Written evidence from the Chancellor of
the University of Portsmouth
In response to the call for evidence regarding
the Government's proposal for the formation of Local Enterprise
Partnerships (LEPs). I would like to take this opportunity to
share with you my views on LEPs from the perspective of the University
of Portsmouth.
As an institution the university has long been committed
to economic, social and community development. We are therefore
keen to play an active role in shaping and supporting the development
of LEPs. The University is supporting a joint LEP proposal from
the Partnership for Urban South Hampshire (PUSH) and the Isle
of Wight Council. We are enthusiastic about this proposal because
it is led by the business community and is focused on putting
business at the heart of economic growth in the Solent Region;
we feel that this business focus is important for all LEPs.
We see the development of LEPs as important
in helping to improve the coordination of public and private investment
in transport, housing, skills, regeneration and other areas of
economic development. We see the LEPs playing a leadership role,
helping focus on:
Rebalancing the local economy in favour
of the private sector.
Reindustrialising the economic base, supporting
the development of knowledge-based industries and high value-added
manufacturing.
Renaissance: developing a coalition between
the private, public and civil society organisations to continue
the renaissance of cities—tackling deprivation, meeting
the skills needs of the economy and combating the effects of climate
change.
We recognise that the geography of LEPs is important;
they need to reflect the realities of the economy and at the same
time have meaning to the business community. We would not, however,
want this to limit future collaborative relationships between
LEPs where there are clear economic benefits or economic efficiency
gains to be made by collaborative working. In fact we strongly
urge the Government to put in place light touch mechanisms to
help economies of scale and sharing of best practice between LEPs
in order to maximise value for money for the taxpayer.
The University recognises the restrictions on
public funding and that the level of direct Government financial
support to LEPs will therefore be limited, we do not see this
as a disadvantage. We believe that LEPs must be driven, owned
and directly funded by business. The University of Portsmouth
has extensive experience of this type of business led partnership
model. A good example of this approach is Solent Synergy a not-for-profit
company designed to help innovative businesses grow which was
set up by the University, along with other partners, five years
ago. Solent Synergy now receives sixty percent of its funding
from the private sector. Harnessing the goodwill of the business
community and exploiting potential synergies that could exist
with established business-led partnerships, including those funded
by the Regional Development agency, is important. There is also
huge potential for the LEPs to work with the CBI, FSB and Chambers
of Commerce to ensure that the needs of all parts of the business
community are met.
The University is concerned that because we
are located in the South East of England an LEP in our area would
potentially not have access to the Regional Growth Fund. We feel
that this could place our area at a disadvantage as it is heavily
dependent on employment from both the public sector and major
public sector suppliers, typically defence contractors. Given
the potential challenges of future public sector spending cuts,
our local economy could be structurally weakened which would then
have a negative multiplier effect on employment. I would urge
the Select Committee to think carefully about the eligibility
for access to the Regional Growth Fund so as not to disadvantage
vulnerable areas that could otherwise be excluded from accessing
the fund.
In our vision, one of the clear aims of LEPs
is to raise aspirations and ambitions within the business community
and put efficiency and innovation at the heart of the economy,
for business and also for the public sector. The LEP can play
an important role in signalling to the public sector so that it
can better understand the needs of business and so focus developments
in areas including transport, housing, education and skills in
ways that supports business. We believe that blending best practice
within LEPs from business, universities, and public sector organisations
could help all areas of the country achieve a prosperous future.
The University would also be keen to ensure
that LEPs maximise the legacy of the Regional Development Agencies
(RDAs). In particular working with the RDAs to investigate the
merits of adopting some of their regionally based activities within
the LEPs and ensuring that RDA commercial properties are managed
so as to have maximum future economic impact.
12 August 2010
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