Lib Dems propose new bodies to replace RDAs
Regional enterprise boards would replace regional development agencies (RDAs) under a set of policies drawn up for the Liberal Democrats’ general election campaign.
In the past, the party has called for RDAs to be scrapped, but its endorsement of streamlined bodies with a focus on economic development represents a step back from this approach.
Speaking to New Start, the party's business spokesperson John Thurso said RDAs have a 'tendency to become unfocused'. Mr Thurso, who worked with Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Vince Cable on the review of the party’s regional policy, said the proposed reforms would create regional based enterprise bodies that are 'fit for purpose'.
Under the proposals outlined by Mr Thurso, regional enterprise boards (REBs) would focus on economic development and enterprise support. The RDAs’ housing and planning responsibilities would be devolved to local authorities, with infrastructure planning and transport policy split between local and national government.
Mr Thurso, who took the business brief in the party’s shadow cabinet restructure in 2008, said the party's policy for the past few years was broadly 'to get rid of RDAs'. But on examining existing government policies to support businesses in the backdrop of the recession, he found that some RDAs were playing an important role.
Mr Thurso said the REBs would still be regional entities but that the geographical boundaries would be left up to individual local authorities to decide.
'The successful ones are where there is a clear geographical sense to a region,' he said. 'Yorkshire Forward is one of the best examples. The ones that are less successful are areas that are not recognisable as a region.
'The southeast is a huge great donut with a hole in it where London is. We very rarely ask what the northern part has in common with the southern part. The answer is nothing.'
Mr Thurso said local authorities in areas with successful RDAs would back the current geographical arrangements enabling existing bodies to morph easily into the new ones.
But he called for a transitional period to allow consultation on the arrangements and said a Regional Enterprise Bill would be needed to establish the powers of REBs. 'It would be lunacy to arrive in office and say "all change",' said Mr Thurso. 'It would cause massive disruption.'
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