Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Government plans to continue to fund Local Enterprise Partnerships in areas which have Mayoral Combined Authorities.

Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) are private sector led partnerships that are a key part of the Industrial Strategy, which set out Government’s plan for driving growth and productivity across the country. Government has continued to support each of the 38 LEPs with core funding each year since 2012/13.

We will continue to work with all LEPs and the new city region mayors to drive growth across England. This Government will continue to encourage close collaboration at a local level as we seek to drive productivity across the country through the Local Growth Fund, Enterprise Zones and Growth Hubs.