With government funding for skills advisory panels ending and the future of local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) hanging in the balance, the landscape for regional skills oversight is shifting. Jason Noble assesses the impact if both are lost for good.
For the last decade, local enterprise partnerships have been at the forefront of local and regional economic development across England.
Launched in the early 2010s to replace regional development agencies, LEPs were designed to take responsibility for local growth and play a role between central government and local businesses.
But with devolution deals promised for every region in England that wants one by 2030, and the government in the spring budget indicating that it was “minded to withdraw central government support for LEPs from April 2024”, is it already over for LEPs?
