Little place for the 'local' in Cable's growth plans

3 March, 2011 | By David Marlow

As Eric Pickles and his ministerial team signal “the end to top down regeneration” with words, business ministers are ushering forth a new ‘top-down’ approach to economic development with their deeds.

Last October’s local growth white paper was explicit in stating that some functions of the soon-to-be-abolished regional development agencies – specifically skills, business support, inward investment and innovation - would be best “coordinated or delivered at national level”; and that, for these functions, “only the largest Local Enterprise Partnerships might [my emphasis] have the confidence to play a strong role in their future”.

In December the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills published the contract notice for the UK-based services to deliver Foreign Direct Investment into the UK. This is the service that has been delivered by UKTI regional and RDA teams. Inward investment has been one of the major priorities of local authorities and local enterprise partnerships since the announcement of the demise of RDAs.

The timetable for this contract is heroic. Requests to participate were required by 22 December; Tender documentation (to an expected five participants) was to be despatched in January with a deadline for response by 7 February. Essentially, the message was clear: local consortia and local interest is not welcome. With the possible exception of London, this is a national service.

By all accounts, the contract is close to being let. But it is unclear what local authority or LEP opinion has been sought and more over, how will UKTI will hold the successful tenderer(s) to account for putting localism at the heart of growth and regeneration.

In January, the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) published its prospectus for establishing a network of “elite” Technology and innovation Centres’ (TICs). These centres will be a major anchor for future high value, knowledge-based jobs in the UK – another high priority of all ambitious local areas. They will have access to a £200m fund highlighted as part of the Spending Review, as well as other potential resources from TSB and Research Councils.

Again, timetables are heroic. Interest in the first TIC – in High Value Manufacturing (HVM) – was sought by 31 January, with consultation responses for future TICs sought by 18 February. Local authorities or LEPs involvement is invisible. “Local” does not appear at all in the prospectus; and the only ‘councils’ featured are Research Councils.

Expect the contract for the HVM TIC to be announced imminently. Again there are serious questions to be asked around the level of local authority or LEP engagement. It is also unclear how will TICs work with local partners in the future.

On 9 February, DBIS published it’s white paper – ‘Trade and Investment for Growth’. At one level, this is an outward-looking paper, directed at the global economy and international business. However, it also prescribes the “domestic environment” for internationally-competitive growth (including approaches to research and infrastructure investment, business support and regulation).

The white paper fails to mention local authorities or LEPs at all; and whilst there is considerable analysis of the characteristics of differing international markets, there is absolutely no analysis of the offer and attractions of differing UK markets, and of the support trade and investment partners can expect sub-nationally from local partners.

For local authorities and LEPs, the implications of recent DBIS recent deeds- as opposed to Mr Pickles’ words - are profound. We cannot count on Mr Pickles’ ‘words’ any longer. Local economies ambitious for internationally-competitive growth need mechanisms to engage with DBIS, TSB, Research Councils, UKTI, their partners and contractors.

We need our own prospectuses for local growth; our own ‘offers’ and ‘asks’ of central government; and we need to work collaboratively with each other and with business and the third sector to compel government to take us seriously.

Economic growth and jobs happen in places; and it is time for places to begin to set the agenda.

David Marlow is an economic development consultant at Third Life Economics and a former chief executive of the East England RegionalDevelopment Agency.