deadline for the first round of bids should be end December 2010, with a view to decisions on successful bids being announced by the end of February 2011," the document says
 

www.regen.net 27/07/2010