by Mark Corney
Both the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and the Department for Communities and Local Government have joint responsibility for network of 39 Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs).
The ‘Business, Innovation and Skills’ select committee of the House of Commons has recently proposed that BIS should be the lead department for LEPs. In addition, the select committee supports the idea of a single-pot devolved to LEPs and core cities and expects the Government to set out its scope and size in the formal response to the report.*
Assigning to BIS lead-department status for LEPs would be an intriguing move. The same department is also responsible for the £1.8bn adult further education budget.
