Economy: Prosperity of Towns

Lord Teverson Excerpts

Wednesday 7th January 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Teverson (LD)]

My Lords, what mechanisms do the Government have to allow non-metropolitan local authorities that want to move ahead and work with neighbouring local authorities cost-effectively to move towards greater devolution? Is a channel for them to achieve that open now?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

The essence behind local growth funds is exactly as my noble friend says. It is about empowering people at a local level: local enterprise partnerships, local councils and local businesses coming together to bid for local funds. Demonstrably, the 39 deals agreed thus far—and the new deals that we will be announcing—will reflect exactly what my noble friend seeks to achieve, which is local communities working together to achieve growth and jobs for their local area.