Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to paragraph 3.119 of the Spring Budget 2023, HC 1183, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the proposal to withdraw central support for local enterprise partnerships from April 2024 on the delivery of local industrial strategies.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the Department for Business and Trade are currently consulting on the proposal to end core funding of Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs).

Consultation questionnaires were sent to all LEP chairs, combined authority mayors, local authority leaders and key stakeholder representatives. The consultation period will end on 19 May 2023 and the Government will set out a response due course.

As part of the exercise, virtual roundtable discussions have also taken place with umbrella organisations and LEPs on a range of topics.