NAO queries value of local growth programmes

5 Dec 13
Government policies to support local economic growth such as the creation of local enterprise partnerships and City Deals may not be value for money, the National Audit Office has warned.

By Richard Johnstone | 6 December 2013

Government policies to support local economic growth such as the creation of local enterprise partnerships and City Deals may not be value for money, the National Audit Office has warned.

In an examination of the government’s funding and structures for local economic growth, auditors said that three years after their establishment, LEPs programmes were now taking shape.

However, they are developing at different rates and there is no plan to measure outcomes or evaluate performance comparably across the range of different local growth programmes. Whitehall departments cannot therefore show value for money across a host of initiatives, which also include the Growing Places Fund and the Regional Growth Fund, or be sure about where to direct their resources to achieve the most impact.

Auditors also concluded the government had not established the range of local growth programmes quickly enough following the closure of the regional development agencies in 2010. For example, the first City Deals were not agreed until February 2012.

This gap means there was a significant dip in funds dedicated to local growth and jobs creation. Direct central government spending on local economic growth through the initiatives fell from £1.5bn in 2010/11 to £273m in 2012/13, but will rise back to £1.7bn in 2014/15.

Auditor general Amyas Morse said the transition from the old to the new schemes had not been orderly.

‘To secure value for money from both the existing schemes and the new £2bn Growth Deals, central government needs to make sure that there is enough capacity centrally and locally to oversee initiatives, that timescales are realistic and that there is clear accountability.’

Spacer

CIPFA logo

PF Jobsite logo

Did you enjoy this article?

AddToAny

Top