More time for Councils to develop a Enterprise Partnership proposal

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FOLLOWING THE ANNOUNCEMENT from Government that the local enterprise partnership (LEP) for Hull, East Riding and Scarborough is one of those which will not be included in the first wave of LEPs, leaders of the three councils have welcome the opportunity to "further develop their proposals for a North Bank LEP with local business and ministers."

The initial proposal from the three councils was rejected following a split in approach from local buiness leaders. Some had called for an area-wide LEP covering both banks of the Humber, but the three Councils put forward their own north bank plan.

In a joint statement, issued by the three Councils, the Councils said that they would now be concentrating on a north bank of the Humber proposal that could be backed by the rest of the Humber, including local businesses: 

"We are pleased that the Government has committed its ministers and officials to intensive discussions to ensure that this area is best placed to make the most of its opportunities. The Government acknowledged the hard work we put in to meet the nine-week deadline for the submission and we now look forward to showing ministers how a North Bank LEP can work to a common economic purpose and how we can work with the rest of the Humber outside of the LEP. We will move quickly to ensure that we provide a submission that provides the best opportunity for our area, backed by business. We have received informal feedback on our proposal to say that the business voice was fractured, however we have more time to speak to businesses outside of the tight deadline. The Government has made it clear that as an area not in an LEP we still have equal access to bid from the Regional Growth Fund."