皇冠体育app

Good afternoon everyone, I hope you鈥檝e had a great day today.

On the way here I was looking at your 鈥�LEP Factor鈥� fliers.

If this is the LEP Factor I guess that means Graham is Simon Cowell.

So pull your trousers up a little higher, Graham!

When you all got together this time last year, Greg Clark was standing here and I was Business Secretary.

Since then we鈥檝e done a bit of a job swap.

At the time I saw one tweet that congratulated us both on getting promoted.

I鈥檓 not quite sure how that works!

Anyway, as I told some of you at the LEP chairs dinner last October, Greg may have taken on the business brief.

But universities and skills are now with Justine Greening, and trade is with Liam Fox.

Which means the Prime Minister thought she needed three people to do my old job!

I never get tired of telling people that!

I鈥檓 the last speaker today.

And I know that, at conferences like this, that can be an excuse to talk about what has been discussed, to look back at what has happened.

I don鈥檛 want to do that.

I want to look ahead.

I want to talk about what the future holds for LEPs.

Because I don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 ever been a better, more exciting time to be involved with .

It鈥檚 hard to believe that less than 7 years ago you didn鈥檛 exist at all.

That as recently as 2010 we were making do with vast, unresponsive, regional development agencies.

Top-down decision-making.

Businesses being told what they need by bureaucrats.

Strategies designed to fit lines on a map rather than real-life communities.

But since then, everything has changed.

LEPs are focussed, dynamic, responsive.

皇冠体育appy鈥檙e organic, built around local needs and local people rather than local authority boundaries.

And above all, they鈥檙e driven by the people who really understand what the local economy needs 鈥� local business leaders.

So before I go any further, I want to say thank you to all of the business figures, and particularly the LEP chairs, who have made these partnerships so successful.

You give up your time, your expertise and so much more.

And just look at how much you鈥檝e achieved.

I鈥檓 told you鈥檝e helped create 145,000 jobs 鈥� some of which haven鈥檛 been taken by George Osborne!

You鈥檝e trained 95,000 people.

Your local growth hubs have engaged with well over 400,000 businesses.

Enterprise zones have already attracted more than 拢2.6 billion of private sector investment, with 12 more enterprise zones starting from next week.

Those are big, impressive numbers.

皇冠体育appy look great on a spreadsheet.

But behind them are tens of thousands of real people seeing a real difference in their communities.

皇冠体育appre鈥檚 the young graduate who鈥檚 finally able to get a job and move out and start living his life.

皇冠体育app mother who can give her kids a better life because her small business isn鈥檛 so small anymore.

皇冠体育app middle-aged man who thought his working life was over when he was laid off, but has had the chance to retrain and begin again.

That鈥檚 what LEPs have done.

That鈥檚 what YOU have done.

You鈥檙e not just helping businesses, you鈥檙e helping communities.

You鈥檙e helping people.

And for that, I can鈥檛 thank you enough.

But now, I want to look at what LEPs can do in the future.

I know there鈥檚 a lot of change going on right now.

We鈥檙e just weeks away from seeing a wave of new .

From May, a third of England will have a directly-elected mayor.

And of course, on Wednesday (29 March), the Prime Minister is going to trigger Article 50.

Two years from now we鈥檙e going to be leaving the European Union, and that鈥檚 going to affect every community and every LEP area right across the country.

I鈥檓 not blind to the fact that change on that scale is going to bring challenges for LEPs.

But it鈥檚 also going to bring a lot of opportunities.

Opportunities to grow.

Opportunities to diversify.

Opportunities to make even more of a difference to the communities you serve.

Look at Brexit.

Leaving the European Union obviously means an end to European Union structural and investment funding.

On the surface, that looks worrying.

But remember that the Chancellor has already issued a over the Brexit period.

And we鈥檙e already working on our replacement for EU funding in the longer term.

But this isn鈥檛 just about changing the name of the funding pots

It鈥檚 also an opportunity to rethink how local funding works.

And it鈥檚 an opportunity to make it truly local.

Because, whatever the final outcome, you鈥檒l no longer be jumping through hoops made in Brussels, trying to satisfy criteria set by an anonymous EU bureaucrat.

We鈥檒l make you jump through traditional British hoops instead!

皇冠体育appre are lots of questions, and I want to work with you to come up with the answers.

I want to hear your thoughts and your ideas on how to reshape and develop the role of LEPs in delivering local growth.

And I know you鈥檒l have plenty of ideas, because LEPs across the country have repeatedly shown that they鈥檙e capable of taking bold, innovative decisions.

Sometimes those decisions are about structures.

For example, the Northamptonshire and South East Midlands LEPs joined forces after realising they could serve their communities better as one body.

Elsewhere, we鈥檙e seeing LEPs thinking beyond the boundaries of their growth deal.

Look at South East, the first LEP to be awarded 鈥渉ousing business ready鈥� status by the Housing and Finance Institute.

It鈥檚 working with councils, planners, developers and regulators to make sure utilities and infrastructure are provided where they鈥檙e needed right across the region.

皇冠体育app unique nature of a LEP means it can do this across traditional local authority boundaries and across both the public and private sector.

And that means it can better reflect the needs of local people and local businesses.

I want to see more of this, in any field where LEPs can make a significant, positive difference.

You shouldn鈥檛 just be about directing local capital programmes.

And that鈥檚 always been the case, by the way.

皇冠体育app 2010 that created LEPs said they should 鈥減rovide the clear vision and strategic leadership to drive sustainable private-sector led growth and job creation鈥�.

We didn鈥檛 put limits on how you should do that, so you shouldn鈥檛 limit yourselves now.

I was delighted to see that you worked with my department to establish a working group on housing.

I鈥檓 sure you鈥檙e full of ideas about how you can help implement our .

As we鈥檝e seen in the South East, Enterprise M3, Coast to Capital and others, you have a potentially huge role to play in influencing public and private investment and overcoming delivery blockages.

And you don鈥檛 need me to tell you that, in many parts of the country, fixing the housing market is a crucial step in securing sustainable local growth.

皇冠体育appre鈥檚 also a fledgling working group on town centre regeneration.

Again, this is an area where LEPs can provide a strong, singular local focus, co-ordinating across the public and private sectors.

Thames Valley Berkshire has already shown how this can work.

It has used Growing Places Funding to bring forward regeneration projects in Bracknell, Maidenhead and Wokingham.

LEPs supported the area-based review of further education.

I鈥檓 sure you鈥檒l now be looking for ways to cement your role in providing the skills and training that businesses need.

Again, this is something I鈥檇 love to see you doing more work on.

皇冠体育appre are opportunities for you to create a better environment for entrepreneurs.

That could mean working with higher education and business schools, supporting spin-outs, providing space and so on.

Or it could mean offering greater support for the unique needs of social enterprises, supporting entrepreneurs who want to do more in their communities.

And with changes to business rate relief and 100% business rate retention, LEPs will have a crucial role both for local businesses and local government, offering advice and serving as a formal consultee.

It鈥檚 also about using the unique role of LEPs 鈥� and the unique insights of their business members 鈥� to help build a stronger local economy in whatever way you can.

And that鈥檚 a role that鈥檚 only going to get more important in the months and years ahead.

This government is determined to build a new, global Britain.

And a global Britain needs strong local foundations, something LEPs have a huge role in providing.

So there are many opportunities to come, and I want to see LEPs being proactive about embracing them.

Yes, we鈥檝e been running a review from our end to see how the role of LEPs can be strengthened.

But I don鈥檛 want you to wait to be told what to do, or even asked.

Go out there and show us what you鈥檙e capable of.

But as you look at the opportunities for expansion and diversification, it鈥檚 important that you don鈥檛 neglect the basics.

For example, there are still too many businesses, well over half in fact, who say they鈥檙e not aware of their LEP.

And of course there鈥檚 also a difference between a dim awareness and active engagement.

I hear a lot of positive feedback from businesses, particularly larger ones, about the support they get from LEPs and the growth hubs you鈥檝e created.

But I want you to ask yourselves whether you鈥檙e doing enough to communicate with smaller businesses, with those outside the LEP bubble.

Are you talking to people who don鈥檛 have a lobby group to speak for them?

Are you meeting the needs of everyone in your area, or just the ones who reach out to you?

If we鈥檙e going to make this a country that works for everyone, it鈥檚 not enough to focus on the easy wins.

Over the past few years LEPs have worked tremendously hard to get established and start making a difference.

Now it鈥檚 time to make sure you鈥檙e delivering for everyone who could benefit from your help.

That won鈥檛 just be good for the people who benefit, it鈥檒l also be good for LEPs themselves.

Increased visibility and increased trust add up to increased support, with more people and more businesses willing to speak up and engage with LEPs.

It鈥檚 a virtuous circle.

My other big ask of you is to take a good look at your corporate governance.

We all know that last year鈥檚 headlines about fat cats investing in their own businesses do not reflect the actions of the vast majority of LEPs.

But if we鈥檙e going to get maximum value for taxpayers鈥� money, and if the public are going to trust you to deliver that, you have to make sure every penny you spend is transparent and justified.

That鈥檚 why we鈥檝e strengthened the rules around how funds are spent and invested

Because the funds you invest on behalf of your communities isn鈥檛 your money or my money.

It鈥檚 taxpayers鈥� money.

Every last penny of it.

It鈥檚 given to us on trust, to be spent for the good of the whole country.

You all know that.

And I know for a fact that most business people involved with LEPs 鈥� in fact most business people full stop 鈥� have nothing but the best, most honest intentions.

That鈥檚 why we created LEPs in the first place.

Because we knew we could trust you to deliver for your communities.

That鈥檚 why the commits to strengthening and supporting LEPs.

We鈥檝e seen some of the incredible work you鈥檝e done already, and we want to see more of it.

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About 30 years ago, I was a student at the University of Exeter.

Apparently I was there at the same time as Thom Yorke from Radiohead, but unlike him, I wasn鈥檛 one of the cooler kids on campus.

In fact while he was writing epoch-defining music, I was busy setting up the Exeter Enterprise Forum.

It was a kind of amateur think-tank, aimed at supporting local growth through free enterprise economics.

I call it a think-tank, it was basically just me and my mate Tim!

And, with hindsight, I鈥檓 not sure we ever actually did a huge amount to create jobs and opportunity in South Devon!

But our hearts were in the right place.

We wanted to help businesses grow so that communities could flourish.

Thirty years later, it gives me great pleasure to see Local Enterprise Partnerships doing just that.

I鈥檝e always been passionate about business.

From growing up above the family shop, to setting up my little think-tank to a 20-year career in international finance, I鈥檝e always believed that business, done well, has the power to transform lives.

Without a strong economy to pay for it, there would be no National Health Service.

No world-class schools.

No government support for the needy and vulnerable.

Put simply, we need this country to be home to a successful, growing private sector.

And by bringing businesses to the heart of local investment and local decision-making, that is exactly what LEPs deliver.

You have achieved an amazing amount over the past few years.

I鈥檓 sure we鈥檒l see even greater success in the years to come.

And I鈥檓 looking forward to working with you all to make sure that鈥檚 exactly what happens.

Thank you.