Bye bye Worcester as Redditch looks north ready for LEP ruling to come in - The Redditch Standard

Bye bye Worcester as Redditch looks north ready for LEP ruling to come in

Redditch Editorial 23rd Jul, 2019 Updated: 24th Jul, 2019   0

REDDITCH is to look north towards Birmingham rather than south towards Worcester if it has to make a choice on which Local Enterprise Partnership to be part of.

In a groundbreaking move, borough councillors voted unanimously in favour of being part of Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP (GBSLEP) rather than Worcestershire LEP.

A Local Enterprise Partnership is a joint venture between local government and business which receives funding from the European Union and central government for developing growth.

Currently Redditch sits on both LEPs and would prefer to stay on both but new government rules are likely to remove LEP overlaps and force it to make a choice, Council Leader Matt Dormer told a full council meeting on Monday evening, July 22.




“The government has said that an LEP should be based on economic geography which for us is Greater Birmingham and Solihull and also should be business led, which again is Great Birmingham and Solihull,” he said.

Has Redditch made the right move?


Compare the two LEPs – https://gbslep.co.uk/ and https://www.wlep.co.uk/

He was backed from across the floor by Labour group leader Coun Bill Hartnett (Church Hill) who stated: “I have often said and will say again that the crumbs from the table in the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP are larger than the cake in the Worcestershire LEP.

“Our duty is to do what is best for Redditch.”

Coun David Thain (Con, West) added: “We look north, we are moving north and our businesses trade north – this is a sensible move.”

Gary Woodman, chief executive of Worcestershire LEP reacting to the news said: “It’s disappointing because we have worked really hard with the borough council.

“However we will still be in Redditch even if the overlap is removed as we go across a number of areas working with the local community and in schools on career pathways.”

GBSLEP spans nine local authority areas: Birmingham, Solihull, East Staffordshire, Cannock Chase, Lichfield, Tamworth, Redditch, Bromsgrove and Wyre Forest. Since 2010 it has been awarded £433 million to invest in a range of projects to grow the local economy.

Redditch benificiaries include the North Worcestershire Centre of Engineering Excellence (also helped by Worcestershire LEP) the Alliance House Development at Heart of Worcestershire College in Redditch and helping to transform the town centre.

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