Funding for local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) is set to end in April 2024, the government confirmed today.
The money earmarked for LEPs since their inception in 2010 will now be allocated to mayoral combined and some local authorities.
Moving the funding over to the authorities will boost the scope for “greater join-up, efficiencies, and clarity for the private sector” involved in the LEP programme, according to a government letter sent to all authority leaders and LEP chairs today.
LEPs were originally set up as a way to determine the local skills priorities, and are made up of local authorities and private sector businesses. Nearly £12 billion was pumped into LEPs by 2019/20, and there are currently 36 LEPs.
