TPS supported an important conference on 23 October 2013 entitled
“Local Enterprise Partnerships : Funding Options and Investment
Priorities” and was represented on the day by Board Director, Tim
Morton. Key messages were tweeted to TPS twitter followers throughout
the day.

The 39 LEPs are diverse – in terms of populations served, structure,
governance and priorities. Some are business dominated; some are local
authority dominated. The LEPs will identify priorities and allocate
funding in support of job creation and economic growth, but are not
delivery bodies. Transport infrastructure will be important.

Key sources of funding to be allocated by the LEPs include EU
Structural and Investment funds (ESIF) (€6.2bn 2014-20) and the Single
Local Growth Fund (currently £2bn/annum), but they can also tap into
RGF, GPF and EZ funding. All LEPs have submitted ESIF spending plans to
Government and their draft Strategic Economic Plans are due in December
2013.