2 The oversight and coordination of
local growth initiatives
10. The Departments have not managed the local growth
initiatives as a coordinated programme with a common strategy,
objectives or plan. New structures and funds have been introduced
in piecemeal fashion, with each initiative introduced with its
own separate objectives, and then being monitored and managed
separately. The Departments told us that there is a range of other
government expenditure to support growth. It was not clear how
this activity had been coordinated across government. The Departments
told us that they have moved to a single local growth team that
represents Departments across government, and have a programme
board overseeing progress across all the local economic growth
initiatives. While this is a welcome development, it has taken
far too long—four years—to get to this point. Although
a programme board has been in place since 2012, it had no formal
programme management responsibilities, and has only recently started
overseeing the development of the local growth fund.[20]
11. It is also unclear who in central government
is responsible and accountable for the success of local growth
policies. For example, the Accounting Officer for the Department
for Communities and Local Government told us that he is now accountable
for all local economic growth funding with the exception of £600
million from 2015-16, allocated to rounds five and six of the
Regional Growth Fund. He explained that the £600 million
is specifically focused on national support for businesses for
which the Accounting Officer at the Department for Business, Innovation
and Skills is accountable.[21]
12. The Departments told us that they are monitoring
each of the initiatives separately. The Departments considered
that the initiatives are very distinct, and as such not immediately
comparable. The Departments agreed that there is a risk of double-counting,
with the same jobs scored more than once to different initiatives.
For example, the same jobs may be counted in an Enterprise Zone
application, a Growing Places Fund application and a local council
initiative. With respect to the Growing Places Fund we asked the
Departments why they had not been providing data on transport
and homes built until recently. The Departments told us that their
intention was to keep monitoring to the minimum necessary, but
that they have increased the amount of information requested from
Local Enterprise Partnerships.[22]
13. The Departments stated that they will carry out
individual longer-term evaluations for each of the local economic
growth structures and funding arrangements. However they have
only taken action to schedule an evaluation of one of the schemes,
the Regional Growth Fund. The Departments told us that
a scoping study is reporting on the best techniques to use in
an evaluation of the Fund in March 2014. It will therefore have
taken nine months to complete the scoping study, in contrast to
the very large and complex evaluation of the Sure Start programme
which was completed in around six months. The Departments went
on to explain the scoping study will be used to set up an evaluation
contract in summer 2014, which will produce an interim report
in 2017, and a full report in 2020.[23]
14. The Departments told us that the current model
of local economic growth will change in 2015-16. The new model,
the Local Growth Fund, will replace some, but not all, of the
current structures and funding arrangements set up following the
2010 White Paper. The Local Growth Fund is part of what are known
as 'growth deals' being negotiated between the Departments and
Local Enterprise Partnerships. The Local Growth Fund itself will
provide some £2 billion of funding in 2015-16 to Local Enterprise
Partnerships and a government undertaking to continue this level
of funding for five years. The Departments told us that this encompasses
a number of different funds. The Departments stated that no further
funding will be allocated from Departments to Local Enterprise
Partnerships, local authorities or Enterprise Zones through the
Regional Growth Fund. However, the Departments will continue the
Regional Growth Fund for businesses. The Department told us that
the Growing Places Fund will end in 2015. However, in reality
the Growing Places Fund will continue because 83% of the funding
given out by Local Enterprise Partnerships has been given to end
beneficiaries as loans, to allow for recycling of the funding.
Enterprise Zones and other local growth funds will come under
the new single growth team.[24]
15. We asked the Departments about Local Enterprise
Partnership's accountability arrangements. The Departments rely
on local authorities to provide assurance over the funding that
Local Enterprise Partnerships control. Specifically, one or more
local authorities may be nominated as being accountable for a
Local Enterprise Partnership's funding. The Departments gain assurance
as local authorities are subject to the same transparency and
accountability rules as other public bodies. The Departments do
not, however, have any evidence to suggest that this system is
working. For example, they could not tell us if a local authority
has ever stopped a Local Enterprise Partnership from spending.
We expressed concern about the lack of transparency of Local Enterprise
Partnerships and the reliance on self-reported information. The
Departments told us that they are putting together information
from local Enterprise Partnerships setting out how they have performed,
for example on the numbers of jobs created, in relation to the
Regional Growth Fund, Enterprise Fund and Growing Places Fund.[25]
20 Qq53-54, Q103; C&AG's report, Funding and
structures for local economic growth, paras 4.2-4.3 Back
21
Qq1-2; Q53; C&AG's report, Funding and structures for local
economic growth, para's 16 and 4.4 Back
22
Q53,Qq65-67, Q80, Qq112-114, Q117 Back
23
Qq65-67 Back
24
Q2, Q4, Q7, Q53, Q108; C&AG's report, Funding and structures
for local economic growth, para 3.26 Back
25
Qq85-86, Q88, Q109; C&AG's report, Funding and structures
for local economic growth, para 4.9 Back
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