Local growth white paper published

The government reaffirmed its commitment to neighbourhood plans last week in the publication of a white paper on local growth. The plans will sit below local development plans in the newly structured planning system, and will be formulated by the local communities themselves.

They will have to contain a presumption in favour of sustainable development and accord with local priorities, such as transport links and housing need.

Commenting on the paper, BDOR director Jeff Bishop welcomed the idea, but said further detail was required. He said: “There is a need to work something out between the regional and local levels. There are good components in the white paper, but no-one knows yet how it will all fit together.”

The white paper – Local growth: realising every place’s potential – also sets out the details for Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), the business groups which will replace the Labour government’s Regional Development Agencies (RDAs). The coalition government argues that the regionally-based RDAs provided an artificial representation of functional economies that missed the local economic development activity focused on functional economic areas.

LEPs, by contrast, will be formed from partnerships of business groups focused on transport, housing and planning, providing an ‘integrated approach to growth and infrastructure delivery’. The white paper sets out a number of roles the government expects LEPs to take on, including:

Working with government to set out key investment priorities, including transport infrastructure and supporting or coordinating project delivery;

Making representation on the development of national planning policy and ensuring business is involved in the development and consideration of strategic planning applications; and

Strategic housing delivery, including pooling and aligning funding streams to support this.

The government received 62 responses form its initial invitation for LEPs, from which 24 have been identified and asked to formally establish boards to comprise business representatives working closely with universities, further education colleges and other key economic stakeholders. Once the boards have been established, the groups will be formally recognised as LEPs.

No legislation will be required to establish the LEPs, though the Public Bodies Bill and the Localism Bill will be used to abolish the eight RDAs outside London and the London Development Agency respectively. The majority of RDA activity is expected to cease by March 2012.

The white paper also reaffirms the government’s commitment to the Big Society, noting that 'where the drivers of growth are local, decisions should be made locally. The government will devolve real power to communities, giving them a greater say in shaping the shape and future of their economies.'

It continues: 'The Big Society means widening the diversity of players in local economies, making it easier for the voluntary and community sector to compete in markets.'

Many of the policies the government has outlined in respect of its Big Society agenda are expected to be included in the forthcoming localism bill, expected sometime in the next month.

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Local growth white paper published