The EU is to plough almost £47m into a business quango which Northamptonshire County Council taxpayers are committed to funding until at least 2017.
The Northamptonshire Enterprise Partnership (NEP), based in Billing Road, will receive the funding as part of the EU Structural and Investment Fund allocations for Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) in England.
NEP is now in the third year of a £2m-a-year funding arrangement with County Hall which the Conservative administration controversially decided to extend until 2017 following its re-election last May.
Announcing the new Single Local Growth Fund (SLGF) to transfer funding streams to Local Enterprise Partnerships, business minister Michael Fallon said:
“This funding is a real boost for local growth. The funds have been allocated in a fair way that supports disadvantaged parts of the UK and for the first time we are putting local areas, via their Local Enterprise Partnership, in the driving seat giving them the power to decide how the funds are best targeted.
“We have also dramatically reduced the element retained by government for central programmes from around 50 per cent to under five per cent so that maximum funds go to local areas.
“We are reversing years of centralisation by handing LEPs responsibility for this funding, alongside the new £2 billion a year Single Local Growth Fund. This is a positive step towards giving local areas greater control.”
SEMLEP, the LEP which encourages inward investement for Northampton itself and is not funded directly by Northamptonshire taxpayers, will receive £75m as part of today’s announcement.
Dr Ann Limb, chairman of SEMLEP, said: “In the South East Midlands, working with our local authority partners, we are geared up to making valuable use of these new resources and we hope that by demonstrating delivery in the first year we will be able to encourage Government to put even more into the fund going forward.
“LEP Chairs, our public and private boards, and our communities are determined to continue to bring forward more economic growth at the local level. Through our Single Local Growth Fund and ‘city’ deals we are determined to deliver accelerated, tangible growth in homes, skills and jobs across the South East Midlands.
“At least £2 billion a year up to 2020 for LEPs will help us to help stimulate jobs and growth. We recognise the real cuts being made across many Government departments, so this is a positive step and our job now is to ensure we make the strongest possible business case in order to access future funding for the South East Midlands.”