AN academic expert on regional development believes expertise vital to the North-East’s economic progress will be lost when the Government replaces One North East with Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs).
In October, Tees Valley Unlimited was given the green light to lead an LEP to serve the Teesside area. Supporters claim it will combine the local knowledge of private sector businesses with local authorities and the wider community.
Approval for an LEP covering the rest of North-East is expected later this year.
Professor John Tomaney, of Newcastle University, however, has described the dismantling of One North East as “retrograde.”
He said: “Many criticisms can be made of regional development agencies – I’ve made some myself – but, on the whole, this region has benefited from having a single agency capable of intervening in local and regional economic development.”
In his article published in the 2011 North-East Business Guide, Prof Tomaney wrote: “What’s replacing One North East is massive uncertainty – very unhelpful for the region.
There’s a danger we’ll fragment – punch below our weight. The case for some North-East-wide economic partnership is very compelling.”
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