Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the guidance entitled ​​Local Enterprise Partnerships: integration of LEP functions into local democratic institutions, published on 4 August 2023, how much revenue funding will be re-assigned for local and combined authorities; and whether funding for the activities previously carried out by LEPs will be at the same level in real terms.

As set out in the 4^th August 2023 integration guidance, the Government expects that from April 2024, core LEP functions - namely business representation, local economic planning, and the delivery of Government programmes where directed - will be exercised by upper tier local authorities (working in collaboration with other upper tier local authorities where appropriate), where they are not already delivered by a combined authority, or in areas where a devolution deal is not yet agreed. The Government will provide some revenue funding to local and combined authorities in 2024/25 to support them to deliver these core functions. Details of this support will be confirmed in due course.