We had RDAs, then Local Enterprise Partnerships arrived
How promising are the LEPs in dealing with the economic recovery and restructuring? The answer to this question is not yet clear, not even to LEPs themselves, the work is ongoing and is a combination of establishing an organisational identity, delivering early projects and funding, and producing research and plans to attract future funding. LEPs are in their third year of existence, yet the effects of the recession are still here with us.
The LEPs are a government innovation to bring in businesses to contribute to strategic leadership and economic development of sub-regional areas. They are partnership organisations with powers and funding that give them a certain resemblance with former RDAs. Involvement of businesses is expected to add both more transparency and knowledge “from the ground”. However, first reports as well as ongoing comments concerning the performance of LEPs indicate that business participation has created various tensions: SMEs can be under-represented; as new institutions LEP teams have to forge new partnerships; businesses get frustrated with slow bureaucratic processes and lack of progress; or pressure from businesses to resolve matters quickly can even be seen as interfering with the democratic process (The Smith Institute, 2013). An opposing element creating a certain dichotomy is funding. The majority of funds that LEPs will be overseeing have already been allocated, mostly for infrastructure projects. The remaining funds will be distributed on a competitive basis, and there is also an opportunity to develop the EU funded programmes. Based on the Government’s criteria an ideal bid would show how all of the funding streams are linked together, leveraged by local resources and private sector funds, and how they contribute to the overall goal of restoring economic growth. Such bid will therefore also show effective and strong partnerships among various local stakeholders.
So far it is clear that strategies and plans produced by LEPs as well as their efforts are in their majority focused on business growth, infrastructure, and skills. These are priority areas, especially education and skills, yet a lack of “glue” between these areas and respective projects is noticeable. This concerns involvement of the third sector, the need for stronger local partnerships, and place marketing. All three of these elements revolve around communication and participation. Former RDAs have often been accused of being inaccessible, and whilst LEPs include businesses, they can be expected to also eventually evolve into quangos managing implementation of funded projects with perceived restricted accessibility. Perceptions are difficult to change: communication and engagement are therefore very important.
For newly formed organisations the challenge is always internal communications first: public sector and businesses speak entirely different languages. What is obvious to the local government in terms of accountability is seen as a bureaucratic inefficiency by businesses; what businesses know as fast execution that leads to success is seen by the local government as lacking democratic solutions or is misunderstood simply because the “agenda of the day” has words “jobs” and “growth”, but not “place marketing”. Businesses are adept at executing, i.e. doing, they are less concerned by how the national policies frame current agendas, they simply know how best to deliver them. Public sector officials need the right words due to the way accountability works, so if the third sector or place marketing do not stand out as the policy words of the moment then they are more likely to be dismissed. Yet, it is only the right mix of actions and interventions that can help deliver change, i.e. jobs and growth, the ultimate policy goals. Attempts to see place marketing, for example, as a task for Destination Management Organisations often leads to place marketing activity reduced to capturing potential tourists, when it is a much broader and more powerful tool for creating value for everybody in a sub-region: its residents, businesses, public sector, and visitors.
It is therefore important for LEPs to speak the same language as their partners to come up with balanced executable solutions. Winston Economics has the right mix of skills and experience that allows us to understand both the planning and the executive side of economic development and can help bridge that gap when developing and reviewing economic strategies, masterplans, and programmes. We can also assess and demonstrate the value of projects, which may not be obvious choices but without which even the best “products” won’t sell.
